MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Pope Francis defends indigenous peoples' rights to their ancestral lands
Francis said the key issue facing indigenous peoples is how to reconcile the right to economic development with protecting their cultures and territories. Pope Francis insisted that indigenous groups must give prior consent to any economic activity affecting their ancestral lands, a view that conflict with the Trump administration, which is pushing to build a US$3.8bn oil pipeline over opposition from American Indians.
Francis met with representatives of indigenous peoples attending a U.N. agricultural meeting and said the key issue facing them is how to reconcile the right to economic development with protecting their cultures and territories.
“In this regard, the right to prior and informed consent should always prevail,” he said. “Only then is it possible to guarantee peaceful cooperation between governing authorities and indigenous peoples, overcoming confrontation and conflict.”
The Cheyenne River and the Standing Rock Sioux tribes have sued to stop construction on the final stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, which would bring oil from North Dakota's rich Bakken fields across four states to a shipping point in Illinois.
The tribes say the pipeline threatens their drinking water, cultural sites and ability to practice their religion, which depends on pure water. The last piece of the pipeline is to pass under a reservoir on the Missouri River, which marks the eastern border of both tribes' reservations.
The company building the pipeline, Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, has insisted the water supply will be safe.
Francis didn't cite the Dakota pipeline dispute by name and the Vatican press office said he was not making a direct reference to it. But history's first Latin American pope has been a consistent backer of indigenous rights and has frequently spoken out about the plight of Indians in resisting economic development that threatens their lands.
“For governments, this means recognizing that indigenous communities are a part of the population to be appreciated and consulted, and whose full participation should be promoted at the local and national level,” Francis told indigenous leaders.
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Read all commentsPope Francis defends indigenous peoples' rights to their ancestral lands,
Feb 25th, 2017 - 12:47 pm +7Does this now mean that all you usurpers from argie land and the others, should now pack your bags and leave them to their own lands that you lot stole from them. ?
“Argentines are the only non-squatters since we never acknowledged the indians.”
Feb 25th, 2017 - 06:36 pm +6So there were no indigenous peoples in what is now Argentina ?
How convenient for you. You also expect the descendants of the Mayans, Aztecs, Toltecs Incas, Jivaros etc to pack up and leave?
To where do the Inuit people leave for, or the Lakota,Navajo,Salish and Cheyenne ?
Well, you have explained the Argentine psyche. It makes them the scum of the Earth with you at the top of the list as their chief spokesman
Reference the Falklands - Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, said in 2012 when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires that Britain had “usurped” the disputed islands from Argentina. In 2011, he said the islands were “ours,” a view most Argentinians share.
Feb 25th, 2017 - 04:49 pm +4He's wrong of course.
Argentina's Illegitimate Sovereignty Claims:
https://www.academia.edu/27599163/Argentinas_Illegitimate_Sovereignty_Claims_V2
He also trusted that felt “used” by some of his countrymen, who have visited him on numerous occasions in the Vatican since he was elected Pope in March 2013. Among them were numerous politicians, including the current President, Mauricio Macri, and its predecessor, Cristina Kirchner. (Cadena 3 22.1.17)
Yep.
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