Territorios indígenas fragmentados y Estado Nación Venezuela. El (des)balance histórico de un conflicto

The question of indigenous peoples has gained strength in the international arena since the late 20th century, moving away from the relatively marginal position that it traditionally held. Coinciding with the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, a whole variety of indigenous social movements has risen to prominence, providing a wide platform for the political organization of the continent’s original inhabitants. These events have led to the recognition of a series of national, region-wide and universal rights, the most important being those expressed in the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Among the many rights afforded to indigenous peoples, the right to land, understood as the set of property and possession rights exercised by a people over the territories that they have traditionally occupied or used, is featured prominently. The importance of the right to land derives from the fact that it is a necessary condition for the materialization of other rights including, in addition to the collective rights that indigenous peoples are entitled to as protected groups, the rights afforded to the individual members of indigenous communities as citizens of a given nation. To the indigenous peoples, the significance of land extends beyond its economic value, being associated with a wide variety of cultural, political and spiritual aspects central to their ways of life. Therefore, without properly established land rights, it is not possible for the indigenous peoples to fully exercise some of their rights including, but not limited to, the rights to self-determination, freedom of religious practice and cultural and linguistic identity and education..