Guardian: Indigenous Women Confront Ecuador’s President

Amazon indigenous women are protesting oil drilling and mining in their territories, urging Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno to combat not only environmental exploitation but also the sexual and psychic violence “they claim accompany the industries.” A delegation of indigenous women met with Moreno after 100 protested by camping in Quito’s plaza near the Carondelet government palace for five days in March. “We gave him our demands, which was what we intended to do,” said Zoila Castillo, vice president of Ecuador’s primary Amazon indigenous federation CONFENIAE, in an article for the Guardian by Dan Collyns. “We will return to our communities and wait for a response from the government. If we do not receive a response in two weeks, we will be back.”. The president indicated he would indeed heed their demands and find some consensus during a meeting in December, but has since admitted, “it’s almost impossible for a world to exist without oil and mining.” In February, the government offered a new oil auction alongside a number of mining concessions. Such a back-and-forth approach frustrates the opposition. –YaleGlobal