The National Leadership of the Confederation of the Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia (CIDOB) met on June 25th in the Big House of the Indigenous People of Bolivia’s Lowlands to analyze the national political situation, the Constituent Assembly’s current state in which Bolivia’s indigenous people’s historic demands and proposals are being minimalized, distorted and/or excluded. Given that the political parties, citizen groups, civic committees and governor’s offices allied with the eastern region (the media luna) are distorting our proposals and in light of various considerations, CIDOB resolves the following:

Considering:

That, beginning with the 1990 Great March for Land and Dignity, we, the indigenous people from this country’s lowlands, have demanded the state recognize the LAND/TERRITORY, NATURAL RESOURCES, INDIGENOUS AUTONOMY, DIRECT LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION AND THE COLLECTIVE RIGHTS OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE and that we have, little by little, and despite great sacrifice and even the loss of lives, achieved this recognition by marching and mobilizing …

That, in our march in March 2002, we, the lowland indigenous people requested this country hold a Constituent Assembly so that our historic demands be included and that we kept this Assembly on the national agenda until it became a reality on August 6, 2006…

That, since 2004, the indigenous people have been preparing to take part in the Assembly by holding workshops, seminars, gatherings, and events in order to generate proposals, do capacity building, and education about our rights; and that all of this has culminated in the construction of clear, systemized proposals for new Constitutional articles that represent our historic demands—the articles that were incorporated in the document put forward by the indigenous, native and campesino organizations presented in the August 5, 2006 Assembly and which were then presented as the Eastern Block in the April 2nd and 3rd Constituent Assembly meetings in Santa Cruz regarding land and which were finally presented as an official proposal to the Constituent Assembly from CIDOB and Eastern Block in Sucre on April 20, 2007

Therefore

the CIDOB National Leadership, in all its functions,

Resolves

First, to ratify all the indigenous people’s historic demands and claims presented to the Constituent Assembly.

Second, to make clear for the public the indigenous people’s demands with respect to LAND/TERRITORY, NATURAL RESOURCES, INDIGENOUS AUTONOMIES, DIRECT LEGISLATIVE REPRESENTATION, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S COLLECTIVE RIGHTS AND A PLURI-NATIONAL STATE. These historic demands have been presented to and defended against all the governments since the 1990 Great Indigenous March and so since our demands do not have roots in any political party or citizen grouping (neither the ruling party nor its opposition) we are not going to let any party or grouping speak for us, let alone allow the opposition, the civic committees or the government offices of the eastern states to make our demands seem illegitimate by characterizing them as those of the governing party.

Third, to reject the attempts of Constituent Assembly members (both those of the ruling party and opposition alike) to negotiate or exchange our demands in order to dissuade regional tension and we repudiate the opposition’s proposal to give up its demand for the capital city’s relocation in return for the exclusion of indigenous autonomy.

Fourth, to ratify that we are in a state of mobilization which will include various types of action such as an Indigenous March.

Signed, June 25, 2007 in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra:

Pedro Nuni Caiti
Vice-President

Mariana Guasania Cabao
Gender Secretary

Claudio Rojas Suárez
Land and Territory Secretary

Wilfredo Yabeta Orozco
Education Secretary