Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Chapter VIII – The Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Article 119: The State will recognize the existence of indigenous peoples and communities, their social, political and economic organization, their cultures, uses and customs, languages and religions, as well as their habitat and original rights over the lands that they ancestrally and traditionally occupy and that are necessary to develop and guarantee their ways of life. It will be up to the National Executive, with the participation of the indigenous peoples, to demarcate and guarantee the right to collective ownership of their lands, which will be inalienable, imprescriptible, non-seizable and non-transferable in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and the law.

Article 120: The use of natural resources in indigenous habitats by the State will be done without harming their cultural, social and economic integrity and, likewise, is subject to prior information and consultation with the respective indigenous communities. The benefits of this use by indigenous peoples are subject to this Constitution and the law.

Article 121: Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and develop their ethnic and cultural identity, worldview, values, spirituality and their sacred places and worship. The State will promote the appreciation and dissemination of the cultural manifestations of indigenous peoples, who have the right to their own education and to an educational regime of an intercultural and bilingual nature, taking into account their sociocultural particularities, values and traditions.

Article 122: Indigenous peoples have the right to comprehensive health that considers their practices and cultures. The State will recognize its traditional medicine and complementary therapies, subject to bioethical principles.

Article 123: Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and promote their own economic practices based on reciprocity, solidarity and exchange; their traditional productive activities, their participation in the national economy and to define their priorities. Indigenous peoples have the right to professional training services and to participate in the development, execution and management of specific training programs, technical and financial assistance services that strengthen their economic activities within the framework of sustainable local development. The State will guarantee workers belonging to indigenous peoples the enjoyment of the rights conferred by labor legislation.

Article 124: The collective intellectual property of the knowledge, technologies and innovations of indigenous peoples is guaranteed and protected. All activities related to genetic resources and the knowledge associated with them will pursue collective benefits. The registration of patents on these resources and ancestral knowledge is prohibited.

Article 125: Indigenous peoples have the right to political participation. The State will guarantee indigenous representation in the National Assembly and in the deliberative bodies of federal and local entities with indigenous populations, in accordance with the law.

Article 126: Indigenous peoples, as cultures with ancestral roots, are part of the Nation, the State and the Venezuelan people as unique, sovereign and indivisible. In accordance with this Constitution they have the duty to safeguard national integrity and sovereignty. The term people cannot be interpreted in this Constitution in the sense given to it in international law.