In a territory considered “dignified and sacred”, the Head of CONAIE rejected the 9th round of the oil bid to take place in October, for the exploration and exploitation of at least 12 areas.

“We won’t allow the imposition of a false consultation process which only wants to benefit big transnational corporations.” We’ll defeat President Correa. We’ll teach him how to carry out a consultation, how the plurinational State and the good-living for our Ecuador are built", said Cholango.

The Head of CONAIE said this on August 12th, in Sarayaku land, to the North of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in Pastaza Province. He participated in a celebration after an Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ decision forced the Ecuadorian government to pay the Sarayaku people over 1.3 million dollars in compensation for having imposed an oil project in their territories and having violated several of their rights.

There were representatives of several indigenous organizations in the celebrations. The Network of Kichwa Communicators, Ecuchaski, of the Confederation of Kickwa Peoples (ECUARUNARI), is circulating audio recordings of the activity.

In 1996, the State granted an oil concession in Area 23, that affects 60 per cent of the Sarayaku territory, to the General Fuel Company of Argentina. The company put 1,433 kgs of explosives 12 meter-deep in Sarayaku and Achuar territories, which affected the mobility of indigenous people and seriously threatened their lives.

In early 2003, the Sarayaku people filed a complaint against the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and requested their urgent intervention. Then, the Commission demanded the involvement of the Court. The Court’s decision, made public on July 25th, established that the Ecuadorian State should’ve consulted the Sarayaku people about the oil project to be located in indigenous territory in a prior, free and informed way. Among other things, the Court established that the lives and integrity of the indigenous people were threatened with the strong explosives put in their territories and ordered the Ecuadorian government to withdraw these explosives.

Cholango said this is a “precedent for the State, for the Latin American governments”, and that it is “fundamental to continue defending our dignity, our territories and our natural resources”. The Head of CONAIE also rejected Correa’s statements against the indigenous leaders, whom he accused of being manipulated by non governmental organizations. “This is due to the desperation of the President of the Republic and his government, his racism against the peoples”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), Franco Viteri, said that "the Ecuadorian state is violating the Constitution and international agreements once again" by implementing the 9th round of oil bids.

The leader highlighted how the Sarayaku people acted to confront the State, the Army, the Police and the oil companies, and won the trial.

He also made reference to his organization in the context of the struggle, where indigenous people are accused of being “subversive” and members of the guerrilla.

Viteri invited “President Correa, his ministers and advisors to discuss with the indigenous people the concepts of citizenship, of a plurinational State, democracy, poverty and development”. “This government is only thinking about economic issues, it hasn’t opened its spirit, its heart to understand the Amazon people”, he regretted.

Meanwhile, the president of the Sarayaku people, Jose Gualinga, said that the indigenous people are considered an "obstacle for the development of the country" because of their struggle. “Sarayaku has simply demanded the respect to the right, to our living forest, to human dignity (…). This has been our sin, to demand governments to respect our freedom, our decisions as Ecuadorian people”, he said.

Gualinga also rejected the theory that establishes that without oil and mining activities there isn’t development. “They say that to combat poverty, nature has to be destroyed. Sarayaku does not agree with this project, we do not agree with the extractivist project", he concluded.

Photo: Ecuachaski, ECUARUNARI