Indigenous peoples around the globe are making themselves heard in international arenas and at the national level. But many challenges remain in the fight for full recognition of all their rights.

GUATEMALA: Teaching With Two Voices
Inés Benítez
GUATEMALA CITY – In the Xepanil village school in Santa Apolonia, west of the Guatemalan capital, 20 children are learning both Spanish and the Mayan indigenous language Kaqchikel. Their teacher, Marta Lidia Rodríguez, one of thousands of bilingual education teachers in this country today, walks an hour a day to get to the school.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40344

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CANADA: Landmark Ruling Backs Native Self-Determination
Am Johal
VANCOUVER – In a case that took a decade to complete and cost close to 30 million dollars, a British Columbia Supreme Court judge gave a boost to Native Canadian bands seeking aboriginal land title, but also sent the various parties back to the table to negotiate a treaty.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40276

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PARAGUAY: More Than a Rap on the Knuckles
David Vargas
ASUNCIÓN – The Paraguayan government was reprimanded by a United Nations expert committee for the extent and degree of poverty in the country, the denial of land to campesinos and indigenous people, the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals and the persistence of discrimination against women.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40356

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ARGENTINA: Using Internet and Bicycles to Search Out Markets
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES – Just 45 kilometres outside of Buenos Aires, a group of 20 families have set up a farming operation where they work in harmony with nature and without bosses, selling their products through a small network of consumers who appreciate the benefits of organic food and cooperative labour.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40339

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CANADA: Government Urged to Rein in Mining Sector
Am Johal
VANCOUVER – Canadian mining companies continue to come under scrutiny from civil society organisations for international human rights violations and environmental damage that critics say the Canadian government has done little to check.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40353

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COLOMBIA: The Chibcha Culture – Forgotten, But Still Alive
Gloria Helena Rey
BOGOTÁ – Use of the sacred coca leaf, respect for water and nature, and other practices of the pre-Columbian Chibcha or Muisca culture survive in Colombia in spite of five centuries under attack. The culture was as highly-developed as those of the better-known Inca, Maya and Aztec people, according to scholars.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40290

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PHILIPPINES: Aerial Spraying Issue Turns Seesaw Court Battle
Brad Miller*
DAVAO CITY – The villagers in the mountains surrounding Davao city are bracing for the day the crop-dusting planes resume dropping fungicide on the banana plantations — and the wind blowing toxic fog over their houses, water supply and children.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40264

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BOLIVIA: Threat of ‘Secession’ from the East
Franz Chávez
SANTA CRUZ – The protests against the draft constitution approved by Bolivian President Evo Morales? supporters in the constituent assembly continued Tuesday in the country?s eastern regions with an announcement by a large landowner and local civic leader, Branco Marinkovic, of measures aimed at winning regional autonomy.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40242

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ARGENTINA: Ban on Logging Approved
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES – Pressure exerted by civil society and the creation of a compensation fund were crucial in securing the passage of a national law suspending all logging in native forests in Argentina, until such time as each province has a land use plan defining forest areas to remain untouched, and those that may be developed.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40277

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