Life and Debt in the Ecuadorian Amazon
July 14, 2007
Ecuador has an oil production rate of 400.000 barrels per day, each year more than 32.000 barrels are spilt into the river systems. This means that every 2 -3 years, a spill as big as the “Exxon Valdez” takes place in the Amazon. Not surprisingly, most part of these areas happen to be inhabited by indigenous people.
Oil spill. Cofan territory. Ecuador
Ecuadorian officials from the recently elected left government in Ecuador made un unprecedented movement last month when they told the UNFII in New York that their government would ban exploitation of huge oil reserves if it was compensated by the international community for its effort to save the natural habitat of the Amazon region.
The untapped oil reserves are located in the heart of the Amazon, considered by scientists to be one of the most bio-diverse rainforests in the world and also the home of IP that they still live in complete isolation. If explored and developed, the fields are expected to deliver more than 900 million barrels of oil.
Some of those in solidarity with the indigenous struggles welcome the proposal of the Ecuadorian governent, but they also have serious objections to what they see as an attempt to put a dollar price on native people’s right to exist.
What do you think of Ecuadorian government proposal?
For more information and taking action visit “Yasuni depends on you” campaign
Entry Filed under: Big Oil & The State, Indigenous Resistance, Rights, and Survival. .
2 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
redamazon | July 14, 2007 at 9:51 pm
I think this is a great initiative from the Ecuadorian Government. But shouldn’t we be careful about the terms of the proposal?.
Ecuador signed ILO Convention 169 in 1998, so in theory is not a question of negotiation regarding the exploitation of oil in the Yanuni National Park. There are indigenous uncontacted groups still living there (Taromenane and hopefully Tagaeri) therefore, no exploration should be allowed, not even close to the intangible zone. It is not about “you either give us economic support or if not we will have to explore”. We can not put a price on lifes and biodiversity. The demand of the Ecuadorian Government is fair due the current and existing Ecological Debt the North has towards the South, but the support of the North should not go to substitute the Oil Revenues but to promote a transition to clean energy and assure the survival of Indigenous Groups in these sensitive areas.
2. Ecuador : Oil wins again over life « REDAMAZON | October 31, 2007 at 12:17 pm
[...] also previous article on this [...]