Latin America: Constitutional reform and ethnic right

Parliamentary Affairs

Volumn 53, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 41-54

  Lee Van Cott, Donna ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0033628864     PISSN: 00312290     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/pa/53.1.41     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. For a historical perspective on Latin American constitutionalism, see A. Borón, 'Latin America: Constitutionalism and Political Traditions of Liberalism and Socialism' in D. Greenberg, Constitutionalism and Democracy, Oxford University Press, 1993.
2. Latin American countries with constitutional courts include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru. In Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela, existing supreme courts have been confined to considering constitutional questions.
3. Resguardos began receiving funds under Law 60 (1993) in 1994, when 12,046 million pesos (about US$ 12 million) were distributed to 439,267 Indians living on 364 recognised resguardos. Roughly US$ 15.5 million was transferred in 1995 (Cepeda, 1995a: 11). As a result of the creation of additional resguardos pursuant to the constitution, by March 1997 there were 442 resguardos and the Department of National Planning was awaiting approval of transfers of 27,000 million pesos (about US$ 61 thousand per resguardo). Interview with Raúl Arango, Unidad de Desarrollo Territorial, Departamento Nacional de Planeación, 30 January 1997.
4. The first is part of completed negotiations between the government and the URNG; the Mexican accord is part of stalled negotiations between the government and the EZLN guerrillas. Meanwhile the government has offered its own constitutional reform proposal based on its interpretation of the San Andres accord.
5. The most important reasons are: resistance of the Nicaraguan government to relinquishing power; conflicts of interest among social groups in the regions; recent cataclysmic natural disasters; a failing national economy; and the hegemonic pretensions of the Miskitu. See Van Cort (ed), Indigenous Peoples and Democracy in Latin America, St Martin's Press, 1994, and The Friendly Liquidation of the Past: Demoralization and Constitutional Transformation in Latin America, forthcoming.
6. For discussion of the difference between the situation of blacks and Indians in Latin America, see P. Wade, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America, Pluto Press, 1997. On Colombia's constitution and black rights, see K. Asher, Constructing Afro-Colombia: Ethnicity and Territory in the Pacific Lowlands, Florida University Press, 1998.
7. For discussion of the difference between the situation of blacks and Indians in Latin America, see P. Wade, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America, Pluto Press, 1997. On Colombia's constitution and black rights, see K. Asher, Constructing Afro-Colombia: Ethnicity and Territory in the Pacific Lowlands, Florida University Press, 1998.
8. Sentencia T. 422 (1996). In this case, the representative of a local black organisation was denied a seat on the Santa Marta District Education Council on the grounds that the black population of the area did not constitute a distinct 'community' and lacked historical ties to the area and, thus, did not correspond to the definition of black communities under the constitution and the education law. That law allocates a seat to a representative of black community organisations and indigenous organisations.
9. Iturralde, op. cit., p. 91.
10. M. Keck and K. Sikkink, 'Activists Beyond Borders', Transnational Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Cornell University Press, 1998, p. 24.
11. Editorial, Abya Yala News 10, 4, 1997. The entire issue is devoted to the impact of ILO 169 in the hemisphere. See also, J. Dandler, Indigenous People and the Rule of Law in Latin America, Kellogg Institute: University of Notre Dame, 1996.
12. Editorial, Abya Yala News 10, 4, 1997. The entire issue is devoted to the impact of ILO 169 in the hemisphere. See also, J. Dandler, Indigenous People and the Rule of Law in Latin America, Kellogg Institute: University of Notre Dame, 1996.
13. Non-Latin American countries signing the convention are Norway, Denmark and Holland. 27 countries ratified the older convention.
14. Interview with Mexican indigenous activist Margarita Gutierrez published in Abya Yala News, 10, 4, 1998.
15. I. Pogany, 'Constitution-making or Constitutional Transformation in Post-communist Societies?', Political Studies XLIV.