Radio Mundo Real

The qom Navogoh indigenous community located in Formosa Province, Argentina, demonstrated on Wednesday in Buenos Aires to demand justice after the murder of two members of the community who were killed during a violent eviction.

Four months ago, Roberto Lopez and Mario Lopez were murdered while the police repressed a protest carried out by the native peoples who were partially blocking a road to demand their lands back.

The indigenous people have denounced discriminatory actions by the provincial government. The Argentinian media reported for instance that a member of the community was denied medical attention and he died days later of tuberculosis.

The conflict over land goes back to the 1940s, when the lands that had been promised by a decree to the indigenous people were occupied by members of the local oligarchy. Then, by early 1950s, a national park within traditional lands was created.

But the violence suffered by the qom Navogoh people is also taking place nowadays, since a few years ago, the provincial government bought lands that belonged to the traditional heritage of the indigenous people in order to build a university institution.

As a response to this the indigenous people had blocked the road as a measure of protest that was kept for four months, until they were violently evicted by the police.

The indigenous people are expecting to meet with Argentinian president, Cristina Fernandez, to denounce their case. They have set up a campsite in Buenos Aires, capital city of the country, to wait for the president’s response.

Photo: http://comunidadlaprimavera.blogspo...