AMERICA/PARAGUAY - Indigenous people live in poverty but maintain their traditions

Asuncion (Agenzia Fides) - The indigenous people who survive in poverty in Paraguay have lost the dominion of their ancestral lands, but continue to maintain their strong cultural identity and self-determination that characterizes them. This is what Father Giuseppe Zanardini, anthropologist said on the occasion of the recent Day of Indigenous Americans. "In many cases, the original members of the villages have abandoned the countryside to move to the urban slums, hoping for a better life. Over 500 years the indigenous people continue to keep their traditions alive", said Father Zanardini, an expert at the Catholic University in Asuncion. According to a census of 2012, there are about 110 000 aborigines in Paraguay distributed in 20 ethnic groups. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 27/04/2015)