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 he was abandoning the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, which asked developed nations to donate $3.6 billion over the course of 12 years to compensate Ecuador for leaving more than 800 million barrels of oil in the ground under Yasuni National Park’s northeast corner. He noted that the initiative had raised less than one percent of its goal in the six years since he launched it. Read Article