Venezuela President Hugo Chavez announced on August 9 that he has "reversed centuries of injustice" by granting six indigenous communities title to their ancestral lands, according to The Washington Post. Chavez further stated that he hoped the Venezuelan government would return land titles to 15 other indigenous communities by the end of the year. The titles recognize original land ownership of the six groups, which comprise approximately 4,000 people and a territory covering 314,000 acres in the country's eastern states of Anzoategui and Monagas.
With his promise to bestow additional land titles, however, Chavez cautioned that the process of granting legal ownership must respect Venezuela's "territorial unity." According to the Washington Post, he said, "Don't ask me to give you the state's rights to exploit mines, to exploit oil." An estimated 300,000 people belong to 28 indigenous groups in Venezuela, with the majority living in the southeastern region of the country.
