Global markets and global rights: implication for the indigenous people from Latin America and Canada

Abstract

This article analyzes the implications that the different expressions of globalization —that of markets manifested in trade agreements and in the proliferation of extractive industries' investments, and that referred to the international recognition of human right— are having for indigenous peoples in Latin America and Canada. The impacts generated by the activities undertaken by these industries, many of them Canadian, on indigenous lands and territories, both in Latin America and in Canada, without free prior informed consent of the communities affected, without their participation on benefits, and without compensation for damages, are described. We argue that the new legal scenario which has emerged with the globalization of human rights, will oblige Canada and Latin American states to revise their legal framework and policies referred to the activities of these industries on indigenous lands and territories, in order to ensure the respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.