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17-18Jun15

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Repudiation of the actions of TOTAL petroleum company and of the Ministry of Hydrocarbons in the matter of ancestral remains


RESOLUTION OF THE GUARANI NATION

In the indigenous community of Caraparicito of the TCO Alto Parapeti in Cordillera Province of the Department of Santa Cruz, the Guaraní Nation, in plenary session in the presence of the Councils of Guaraní Captains of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca and Tarija and of the National APG, the Captaincy and Communities, the heads of international relations and cooperation of the COICA (The Co-ordinator of Indigenous Organisations of the Amazon Basin) and the President of the CCNAGUA (the Continental Council of the Guaraní Nation) all attended a National Great Assembly on 17th and 18th June 2015 at the meeting rooms of the community of Caraparicito.

In view of the report of the Government commission, of the Vice Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the complementary information of TOTAL petroleum, by mandate of the Departmental Assembly of Santa Cruz dated 4th June 2015,

We hereby consider that:

The place of rest of our ancestors found in the area of development of hydrocarbon activities is an invaluable sacred site, and is the cultural, social and historic patrimony of our Guarani nation.

The ancestral remains found in the community of Caraparicito are custodians of our lands. We, the Guaranis have been chosen by the lands and by our ancestors to look after it.

Our rights as indigenous peoples to participation, to prior consultation, the right to free and informed consent, the right to free determination, to autonomy and to the management of our territories, to the recognition of the intellectual ownership of our ancestral knowledge, our right to the territory, to the transmission of our traditions and the protection of our sacred places have all been violated.

TOTAL E&P Bolivie Petroleum Company has systematically ignored our organic structures and the system by which decisions of the Guarani nation are taken, which has resulted in the concern and the indignation of the Guarani nation.

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED.-

FIRST.- To declare as a SACRED SITE the area of the ancestral cemetery where our ancestors rested, the said site being the SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND HISTORIC PATRIMONY of the Guarani nation.

SECOND.- To enjoin the competent authorities of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of the Environment and Water and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to declare by means of a supreme decree that the area where the archaeological remains and the ancestral cemeteries of the Guarani nation are located are sacred sites and the CULTURAL PATRIMONY OF THE GUARANI NATION.

THIRD.- To demand that the osseous remains and the archaeological objects of our ancestors be returned to their original sites and to relocate the hydrocarbon activities of the Incahuasi field.

Executed in the community of Caraparicito, on 18th June 2015.

"FOR THE SELF-DETERMINATION OF THE GUARANI NATION"

[Source: Councils of Guarani Captains of Santa Cruz, Chuquisaca, Tarija and the National APG, the Captaincy and Communities of the TCO Alto Parapeti, Community of Caraparicito, 17 and 18 June 2015]

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