First modification:
The country said ‘Yes’ to leaving the crude that is inside Block 43, known as ITT, in the subsoil. But in addition to this, within the Amazon national park, which is classified as a biosphere reserve, there are six other oil blocks. Antonella Calle, from YASunidos, explains the consequences for the environment and indigenous populations.
Ecuador voted two popular consultations with which it is committed to defending the environment. One of them, carried out on August 20, was to stop mining exploration in the Andean Chocó. Until now, the authorities had granted 12 concessions, but mining had not started as such.
Even so, the inhabitants of the canton of Quito decided to stop the exploration. The ‘Yes’ won in the four questions that were carried out on what to do with artisanal mining and with those of small, medium and large scale. All accepted with more than 68% of the votes.
The second popular consultation had a greater dichotomy: preserve the Yasuní National Park, which is a biosphere reserve and one of the most biodiverse places per square meter on the planet; Or allow oil exploitation in a block that has 18% of the country’s proven reserves and the production of 11% of crude oil? This block is number 43, known as ITT because it includes the Ishpingo, Tambacocha and Tiputini fields.
The discussion started a long time ago. In 2007, the government of then President Rafael Correa created the Yasuní ITT initiative in defense of the environment. The intention was to leave underground the 920 million barrels of Kurdish that the block was estimated to have at that time. In exchange, Correa proposed to protect this area of the Peruvian Amazon and receive financial compensation from the richest and most polluting countries.
But the idea did not materialize and, in fact, the Government changed its position. In 2013, the same president asked the Assembly to declare oil exploitation in Yasuní as of national interest. And finally, so it happened. Thus, Block 43 operated by the state-owned Petroecuador produces about 55,000 barrels of crude daily, of the almost 500,000 that are extracted throughout the country.
In contrast, the environmental collective YASunidos arose, which since then began to promote a national consultation to prohibit the extraction of this fossil fuel in said national park, at least with regard to the ITT block.
A decade later, YASunidos managed to gather 757,000 signatures to carry out the popular consultation. And since oil exploitation in Yasuní is a national issue, the vote was made throughout the country.
Almost 59% answered ‘Yes’ to stop oil exploitation. Although in Orellana, one of the two provinces where a large part of the park is, the ‘No’ won with about 58%. This and Sucumbíos were the only two regions where the last option won.
Antonela Calle, spokeswoman for YASunidos, assured on France 24 that the ‘No’ vote won in two oil regions because, according to her, “economic terrorism” was instilled in which voters were deceived by instilling fear that their economies would collapse without The crude.
However, the referendum does not put an end to all oil exploration in Yasuní or in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In fact, there are seven oil wells in that national park alone, in addition to block 43, which was what the vote referred to. Another of the blocks is block 31, where the heavy oil leaving the ITT is diluted to facilitate its transportation.
In addition, Ecuador has A case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for the alleged violation of the human rights of indigenous peoples who are in voluntary isolation and who live in Yasuní. Specifically, the Tagaeri and Taromenane. They denounce having been victims of three massacres, which occurred in 2003, 2006 and 2013. And Antonella Calle affirms that these clashes have occurred due to the oil expansion in the natural park.
There is also a historical claim on the lands. In 1999, a presidential decree created the Tagaeri and Taromenane Intangibility Zone, which stated that there were about 800,000 hectares in which these indigenous territories lived and oil exploitation was prevented there. However, the peoples affirm that these lands do not correspond to their ancestral territories.
Thus, the disputes around oil and the different positions from the economy and the environment do not end with the popular consultation on August 20. Since the exploitation of crude oil in Yasuní is not only done in Block 43.
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