Alicia Cawiya
Alicia Cawiya was born in the Ñoneno community, in the Yasuní reservation (Ecuador). She is the Vice-President of the Huaorani Nation of Ecuador and one of the leaders of the movement against oil exploitation in her region. In 2013 she made a speech in Ecuador's parlament to protect Amazon from oil companies.
Oil companies conflict in Ecuador
Since 1972 Ecuador was an important oil exporter in South America -the third after Venezuela and Mexico. The infraestructures made to take the oil affected socially and ecologically the Ecuadorian Amazon region.[1]
One of the most known examples is the Texaco-Chevron case. This american oil company operated in the Ecuadorian Amazon region between 1964 and 1992. During this period, Texaco drilled 339 wells in 15 petroleum fields and 627 toxic wastewater pits were abandoned, as well as other elements of the oil infrastructure. It is know now that obsolete and highly polluting technologies were used as a way to reduce economic expenses.[2]
After the company left the country, the government started legal actions to be compensated by the company, which tried to avoid the sentence of paying a fee of 19.000 million dollars. This conflict lasted for more than twenty years and in June 2017 the United States Supreme Court sentenced the rejection of the fee. The Ecuadorian social movements said they will continue trying to bring these companies in front of the justice.
Yasuní-ITT
In September 2013 the Ecuadorian government announced the exploitation of the Yasuní area and the 43 block, better known as ITT (Ishpingo, Tiputini and Tambococha), which was suposed to have a big economical impact.[3]
- ^ Ortiz, Pablo (1995). Marea negra en la Amazonia: conflictos socioambientales vinculados a la actividad petrolera en el Ecuador (in Spanish). Editorial Abya Yala. ISBN 9789978041468.
- ^ Pigrau, Antoni (July 27, 2014). "Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental". The Texaco-Chevron Case in Ecuador: Law and Justice in the Age of Globalization. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
{{cite news}}: Check|archive-url=value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Telégrafo, El (2013-09-30). "El ITT se ubica como la fuente más importante de ingresos". El Telégrafo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2017-07-24.