BACHELET PROPOSES REFORM FOR INDIGENOUS AGENCY UNDER FIRE

Striking Workers Accuse Council Of Mishandling Agency Funds And Mapuche Land Distributions Arrangements
President Michelle Bachelet is expected to propose an overhaul of the Chilean government's relations with native communities, creating a National Council of Indigenous Peoples and transforming the existing National Commission for Indigenous Development (CONADI).  

Amid criticism and investigations of client preference and irregularity in the distribution of land and subsidies, CONADI staff took to the streets as part of a multi-day strike last week. The workers argue that CONADI directors, rather than employees, were at fault for the mishandling of public funds and that the agency needs more staff and resources to handle its burgeoning responsibilities.
The President’s proposed restructuring would increase the efficiency, transparency and size of the agency, according to Bachelet’s Indigenous Affairs Minister, José Antonio Viera-Gallo.

“We're caught in a cross-fire,” said the National Association of CONADI Employees Secretary, Lohengri Ascencio, in an interview with the Santiago Times. “And we don't have the protection to stand up to political influences.”

In a meeting with CONADI personnel last Thursday, Viera-Gallo acknowledged the staff's concerns and suggested that the agency's personnel may increase. Today (Monday) the government will propose the creation of a new Ministry of Indigenous Issues and transform CONADI into an Indigenous Development Agency, according to daily “El Mercurio.”

The proposed reform would also create a Council of Indigenous Peoples, with 44 members chosen by popular vote to represent eight ethnicities within the country. That body would replace the current CONADI Council, which consists of 17 members, eight of whom are indigenous representatives.

Ascencio and Manuel Namuncura, President of the CONADI staff association, claim that most abuses of public resources stem from members of the existing council with connections to the recipients of land and subsidies. Of the 35 disciplinary actions pending against individuals at CONADI, they say, fewer than five deal with the mismanagement of public resources. And they claim most of those were filed by CONADI staff against superiors and council members interfering with the allocation of resources.

Since it was formed in 1993, CONADI has distributed more than 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) purchased from private owners through a land fund and transferred to native communities that claim original rights. CONADI has also overseen the disbursement of more than 300,000 hectares (750,000 acres) of public land to native communities, as well as government subsidies for indigenous agriculture and development.

But the volume of demands on CONADI's limited resources has led to much criticism of delays and irregularities in its decision-making process. Land funding operations have also been stymied as land prices nearly tripled since last year in the southern Region IX, known as the Araucanía, which includes the majority of the program's claims and transfers.

The government blames speculation by landowners for the sudden spike, but farmers in the region say they are being pushed off their land and have a right to corresponding compensation.

The sense of urgency about CONADI's task has grown in the Araucanía especially, where some Mapuche groups have resorted to land occupations and periodic violence. The Mapuche make up Chile's largest indigenous community, accounting for 4 percent of Chile’s total population and roughly a quarter of the inhabitants of the Araucanía.

The regional conflict flared last month when a 24-year-old Mapuche was killed by a uniformed police officer during the occupation of an estate in the northern Araucanía. Indigenous activists responded to the shooting with protests and violence, shutting down highways in the IX Region and occupying universities, rural estates and municipal buildings
By Brad Haynes