Chile: Indigenous Peoples Demand Fair Representation

Chile's Senate again postponed a vote due to take place on Wednesday on the representation of Indigenous peoples in the Conventional Constitution, the legal body responsible for writing the new Carta Magna.

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After several discussions that stopped on October 16 and with voting scheduled for next Tuesday, there is still no agreement regarding these communities' participation in the process, which accounts for 12 percent of Chile's population. 

Progressive forces defend the idea that these positions should be created in addition to the 155 seats the Convention is expected to have. On the other hand, Sebastián Piñera's government says that these peoples should be included within the 155 seats, otherwise leading to disproportionate representation by indigenous people.

This is the first time in Chile's history that Indigenous peoples will be represented in a constitutional body. In this sense, its leaders also asked for an equal number of seats for men and women.

Furthermore, the representatives explained that people should have the right to decide their own identity regarding the ten Indigenous peoples officially recognized in Chile instead of limiting its population to the National Indigenous Development Corporation's data.

"To give more seats to some peoples and less to others is to discriminate against us, for peoples or nations must participate on an equal footing in the drafting of this new Constitution," president of the Quechua Territorial Community of Quipisca Wilfredo Bacian explained.