{"id":1185494,"date":"2023-08-21T15:16:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T15:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therealnews.com\/?p=301503"},"modified":"2023-08-21T15:16:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T15:16:24","slug":"historic-and-wonderful-ecuadorians-reject-oil-drilling-in-precious-amazon-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/08\/21\/historic-and-wonderful-ecuadorians-reject-oil-drilling-in-precious-amazon-region\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Historic and wonderful\u2019: Ecuadorians reject oil drilling in precious Amazon region"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams<\/a> on Aug. 21, 2023. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ecuadorians voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to reject oil drilling in a section of Yasun\u00ed National Park, the most biodiverse area of the imperiled<\/a> Amazon rainforest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 60% of Ecuadorian voters backed a binding referendum opposing oil exploration in Block 43<\/a> of the national park, which is home to<\/a> uncontacted Indigenous tribes as well as hundreds of bird species and more than 1,000 tree species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Associated Press <\/em>reported<\/a>\u00a0that “the outcome represents a significant blow to Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, who advocated for oil drilling, asserting that its revenues are crucial to the country’s economy. As a result of the vote, state oil company Petroecuador will be required to dismantle its operations in the coming months.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasunidos, the civil society group behind the referendum, celebrated<\/a> the vote as “a historic victory for Ecuador and for the planet.” Drilling operations in Block 43, which began in 2016, currently produce more than 55,000 barrels<\/a> of oil per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Ecuador’s oil is located under the Amazon rainforest<\/a>, whose role as a critical carbon sink has been badly diminished in recent years due to deforestation and relentless corporate plunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday’s win was decades in the making. As\u00a0The New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a>\u00a0ahead of the vote, the referendum is “the culmination of a groundbreaking proposal suggested almost two decades ago when Rafael Correa, who was president of Ecuador at the time, tried to persuade wealthy nations to pay his country to keep the same oil field in Yasun\u00ed untouched. He asked for $3.6 billion, or half of the estimated value of the oil reserves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Mr. Correa spent six years in a campaign to advance the proposal but never managed to persuade wealthy nations to pay,” the Times noted. “Many young Ecuadoreans, though, were persuaded. When Mr. Correa announced that the proposal had failed and that drilling would begin, many started protesting.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yasunidos ultimately collected around 757,000 signatures<\/a> for the proposed ban on oil exploration in Yasun\u00ed\u2014nearly 200,000 more than required to bring a referendum to a vote in Ecuador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The uncontacted Tagaeri, Dugakaeri, and Taromenane have for years seen their lands invaded, firstly by evangelical missionaries, then by oil companies,”\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Sarah Shenker, head of the Survival International’s Uncontacted Tribes campaign, following the vote. “Now, at last, they have some hope of living in peace once more. We hope this prompts greater recognition that all uncontacted peoples must have their territories protected if they’re to survive, and thrive.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00a1Hoy hicimos historia!

Esta consulta, nacida desde la ciudadan\u00eda, demuestra el mayor consenso nacional en Ecuador. Es la primera vez que un pa\u00eds decide defender la vida y dejar el petr\u00f3leo bajo tierra.

\u00a1Es una victoria hist\u00f3rica para Ecuador y para el planeta!#S\u00cdalYasun\u00ed<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RBvHzkozxp<\/a><\/p>— YASunidos (@Yasunidos) August 21, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>