BY BLOOD AND FIRE : MINING AND MILITARIZATION IN THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON

16/01/2017 - https://intercontinentalcry.org

Before dawn on the Dec. 21, 2016, dozens of police raided the headquarters of the Shuar Federation (FISCH) in the Ecuadorian Amazon and arbitrarily detained its president, Agustin Wachapá. The indigenous leader was thrown to the ground and repeatedly stamped on and ridiculed beneath the boots of police in front of his wife. The police then razed the Shuar Federation’s office—turning over furniture and carrying away computers. According to the indigenous leader's wife, her husband was taken away without any kind of explanation. An arrest warrant for Wachapá was never presented.  

Agustin Wachapá has since been accused of publicly calling for the mobilization and violent resistance of the Shuar communities against state security forces in San Juan Bosco, where the indigenous community in Nankints was evicted and had their homes demolished against their will to make way for the Chinese Explorcobres S.A. (EXSA) open-cut copper mine. In the two months since the forced eviction, members of the communities surrounding Nankints have twice ... Read More

Ecuador has begun drilling for oil in the world’s richest rainforest

14/01/2017 - http://www.vox.com/

As many of the planet's last hectares of wilderness give way to roads and towns, farms and soccer fields, gas stations and Starbucks, the Anthropocene marches on. Perhaps nowhere does the struggle between wild and manicured feel more palpable than in Ecuador, and nowhere in Ecuador is the battle for biological and cultural diversity more profound than in Yasuní National Park.

Situated on Ecuador's easternmost flank with Peru to the south and east and Colombia only a short distance north, the 6,101-square-mile park sits at the confluence of the western Amazon basin, the Andean foothills, and the equator. The park’s boundary encircles one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. A single hectare, an area roughly the size of a soccer field, might boast as many as 655 different kinds of trees, more than all native tree species in the continental US and Canada.

Some 500 fish species and 600 kinds of birds live in Yasuní’s streams and skies. Among the thousands of mammals that call this forest home are the endangered white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth) and giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), and the near-threatened golden-mantled tamarin monkey (Saguinus tripartitus). The park is also the ancestral home of three indigenous tribes, the Huaorani, Tagaeri, and Taromenane, who still rely almost exclusively on the rainforest’s abundance for their food, medicine, and... Read More

Ecuador’s leading environmental group fights to stop forced closure

07/01/2017 - www.theguardian.com

Members of one of Latin America’s most well-known environmental organisations, Acción Ecológica, are fighting for their survival against a controversial attempt by Ecuador’s government to shut them down.

The move by the government came six days after violence between soldiers, police and indigenous Shuar people opposed to a Chinese-run copper development, Panantza-San Carlos, in the Cordillera del Condor region, and just two days after Acción Ecológica had called for a Truth Commission to be set up to investigate events there. The attempt to close the organisation has sparked severe criticism from UN human rights experts and outrage from numerous civil society organisations in Latin America and elsewhere.

On 20 December the Vice-Minister for Internal Security, Diego Torres Saldaña, requested the Minister of Environment, Walter Garcia Cedeño, to begin the process to “immediately dissolve” the Quito-based organisation. According to Torres Saldaña, Acción Ecológica has been using social media to express support for violence by Shuar against soldiers and police, to claim that... Read More

Ecuador Moves To Close Leading Environmental Organization as Part of Crackdown on Civil Society

     21/12/2016 - http://amazonwatch.org/

Ecuador's Environment Ministry announced yesterday its intention to shutter Acción Ecológica, the country's leading grassroots environmental organization. The move is a clear reprisal to the group's efforts to raise awareness about environmental and indigenous rights concerns over a planned mega-copper mine on the lands of the Shuar indigenous people in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. Then yesterday evening the national police raided the offices of the Shuar federation, FICSH, detaining its president, Agustín Wachapa.

"We reject the assertion of the Ministry of the Environment that we have violated national law," said Acción Ecológica in a statement released after the announcement. "We have been scrupulous in our compliance with the law, and our actions are in full harmony with [the government's] National Plan for Good Living 2013-2017," which calls for participatory management of the country's environmental treasures like the Amazon.

Nonetheless, a government memo advocating for the closure – obtained by Acción Ecológica – cites the group's awareness-raising efforts about "the serious environmental impacts and the ecosystem that would result from the extractive activity" in the Cordillera del Condor – the location of the Chinese mining operation – "and to the violation of the rights of indigenous... Read More

Ecuador’s Standing Rock? Tanks and Helicopters Deployed Against Indigenous Shuar People Defending Ancestral Territory From Mega-Mining

21/12/2016 - chakanachronicles.com

The Shuar community of Nankints in Ecuador’s Southern Amazon region was evicted in August 2016 to make way for a Chinese copper mega-mining project. The mining company, through a court order, has claimed these indigenous territories without prior consultation or consent from the affected communities, who have lived there for hundreds of years. The land allocated for the project covers over 41,000 hectares and the forced evacuation of other Shuar communities is expected.

Since the August eviction, the county of San Juan Bosco has been militarized to quell protest. In November, several Shuar people attempted to reclaim the indigenous territory of Nankints within the San Juan Bosco county. Clashes broke out with police and military personnel guarding the mining camp, leaving several injured. The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), called for dialogue with the Government to avoid further confrontations but no resolution was reached.

On Wednesday December 14th, a new confrontation took place in the mining camp, leaving one police officer dead and others wounded. After these events, the Ecuadorian Government announced a state of exception throughout the Morona Santiago province, stripping residents of the rights to freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom of ... Read More

4 Indigenous Women Activists on the Fight to Protect Their Lands and Cultures

31/10/2016 - http://remezcla.com/

“Inclusive and sustainable cities” were among the sexy buzz words that echoed through the UN’s conference chambers last week during its third global conference on urban development in Quito, Ecuador. Hundreds of national delegations, mayors and leading experts in architecture and urban planning from 167 countries gathered in the Andean city to formulate new cures for the all-too familiar problems of poverty and exclusion that plague a growing urban world.

To build inclusive cities, U.N. Secretary-General Ban-Ki-Moon said in his inaugural speech on October 17, means “engaging women and girls in making towns and cities safer and more productive for all.” But just a stone’s throw away from where the official raised the need to include and engage women, a protest march led by indigenous women and girls were welcomed with daunting barricades of riot police... Read More

Eriberto Gualinga, my people the Sarayaku’s fight against oil and gas

25/10/2016 - http://www.lifegate.com/

Ecuador was found guilty of granting indigenous Sarayaku land to an oil and gas company. We speak to community member Eriberto Gualinga to find out what has changed since.

It has been four years since the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found Ecuador guilty of granting the ancestral land of the Sarayaku in concession to an oil and gas company. The community of about 1,200 indigenous Kichwa people is situated along the Bobonaza River, in the southern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

In 2012, the Court reaffirmed the right of indigenous groups to be consulted on projects that affect their territories, safeguarding the right to land of all communities that have based their economy, culture and religion on their relationship and synergy with nature. In order to discover what has happened ... Read More

Xukuru-Kariri indigenous leader assassinated in Brazil

18/10/2016 - http://www.survivalinternational.org/

A Brazilian Indian leader at the forefront of his people’s struggle to reclaim their ancestral land has been assassinated.

João Natalício Xukuru-Kariri was reportedly stabbed to death outside his home. Reports suggest that two men killed João, but their identities have not been confirmed.

Seu João, as he was known, was heavily involved in the Xukuru-Kariri tribe’s campaign to live on their ancestral land, a right enshrined in Brazilian and international law.

Another Xukuru-Kariri leader told the Brazilian support group CIMI: “The region has a history of violence resulting from the land struggle. Seu João was a respected leader of... Read More

Indigenous activist advocates passionately for her community and her land

Indigenous leader Patricia Gualinga (center) speaks with Leila Salazar-López (left)
 and Alec Baldwin about her activism at the Social Good Summit on Sept. 19, 2016.

19/09/2016 - http://mashable.com/

Indigenous leader Patricia Gualinga lives in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, where oil, minerals and lumber are abundant. She says her people, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, are one with the land. 

It's land companies and miners are hungry to destroy. But Gualinga won't let that happen.

For the past 25 years, Gualinga has been tirelessly dedicated to keeping oil, mineral and lumber extraction off of Sarayaku land.

At the 2016 Social Good Summit on Monday, Gualinga — who is the international representative for the Kichwa of Sarayaku of the Ecuadorian Amazon — spoke with actor and advocate Alec Baldwin about her fight to keep indigenous land pure, while also curbing climate change. Gualinga's answers were translated into English for the discussion by Leila Salazar-López, executive director of ... Read More

4 stories of Indigenous Peoples’ struggle for climate justice

09/08/2016 - http://www.greenpeace.org/

Racism, deforestation, powerful mining companies, colonialism, the oil industry – Indigenous People across the world are fighting so many things in the struggle for climate justice.

From Canada to Honduras to Brazil to Finland, Indigenous Peoples face systematic oppression, government ambivalence and corporate greed - and with a changing climate their battles have gotten even bigger. When your life, existence and culture is threatened, you can't run away - speaking truth to power is the only way to live.

It is only Indigenous People that can tell us what it’s like to be at the forefront of Indigenous resistance. That’s why, in honour of Indigenous Peoples Day, I spoke to Indigenous People from across the world. Here’s what they had to say about the struggles they face... Read More

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: 10 Interesting Facts

08/08/2016 - http://www.whitewolfpack.com/

The International Day of the World's Indigenous People is observed on 9 August every year, to highlight and address the problems faced by indigenous peoples regarding human rights, environment, education and health.

 The theme for 2016 focuses on access to healthcare, which remains a major challenge. "On this International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, I call on the international community to ensure that they are not left behind. To create a better, more equitable future, let us commit to do more to improve the health and well-being of indigenous peoples," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

To celebrate the day, here are ten interesting facts about indigenous peoples: 

370 million people in more than 70 countries identify themselves as Indigenous Peoples.

There are around 5000 different groups of Indigenous Peoples in the world... Read More

Brazilian Government Cancels Mega-Dam on the Amazon’s Tapajós River

Munduruku warriors dance in
protest of planned Tapajós dams

03/08/2016 - www.internationalrivers.org

Brazil’s Federal Environmental Agency (IBAMA) announced the cancellation of licensing for the polemic São Luiz do Tapajós mega-dam, the largest hydroelectric project planned for the Amazon.  Following recommendations by Federal Public Prosecutors (MPF), the Brazilian agency for indigenous affairs (FUNAI) and IBAMA’s own staff, the decision reflects an official recognition that the São Luiz do Tapajós project is plagued by insurmountable legal obstacles: the flooding of indigenous lands that would cause the forced removal of indigenous Munduruku people from the traditional Sawre Muybu territory – prohibited under Brazil’s Constitution - and a series of other adverse social and environmental consequences of immense proportions that made it impossible to confirm the project’s viability... Read More

HEALTH CONCERNS, FOOD INSECURITY LINGER MONTHS AFTER PERUVIAN OIL SPILLS

25/07/2016 - www.news.mongabay.com

On June 24, reports surfaced that once again the Northern Peruvian Pipeline was leaking oil into Peru’s Marañon River. It was the pipeline’s third major spill this year, after one on January 25 along the Chiriaco River in the region of Amazonas (called the Chiriaco spill) and another on February 3 near the Morona River in the region of Loreto (called the Morona spill). The 40-year-old pipeline has suffered at least 20 spills in the past 5 years alone.

The pipeline, which snakes over 530 miles across the country, belongs to Petroperú, Peru’s state-sponsored oil company. The company’s cleanup efforts for the three recent spills have focused on mitigating the long-term environmental impacts of the oil. But the repercussions for the 8,000-plus mostly indigenous people affected by the spills, whose livelihoods depend on the rivers and land, appear likely to... Read More

Ecuador paga 112 millones de dólares a petrolera Chevron

22/07/2016 - http://www.eluniverso.com/

Ecuador pagó este viernes 112 millones de dólares a la empresa petrolera estadounidense Chevron, cumpliendo un reciente fallo de una corte federal de Washington, la que confirmó una sentencia previa por denegación de justicia en este país.

Un funcionario de esa empresa, que requirió el anonimato porque no estaba autorizado a dar la información, confirmó a la agencia AP que Ecuador pagó los 96,3 millones de dólares más intereses para un total de... Ver más

In Chevron’s Ecuador Case, Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied But, Hey, Football Season’s About To Begin...

07/07/2016 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

What does superstar quarterback Tom Brady and a group of Ecuadorian indigenous tribes suing Chevron for massive oil contamination have in common?

They both had lawsuits heard in U.S. federal trial court and appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. That, however, is where any similarity ends.

Brady — who only wants to play football — got his decision from the appellate court only 4 weeks after oral argument.

The Ecuadorians, who only want to survive on their ancestral lands without being poisoned by oil waste? They are still waiting, 64 weeks after their oral argument... Read More

Deforestation in the amazon

Council on Foreign Relations

06/07/2016 - http://www.cfr.org/

Brazil, home to more tropical forest than any other country, reduced forest clearance by 80 percent between 2005 and 2012, dramatically lowering its emissions. Better monitoring of the forest, improved law enforcement, more efficient farming practices, and private-sector initiatives to halt the sale of goods cultivated on illegally deforested land helped bring down the rate of deforestation.

But Brazil has reported an increase in its rate of deforestation since 2012. Individuals and companies continue to profit from clearing land and exploiting natural resources, and authorities are limited in their abilities to track and punish those who do so illegally... Read more

Brazil Suspends Licensing of Controversial Amazon Dam

20/04/2016 - https://www.internationalrivers.org

Brasilia, Brazil: In a surprising move, IBAMA, the administrative arm of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, suspended the environmental licensing process of the controversial São Luiz do Tapajós Dam in the Brazilian Amazon yesterday. International Rivers welcomes this decision as an important breakthrough for the protection of rivers and indigenous rights in the Amazon. 

The move comes just one day after the federal agency for indigenous affairs in Brazil, FUNAI, published a technical report confirming that a 178,000-hectare territory along the Tapajós River, known as “Sawre Muybu,” should be demarcated and protected as traditional lands of the indigenous Munduruku people, in accordance with the Brazilian constitution. The government, influenced by the powerful dam industry, has until now strongly resisted demarcating... Read more

A Journey to the Front Lines of Ecuador’s Next Oil Battle

30/03/2016 - http://amazonwatch.org/

UPDATE: As we write, the Ecuadorian government has just announced that it began drilling the controversial ITT (Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini) oil field in Yasuní National Park. The well platform, known as Tiputini C, is on the border of the park, while the rest of the field and Block 43 concession overlaps what is widely understood as one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and home to indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation. The government hopes to extract the first oil by the end of 2016... Read more

Ecuador’s social movements push back against Correa’s neoliberalism

25/03/2016 - http://wagingnonviolence.org/

“Out Correa, out!” was the resounding chant of indignation that flared up the streets across Ecuador on March 17 to demand an end to what many have come to see as a deceptive authoritarian government personified by President Rafael Correa.

The protest, called for by the Workers Unitary Front and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or CONAIE, united feminists, students, workers, environmentalists and indigenous groups in the first nationwide coordinated demonstration against Correa since last summer.

But unlike last year, the crowds were smaller and the protest short and peaceful. It had failed to capture the kind of momentum from... Read more

Los pueblos indígenas ya no necesitan personería

15/03/2016 - http://correodelsur.com/

Los pueblos indígenas ya no necesitan de una personería jurídica para el ejercicio pleno de sus derechos. El Tribunal Constitucional Plurinacional (TCP) declaró inconstitucional ese requisito. Así lo comunicó ayer un grupo de autoridades indígenas, que celebró la noticia.

"Ahora, el Estado ya no puede exigir a los... Leer mas