CIDOB Confederation
Encyclopedia
The Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia, , is a national representative organization of the Bolivia
n indigenous movement
. It was founded in October 1982 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
, with the participation of representatives of four indigenous peoples of the Bolivian East: Guarani-Izoceños, Chiquitanos
, Ayoreos and Guarayos.
Currently, CIDOB gathers 34 peoples living in the Lowlands of Bolivia, in seven of the nine departments of Bolivia
: Santa Cruz
, Beni
, Pando
, Tarija
, Chuquisaca
, Cochabamba
and La Paz. Since 2006, CIDOB's president is Adolfo Chávez Beyuma, of the Takana
people. CIDOB is a member of the Pact of Unity
in Bolivia, of the National Coordination for Change
, and of the Amazon Basin indigenous organization, COICA
.
, Beni
to La Paz
in July and August 1990. This march led to the recognition of four indigenous territories
(Siriono Indigenous Territory, Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
, the Multiethnic Indigenous Territory I, and Chimán Indigenous Territory) and the government's 1991 ratification of the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention
. A second March for Territory, Land, Political Participation and Development was held in 1996. It began with 2000 CIDOB marchers in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
on August 27, 1996, and was joined by members of the Unique Confederation of Rural Laborers of Bolivia (CSUTCB) and the Bolivian Syndicalist Confederation of Colonizers
(CSCB) on the following day. CIDOB won its demand that indigenous land rights be protected as indigenous territories, with elements of sovereignty and local jurisdiction and ended its participation in the march in Samaipata, Santa Cruz. CSUTCB and CSCB continued the march to La Paz, where some 13,000 marchers grew to twenty to forty thousand protesters, but were unsuccessful in winning the campesino federations' demands. The mobilization coincided with the passage of the 1996 National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA) Law (Law 1715), which changed land reform policy in ways that encouraged absentee land ownership and speculation.
In 2000, CPESC (the regional federation for Santa Cruz), the Mojeño people of Beni, and several Amazonian peoples carried out the March for the Earth, Territory, and Natural Resources from Montero, Santa Cruz. This march won changes to the agrarian reform law and a decree officially recognizing
lowland indigenous languages.
A 2002 March for Popular Sovereignty, Territory, and National Resources marched from Santa Cruz to La Paz.
In October and November 2006, CIDOB, the Bolivian Landless Workers Movement (MST-Bolivia), highland indigenous groups, and others joined in a National March for Land and Territory. This 28-day march was designed to propel the passage of a new land reform law, then mired in Bolivia's National Congress
. After 2,000 marchers arrived in El Alto on November 27, they were joined by tens of thousands of other demonstrators in marching to La Paz's Plaza San Francisco, and on to the Plaza Murillo before the National Congress building where they set up a tent city. The encampment continued until the passage of a new land reform law.
On 7 July 2007, CIDOB began a Sixth Indigenous March from Santa Cruz to the Constituent Assembly then meeting in Sucre. The march demanded indigenous autonomy, territorial protection, a plurinational state, and indigenous control over natural resources in their territories. On 10 July, CIDOB president Adolfo Chávez was assaulted by right-wing protesters in Sucre's airport during a visit to present the organization's demands. The 470 marchers included 170 women and 68 children under 12. After ten days of marching under difficult weather conditions, CIDOB suspended the march in the locality of El Torno, announcing that 75% of its demands had been acceded to by the Assembly's commissions. Eleven member organizations announced they would each send 10 representatives to Sucre to watch over the progress of their proposals.
In July 2010, CIDOB led its seventh national march--Seventh Great Indigenous March for Territory, Autonomies, and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples --demanding greater indigenous autonomy
. This march made a 13 point set of demands (full translated text on WikiSource):
The March ended after traveling from Trinidad, Beni to San Ramón, Santa Cruz
, following incomplete negotiations and government pledges of action.
On July 26, 2011, CIDOB put forward a platform of demands for the Eighth March of the Indigenous Peoples of the East, Chaco, and Bolivian Amazon , which began in defense of the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
against the planned construction of the Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos highway. The march from Trinidad
, Beni
, is scheduled to begin on August 15. The highland indigenous organization CONAMAQ, the Chiquitano Indigenous Organization, and the Assembly of the Guaraní People have all pledged to participate.
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n indigenous movement
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. It was founded in October 1982 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
, with the participation of representatives of four indigenous peoples of the Bolivian East: Guarani-Izoceños, Chiquitanos
Chiquitano people
The Chiquitano are a native ethnic group living primarily in the Chiquitanía tropical savanna of Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, with a small number also living in Beni Department and in Brazil. In the 2001 census, self-identified Chiquitanos made up 3.6% of the total Bolivian population or 181,894...
, Ayoreos and Guarayos.
Currently, CIDOB gathers 34 peoples living in the Lowlands of Bolivia, in seven of the nine departments of Bolivia
Departments of Bolivia
Bolivia is divided into nine departments . Each of the departments is subdivided into provinces , which are further subdivided into municipalities ....
: Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Department
Santa Cruz, with an area of 370,621 km², is the largest of the nine constituent departments of Bolivia. In the 2001 census, it reported a population of 2,029,471. The capital is the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The state is one of the wealthiest states in Bolivia with huge reserves of...
, Beni
Beni Department
Beni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country , covering 213,564 square kilometers , and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José...
, Pando
Pando Department
Pando is a department of Bolivia, with an area of , adjoining the border with Brazil. Pando has a population 66,689 . Its capital is the city of Cobija....
, Tarija
Tarija Department
Tarija is a department in Bolivia. It is located in south-eastern Bolivia bordering Argentina to the south and Paraguay to the east. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 391,226 inhabitants. It has an area of 37.623 km²...
, Chuquisaca
Chuquisaca Department
Chuquisaca is a department of Bolivia located in the center south. It borders on the departments of Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. The departmental capital is Sucre, which is also the constitutional capital of Bolivia.-Geography:...
, Cochabamba
Cochabamba Department
Cochabamba is one of the nine component departments of Bolivia. It is known to be the "granary" of the country because of its variety of agricultural products due to Cochabamba's geographical position. It has an area of 55,631 km². Its population, in the 2007 census, was 1,750,000...
and La Paz. Since 2006, CIDOB's president is Adolfo Chávez Beyuma, of the Takana
Takana
Takana is a forum of prominent personalities with the objective of fighting sexual abuse in the National Religious sector in Israel.The forum came to the spotlight in February 2010 when it published a statement claiming that Rabbi Mordechai Elon was breaking his commitments to refrain from public...
people. CIDOB is a member of the Pact of Unity
Pact of Unity
The Pact of Unity is an evolving national alliance of Bolivian grassroots organizations in support of indigenous and agrarian rights, land reform, the rewriting of the 1967 constitution through a Constituent Assembly, and a left-indigenous transformation of the Bolivian state...
in Bolivia, of the National Coordination for Change
National Coordination for Change
The National Coordination for Change is a Bolivian political coordination of social movements aligned with the governing Movement for Socialism-Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples . It was founded on 22 January 2007, during the Constituent Assembly of 2006-2007...
, and of the Amazon Basin indigenous organization, COICA
Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin
Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin was founded in 1984 in Lima, Peru. This organization coordinates the following nine national Amazonian indigenous organizations:...
.
Member organizations
The following organizations are make up the confederaton:- Assembly of the Guarani People (Asamblea del Pueblo Guaraní; APG)
- Center of GuarayoGuarayo peopleGuarayos is a Bolivian word for "savages" used for speakers of Tupian languages, such as the indigenous peoples of Guarayos Province in central Bolivia, who number some 20,000.-References:*http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40615...
Native Peoples' Organizations (Central de Organizaciones de los Pueblos Nativos Guarayos; COPNAG) - Center of Indigenous Peoples of BeniBeni DepartmentBeni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country , covering 213,564 square kilometers , and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José...
(Central de los Pueblos Indígenas de Beni; CPIB) - Indigenous Center of the Bolivian Amazon Region (Central Indígena de la Región Amazónica de Bolivia; CIRABO), including the following peoples: Cavineño, ChácoboChácobo languageChácobo is a Panoan language spoken by about 550 of 860 ethnic tribal Chácobo people of the Beni department of northwest of Magdalena, Bolivia. Chácobo children are learning the language as a first language.-Numerals:-Pronouns:-Vocabulary:...
, Esse Ejja, Takana, PacahuaraPacahuara languagePacahuara is a nearly extinct Panoan language spoken by only 17 of 18 Pacahuara people. The Pacahuara have been located to northwest of Magdalena, Beni, Bolivia and to Nueva Esperanza municipality, of Federico Román Province in Pando. The Pacahuara are fully integrated with the Chácobo...
, and AraonasPacahuara languagePacahuara is a nearly extinct Panoan language spoken by only 17 of 18 Pacahuara people. The Pacahuara have been located to northwest of Magdalena, Beni, Bolivia and to Nueva Esperanza municipality, of Federico Román Province in Pando. The Pacahuara are fully integrated with the Chácobo...
. - Indigenous Center of the Originary Amazon Peoples of PandoPando DepartmentPando is a department of Bolivia, with an area of , adjoining the border with Brazil. Pando has a population 66,689 . Its capital is the city of Cobija....
(Central Indígena de la Pueblos Originarios Amazónicos de Pando; CIPOAP) - Center of Indigenous Peoples of La PazLa PazNuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
(Central de Pueblos Indígenas de La Paz; CPILAP) - Coordination of Indigenous Peoples of the Tropic of CochabambaCochabambaCochabamba is a city in central Bolivia, located in a valley bearing the same name in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and is the fourth largest city in Bolivia with an urban population of 608,276 and a metropolitan population of more than 1,000,000 people...
(Coordinadora de Pueblos Indígenas del Trópico de Cochabamba; CPITCO) - Organization of Weehnayek and TapieteTapietéTapieté is a subdialect of Eastern Bolivian Guaraní spoken by 33 Paraguayans , 100 Argentines, and 70 Bolivians. It is also known as Guasurango, Guasurangue, Tirumbae, Yanaigua, Ñanagua, and Nandeva....
Captaincies (Organización de Capitanías Weehnayek y Tapiete; ORCAWETA)
Mobilizations
CIDOB has been the principal organizer of a series of national marches. The first was the March for Territory and Dignity, from TrinidadTrinidad, Bolivia
Trinidad, officially La Santísima Trinidad , is a city in Bolivia, capital of the department of Beni. The population is 130,000 ....
, Beni
Beni Department
Beni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country , covering 213,564 square kilometers , and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José...
to La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
in July and August 1990. This march led to the recognition of four indigenous territories
Native Community Lands
Native Community Lands , according to Bolivian law, are territories held by indigenous people through collective title. The creation of these territories has been a major goal of Bolivian indigenous movements and a political initiative pursued by both neoliberal and indigenous-identified national...
(Siriono Indigenous Territory, Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory is a protected area and Native Community Land in Bolivia situated between the north of the Cochabamba Department and the south of the Beni Department...
, the Multiethnic Indigenous Territory I, and Chimán Indigenous Territory) and the government's 1991 ratification of the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 is an International Labour Organization Convention, also known as ILO-convention 169, or C169. It is the major binding international convention concerning indigenous peoples, and a forerunner of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.It...
. A second March for Territory, Land, Political Participation and Development was held in 1996. It began with 2000 CIDOB marchers in Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...
on August 27, 1996, and was joined by members of the Unique Confederation of Rural Laborers of Bolivia (CSUTCB) and the Bolivian Syndicalist Confederation of Colonizers
Syndicalist Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia
The Syndicalist Confederation of Intercultural Communities of Bolivia is a peasant union of rural communities in the lowlands of Bolivia whose members included people of highland origin. It is led by Pedro Calderón and includes federations in six departments: La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz,...
(CSCB) on the following day. CIDOB won its demand that indigenous land rights be protected as indigenous territories, with elements of sovereignty and local jurisdiction and ended its participation in the march in Samaipata, Santa Cruz. CSUTCB and CSCB continued the march to La Paz, where some 13,000 marchers grew to twenty to forty thousand protesters, but were unsuccessful in winning the campesino federations' demands. The mobilization coincided with the passage of the 1996 National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA) Law (Law 1715), which changed land reform policy in ways that encouraged absentee land ownership and speculation.
In 2000, CPESC (the regional federation for Santa Cruz), the Mojeño people of Beni, and several Amazonian peoples carried out the March for the Earth, Territory, and Natural Resources from Montero, Santa Cruz. This march won changes to the agrarian reform law and a decree officially recognizing
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
lowland indigenous languages.
A 2002 March for Popular Sovereignty, Territory, and National Resources marched from Santa Cruz to La Paz.
In October and November 2006, CIDOB, the Bolivian Landless Workers Movement (MST-Bolivia), highland indigenous groups, and others joined in a National March for Land and Territory. This 28-day march was designed to propel the passage of a new land reform law, then mired in Bolivia's National Congress
National Congress of Bolivia
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly also known as the National Congress is the national legislature of Bolivia, based in the nation's de facto capital, La Paz....
. After 2,000 marchers arrived in El Alto on November 27, they were joined by tens of thousands of other demonstrators in marching to La Paz's Plaza San Francisco, and on to the Plaza Murillo before the National Congress building where they set up a tent city. The encampment continued until the passage of a new land reform law.
On 7 July 2007, CIDOB began a Sixth Indigenous March from Santa Cruz to the Constituent Assembly then meeting in Sucre. The march demanded indigenous autonomy, territorial protection, a plurinational state, and indigenous control over natural resources in their territories. On 10 July, CIDOB president Adolfo Chávez was assaulted by right-wing protesters in Sucre's airport during a visit to present the organization's demands. The 470 marchers included 170 women and 68 children under 12. After ten days of marching under difficult weather conditions, CIDOB suspended the march in the locality of El Torno, announcing that 75% of its demands had been acceded to by the Assembly's commissions. Eleven member organizations announced they would each send 10 representatives to Sucre to watch over the progress of their proposals.
In July 2010, CIDOB led its seventh national march--Seventh Great Indigenous March for Territory, Autonomies, and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples --demanding greater indigenous autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
. This march made a 13 point set of demands (full translated text on WikiSource):
- Titling and respect for Indigenous Communal Territories (TCOs)
- (same subject as 1)
- Return of lands
- Annulling of mining and forest concessions that affect indigenous territories
- Territorial integrity of TCOs
- Autonomy with resources
- Autonomy without a minimum number of inhabitants required
- The right to consultation
- Development projects
- Economic resources
- Consultation on projects
- Additional seats in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly
- The presence of indigenous authorities within the Government
The March ended after traveling from Trinidad, Beni to San Ramón, Santa Cruz
San Ramón, Santa Cruz
San Ramón is a small town in Bolivia.-References:...
, following incomplete negotiations and government pledges of action.
On July 26, 2011, CIDOB put forward a platform of demands for the Eighth March of the Indigenous Peoples of the East, Chaco, and Bolivian Amazon , which began in defense of the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory
Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory is a protected area and Native Community Land in Bolivia situated between the north of the Cochabamba Department and the south of the Beni Department...
against the planned construction of the Villa Tunari-San Ignacio de Moxos highway. The march from Trinidad
Trinidad, Bolivia
Trinidad, officially La Santísima Trinidad , is a city in Bolivia, capital of the department of Beni. The population is 130,000 ....
, Beni
Beni Department
Beni, sometimes El Beni, is a northeastern department of Bolivia, in the lowlands region of the country. It is the second largest department in the country , covering 213,564 square kilometers , and it was created by supreme decree on November 18, 1842 during the administration of General José...
, is scheduled to begin on August 15. The highland indigenous organization CONAMAQ, the Chiquitano Indigenous Organization, and the Assembly of the Guaraní People have all pledged to participate.