In Ecuador the resistance of indigenous peoples is growing against the government plan to auction 49 new oil blocks in the Amazon. A project that, according to communities, violates constitutional rights and ignores the referendum on the Yasunà park, in which 59% of citizens had voted to leave oil underground.
The protest is intertwined with the national strike against cutting the diesel subsidies, a sign of a model that still focuses on the fossils at the expense of environment and social justice.
Now, seven indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon have denounced a new plan of the government to auction dozens of earth blocks intended for oil exploration. A project that, according to communities, threatens their ancestral lands, violates the constitutional protections and ignores the right to free consent, prior and informed, guaranteed by international law.
The government plan
In August, the Ministry of Energy and Miniers had presented a “roadmap for hydrocarbons”: 49 oil and gas projects, worth over 47 billion dollars, with the aim of modernizing the sector, attracting foreign investments and increasing production.
According to indigenous leaders, 18 of the blocks offered overlap with their territories, an area as big as Belgium. “The government wants to proceed without our consent, violating the Constitution and the judgments of the Court,” said Nemo Guiquita, leader Waorans of the Confederation of the indigenous nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Was trampled rights and dismantled ministries
The accusations arrive in a delicate moment: President Daniel Noboa, in office since 2023, has supported the abolition of the Ministry of the Environment and promoted a law that allows foreign individuals and investors to co-manage protected areas, effectively reducing the guarantees for local communities.
The Amazon is not on sale. We will defend our territories, because we have not been consulted: this is our home, reiterated Nadino Calapucha, leader Kichwa.
Despite a 2023 referendum in which 59% of Ecuadorians voted to leave oil underground in the Yasunà park, the government continues to focus on the extraction. From 2025 new auctions have already been opened, and others are foreseen between Amazon and sub-andine regions by 2026
These projects are illegitimate, illegal and financially unsustainable, said Kevin Koenig, director for the climate and energy of Amazon Watch.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the Senate of California has approved a resolution to analyze the role of the state as one of the major buyers of Amazonian crude oil, a signal that Quito’s choices can have consequences well beyond national borders.
From oil to diesel: the protest that unites the peoples
The anger of the indigenous communities is intertwined today with national mobilization against dear fuel. In Ecuador, in fact, the collision clash comes while the country is shaken by strikes and events for the increase in diesel prices and cutting state subsidies.
Farmers, transporters and workers have combined their voices to those of the indigenous peoples: on the one hand the imposition of new drilling in the Amazon is denounced, on the other the reduction of the subsidies that weighs on the most vulnerable bands of the population. Two sides of the same medal: an economic model that continues to focus on fossil fuels, without guaranteeing social justice or environmental protection.
A strong signal comes from civil society: the future cannot pass for more extractions and less rights, but for a change of course that puts renewable energy center, sustainable agriculture and respect for the indigenous peoples who have kept the forest for centuries.
