Alaska (US) CANADA N O R T H UNITED STATES PA CIFIC AT L ANTIC OCEAN Americas CUBA Hawaiian Islands (US) MEXICO Maurice Bryan DOMINICAN REP. HAITI Puerto Rico (US) BELIZE JAMAICA GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA COSTA RICA VENEZUELA PANAMA GUYANA COLOMBIA Guyane (Fr.) SURINAM ECUADOR PERU BRAZIL BOLIVIA PARAGUAY S O U T H CHILE URUGUAY PA CIFIC ARGENTINA he Americas region stretches from the human trafficking and threats against ordinary Some observers argue that attempts to hasten abuses, environmental degradation and climate South to the North Pole and includes citizens and human rights defenders continued to the process of change, particularly in Honduras, change. Indigenous and African descendant lands T large populations with varied cultures and occur or increased during 2009. This was obvious may have contributed to regional destabilization. continued to be usurped without consultation for ethnicities in North, Central and South America, not only in the conflict areas of rural Colombia According to reports from the Inter-American petroleum extraction, precious metal mining, log- and the Caribbean Basin. Among the hemisphere’s but also in Brazil’s favelas, the rainforests of Peru Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the polit- ging and large-scale agro-industry, such as beef hundreds of millions are numerous indigenous peo- and Ecuador, and the urban centres, border ical turmoil that ensued in that country included production and oil palm and soybean plantations, ples, as well as African descendant populations and towns and resource extraction zones of Central notable instances of disregard for key international mostly for export to wealthy countries. This involves descendants of immigrants of European, Middle American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras human rights principles. The overall negative affect massive deforestation, biodiversity elimination, sin- Eastern and Asian-Pacific origin. and Mexico. Most of these areas are inhabited by of the political turmoil was directly felt by minor- gle-cropping, chemical spraying or leaching of toxic The battle to retain or reclaim ancestral lands and significant numbers of indigenous peoples and ity communities when widespread international mining chemicals. Regional environmental and cultures and protect basic rights continued to be African descendants. condemnation led to a freeze in the flow of interna- indigenous rights activists continued to call for more the primary focus of most indigenous and African tional development assistance to Honduras. These initiatives that examine the cultures of indigenous descendant communities during 2009. These Socio-political change financial sanctions held back efforts that could and African descendant communities, to see what populations remained the most socio-economically The societies of the Americas continued to undergo have helped in advancing national Millennium lessons these may contain for sustainable environ- marginalized in the region and under threat of ter- profound political changes during 2009. There Development Goals (MDGs), especially in light of mental management and coexistence. ritorial dispossession. Spokespersons for community was a notable increase in political participation the current global economic downturn. During 2009, the region also continued to be councils, especially in areas such as the Pacific coast by indigenous peoples and African descendants in affected by unprecedented heavy rains, landslides, of Colombia are now increasingly describing their countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Economic change floods and droughts that occurred in countries situation in terms of ‘population cleansing’. Venezuela and the USA, including successful efforts After having reached historically high levels during from Argentina to Mexico, with the impact on The efforts of the affected African descendant to increase levels of representation at both local and the previous decade, money sent to Latin American the human population made worse by the existing and indigenous populations to achieve redress by national government levels. and Caribbean (LAC) countries by citizens abroad economic disparities and marginalization of African appealing to existing laws and statutes continued to The introduction of new ‘pluri-cultural’ constitu- continued to decline significantly in 2009. The descendant and indigenous communities. Among be met mostly by intransigence or indifference by tions in Bolivia and Ecuador, and the coming to World Bank reported that these remittance flows those most affected have been Guatemalan indig- state and private entities. In some instances, such as power of the first African-American president in US dropped by as much as 12 per cent compared to enous peoples, who have been suffering the effects the indigenous protests against resource extraction history were among the most obvious examples of 2008. The countries most affected by this include El of the worst drought in 30 years. In addition to in the Peruvian Amazon, this resulted in notably regional political shifts. The so-called ‘Obama fac- Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and, mining activities, the bulk of Guatemala’s land area violent confrontations with state authorities. tor’ may also have set the tone for a general change to a lesser extent, Bolivia and Ecuador. According is devoted to large-scale agro-businesses, involving in perceptions in the rest of the region, especially to World Bank data, remittances accounted for over the production of coffee, sugar and palm oil. With Rights compliance with regard to greater participation by minorities 10 per cent of GDP in 2007. For Guyana, Haiti a predominantly indigenous population, Guatemala Official intractability often results from an appar- and indigenous peoples in public life. and Honduras, remittances accounted for over 20 also has the highest rate of chronic malnutrition ent disregard for, or unwillingness to comply with, The increasing participation of indigenous per cent of GDP. In Mexico, although remittances in the LAC region, and the fourth highest in the legal norms designed to safeguard the rights of peoples and African descendants at the national contribute only 3 per cent to the overall economy, world. vulnerable indigenous or African descendant com- political level in countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, this translates into more than US $20 billion annu- Guatemala experienced in 2009 two consecutive munities. This is perhaps reflective of broader issues Nicaragua and Venezuela also had an international ally – much of it going to regions with significant climate-induced low harvests in the country’s eight in the region, regarding the upholding of laws, and dimension. During 2009, this resulted in the con- indigenous and African descendant populations. mainly indigenous corn-growing regions. This led individual and collective rights in general. The 2009 tinued expansion and strengthening of regional The fall in remittances had a marked direct effect to a sharp rise in food prices, which was having an United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) alliances and regionally oriented institutions, such on indigenous and African descendant communities. enormous impact by the end of 2009 on the 2.5 report on human development in Central America as ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for the People Regardless of their educational level, members of million predominantly Mayan indigenous peoples indicated that state authorities, as well as citizens in of Our America) and UNASUR (Southern Cone indigenous and African descendant populations have in 21 of the country’s provinces. Large numbers the region, are increasingly concerned about greater Alliance). Member states of these blocs have all long found it much easier to obtain decent incomes of indigenous children in drought-hit subsistence illegality, the militarization of civilian life, and wide- publicly affirmed their commitment to greater by working abroad rather than in their home coun- farming areas began to show all the classic signs of spread insecurity and violence. inclusion of indigenous and minority popula- tries. Remitted funds therefore represent a signifi- extreme malnutrition and starvation. Regional charters and bodies such as the Inter- tions, and improvements in the lives of the least cant portion of the annual household income in One possibly related factor is that indigenous American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) have advantaged in their societies. The ongoing process these communities, helping many to remain above peoples and African descendants are granted explicitly pointed out the close connection between – particularly among ALBA members – includes an the poverty line. only limited participation – at best – in decisions the promotion and protection of human rights and effort by the respective governments to re-found affecting the use of their land and the allocation the ability to guarantee the rule of law. In a growing the nation-state through constitutional reforms that Human rights and the environment, including of national resources. This is despite the exist- number of virtually uncontrollable rural and urban allow for more direct citizen input into decision- climate change ence of a range of local regional and international areas, unlawful acts such as disappearances, torture, making at all levels, via referenda as well as local Events in the region in 2009 continued to demon- instruments that include International Labour kidnappings for ransom, extra-judicial killings, governance