Juan Manuel Urtubey casting his vote in Salta. (courtesy of Urtubey for Governor)
The governor of Salta province, Juan Manuel Urtubey, signed the transfer of 643,000 hectares of state-owned land to indigenous communities and criollo families. The decree, approved by Urtubey yesterday, puts an end to a 20-year dispute over land rights that reached the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
According to the deal, 400,000 hectares of the contested territory will become community property for 17 different indigenous groups that claim the land. The remaining 243,000 hectares will be transferred to around 400 criollo families living in the area.
Urtubey said the decree marked an inflection point for the region, and said he took it as a “personal challenge” to develop the region.
Indigenous communities in the area have been seeking legal recognition of their territory for over two decades. They claim the official demarcation of lands was necessary to prevent conflict with criollo families that compete for resources in the region.
In 1998, after the government began construction of public works as part of Argentina’s integration into Mercosur, the case was presented to the IACHR by the Lhaka Honhat Association and the Centre for Legal and Social Studies (CELS).
In 2012, after years of frustrated negotiations in an attempt to reach a so-called “friendly settlement”, the IACHR concluded that the Argentine state had violated the rights of the indigenous communities and urged a swift resolution. Earlier this year, the IACHR agreed to extend the deadline to reach a settlement until the start of June, after which time, the case would be referred to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
The post Salta: Land Transfer to Indigenous Groups Ends 20-Year Dispute appeared first on The Argentina Independent.
