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Ecuador: President is Urged to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Activists after attacks

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Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Ecuador: International coalition calls on President Moreno to protect ‘Nature’s Guardians’ after attacks

Today, 9 August 2018, on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, an international coalition has launched a campaign and sent an open letter to President Lenin Moreno, proposing three concrete actions for Ecuador to protect “Nature’s Guardians”: those who dedicate their lives to protecting human rights and the environment, many of whom are Indigenous leaders.

This coalition is made up of the environmental and human rights organizations Acción Ecológica, Amazon Watch, Amnesty International, the Ecumenical Commission for Human Rights and Fundación Pachamama. They propose to the president that Ecuador signs the Escazú Agreement, a regional treaty that strengthens environmental rights, and implements a national policy of protection and a protocol for the investigation of crimes against human rights defenders.

“On this day when the entire world commemorates the rights of Indigenous Peoples and their great contributions to nature and society, we five sister organizations join forces to begin to build a dream: that every person in Ecuador who decides to dedicate his or her life to protect the environment can do so free from attacks and threats,” said Cecilia Chérrez, Leila Salazar-López, Erika Guevara Rosas, Belén Páez and Elsie Monge, representatives of the organizations that make up the coalition, in a joint statement.
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Since the Moreno administration took office, despite some advances in dialogue with civil society and Indigenous organizations, Indigenous people who defend human rights related to land, territory or the environment – and, in the case of Ecuador, the rights of nature, which are recognized in the country’s 2008 Constitution – have been attacked, as they face the potential consequences of extractive industry projects in their communities’ territories.

These attacks have often gone unpunished, exposing rights defenders to dangers that make it harder for them to continue to protect the rights of people and nature. Among the victims are Patricia Gualinga, Nema Grefa, Salomé Aranda and Yaku Pérez, Indigenous leaders who have faced stigmatization, death threats, physical attacks and even assassination attempts for their defense of the Amazon or the rights of their communities to water, to a healthy environment, or to be consulted about extractive projects in their territories.

Though these attacks have been reported to the authorities, the authorities charged with protecting rights defenders and investigating these crimes still have not identified the material and intellectual perpetrators, nor have they taken adequate measures to guarantee that Patricia, Nema, Salomé or Yaku may safely continue their work free from attacks and threats. The work they do is critically important to society, and these attacks, for which no one has been held accountable, have grave consequences for these individuals, their communities, and other rights defenders in the country, including fear, intimidation, and self-censorship. Read Full Article

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Ecuador: Report, conflict between Shuar tribe and govt. causing psychological damage

Signs of lasting trauma in people evicted to make way for giant mine in Ecuador theguardian.com / Kimberley Brown reported, battles with the government and army over land and mining rights has caused indigenous Shuar people long-term psychological damage, report says Months after they were evicted from their homes to make way for a mine, […]

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Ecuador: President Moreno making efforts to dialogue with Indigenous groups

unpo.org / In July 2017, President Lenin Moreno met with CONAIE, the Federation of Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador. It had been 8 years since the dialogue between the national government and the indigenous movement had been suspended. Showing his commitment to re-establish the dialogue, President Moreno pledged to restore intercultural bilingual education and guaranteed the […]

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Chile: Semi Trucks Set on Fire in arson attack, evidence points to Indigenous group

(Reuters/oann.com) – Eighteen semi trucks used to transport food were set on fire in a parking lot in the southern Chilean city of Temuco on Saturday, local authorities said. The incident appeared to be intentional and the governor of the region of Araucania, Nora Barrientos, told local radio that evidence gathered at the scene linked […]

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Ecuador: Sex Trafficking of the Indigenous, seldom reported or discussed

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation)/ Anastasia Moloney – Hundreds of indigenous people, including children, across Ecuador are being trafficked each year but few victims come forward because of shame and fear and little is known about the true scale of the problem, campaigners say. In Ecuador, the most common form of human trafficking involves women and […]

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Venezuela: Warao Indigenous people fleeing crisis, arrive in Brazil

INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED SPANISH VOCABULARY – READ THIS BOOK Around 400 indigenous Warao people from the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela have arrived in the Brazilian city of Manaus in the Amazon. BBC.COM / The authorities have declared a social emergency to seek government funds to help with the influx. The Warao say they travelled around 2,000 […]

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U.S. Military in Costa Rica, what are they after?

Southern Command in Costa Rica: U.S. Occupation Disguised as Humanitarian Aid Santiago Navarro F. and Renata Bessi United States Southern Command says its role in Costa Rica is to fight drug trafficking and offer humanitarian aid. But hydroelectric projects and mineral speculation betray another aim. From the top of the great Talamaca mountain range in […]

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Ecuador: Progress Stalls Out over mining Dispute between govt and Shuar Indigenous Group

In Ecuador, progress stalls on mining dispute between government and indigenous Shuar people 8 March 2017 / Daniela Aguilar Adapted by Romina Castagnino The militarization of the community of San Carlos de Limón in Ecuador’s province of Morona Santiago has triggered the displacement of indigenous Shuar populations who live in areas adjacent to a major […]

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Ecuador: Some Indigenous leaders align with the right-wing and reject correa’s allies

telesurtv.net / Some Indigenous leaders have increasingly aligned with Ecuador’s right-wing elite in the name of rejecting President Rafael Correa and his allies. As Ecuador prepares for a second and final round of presidential elections in April, Indigenous leaders of a historically progressive organization have tacitly sided with the right-wing candidate that has promised to […]

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Salasaca Ecuador: An Ancient People Maintain Traditions

Maintaining traditions in Salasaca of Ecuador’s Andes aljazeera.com/ Here, men and women wear traditional clothes, hold festive rituals, and make handicrafts. Salasaca, Ecuador – Sisters Martina Masaquiza Sailema and Luz Maria Masaquiza Sailema trot towards the outskirts of Mangiua village in Salasaca district, in the Ecuadorian Andes, exchanging a word in Quichua here and there, […]

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Indigenous Group Claim governement of Ecuador allocating territory for large-scale mining

Rafael Correa: cease your violent attacks on Ecuador’s Shuar Arutam People! Governing Council of the Shuar Arutam People In law, the Shuar Arutam People of Ecuador’s Amazon control their ancestral forests. But the government has allocated more than 38% of their territory to large-scale mining, and a gigantic hydroelectric dam is about to be built. […]

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Ecuador’s Presidential Election Looms in Ecuador, Indigenous Movement Takes Center Stage

remezcla.com/Brayan Vázquez wrote Gabriela Garces is 17, and over the past four years she has watched as the land of her ancestors transformed into an oil drilling battleground between her people and the state. The homes of her community near Puyo, Ecuador’s southeast Amazon, have been evacuated and destroyed; their leaders persecuted and incarcerated. “The […]

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Ecuador: Abducted Soldiers released by irrregular group in mining conflict

Ecuador Indigenous Group Releases Soldiers Abducted in Mining Conflict telesurtv.net reported … “Freedom and dignity of people are not negotiable, and in Ecuador no one is above the law,” said Ecuador’s Defense Ministry. Two soldiers who were abducted by an irregular group in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador were released on Saturday in the midst […]

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Tension in Morona Santiago Ecuador continues, two soldiers held by Shuar

expreso.ec / Two soldiers continue to be held by Shuar Indians in the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago (southeast), where there is a mining conflict of considerable proportions. The Ministry of Defense, which demands the “immediate release” of the soldiers, also reiterated its position of not negotiating within the framework of “violence and illegality of […]

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Social and Educational Characteristics of the population in Ecuador’s Amazon region

The Ecuadorian Amazon: A Data Analysis of Social and Educational Characteristics of the Population Gina Valdivieso, Efstathios Stefos, Ruth Lalama / ccsenet.org Abstract The present study describes the social and educational characteristics of the Ecuadorian Amazon population. For this purpose, the data obtained from the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment of 2014 was […]

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Sarayaku, Ecuador: Military members detained by Indigenous group are released

telesurtv.net reported one Shuar Indigenous community attempted to take over a mining company by force, killing one police officer, injuring five, and abducting 11 officers. Eleven members of the Ecuadorean military were released after one Indigenous group abducted them as part of a violent conflict which broke out last week between members of the community […]

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Peru: Biopiracy threat to ancestral products

intercontinentalcry.org reported The production and consumption of natural Andean and Amazonian ancestral products in Peru is threatened by the “biopiracy” of foreign companies who have filed over 11,690 patents for the domestic produce of the region, effectively poaching the natural heritage of the country. The resources are said to be rich in nutrients and vitamins […]

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Ecuador: The Saraguro clothing evolves

eltiempo.com.ec / The predominant colors in Saraguro dress is black and white. The traditional material of her outfit is lambswool yarn. A full suit can cost between 700 and 1,000 dollars. Thus, the attire of the Saraguros is a display of elegance and cultural significance. The saraguro people, Kichwa indigenous nationality, marks its presence throughout […]

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Ecuador: Legal Status of Indigenous Peoples and key political issues facing communities

worldpoliticsreview.com reported the Ecuadorean indigenous political party Pachakutik yesterday officially validated the results of its presidential primary, naming Lourdes Tiban as the party’s nominee for next year’s election. In an email interview, Manuela Picq, professor of international relations at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador, and currently a Loewenstein Fellow in the department […]

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Ecuador: racial injustices wrought by neoliberal urban policies

Revanchist Urbanism Heads South: The Regulation of Indigenous Beggars and Street Vendors in Ecuador Kate Swanson Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK; kate.swanson@ges.gla.ac.uk ——- Abstract: Much of the discussion surrounding neoliberal urbanism has been empirically grounded in the North. This paper shifts the discussion south to focus on the regulation […]

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The Culture of Debt in Northern Andes of Ecuador

Owing and being in debt. A contribution from the northern Andes of Ecuador by EMILIA FERRARO This paper discusses the notion of debt in Pesillo, a Quichua community in northern Ecuador, whose socio-economic organisation is based on a system of generalised reciprocity that includes a variety of ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ exchanges, and non- monetary and […]

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Peru: 50,000 alpacas succumb to freezing temperatures

dailymail.co.uk / AP reported SAN ANTONIO DE PUTINA— Life for the thousands of indigenous families raising alpacas and sheep in Peru’s southern Andes has become a nightmare amid a bitter cold wave that has killed tens of thousands of their animals and sickened their children. Temperatures have fallen to minus 23 Celsius (minus 9.4 Fahrenheit) […]

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Washington State, U.S.: Second case of Zika virus confirmed in traveler who visited Ecuador

heraldnet.com/Sharon Salyer reported the second case of a Zika infection has been confirmed in Snohomish County, this time in a young woman who traveled in Ecuador. Snohomish Health District officials said Tuesday that the woman was between 18 and 25 years old. Ecuador is one of the areas known to have mosquitoes infected with the […]

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Colombia: Armed clashes driving large numbers from homes in Chocó department

GENEVA, May 13 (UNHCR) – Armed clashes between illegal groups fighting for territory in western Colombia are driving a growing number of mostly Afro-Caribbean and indigenous peoples from their homes in Chocó department, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has warned. In the past two months alone, more than 6,000 people have fled the fighting, as […]

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Ecuador: One Expat from the U.S. that really went native

American Shaman: The Incredible Story of Lucas Weiss By Alexander Zaitchik Mar 2016 Lucas Weiss was just another dropout on the gringo trail until he landed among Ecuador’s remote Secoya people. Now he’s a tribal leader, heir to their revered 103-year-old shaman — and maybe their best hope for survival. I first heard about Luke […]

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Ecuador: Nomads of the Rainforest -Waorani Indians- NOVA documentary

NOVA visits the Waorani Indians of Eastern Ecuador less than 30 years after their first contact with Western civilization. Left largely undisturbed because of their traditional hostility toward outsiders, a few families remain deep in the rainforest hunting game with blowguns and spears. They also cultivate gardens, make weapons and tools and maintain traditions that […]

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Peru: Wampis Indigeous group forms Autonomous government

indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com reported the Wampis people of Peru recently created the nation’s first Autonomous Indigenous Government, which does not seek independence from Peru but intends to protect their rights and their territory. On November 29, in the town of Soledad, the Wampis announced the formation of their autonomous government that brings together 100 Wampis communities, representing […]

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Ecuador: Leftist Political Party to ally itself with Right Wing Groups

tELESURTV.NET reported Pachakutik, which self-identifies as a leftist political party, is set to join an alliance of right-wing parties. Ecuador’s Pachakutik political party is set to join a right-wing political coalition, the prefect of the province of Azuay, Paul Carrasco, announced Monday on local radio. Carrasco coordinates an informal right-wing coalition with the mayors of […]

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Amazon Rainforest: Indigenous groups change ways to save forest

Gareno (Ecuador) (AFP) – The the indigenous peoples of the Amazon are far removed from the Paris conference rooms where politicians and technocrats in dark suits hashed out a historic deal on curbing climate change to close out the year. But they are taking bold action of a different kind to save the rich biodiversity […]

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Coca Cola pulls Christmas ad after accusations of racism

nydailynews.com reported Coca-Cola is facing heavy criticism after airing an ad that some have deemed racist. Still available on YouTube, the now-pulled advert features a gaggle of white hipsters bringing Coke to an indigenous village in Mexico. The visitors help the locals build a weird Christmas tree out of wood and plastic red Coke bottle […]

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Ecuador: Mobilization, Protests to resume on Wed. Sept. 16, 2015

news.mongabay.com/Sandra Cuff reported…The streets of Ecuador will fill with colorful flags and footsteps again on Wednesday as indigenous organizations and other groups renew protests over government policies. The planned marches come on the heels of nation-wide protests that wracked the country in August, drawing many thousands of participants. These resulted in arrests, clashes with military […]

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Ecuador: divided left weakens struggle for change

greenleft.org.au/Federico Fuentes wrote Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa is facing the most important challenge yet to his self-styled “Citizens’ Revolution”. A range of indigenous groups, trade unions and leftist parties mobilised across the country on August 13. Their long list of demands included calls for land reform, opposition to mining, support for bilingual education and the […]

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Ecuador: UN Special Rapporteur calls for investigation regarding violence against protesters

ww4report.com reported UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz issued a statement Aug. 24 expressing concern about ongoing violence against protesters by security forces in Ecuador, and called for a “just and impartial” investigation. The statement made special note of “accusations of violence against indigenous women” who participated in peaceful demonstrations. […]

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Ecuador: Indigenous and Right Wing groups to continue protests against President

An Indigenous assembly and march have been called for Friday. telesurtv.net reported after this past week of demonstrations, where over 116 police officers and members of the armed forces were injured and at least 60 people detained, some Indigenous groups aligned with right-wing movements have vowed to continue their protests and strike against the government […]

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Pope Francis appeals to Ecuador for better care of Amazon forest and Indigenous people

csmonitor.com reported Pope Francis is appealing for better care of the Amazon rain forest and the indigenous people who live there, as he wraps up the Ecuador leg of his South America trip. “The tapping of natural resources, which are so abundant in Ecuador, must not be concerned with short-term benefits,” Pope Francis said Tuesday. […]

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Ecuador: Investigation continues in death of Shuar activist regarding Chinese mines

theguardian.com …. Dark clouds loom over the Tundayme bus station where José Isidro Tendetza Antún said goodbye to his family for the last time. The moody skies above the Cordillera del Condor would have been a familiar sight to the indigenous leader as he set out on 28 November to join a protest meeting against […]

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Tensions Mount Between Illegal Miners and Indigenous group on Peru, Ecuador border

EFE/elcomercio.com reported The regional government of Amazonas warned the central government of Peru on the hostility that is recorded in northern Peru among the Pueblo Indians Aguaruna and illegal miners entering Ecuador Peruvian territory, said Wednesday February 25 regional institution a statement. The vice president of Amazon, Carlos Navas, met in Lima with officials of […]

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Ecuador: Death of Indigenous leader may be linked to opposition of Chinese mine project

theguardian.com reported…. Ecuador indigenous leader found dead days before planned Lima protest Shuar leader José Isidro Tendetza Antún missing since 28 November Activists believe death linked to opposition to state-Chinese mine project The body of an indigenous leader who was opposed to a major mining project in Ecuador has been found bound and buried, days […]

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Ecuador: How the Sarayaku people stood up to big oil

mongabay.com reported…Standing before a packed audience of 2,000 spectators, Patricia Gualinga Montalvo calmly addressed the crowd, sharing the story of her people. The Sarayaku, a Kichwa indigenous people numbering 1,200 from the Ecuadorian Amazon, won a historic court case in 2012. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the government of Ecuador must publicly […]

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Cañar Ecuador: Social changes improves lives of many women

OP-ED Ruxandra Guidi nytimes.com / For the 60,000 residents of this rural county of green hills and small villages, migration is something of a rite of passage. The share of Cañar’s people leaving the country is greater than that of any other district in Ecuador. More than 70 percent of its households receive remittances every […]

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Ecuador: Labor Unions, Indigenous Groups call for new protests on Nov. 19, 2014

emiliopalacio.com reported the successful outcome of the opposition on September 17 could be repeated. This Saturday, October 18, unions United Workers Front, organizations of the indigenous movement and its various allies met in Guayaquil. After a quick assessment of the 17 S, attendees spoke to convene on Wednesday, November 19 new protests in every city […]

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Question of whether Canada’s courts should hear Ecuador judgement against Chevron amazon cleanup dispute

theglobeandmail.com reported Chevron Corp. is trying to convince Canada’s courts to impose “novel and unnecessary” barriers to block a group of Amazon villagers seeking to enforce a controversial $9.5-billion (U.S.) Ecuadorean environmental judgment against the U.S. oil giant, a coalition of Canadian human-rights groups alleges.The battle over the cleanup bill for oil pollution left in […]

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Ecuador: Sixty Minutes Video Report on the Chevron case

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Chile: Supreme Court Haults development of Canadian owned gold mine

bbc.com reported Chile’s supreme court has halted the development of a gold and copper mine owned by the Canadian conglomerate, Goldcorp, until indigenous communities are consulted. The court upheld an appeal filed on the El Morro mine by the Diaguita community in northern Chile. The community said the mine, worth almost $4bn, could pollute a […]

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Colombia: At least 11 Wiwas Indigenous members killed, dozen injured in lighting strike

At least eleven indigenous wiwas would have died immediately and other 13 injured as a result of lightning, product of a thunderstorm that fell right into a house where ethnic authorities advanced workshop to conserve natural resources. The incident occurred in the Kemakumake village, a five-hour walk from the village of Guachaca in rural area […]

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Ecuador issues apology for permitting oil drilling on tribal lands

buenosairesherald.com reported Ecuador has apologized to an indigenous community for authorizing oil drilling on ancestral land without their permission. The apology to the Sarayaku community came two years after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the OPEC nation had violated the tribe’s right to be consulted on oil concessions granted for their land. […]

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Amazon Residents Plan Seizure of $106 million of Chevron’s assets in Ec

courthousenews.com reported Amazon rainforest residents plan to seize the $106 million in Chevron’s assets in Ecuador, their lawyers said Tuesday, turning a corner in the decades-old pollution fight.If successful, the seizure will mark the first time that Amazon residents received a penny of the $9.5 billion environment judgment that an Ecuadorean court issued three years […]

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Latin America: Report claims population of 45 million Indigenous

Eluniverso.com reported The new figure of 45 million indigenous people until 2010 poses a 49.3% increase in the first decade of the 21st century, as in its previous report of 2007 the Economic Commission for Latin America of the United Nations had estimated a figure of 30 million natives in 2000. The Ecuadorian indigenous population […]

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Mexico: Oaxacan Human Rights Advocate murdered while visiting mother’s grave

It was the 10th murder of a member of the Zapotec community in Oaxaca since 2013. The Oaxacan human rights advocate Jaime Lopez Hernandez, was killed by members of organized crime, according to the Indigenous Organization for Human Rights in Oaxaca (OIDHO, for its acronym in Spanish). Lopez, who was recently named secretary of the […]

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Panama: Ngöbe, Buglé Indigenous continue protest against dam

telesurtv.net reported the reservoir created by the dam will likely start flooding fertile agricultural land and destroy the river’s fish and shrimp. Indigenous Panamanian groups remain alert on the banks of the river Tabasara, as part of a long standing protest against the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dams being built, threatening to flood their land. The […]

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Ucayali Peru: Anti-logging Activist and other Ashaninka members murdered

amazonwatch.org/AP reported…An outspoken Peruvian opponent of illegal logging and three other native Ashaninka community leaders were slain in a remote region bordering Brazil, tribal authorities said Monday. The activist, Edwin Chota, had received frequent death threats from illegal loggers, who he had tried for years to expel from the lands for which his community was […]

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Brazil: Ka’apor tribe takes law into their own hands, expell loggers working illegally

bbc.com reported a group of indigenous people in Brazil’s Amazon region have detained and expelled loggers working illegally in their ancestral lands. Leaders of the Ka’apor tribe accused the Brazilian authorities of failing to protect them. They tied up the loggers and set fire to their trucks and chainsaws, before forcing them out, reported the […]

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Peru: UN criticizes television show for using racial stereotypes, disappears

theguardian.com reported Peru TV slammed by UN as racial stereotypes paraded for cheap laughs La Paisana Jacinta loses prime-time slot but racism against indigenous people and African-Peruvians far from eradicated. Peruvian comedy is brusque and rough-and-tumble, but few outsiders would be prepared for so many casual racial stereotypes paraded for cheap laughs. Now, following a […]

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Radio Broadcast from NYC in Kichwa, attempt to save language

nytimes.com reported and so began the inaugural broadcast of “Kichwa Hatari,” perhaps the only radio program in the United States conducted in Kichwa, an Ecuadorean variant of Quechua, an indigenous South American language spoken mainly in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Despite its humble source, the show’s principle objective is anything but modest: to save a […]

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Peru: Companies being investigated for illegal tours to isolated Indigenous groups

elcomercio.pe reported different authorities said they will investigate the complaint by the native Federation of the Rio Madre de Dios and Affluents (Fenamad) on Manu hostels and tourist agencies in Cuzco that they would be offering tours that include visits to isolated tribes in the Amazon reserve in Madre de Dios. As he earlier told […]

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Peru: Group of Indigenous Ashaninka and Machiguenga rescued in human trafficking ring

lahora.com.ec/AFE reported the Peruvian authorities rescued eight indigenous people, among those who had an 8-month-old baby, from falling into an alleged network of human trafficking when they were transported to the region of Madre de Dios, in the South of the country, said today in a statement the decentralized direction of culture of Cuzco. The […]

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Brazil’s first female indigenous lawyer fights for land rights, against deforestation

(Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Raised in isolated villages in the Brazilian Amazon, Joenia Batista de Carvalho grew up loving nature and taking pride in her tribe’s customs, way of life and Indian identity. Carvalho is a Wapixana Indian, one of five tribes totalling around 20,000 people who have lived for generations in the Raposa-Serra do […]

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Brazil: Indigenous Environmental Leader receiving death threats

kpsnews.net reported Davi Kopenawa, the leader of the Yanomami people in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, who is internationally renowned for his struggle against encroachment on indigenous land by landowners and illegal miners, is now fighting a new battle – this time against death threats received by him and his family. “In May, they [miners] told me […]

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Realities of life for Indigenous Rural Women in Ecuador

Author: World Food Programme – Rural Ecuadorian women are saddled with domestic duties, in addition to the responsibilities of tending agriculture and living a rural lifestyle, which often entails withstanding domestic abuse and marginalization. Rural indigenous women in Ecuador experience a disproportionate amount of domestic violence. In all of Ecuador, six out of ten women […]

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U.N. reaches out to Indigenous populations struggle in Costa Rica

IPS.net reported Indigenous people in Costa Rica, hemmed in by violent attacks from farmers and ranchers who invade their land and burn down their homes, have found a new ally: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who met with 36 native leaders during a recent visit to this country. The leaders, representing eight indigenous groups, described […]

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Guatemala: Court rules in favor of idigenous group in Sipacapa over transantional mining

upsidedownworld.org reported a Guatemalan court ruled in favor of the indigenous people of the municipality of Sipacapa over transnational mining in the area. The court says the Guatemalan government must respect the right to information and consultation with the local population before granting any kind of mining permits. Read Article

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Indigenous Tribe Contacted Brazil, believed to be from Peru seeking help after attacks

Theguardian.com/Damian Carrington reported…Amazon tribe makes first contact with outside world Indigenous people crossed from Peru into Brazil looking for help to combat illegal loggers and drug traffickers, researchers say. Footage released by Brazil’s National Indian Foundation shows isolated indigenous people coming forward for outside assistance after fleeing attacks in Peru Indigenous tribesmen living deep in […]

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Ecuador: New Water Law Endorses Further Privatization

Manuela Picq – upsidedownworld.org reported Ecuador’s constitution is the only one in the world to declare water as a human right. Yet the government of this South American nation may not fully agree with its own constitutional rights. Last month, Ecuador’s government fast-tracked a new water law endorsing further privatization of water and allowing extractive […]

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Ecuador: Protest Over Water Rights

Conflict over water rights in Ecuador Manuela Picq/aljazeera.com Indigenous people protest over water rights, as Ecuador’s government continues to ignore their demands. If you are going to pass unpopular legislation, you may as well do it while everyone is watching the World Cup. When Ecuadorians were focused on soccer, the government fast-tracked a new water […]

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Ecuador: U.S. lab sells blood samples of Huaorani Indigenous group

business-standard.com reported a US laboratory sold across at least eight countries, including India, blood samples taken without consent from an indigenous group, Ecuador alleged today after a months-long investigation. The samples were taken from the Huaorani ethnic group of about 3,000 people who live in a corner of Ecuador’s isolated Amazon basin region, it is […]

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Ecuador charges U.S. scientists of taking unauthorized blood samples of Indigenous group

US scientists took thousands of unauthorized blood samples from an indigenous group known for a unique genetic profile and disease immunity, some of which have been sold, Ecuador charged Monday. There were some “3,500 procedures” in which blood was drawn without authorization from 600 Huaorani, who live in a corner of Ecuador’s isolated Amazon basin […]

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Magical Writing in Salasaca – Literacy and Power in Highland Ecuador

LATIN AMERICA BOOK REVIEW RECORDED BOOK INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHORS ABOUT LATIN AMERICA MAGICAL WRITING IN SALASACA – LITERACY AND POWER IN HIGHLAND ECUADOR RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DR. PETER WOGAN May 05, 2010 length 01:43:34 Purchase:Magical Writing In Salasaca: Literacy And Power In Highland Ecuador (Westview Case Studies in Anthropology)   Amazon.com Widgets   SPONSORED […]

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Indians And Leftists In The Making Of Ecuador’s Modern Indigenous Movements

LATIN AMERICA BOOK REVIEW RECORDED BOOK INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHORS ABOUT LATIN AMERICA INDIANS AND LEFTISTS IN THE MAKING OF ECUADOR’S MODERN INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DR. MARC BECKER May 14, 2010 length 01:08:24 Purchase: Indians and Leftists in the Making of Ecuador’s Modern Indigenous Movements AVAILABLE IN KINDLE AND PAPERBACK Amazon.com Widgets   […]

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Puyo Runa – Imagery and Power in Modern Amazonia

  PUYO RUNA IMAGERY AND POWER IN MODERN AMAZONIA     LATIN AMERICA BOOK REVIEW RECORDED BOOK INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHORS ABOUT LATIN AMERICA PUYO RUNA -IMAGERY AND POWER IN MODERN AMAZONIA RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DR. NORMAN E. WHITTEN JR. – PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ANTHROPOLOGY – UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, URBANA-CHAMPAIGN – COAUTHOR – DOROTHEA SCOTT […]

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Ritual Encounters – Otavalan Modern and Mythic Community

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Finding Cholita

FINDING CHOLITA LATIN AMERICA BOOK REVIEW RECORDED BOOK INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHORS ABOUT LATIN AMERICA FINDING CHOLITA RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DR. BILLIE JEAN ISBELL PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY July 30, 2010 length 01:02:05 Purchase:  Finding Cholita (Interp Culture New Millennium)      Peru, Anthropologists Fiction, Human rights Fiction, Latin America Fiction, Sendero Luminoso […]

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ONE STATE, MANY NATIONS INDIGENOUS RIGHTS STRUGGLES IN ECUADOR

  LATIN AMERICA BOOK REVIEW RECORDED BOOK INTERVIEWS WITH AUTHORS ABOUT LATIN AMERICA ——— ONE STATE, MANY NATIONS INDIGENOUS RIGHTS STRUGGLES IN ECUADOR RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DR. MAXIMILIAN VIATORI December 03, 2010 length 01:21:29 Purchase: One State, Many Nations: Indigenous Rights Struggles in Ecuador (School for Advanced Research Global Indigenous Politics) ZAPARO INDIANS-CIVIL RIGHTS-ECUADOR, […]

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U.S.: Two Ecuadorians ejected from Petroleum Museum, in Texas

theecologist.org reported two indigenous representatives from the Ecuadorian Amazon travelled to the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas to present a gift – poster-sized photographs of rainforest contaminated by oil spills and debris. Humberto Piaguaje and Robinson Yumbo, from the Secoya and Cofan nations, offered their donation to the museum’s executive director, Kathy Shannon. […]

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Ecuador: Sarayaku community in rebellion

By Christian Tym Ecuador’s Amazonian indigenous community of Sarayaku is in a state of rebellion against the central government after refusing entry to a police contingent arriving by helicopter on the morning of May 6. The helicopter landed, but was barely able to stay five minutes after being threatened by 300 people carrying machetes, muskets […]

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Ecuador: President Correa warns of possible state of emergency decree in Sirayacu

PLENGLISH.COM REPORTED:President Rafael Correa warned today that the state of emergency could be decreed if the indigenous community of Sirayacu again prevents Police from entering the area to arrest three opponents wanted by the country”s justice. “We are going to enter again with National Police, saying please hand over the fugitives, and if they prevent […]

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Law Firm / Chevron reach settlement in Ecuador oil case

Washingtopost.com reported…Chevron and Patton Boggs have settled disputes linked to long-running litigation over toxic drilling waste pits in Ecuador by Patton Boggs agreeing to pay Chevron $15 million, issue a statement of regret and withdraw from the Ecuador case. Chevron agreed to release all claims against Patton Boggs and its partners. THINKING OF MOVING TO […]

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Ecuador: Yasunidos charge petition results for referendum on oil drilling being manipulated

theguardian.com reported that Yasuni campaigners claim oil drilling petition results are being manipulated Civil society groups say enough signatures have been gathered to force a referendum but authorities are interfering Kevin Koenig, Ecuador programme director of Amazon Watch, said: “It is extremely troubling to see these kinds of irregularities so soon into the verification process. […]

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Chevron Case Ecuador: The little guy does not seem to count

theguardian.com reported that the Chevron case is something of a parable in two ways: first, it is a lesson about the incandescent response of multinational corporations to any questioning of them; second, it’s a reminder how little the voices of campesinos (peasant farmers) and indigenous people in Latin America seem to count in the eyes […]

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Ecuador worked in secret oil deal with Chinese while pledging to protect Yasuni per newspaper

theguardian.com reported that…Ecuador pursued China oil deal while pledging to protect Yasuni, papers show Negotiations took place while the country sought funds to forgo oil exploitation in pristine forest under the Yasuni-ITT scheme. The Ecuadorian government was negotiating a secret $1bn deal with a Chinese bank to drill for oil under the Yasuni national park […]

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Governments in Latin America Accused of Harrassment by Indigenous Activists

dw.de reported that Indigenous activists in Bolivia and other Latin American countries who take to the streets to protest the exploitation of their ancestral homelands face repressive measures and charges of terrorism. In many Latin American countries, the measures taken against protesters are rather repressive, according to Almut Schilling Vacaflor, Latin American expert from the […]

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Indigenous Rights and Repression in Rafael Correa’s Ecuador

Robin Llewellyn writes for IC Magazine: On 10 January Andrés Donoso Fabara, Ecuadorian Secretary of Hydrocarbons, filed a formal complaint against eight indigenous leaders: Humberto Cholango and Bartolo Ushigua, President and Vice-president of CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador); Franco Viteri, President of GONOAE (Governing Body of the First Nations of the Ecuadorian Amazon); […]

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Ecuador’s Ambassador to U.S. responds to Newsweek article

Newsweek.com reported…Earlier this month, Newsweek published a story on a tribal dispute in Ecuador. What follows is a letter to the editor from Nathalie Cely, Ecuador’s ambassador in the United States, and a response from the story’s reporter, Bethany Horne. Dear Editor, Your article on conflicts between indigenous groups in Ecuador (“After All the People […]

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Guarani Indians of Brazil urge Coca-Cola to stop buying sugar from U.S. firm Bunge

scoop.co.nz reported that the Guarani Indians in Brazil have urged Coca-Cola to stop buying sugar from US food giant Bunge, which has been implicated in a landgrabbing scandal. A recent Oxfam report revealed that Coca-Cola is sourcing sugar from Bunge – which in turn buys sugar cane from land stolen from the Guarani to produce […]

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Paraguay officials grant environmental license to ranching company, threatens lives of Ayoreo Indigenous

Paraguay has caused outrage by quietly granting cattle ranchers a license to bulldoze a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve which is also the last refuge of uncontacted Ayoreo Indians. Paraguay’s Environment Ministry (SEAM) has violated national and international law by issuing an environmental license to ranching company Yaguarete Pora S.A. which puts the lives of the uncontacted […]

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Bolivia: Danish foundation expelled for alleged meddling in Indigenous issues

Edmonton Journal AP reported that a Danish foundation is being expelled from Bolivia for taking sides in a leadership struggle for control of one of the nation’s biggest indigenous organizations, the government announced Friday. Presidential aide Juan Ramon Quintana said that Copenhagen-based IBIS “abused” the government’s hospitality and has been intervening in the nation’s internal […]

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Ecuador Mining Issues – Video

OSCAR LEÓN, TRNN PRODUCER – reported:Indigenous communities and the affected local communities have opposed this mining initiative for many years now and have protested against it all around the country. This has led to a split between Correa, ecologists, some student groups, and the indigenous confederations, all of which were his former allies. Correa has […]

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Ecuadorian Non-Profit organization shut down, alleged involvement in political events

Quito, December 2, 2013 – Fundación Pachamama, an Ecuadorian non-profit organization with 16+ years working in defense of the Human Rights of Amazon Indigenous Peoples and Rights of Nature, exercises its democratic right to freedom of speech and considers it necessary to state its position regarding the XI Round and the opinions expressed in the […]

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Ecuador: Shuar Association demands answers from government over death of member

WW4REPORT.COM REPORTED…The Shuar Association of Bomboiza, in Ecuador’s eastern rainforest province of Morona Santiago, is demanding answers from the government over a Nov. 7 incident in which a member of the Shuar indigenous people was killed in an army operation against illegal gold-miners in the region. The confrontation, at Kukus community on the banks of […]

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Ecuador: Indigenous leaders and allies mobilize in Quito to contest bids for oil in Amazon

Amazon Watch FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | November 27, 2013 For more information, contact: Caroline Bennett, +1 510.629.9390, caroline@amazonwatch.org Leila Salazar-Lopez, +1 415.341.5509, leila@amazonwatch.org Joke Baert (Ecuador), +593 99.13.56877, jbaert@pachamama.org.ec Quito, Ecuador – Some 75 protesters gathered outside the Oil and Energy Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Quito yesterday where meetings took place in a […]

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Ecuador: authorities conduct mission to rescue indigenous girl

Ecuadoran authorities in helicopters have flown into the heart of the Amazon to rescue an indigenous girl kidnapped in a tribal dispute, the interior ministry said Tuesday. The child was abducted in April after a clash that left an undetermined number of people dead, the ministry said. The dispute was between two indigenous groups, with […]

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Indigenous Cultures of Ecuador

Source: Wikipedia.org – Indigenous peoples in Ecuador are the groups of people who were present in what became the South American nation of Ecuador when Europeans arrived. The term also includes their descendants from the time of the Spanish conquest to the present. Their history, which encompasses the last 11,000 years,[1] reaches into the present; […]

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Ecuadorian Tribesman (Shuar) Killed in Army Raid

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING MOVING TO ECUADOR OR IF YOU ALREADY LIVE THERE, YOU WILL FIND THIS BOOK INVALUABLE IN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF ASPECTS OF THIS COMPLEX SOCIETY

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Ecuador: Reasons not to drill for oil in Yasuni National Park

If you ever wondered where the world’s most biodiverse piece of land is, you might have guessed somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest. Well, there is a particular piece of the ever- dwindling-Amazon that takes the trophy for being the worlds richest place for animal and plant diversity: Yasuní National Park, inland Ecuador. However, in this […]

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Ecuador: Death in the Amazon

Economist.com reports………MINUTES before its planned release on September 25th a judge in Ecuador blocked the distribution of “A Tragedy Hidden Away”, a book detailing a massacre of 20-odd members of one indigenous Amazonian tribe, the Taromenane, by another, the Waorani. The authors, Miguel Ángel Cabodevilla, a Capuchin missionary, and Milagros Aguirre, a journalist, promptly distributed […]

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Latin America: UN warns Indigenous women remain invisible in access to work, education

Indigenous women in Latin America remain invisible to society, warns UN Urgent action needed to close ‘unacceptable gaps’ in access to work and education across Latin America and Caribbean. Indigenous women in Latin America continue to face great gaps in access to higher education, health services and employment, although there have been significant educational advances, […]

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President of Mexico to pardon Indigenous Teacher

Bbc.co.uk reported that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says he will pardon an indigenous teacher serving a 60-year jail term. Alberto Patishtan, 41, was convicted in 2002 for the murder of seven policemen in southern Chiapas state during the Zapatista rebel uprising. Read Article

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San Martín de Pangoa Peru: 8 loggers allegedly murdered by Asháninka Indigenous

elcomercio.pe reported that found were eight corpses of loggers, according to complaints made ​​to the authorities of Ayacucho and Satipo, were killed by natives in Tsomaveni community, district of San Martin de Pangoa, in Junín. According to Canal N, the information was given by the father of one of the people who were missing, Enmanuel […]

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Ecuador: Yasuni National Park oil drilling plans, divides Ecuadorians

An Inside Look into the Intricate Culture of Ecuador indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com reported by David Dudenhoefer Despite protests at home and abroad, Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has moved quickly to consolidate support for his decision to drill oil wells in Yasuni National Park, in that country’s portion of the Amazon Basin. Correa announced on August 15 that […]

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Ecuador: Defenders of Yasuni claim treated differently by commission

lahora.com.ecOn the seventh floor of the National Assembly, which meets the Biodiversity Committee, there was intense movement last week. The schedule stated that the morning of Wednesday September 11, social organizations began to present their arguments for or against oil exploration in the blocks 31 and 43 of the Yasuní. The expectation was great as […]

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Ecuador: Correa’s Failure with Yasuní-ITT

Rafael Correa must back this key initiative instead of blaming the rest of the world for his decision to drill for oil in the Amazon. Ecuador has had the opportunity to bring about environmental change, but this has been thwarted. In mid-August, a plan to leave oil in the ground in one part of the […]

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