NINA AGRAWAL, RICHARD ANDRÉ, RYAN BERGER, AND WILDA ESCARFULLER Political Representation, Policy & Inclusion
COLOMBIA
The turning point for Indige- nousand Afro-Colombianrep- resentation in Colombia was
the Constitution of 1991, which recognized the nation as multiethnic
and multicultural.
Despite its smaller overall population, the Indigenous movement
was better organized than the Afro-Colombian movement in the 1980s,
when the constitution was drafted.
Two Indigenous leaders were elected
to the Asamblea Nacional Constituy-ente (National Constituent Assembly)—the body that crafted the new
constitution—and pushed for the inclusion of provisions that addressed
ethnic and race-based interests such
as communal land rights and political participation.
In response, Article 171 of the Constitution created t wo reserved seats in
the Senate for Indigenous representatives elected in national districts. Law
70 of 1993 created two reserved seats
for Afro-Colombians in the Chamber
of Deputies. Later, Law 649 of 2001
granted Indigenous representatives
an additional seat in the Chamber. 3
CAMILO SANCHEZ PUERTO
These institutional mechanisms
have produced greater visibility and
representation for ethnic minorities. But the ethnically defined seats
proved to be a double-edged sword,
especially for Afro-Colombian voters
and representatives. By establishing
national reserved seats, the Afro-Colombian set-asides encouraged
a dangerous level of electoral competition among Afro-related movements and parties. One result was
political fragmentation: Afro-Colombians’ political weight on ethnic issues is weakened by their affiliation
to small Afro-Colombian parties that
command few votes in the case of reserved seats or, in the case of open
AMERICASQUARTERLY.ORG
Aura Dalia Caicedo leads the Kambiri national network of Afro-Colombian
women. Read her AQ profile on p. 82.
seats, major political parties that do
not prioritize ethnic issues.
The Indigenous fared better,
thanks to the support of established
social and political movements, particularly under the umbrella of the
Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (National Indigenous Organization of Colombia—ONIC). Alianza
Social Indígena (Indigenous Social Alliance—ASI) serves as the unofficial
political arm of ONIC and elected the
majority of Indigenous representatives to reserved and open seats in
1998 and 2010. Autoridades Indígenas
de Colombia (Indigenous Authorities
of Colombia—AICO) also elected a
critical mass of representatives.
In all, 13 Indigenous and Afro-
Colombian representatives served in
Colombia’s National Congress—a 102-
seat Senate and a 166-seat Chamber
of Deputies—bet ween 1998 and 2010.
National Congress, 1998–2002
From 1998 to 2002, Indigenous representatives sponsored 42 bills. Twenty-four of them were to modify the
constitution. Their legislative agenda
was dominated by social security
issues (education, health, poverty,
housing, protection for senior citizens, etc.).
One law, proposed by Indigenous
representative Jesús Enrique Piñacué
in 1999, guarantees the inclusion
of Indigenous Colombians in the
government-financed health care
system. The Law of Culturally Inclusive Health Care states that Indigenous communities are entitled
to health care benefits correspond-
Americas Quarterly SPRING 2012
99
