Ecuador denies petition for referendum on oil drilling in Yasuni National Park

bbc.com reported that Ecuador has rejected a petition for a referendum on whether the Yasuni National Park in the Amazon should be opened to further oil exploration. The National Electoral Council said not enough signatures were collected to force a referendum. Activists from the group Yasunidos, who had gathered the signatures, accused the council of “fraud”. They oppose more oil drilling in the park, saying it would damage one of the world’s richest areas of biodiversity. The electoral authorities validated 359,781 of the 850,000 signatures collected, well under the 583,323 needed by Ecuadorian law. Read Article

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