Venezuela claims preservation of native languages at the close of the International Year of Indigenous Languages at the UN
The People’s Power Minister for Indigenous Peoples of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Aloha Núñez, attended Tuesday the high-level meeting that officially ended the International Year of Indigenous Languages in the United Nations Organization (UN), at New York headquarters.
“Today, more than ever, given the critical situation of more than three thousand native languages, the commitment of States and peoples to preserve and disseminate indigenous languages as one of the richest expressions of the heritage and diversity of humanity must be reaffirmed”, suggested the minister in her speech.
From this perspective, she considered that achieving the great aspirations of the UN in the midst of a world of conflicts, interventionism and great social challenges necessarily involves the active inclusion of native peoples in the revaluation of their historical essence and their Languages as an essential tool to build and promote peace, reconciliation and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“A common denominator unites us, our struggle is the product of the imposition of cultural models and the plundering of our lands by colonial powers, in addition to the transculturization of our original inheritances with a legacy of pain and exclusion, even today increasingly growing, which has caused the disappearance of many of our peoples and threatens their cultural contribution throughout the world”, she emphasized.
The Venezuelan Minister of Indigenous Peoples, who stressed that in the framework of the International Year of Indigenous Languages educational cards were baptized in the languages Añú, Warao, Jivi, Kariña, Chaima and Wayuunaiki thanks to the support of intercultural teachers and indigenous researchers, said that The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela enhances the multiethnic and multicultural nature of our society in which there are more than 40 indigenous peoples and 36 languages.
The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the International Year of Indigenous Languages with the aim of raising public opinion about the risks faced by these languages and their value as vehicles of culture, knowledge systems and modes of life.