Cuzco, Peru – Though Indians in Andean nations are making significant strides, descendants of the Incas and other pre-Columbian peoples in Peru are still battling “the old racist inertia” of the dominant – though numerically inferior – white and Mestizo population sectors, says First Lady Eliane Karp, an anthropologist and one of the few whites here who speaks an indigenous language.
The social and political exclusion suffered by the indigenous peoples of Latin America will take another couple decades to overcome, the wife of President Alejandro Toledo, himself an Andean Indian and his nation’s first-ever president from that ethnic group, told EFE.
Karp, who speaks Quechua, has taken part this week in a meeting of indigenous leaders from 18 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean that wraps up Wednesday in the Andean town of Ollantaytambo, following two days of debates in Cuzco.
For the French-born first lady, who was a naturalized U.S. citizen before taking Peruvian nationality in 2002, a two-decade timeframe for reversing the discrimination suffered by Indians is reasonable considering “the mistreatment suffered for centuries.”
Karp, who was being joined at the gathering in Ollantaytambo by Toledo, also criticized the Peruvian Congress for hindering Indian participation in politics.
“The rejection stems from the old racist inertia,” Karp said, noting that nearly four years ago the Toledo government proposed a bill to establish a quota system for Indian participation in Congress, but it did not receive legislative approval.
Despite the setbacks, she said that “the phenomenon (of Indian socio-political gains) is occurring very rapidly” since the Indian peoples are communicating among themselves and putting in motion the machinery of change.
Just under half of Peru’s population of 26 million people is indigenous, with Mestizos making up an estimated 37 percent and whites about 15 percent.
According to Karp, the most significant breakthrough of the past few years has been the fact that Indians have “recognized themselves as indigenous peoples and put forward a common platform” of priorities, as well as created common institutions.
Now it is up to democratic governments to listen to and commit themselves to addressing Indians’ concerns, she said, because “that is the starting point for institutional acceptance of (Indians’ interests) and including them within the public agenda.”
She said President Toledo was the driving force behind the signing of the 2001 Machu Picchu Declaration, in which the presidents of Andean nations – Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela – pledged to include Indians’ concerns within the agendas of their respective administrations.
Karp also noted that a series of laws have been passed in Peru to protect Indian natural reserves and territories and to recognize their ownership of traditional lands. Educational and health programs designed to integrate Amerindians into society and provide them with basic services have also been implemented, Karp said.
She also hailed the Peruvian government’s efforts to defend indigenous rights to patents on their traditional collective knowledge, which she said the pharmaceutical industry has stolen in the interest of profit.
The first lady has also been instrumental in the creation of an institute led by indigenous Andeans, Amazonian Indians, and Afro-Peruvians to form policies to promote, defend and advocate their rights. The institution is to be represented for the first time Thursday at a Peruvian Cabinet meeting.
“The ministers are going to hear these issues,” said Karp, who added that she was convinced that this was an effective means of ensuring Indians are included in Peruvian political life.
In reference to the victory of Aymara Indian Evo Morales in Bolivia’s presidential election in December, she noted that her husband had been the first-ever Indian president elected by popular vote in Latin America and that “the important thing is that other peoples realize that it can be done.”
She predicted that Indian peoples of the region will achieve equality by means of “continuous work (focused) on concrete proposals.”
