Margarita Mbywangi
Encyclopedia
Margarita Mbywangi is an Aché
indigenous leader and in 2008 was the Minister of Indigenous Affairs in Paraguay
. Her main goals focus on gaining indigenous land rights, protecting Paraguay's forested lands and improving indigenous access to potable water, food and health care. Margarita is a skilled poet and was quoted by BBC as saying 'For an Indian the forest represents "his mother, his life, his present and future"'.
On August 18, 2008, President Fernando Lugo
named Margarita Mbywangi, a member of the Aché
indigenous group of eastern Paraguay, as minister of indigenous affairs, the first indigenous person to hold such a position in Paraguay.
According to various news sources, at the age of 4 she was captured in the jungle near the Aché community of Chupapou and was sold several times into forced labour to families of hacienda owners. She had also been sent to school, so she could read and write. In 2008 she was completing a high school diploma. The mother-of-three promised to meet those who opposed her appointment, in order to ease their concerns, she said "We are immediately going to help colleagues from different communities who are experiencing a difficult situation due to lack of potable water, food and clothing."
Aché
The Aché Indians are a traditional hunter-gatherer tribe living in Paraguay. They are called "Guayakí" by Guaraní-speaking neighbors and in early anthropological accounts...
indigenous leader and in 2008 was the Minister of Indigenous Affairs in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. Her main goals focus on gaining indigenous land rights, protecting Paraguay's forested lands and improving indigenous access to potable water, food and health care. Margarita is a skilled poet and was quoted by BBC as saying 'For an Indian the forest represents "his mother, his life, his present and future"'.
On August 18, 2008, President Fernando Lugo
Fernando Lugo
Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez is the current President of Paraguay and a former Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of San Pedro.-Early life:...
named Margarita Mbywangi, a member of the Aché
Aché
The Aché Indians are a traditional hunter-gatherer tribe living in Paraguay. They are called "Guayakí" by Guaraní-speaking neighbors and in early anthropological accounts...
indigenous group of eastern Paraguay, as minister of indigenous affairs, the first indigenous person to hold such a position in Paraguay.
According to various news sources, at the age of 4 she was captured in the jungle near the Aché community of Chupapou and was sold several times into forced labour to families of hacienda owners. She had also been sent to school, so she could read and write. In 2008 she was completing a high school diploma. The mother-of-three promised to meet those who opposed her appointment, in order to ease their concerns, she said "We are immediately going to help colleagues from different communities who are experiencing a difficult situation due to lack of potable water, food and clothing."