World Water Day marches in Ecuador ironically coincided with the start of a brief jail sentence for three campesino leaders in Cuenca, convicted in a protest over water rights.
Reprisals are feared in a sensitive part of Ecuador’s Amazon following an attack by “uncontacted” tribesmen in which two members of the Waorani people were killed.
Saying justice is no longer possible within Peru, Awajún and Wampis leaders in Amazonas region announced they plan to seek independence or unite their territory with Ecuador.
Ecuador’s indigenous movement reacted to the re-election of President Rafael Correa by calling upon him to end the extractive model and criminalization of protest.
Ten men arrested on “terrorism” and “subversion” charges in Quito were freed after a prison hunger strike. Three women in the group remain behind bars, refusing food.
Residents and officials in Ecuador’s port Guayaquil are protesting a planned gas pipeline that would run through densely populated areas, charging inadequate safety studies.
Indigenous protesters blocked Quito’s Marriott Hotel, where a major sale of Amazon oil blocs was underway. Riot police and military troops were brought in to clear the blockade.
An Argentine judge embargoed Chevron’s assets in the country, a win for plaintiffs trying to collect a $19 billion judgment against the company in Ecuador for environmental damage.
The US Supreme Court declined to Chevron’s bid to block global enforcement of a $19 billion judgment by a court in Ecuador, in a victory for 30,000 rainforest dwellers.
Julian Assange’s supporters accuse the media of hypocrisy in pointing to Ecuador’s sketchy record on press freedom—but come dangerously close to apologizing for repression.
Just as Ecuador has granted asylum to Julian Assange, President Rafael Correa’s government moves to rescind the asylum status granted to a whistleblower from Belarus.
Indigenous groups in Ecuador responded to the granting of asylum to Julian Assange by protesting that “democracy begins at home,” pointing to President Correa’s own repression.
