Ambassador Chartier Attends 55th OAS General Assembly

July 2, 2025

June 2025 - Ambassador Clément (Clem) Chartier attended the General Assembly of the Organization of the American States (OAS) held in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda from June 25 to 27, 2025. The theme of this year's GA was "Building Resilient Inclusive Economies in The Americas".

Generally, the OAS Secretariat only allows two (2) Indigenous Coalitions to register and make interventions, alongside Civil Society and Social Actors. These are the Coalition of Indigenous Nations and Organizations and the Coalition Indigenous Coordination Abya Yala. The MMF, the National Government of the Red River Métis has been part of the first Coalition. Unfortunately, the Indian Law Resource Center which has been serving as the coordination for the Coalition missed the deadline for registering our spokesperson, as a result of which we were not able to make an oral presentation this year.

_{Clem and Paulina Corominas, OAS Secretariat}

Nevertheless, a written presentation drafted by Ambassador Chartier and ratified by Coalition members was provided to the OAS Secretariat and the Ambassador for Canada to the OAS. In summary the intervention stated that for Indigenous peoples, nations, governments and organizations to be able to meaningfully address this year's theme, as well as all previous and future ones, our inherent rights must first be resolved, as well as the removal of the impediments for the exercise of those inherent rights, including ownership of our respective homeland territories, and the jurisdiction of our governments over those territories.

To achieve those ends the statement called on the OAS Member States to take real action to put into effect the Working Group established by them in 2023, in pursuit of the implementation of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ADRIP) adopted by the OAS GA in June 2016. While those Member States were encouraged to properly fund and pursue this initiative, Canada and the United States were again called upon to fully embrace the ADRIP and become engaged in the work of the Working Group as well as provide fiscal resources for its operation. (See attached written intervention)

Discussion during the GA also addressed the pending Summit of the Americas (SOA) which will be held in the Dominican Republic in December 2025, the theme of which is "Building a Secure and Sustainable Hemisphere with Shared Prosperity". The Summit of the Americas, made of Heads of State from the Member States of the OAS came into existence in 1994, with Canada hosting it in 2001. During the 2001 Summit the federal government, under the Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, enabled an Indigenous Summit of the Americas to take place simultaneously through funding to the Assembly of First Nations. Canada also funded Indigenous Summits in 2005 and 2009, and provided a small grant for a virtual Summit in 2022 during the SOA held in Los Angeles.

_{Cindy Lucia Toledo, Guatemala}

Civil Society and Social Actors, including Indigenous peoples and nations are also provided a forum at those SOA to make presentations: these SOA with Heads of State take place every three (3) years.

At this years's GA an oral presentation was made by Cindy Lucia Toledo from Guatemala on behalf of the Abya Yala coalition. (See attached intervention below).

While attending the GA, Ambassador Chartier had an opportunity to meet with Brenda Wills, Canada's High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. The High Commissioner is a Red River Métis and a registered citizen of the MMF, the National Government of the Red River Métis. During this meeting a wide range of topics were discussed, both international and domestic.

_{Ambassador Chartier and Parliamentary Secretary Mona Fortier}

This meeting was later joined by members of the Canadian delegation, headed by Parliamentary Secretary Mona Fortier representing Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Annand who was engaged in the NATO Summit and could not attend. Here again, a wide range of topics were discussed, including the need for Canada to once again provide funding in order to make an Indigenous Peoples Summit possible at the December Summit of the Americas.

_{Ambassador Chartier and High Commissioner Brenda Wills}

The participation of Indigenous nations and governments at these yearly OAS GAs and the triannual SOA is important as these are meetings at the highest political / governmental levels with representation from countries throughout the hemisphere: North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

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ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
DIALOGUE WITH HEADS OF DELEGATION
June 25, 2025

As a voice for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, we once again reiterate that as the original peoples of the Americas, our histories, rights and future are distinct from the rest of the American non-Indigenous societies.

For us to become meaningfully engaged in the various annual themes of the OAS General Assembly, such as this years' "Building Resilient, Inclusive Economies in the Americas" theme, we must first resolve the inherent rights possessed by us, remove the impediments to the enjoyment of those rights, and regain our rightful place, jurisdictions, ownership of and within our respective homeland territories.

While progress has been made in moving toward these objectives, including the adoption of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2016, and the adoption of the Plan of Action a year later, real action must follow. With the resolution setting up the Working Group as the mechanism for monitoring and implementing the Declaration, and the members to the working group appointed, we have yet to see any tangible results.

Unless, and until, the Working Group is fully supported in its work, which must engage Indigenous governments and leaders, progress toward the achievement of the goals of the American Declaration will not be met.

We encourage all Member States to donate to the fund which will enable this most important work to take place, and that an urgent priority be assigned to this initiative.

Further, we once again call on Canada and the United States of America to fully embrace the American Declaration and assist in funding the Working Group, as well as engage fully in the work of that body.

Clément "Clem" Chartier K.C.
Ambassador,
Manitoba Métis Federation, the National Government of the Red River Métis Indigenous Coalition

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Albert Ramdin
Secretary General of theOrganization of American States (OAS)
Representatives of the American States,

Please accept our cordial greetings on the occasion of the 55th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS). We address you with profound respect, both in person and virtually, raising our voices as the Abya Yala Indigenous Coordinating Coalition, in line with the theme of this Assembly: "Building resilient and inclusive economies in the Americas."

Our struggle for recognition as subjects of rights and legal entities in Abya Yala demands the establishment of effective mechanisms committed to its fulfillment, in order to build inclusive, resilient, and non-extractive economies that support the Buen Vivir (Good Living) of our peoples. We believe this responsibility falls on all actors in the region and declare the following:

1. Concern over the systematic violation of human rights

We express our deep concern about the ongoing human rights violations and criminalization of Indigenous peoples defending their ancestral territories and environment against irresponsible mining and uncontrolled extractive activities. The resulting impact is environmental degradation, loss of land and resources, discrimination, social exclusion, lack of justice and access to basic services, forced sterilization, violence, and forced displacement.

Over the past two years, state repression against Indigenous activists and leaders has intensified in Latin America, carried out by institutions that should protect our autonomy and rights as Indigenous peoples.

We demand immediate release and due process for our Ngäbe relatives from the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama, who are being unjustly detained.

Another alarming case is that of the K'iche' Indigenous leaders, representatives of the 48 cantones, who were detained, criminalized, and imprisoned by the Guatemalan Public Ministry. These leaders maintained a 108-day period of peaceful resistance, with legitimate demonstrations supported by the people of the Xeq'a or Ixim Ulew territory (now Guatemala). This pattern demonstrates the co-optation of the Guatemalan justice system by business mafias, corrupt politicians, and organized crime networks.

Various governments in Abya Yala are passing secondary laws to control and monitor excessive taxes levied on Indigenous organizations and communities. They are using the justice system for their own benefit and keeping entire states under their control. We are not opposed to accountability or transparency (as we already practice this), but rather to the management and control of our projects, agendas, and work plans. We are not welfare-oriented; we strive for our own economic independence based on our worldview.

However, preventing the loss of our lands is also the government's responsibility. That's why we urge governments to regulate all environmental service programs and carbon offsets to avoid fraud or a false green economy. We promote the sustainable management of our natural resources.

These attacks force many communities to flee, risking their lives in search of dignity, recognition, respect, self-determination, and a better life.

2. Racism and discrimination in the Indigenous diaspora

Let's make history. We are the original inhabitants of Abya Yala. That's why we are committed to "first in time, first in right." That's why we must denounce the fact that, in order to have inclusive and resilient economies, we cannot continue to deport or expel our brothers and sisters who live in North America.

We demand an end to discrimination, such as the structural racism our communities face, especially in the United States, which also violates its Constitution.

By not conforming to colonial racial standards, we are denied visibility, dignity, and history as true indigenous peoples.

3. Demands on the OAS and Member States

In this context of structural violence and systematic exclusion, we demand:

• The full implementation of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the creation and incorporation of a Permanent American Commission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within the OAS, comprised exclusively of Indigenous representatives, with budgetary autonomy.
• The effective action of international organizations-the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Juridical Committee, and the Justice Center of the Americas-to guarantee the protection of Indigenous peoples and the recognition of our normative systems and governments, in accordance with Article XXII of the Declaration, and the establishment of an Indigenous Ombudsman.
• The recognition of a true Plurinational State in America as the basis for an authentic and intercultural democracy.
• We Indigenous peoples demand NO to megaprojects, which generate eco-genocide, and YES to our equitable, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economies. States must facilitate the conditions for their implementation.

Only with these advances will it be possible to achieve true historical justice, reduce forced migration, and guarantee the well-being of our communities in Abya Yala. Thank you.

 

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