Ecuador: Native community defeats government in court, gets oil exploration barred

This article appeared on ANI: South Asia’s Multimedia News Agency on April 27th, 2019.

Quito [Ecuador], Apr 27 (ANI): The native Waorani community on Friday (local time) fended off major degradation of their lands at the hands of oil companies be defeating three government bodies in court, for conducting a faulty consultation process with the people before putting their land up for sale in an international oil auction.

The ruling suspends, with immediate effect, any chance of selling off Waorani land for oil exploration, according to Al Jazeera.

Hailing the court’s judgement, Nemonte Nenquimo, who is one of the Waorani plaintiffs and representative of Coordination Council of the Waoroni Nationality Ecuador Pastaza (CONCONAWEP) said, “Today, the courts recognize that the Waorani people, and all indigenous peoples, have rights over our territories that must be respected.”

“The government’s interests in oil is not more valuable than our rights, our forests, our lives,” she further stated.

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