Javier Milei and Indigenous Peoples

Javier Milei and Indigenous Peoples

Written on 10 September 2024. Posted in Argentina

BY SILVINA RAMÍREZ FOR DEBATES INDÍGENAS

Only five months after taking office, the new anarcho-capitalist government attempted to repeal the Land Law through a decree, announced the dissolution of the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI) and changed the name of the Indigenous Peoples Hall of the Government House. The main threat in this context is that Javier Milei presents himself as an ally of extractivism and promises to promote the extraction of minerals found in Indigenous people's territories. Although the future of the new government is uncertain, we can infer a deepening of territorial conflicts and the lack of protection of Indigenous people's rights.

In Argentina, the current government administration is unprecedented in ideological terms and is on a path that is difficult to describe. And even more difficult to foresee in the immediate future. The government's declared policy of dismantling the State (not only shrinking it) has complex consequences which will need to be fully assessed, in an ever-changing and dynamic scenario. Every one of the measures taken continues to surprise negatively, in a disarticulated social context with little capacity to respond. Added to this context is the legitimacy that the president holds, because of the electoral results of November 2023.

To explain and understand the emergence of a president self-adjectivized as "anarcho-capitalist", we must also understand the recent Argentine history, marked by an omnipresent rift between the different political parties. And in the last four years, by a takeover of the State by supposedly progressive forces, which demonstrated its worst facets in the presidency of Alberto Fernandez, characterized (beyond the pandemic and other misfortunes that are always mentioned) by inertia and inefficiency.

As an example, it is enough to mention that, due to the internal conflicts within the governing alliance itself, Fernández was unable to appoint a new Attorney General of the State (the nomination of Judge Daniel Rafecas, who specializes in Human Rights, was never endorsed by Cristina Kirchner) or to fill the vacancy for Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice that had been vacated in 2021. Nor was it able to appoint an Ombudsman whose position has been left undesignated for years. Faced with this panorama of the absence of agreements, progressivism was much less able to build a framework of protection and specific policies for Indigenous Peoples.

Measures against Indigenous People's rights

In the current context, with its different political leanings and ideological bias, formulating public policies that guarantee the rights of Indigenous Peoples becomes a matter of chance. Some of the measures have already been part of the Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/23 (the unconstitutionality of which is flagrant, despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Justice is reluctant to issue a ruling) that modifies or repeals some 300 laws in force: the repeal of the Land Law that impacts Indigenous communities, the closure of the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) or the announced dissolution of the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI).

Although the republican counterweights have put some limits to these measures, the closing of INADI and INAI was not effective because both institutes were created by law, everything points to an extremely complicated future for Indigenous Peoples. Indeed, at the time of writing this note, the last known measure is the change of name of the Indigenous Peoples Hall of the Casa Rosada (as the government house is called). What might seem a minor matter, in fact has a symbolic value not to be underestimated: the same thing happened with the name of the Women's Hall on March 8.

In all his speeches, President Javier Milei demonstrates an aversion to the collective and denigrates any view of the world that is different from the one he holds. In this way, the idea of cultural diversity has no place. It is enough to point out that the government declared the year 2024 as the "Year of the Defense of Life, Liberty and Property" and, consequently, any State document is now labeled with that phrase. As the phrase refers to private property, it is possible to infer that the respect for Indigenous community property, constitutionally contemplated, will be a mere abstraction during the present administration.

Likewise, during the electoral campaign, the current vice-president, Victoria Villarruel, denounced repeatedly the demands of the Indigenous people for their territorial rights. As a discursive strategy, Milei's running mate emphasized the defense of sovereignty, stating that Indigenous people's claims are an attack against national sovereignty. A highly creative look for a government that just received with honors the head of the U.S. Southern Command, General Laura Richardson. As one of her first measures as President of the Senate Chamber, Villarruel dissolved the Indigenous Peoples Commission.

Contempt for the rights won

If we review the Argentine State's outstanding debts with Indigenous Peoples, we see these have been increasing and accumulating over the decades. Undoubtedly, the recognition of their territories is the most important and serious debt. It is not only because it means for the Indigenous people the real possibility to continue surviving with their own cultural identity, but also because the lack of recognition of their territories is part of the consequences of conquest and colonialism. The dispossession of their territories became commonplace in the chronicles of the past, but today they acquire centrality precisely because the disputes are increasing in the heat of the interests forged around them.

It is enough to think that the libertarian ideal, which undoubtedly despises equality, only has in mind the annihilation of the State and the elimination of the tools used to protect our rights. While it is worth reflecting on the role that the State has played regarding Indigenous Peoples, in Argentina there was and still is a historical continuity in the policies defined for Indigenous Peoples, characterized by their insufficiency or, even worse, their absence. As the different administrations were resistant to territorial recognition, including the governments described as national and popular, at first glance one can say that there are no reasons to trust the State.

That said, it must be admitted that the different instances or mechanisms of the State, in their different dimensions, even if imperfect, have an irreplaceable role to play. Whether to formulate specific and intercultural public policies; to guarantee the fulfillment of rights; to distribute wealth; or to combat racism and discrimination. If these tools were to disappear or if inequalities were not to find a place on public agendas, little could be done to redouble the struggle for Indigenous people's rights.

Extractivism's best ally

The present and future scenario is extremely uncertain and complex for Indigenous Peoples. Rights are still in force and have normative strength, but if before Milei's arrival they were already being violated, today there is an endorsement from the highest authorities of the country to violate them. The State's interlocutors to advance in the implementation of rights are non-existent and the institutions mandated to deal with Indigenous peoples enjoy a dubious status. The reduction of the State, while appearing to be consistent with the first part of this government's political vision, "anarchism", acquires a frankly worrying nuance with the second part of the qualification, "capitalism".

As in the rest of the region, in Argentina, capitalism has meant a permanent threat of extraction and plundering that takes place daily through extractivist activities. It privileges companies, whatever their capital, prioritizing the private sector, and generates the false illusion of a free market beneficial to all citizens. However, it concentrates wealth in the hands of a few and only protects a consumption system whose core is to produce to consume, in an upward spiral that knows no costs, damages nor sacrifices.

Thus, oil and gas exploitation, mega-mining, lithium extraction and real estate businesses find their best ally in the current government administration. Although Indigenous people's territories are in dispute and that resistance is taking place in the territory itself, the struggle is also being fought in the judicial field. As an example, suffice it to mention the court ruling that prohibited the continued exploitation of the Hombre Muerto salt flat in the province of Catamarca and ordered an environmental impact assessment, based on an environmental appeal filed by the Indigenous community that inhabits the region.

However, the balance of power is very uneven. Without the presence of the State as regulator and controller of private advances over the common goods of Indigenous people's territories, the results will be negative and devastating for the communities. The situation becomes even more pressing when Javier Milei's government presents itself as an ally of extractivism and promises to be the driving force behind the extraction of the wealth found in Indigenous people's territories.

Towards the infringement of Indigenous People's rights

It is difficult to predict the immediate future or to make a long-term prognosis. From the analysis of the government's latest measures, it is possible to infer a deepening of territorial conflicts, a greater lack of protection of Indigenous people's rights and the impossibility of a discussion for Indigenous community property law. This law is still pending and was ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Lhaka Honhat vs. Argentina ruling, which held the Argentine State responsible for the violation of a set of Indigenous rights (including the right to Indigenous community property).

The Emergency Law on Indigenous People's Possession and Property 26160 of 2006 is still in force, as of its extension by a Necessity and Urgency Decree of the previous government (which did not reach the consensus to pass it by law). However, it will cease to be in effect on November 23, 2025. It is worth mentioning that in 2022 deputies of the current ruling party (including the president) presented a bill to repeal it, so it would not be surprising if they tried again. This would leave Indigenous people without one of the few tools available to them to prevent evictions.

Although international legal instruments continue to be binding in Argentina, in many cases they become expressions of wishful thinking in the face of a clearly adverse local reality. Despite everything, Indigenous Peoples continue to outline different strategies to claim, denounce and move forward in the pursuit of their rights. What is clear in Argentina is that we are witnessing a new cycle in the relationship between the State and Indigenous Peoples that refashions the present tensions and the most traumatizing experiences. In the face of general unpredictability, the future is uncertain.

Silvina Ramírez is a lawyer and holds a PhD in Law. She also teaches postgraduate courses at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO Argentina). She is a member of the Association of Lawyers for Indigenous Rights (Asociación de Abogadxs de Derecho Indígena - AADI) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Center of Public Policies for Socialism (Comisión Directiva del Centro de Políticas Públicas para el Socialismo - CEPPAS).

Tags: Indigenous Debates

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