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IndiansQUITO AUG 21 (IPS)JUST two years from the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to the New World, Ecuador’s Indians are demanding solution of long-pending land ana nationality claims.But their campaign already has been labeled “extremist and subversive by landowners, business organisations, and the armed forces.“We welcome all the accusations, even the hateful ones, be-, cause it means that at last we are talking about indigenous culture and its future. counters Luis Ma-cas, Vice President of the Native Nations Confederation of Ecuador (CONAIE),The organisations staged a four-day “uprising in June to demand action on 73 land disputes, legalisation of aboriginal territories, and money to buy the most productive farms.CONA1E also seeks state recognition of Quechua as an officialdemandlanguage and the “multinational” character of Ecuadorian society, as well as legal regulation of aboriginal medicine.IndigenousEcuador has nine indigenous nationalities living in the highlands, the coast, and the Amazon region. Their estimated population is three to four million out of Ecuador's total population of 10 million.Some sectors apparently fear that acceding to Indian demands will weaken national unity'.A document sent by the armed forces to President Rodrigo Boija asked for “neutralisation of the efforts by extremist movements and international entities which are taking advantage of the ingenuity of the natives in trying to legalise an indigenous state.”Cattle ranches from the highlands and eastern Ecuador also asked for decisive action from the government to combat “international slogans designed to enf-changeslame the country during the 500-annlversary celebration of the discovery of AmericaMacas says Indian groups “are not looking for violence, we are not controlled by foreign interests, nor do we want to form a parallel state. We simply want the indigenous issue to be discussed without prejudice among all sectors.Unity“But if our rights and organizations are not recognised, he adds, “national peace and unity will never be achieved.CONAIE and other Indian groups have met weekly with the Ecuadorian Government since June and say they want a solution to their territorial and legal questions by the end of August.Another important Issue, the Indigenous nationality law pending before Congress for two years, will have to wait, says Macas, because it requires a certain social consciousness that does not yet exist
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Kingston Gleaner
Kingston, Kingston, JM
Fri, Aug 24, 1990
Page 16
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