Politics · Mexico · 3 hrs ago
Sheinbaum says Indigenous communities will shape a bill on their rights
On October 12, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum met Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities at the National Palace in Mexico City.
She said a proposed general law on their rights was not ready to go to Congress because some issues still needed consultation.
She said the communities should lead that process and decide when the proposal is ready.
She also offered to enshrine a fund for infrastructure in their communities in law or the Constitution, to help protect the money from being taken away.
The meeting took place on a day now marked as Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance Day, rather than the former Day of the Race.
Sheinbaum said the Spanish arrival was violent and involved enslavement and the destruction of people.
The law will move to Congress only after the communities say the consultation is complete.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities will shape a proposed law on their rights through consultation.
She said the government would not submit the bill to Congress until the communities say it is ready.
Sheinbaum acknowledged that the General Law on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples could not be delivered to Congress on October 12 as planned.
She also offered to enshrine in the Constitution a fund for infrastructure in Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities.
She made the remarks at a National Palace dialogue marking Indigenous Resistance Day.
- Who
- President Claudia Sheinbaum and representatives of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities.
- What
- Sheinbaum said the communities would guide consultations on a proposed law and that the bill would not go to Congress until they approve it.
- When
- October 12, 2026.
- Where
- National Palace, Mexico City.
- Why
- The government said the law must emerge from Indigenous consultation, and some issues still need further consultation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The government had planned to submit the General Law on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples to Congress on October 12.
Sheinbaum met Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities at the National Palace and said the bill needed further consultation.
Sheinbaum said the bill would be submitted only after the communities said it was ready.
- Proposed law
- General Law on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples
- Consultation
- Communities to decide when the bill is ready for Congress
- Planned submission
- October 12, 2026; the bill was not delivered
- Infrastructure fund
- FAISPIAM
- Possible constitutional change
- Sheinbaum offered to enshrine the fund in the Constitution
What people are saying
ustedes llevan la mano, llevan la palabra, llevan la decisión y hasta que ustedes no nos digan ‘ya está’, entonces no la presentamos al Congreso de la Unión
La llegada de los españoles fue muy violenta, no fue un encuentro de dos mundos, sino fue muy violenta; se esclavizó, se exterminó
Sources
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