79 151. Selection and delivery of alternative lands, payment of fair compensation, or both, are not subject to purely discretionary criteria of the State, but rather, pursuant to a comprehensive interpretation of ILO Convention No. 169 and of the American Convention, there must be a consensus with the peoples involved, in accordance with their own mechanism of consultation, values, customs and customary law. 152. In the instant case, there has been no agreement between the members of the Community and the State regarding the latter’s offer of alternative lands. At the public hearing held by this Court, witness Esteban López stated that [u]nfortunately for the Government I think that they have not worked as they should, legally, let us say, the Government of Paraguay can do what it wants, not consulting the indigenous peoples, we can clarify, because if Congress is interested in solving the problem, why do they not go to the Community, meet with the people, ask about this offer, explain that they have a place [...] seek a solution, you can agree, or disagree, but we received the notification without consultation, they sought to do this rapidly and then seeing the owners with a piece of paper in their hand, all night going around my house, […] we must know, we must understand, that this is a violation, […] if it had been the will of the State to find a way out, well, we would meet other times, reach an agreement, all of us sign, no problem, you cannot play with the indigenous community members [...]. We know the laws, for a good solution you have to consult with the indigenous peoples, the States, if there is an agreement with the Community I think the problem would be solved, but it is up to the groups, the members of the Community, but they should meet with the State, I don’t know, every week, because as I was saying, I am expressing our struggle that we already stated is a sacred struggle, we have gone through difficult times and the struggle can’t be sold just like that in a day or eight days, there has to be a dialog, it would take a long time. 153. It is necessary to recall that, based on Article 1(1) of the Convention, the State is under the obligation to respect the rights recognized in the Convention and to organize public authority to ensure free and full enjoyment of human rights by the persons under its jurisdiction.199 154. To guarantee the right of indigenous peoples to communal property, it is necessary to take into account that the land is closely linked to their oral expressions and traditions, their customs and languages, their arts and rituals, their knowledge and practices in connection with nature, culinary art, customary law, dress, philosophy, and values. In connection with their milieu, their integration with nature and their history, the members of the indigenous communities transmit this nonmaterial cultural heritage from one generation to the next, and it is constantly recreated by the members of the indigenous groups and communities. 155. While Paraguay recognizes the right to communal property in its own legal order, it has not taken the necessary domestic legal steps to ensure effective use and enjoyment by the members of the Yakye Axa Community of their traditional lands, and this has threatened the free development and transmission of their traditional practices and culture, in the terms set forth in the previous paragraph. 199 See Case of Juan Humberto Sánchez, supra note 187, para. 142; Case of Ivcher Bronstein, supra note 176, para. 168, and Case of the Constitutional Court. Judgment of January 31, 2001. Series C No. 71, para. 109.