Week 12—History of Latin America
Native Americans and Neoliberalism
************************************************************

Indigenous Movements since 1948

I. What is an Indian? (indígena/pueblo)

- as a racial category
- as a cultural category
- in relation to the nation-state: assimilation vs. autonomy vs. ??
- as a community of memory

II. A timeline of indigenous activism

- antecedents
- since 1948:

1948, UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1966, UN Intl. Charter for the Rights of Mankind
1960s, emergence of NGOs dedicated to indigenous American causes
1974, Canadian indigenous group gets seat at UN
1980s, World Council of Indigenous Peoples

III. Native Americans and Neoliberalism: The Zapatistas

A. The Rebellion

- 1992, Carlos Salinas de Gortari; NAFTA
- Chiapas
- Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN)
- Subcomandante Marcos / Delegado Cero

B. The National Movement

- Feb. 1994, PRI presidential candidate assassinated
- July 1994, Aguascalientes forum (inviting the PRD)
- August 1994, Ernesto Zedillo wins presidency
- Dec. 1994, devaluation of Mexican peso
- Feb. 1995, Mexican army breaks cease-fire

C. Zapatista Ideology

- pan-Maya/nationalist/international
- "radical democracy"
- anti-neoliberal

IV. What do indigenous groups want?

A. Countries with (close to) indigenous majorities

- Guatemala

pan-Maya movement
1999 referendum on indigenous rights

- Ecuador

1986, CONAIE
1990 uprising
2000 coup

- Bolivia

Evo Morales (Aymara, elected 2005, 2009)
Constitution of 2009: a plurinational unitary state

B. Countries with indigenous minorities

- Paraguay and Argentina (Guaraní)
- Brazil (1988) and Colombia (1991)