Politcal change - what will it mean?

Elections have came and gone. We are all set to be ruled by Cristina, the wife of the current president, Nestor Kirchner (or the penguin, as he often referred to as a result of his nose and the fact that he is from Patagonia). There were two other, possible more competent contenders, but Mrs. Kirchner obviously managed to attract the popular interest, as she ended up with over 45% votes. It will be interesting to see how things go under the first elected female president the country has ever had.

Nestror (Pinguino) and Crsitina Kirchner

At a provincial level the elections mean a change of authorities, as the ruling party just lost to the opposition. We do not as yet know what this means in terms of indigenous land rights and the whole issue of deforestation. What we do know, and Andrew has it straight from the horse’s mouth, is that the current government has received applications for the deforestation of approximately 850.000 acres of Chaco forest. We do know this means we have our work cut out for us, as we seek to help affected indigenous communities to try and protect at least some the forests they need for their survival.

Andrew spends much of his time preparing for the public hearings that each deforestation applications must go through. This is a tedious task, and as one might imagine, quite depressing. The worst part of it is, is that the government is not legally bound by the results of these enquiries. At the end of the day, they decide for themselves whether or not to give the green light for the bulldozers to move in.

We have just heard that the government intends to allow the deforestation of an area of 70.000 acres (El Alamo) which is located within a traditional indigenous territory. If this does happen it will mean a major blow, as we have put a lot of effort into this particular case. Then again, this is the reality we are up against, so one cannot afford to be got down by such events.

This picture, taken by GREENPEACE (ARGENTINA), shows the ugly side of sugar cane production in Salta, as tropical rain forest is removed to make way for sugar cane,

Indian leaders have called for a major meeting on the issue of their land claims and deforestation. This will take place on the 8^th November, in Misión Chaqueña. A number of national government officials are expected to attend. It is good to see Indian leaders themselves taking an initiative in this regard. ASOCIANA will be involved in helping to coordinate the logistics of the event, together with another local NGO, called FUNDAPAZ.

Andrew, and Zacarias (ASOCIANA) discussing a deforestation proposal with Bautista, leader of community that is now seeing its traditioanal forest-covered territory being turned into soy bean fields.

Another positive note is that the government has in agreed to hand over nearly a million acres of land to the indigenous communities of the Pilcomayo. There is still a lot of work to be done before a final deal can be implemented, but it is a major encouragement after so many years of work that have more often than not met with frustration.