Venezuelan indigenous populations live in a country characterised by a very serious deterioration of social, economic and cultural rights, as well as the endemic violation of human and political rights (Provea 1996:19). In order to best understand the conditions in which indigenous people live in Venezuela, it is essential to incorporate this general context into the analysis. This national situation affects indigenous people in two interrelated ways: at one level, and like the great majority of the country, they face severe problems on a daily basis; whilst at another level the national context restricts the impact of their efforts to reclaim and defend their specific rights as indigenous people.

The purpose of this essay is to consider the implications of a project approved by the World Bank. This project will be used as the basis for the implementation of new regulations affecting the management of the National Parks, without due consideration being given to the fact that they are also the ancestral home of indigenous communities. The importance of the project is self-evident, in particular as it is the only legal document of the 90s which directly affects indigenous people. The new regulations do not seek the protection of indigenous communities - as one might expect - but the consolidation and expansion of government structures within indigenous land.

Venezuela forms part of a small group of six Latin American countries which, according to a WWF classification, possess what has been termed "megadiversity". Seeking to subject this rich diversity of resources to the interests of the state, Venezuela has set up a great number of areas under environmental protection (MARNR 1992). Since 1937, the year when the Henri Pittier National Park was created, Venezuela has established 39 National Parks, 17 Natural Monuments, 47 Protected Areas, 10 Forestry Reserves and two Biospheres. By themselves, the National Parks represent 15% of the national territory.

The economic value of the areas under protection is an important element that helps to understand recent developments in relation to environmental policies. These measures directly affect indigenous people because protected areas are occupied by a significant number of indigenous peoples.

The most important National Parks are located in areas of the interior which are recognised as ancestral indigenous land. The National Parks "Canaima" (1962), "Perija" (1978), "Yapacuana" (1978), "Serrania La Neblina" (1978), "Ciaruco-Capanaparo" (1988), "Parima-Tapirapeco" (1991) and "Mariusa" (1991) are the traditional homes of at least 13% of indigenous peoples.

For many years, the presence of indigenous communities within protected areas has been allowed to continue within a very loose legal framework. Article 28 of the Agrarian Reform establishes that protected areas such as National Parks, Forest Reserves, Natural Monuments and areas under special regulations will not be included as areas that can be claimed for the purposes of the Reform. It follows then, that those indigenous people living in protected areas cannot be the legal owners of the land.

It is important to ask how can indigenous communities develop their traditional way of living and culture within protected areas? As a result of the legislation, indigenous people are confronted with all type of restrictions, affecting the use they can give to the land and the benefits they can derive from its natural resources. Within protected areas, the legal ownership of ancestral land is not permitted and subsistence activities are severely curtailed (PROVEA 1990:104). Furthermore, as a result of in-built bias on the part of the authorities and the lack of enforcement of legal norms, indigenous people have to tolerate the presence of mining corporations and tourist agencies carrying out activities and operations which are illegal within protected areas, although it is not at all uncommon that in some cases they might be able to produce concessions and permits of doubtful legality.

In agreement with the Organic Law for the Territorial Administration of the Country (1983) and other legislation, the administration of areas under protection must be based on a management plan and a set of regulations for their use. In spite of what the law establishes, for many years protected areas have been deprived of these regulations. Attempts to correct the situation were made in 1989 with the promulgation of Decree 276, which established the legal framework for the management of National Parks without their own regulations.

The Decree is also the first legislation in which the long-term presence of indigenous peoples within National Parks is acknowledged. Moreover, it establishes that the area occupied by them will be demarcated as "areas for the use of the aboriginal population".

Notwithstanding, the decree represents the desire of the state to control extensive areas of the country, which up until then had not been affected by a specific legal framework. As a matter of fact, in their condition of ancestral indigenous land, these territories had been free from state control.

The intervention of the World Bank in the 1990s marks the starting point of an important development in the area of environmental policies. In 1991 the World Bank publishes the document "Environmental Issues Paper for Venezuela", in which several weak points are pinpointed as affecting the country in this area. These limitations stem from the inability of the state to enforce environmental standards and to manage its natural resources in a sustainable way.

From that moment onwards, the World Bank's objectives were to strengthen the management of protected areas. Within this set of new policies, a fundamental role was given to Inparques, an institution which since 1978 had the sole responsibility for overseeing the management of National Parks, Protected Areas and Natural Monuments.

It is important to stress that at no time were indigenous peoples consulted, informed or invited to participate in the discussions between the World Bank and the Venezuelan authorities. Between the end of 1991 and April 1992, several delegations which visited the country arrived at the final conclusion that the centralisation of all administrative and technical functions in the Central Office of Inparques located in Caracas was a major contributory factor to the weakness of the state in managing the national resources existing within National Parks. Furthermore, it was highlighted that Inparques' regional offices had neither adequate staff nor the required infrastructure to carry out its duties. To make matters worse, the report added that Inparques did not have the legal authority to fulfil these responsibilities (World Bank 1992a: 40).

In the same year, the World Bank published the report "National Parks Management Project", in which due consideration is given to a loan of 55 million US dollars. The project, which started in 1992, has a duration of five years and among the most important objectives it set out to achieve is the strengthening of 16 national parks in the north of Venezuela and 4 within the Venezuelan Amazonia region. In relation to these last four, the project proposes to set up control offices in areas of strategic importance (airstrips, river crossings etc.), as well as increasing the number of security guards and equipping them with the necessary technical equipment to carry out their duties (radios, transport etc).

The ultimate objective of the project is the preservation of the biodiversity and the protection of natural resources, wealth which in turn will secure important economic benefits for the country. To develop this last objective a significant participation from the private sector must be encouraged.

In many ways the whole of the project "Management of National Parks" has all the characteristics that one has come to associate with "typical" World Bank models. The aim is to achieve objectives of a diverse nature through the commercial value assigned to the natural resources available in national parks, such as logging, mining and tourism. All these plans correspond in turn to the economic needs of both Venezuelan and world markets.

The project seeks technocratic solutions to the clear threats faced by the Venezuelan environment, and it is expected that scientific research applied to these problems would facilitate the sustainable use of the resources and rational exploitation for commercial purposes of these national resources.

In reality, the project gave a tremendous boost to the environmental policies currently in vogue in Venezuela, and whose fundamental philosophy has been to consider the environment as a productive factor within the needs of the market economy. The project wants to influence those factors responsible for weakening the environmental policies of the national government, which are given the stamp of approval when defined as "well conceived".

What the project fails to address is that in six of these national parks there are indigenous populations. The World Bank does not consider it a pre-requisite to enlist the participation of these cultures in the objective of achieving better and more effective management of the Parks. The strengthening of institutional agencies centres itself on improving Inparques.

According to the criteria used by the project, it is the prerogative of the institutions in charge to define the regulations for the management and use of the protected areas. It follows then, that these organisations would not only have to be in charge of any scientific activity but also of drawing up criteria for any environmental education programmes and definition of target populations.

The problem is that the project leaves all the responsibility in the hands of the government and its organisations, whilst the "local communities" are prevented from any participation, in spite of the fact that they will be directly affected by the management regulations. Not only has the project failed to give responsibilities to the indigenous people in relation to the management of the Park but, in addition, they are included as part of the generic term "local people", thus failing to distinguish indigenous people as a specific culture (World Bank 1992a: 18).

In the best cases, the participation of local people is encouraged as part of the search for solutions designed to counterbalance losses arising from social conflict.

Venezuelan indigenous policy has always oscillated between the complete denial of the existence of indigenous peoples on one hand, and on the other the state wanting to establish a strong presence and to control effectively the territories inhabited by indigenous people. This policy is easily appreciated in the lack of specific norms dedicated exclusively to addressing indigenous issues.

However, if in the past indigenous people confronted a precarious situation, it is now worse as new threats to the indigenous cultures have emerged. These threats have their origin in the international interest that prevails today in relation to the wealth of natural resources found in indigenous ancestral territories. The irony of the situation is that these interests are hidden behind a conservationist discourse.

The World Bank project as it stands carries a tremendous impact, weakening direct indigenous control over their territories, whilst simultaneously the presence of the state (and the economic interests it represents) is strengthened. Management plans for those Parks where there is an indigenous presence have been drawn up. This administrative measure confirms the sovereignty of the state within indigenous territories. The basic objectives of these management plans is to demarcate areas within parks dedicated for the exclusive "use of the aboriginal populations", while the protection of the parks and the conservation of national resources is given the status of issues of national interest. No thought is given to the need to establish strategies which would allow indigenous peoples to be able to control future developments within their territories. What the authorities have in mind here is the traditional conception that within national parks human presence needs to be restricted, thus ignoring that these parks are also the ancestral home of important cultures of the region.

Ministry of the Environment and Non-renewable Resources (MARNR)
"Areas Naturales Protegidas"

Caracas 1992

PROVEA

"Situación de los Derechos Humanos en Venezuela"

Annual report 1989/90; 1993/94; 1995/96

World Bank

"Environmental Issues Paper for Venezuela"

IBRD Report No 8272-VE

1991

"Staff Appraisal Report -Venezuela: National Parks Management Project"

Report No 11208 -VE

1992a

"Proyecto de Infraestructura Judicial de Venezuela"

Informe de Evaluación

1006535-VE