On the first of March 1991, 10 thousand indigenous people of the
Huataraco, Sardinas, Maderos, Guayusa, Yuca, Guanayacu, San Pablo,
Pompeya e Itaya, from the province of Napo, in the Ecuadorian
Amazon region, seized various petroleum installations of the
companies ORIX (USA) and Petroecuador-Texaco (Ecuador-
USA).
Rafael Pandam, director of the Confederation of Indigenous Nations
of the Ecuadorean Amazon, declared in the media that the
indigenous people wanted to talk with the President without
intermediaries, to express their demands. This indigenous
manifesto states that the petroleum riches should not be permitted
to destroy the country, much less indigenous communities. "We," he
said, "have lived for centuries in this Amazonian territory, and
no one should now despoil our lands, neither the petroleum
companies, n or the loggers, nor the advance of colonization."
The indigenous demands, among others, were: approval of a plan
demarking the village Quichua in the Pastaza province; approval of
the Law of Indigenous Nations; and an immediate evaluation of the
ecological effects caused by petroleum exploration and drilling
activities. The indigenous leader pointed out that because of
petroleum activity, "the rivers are contaminated and the fish are
totally disappearing." "We want payment of the social debt before
payment of the foreign debt," concluded Pandam.
According to sources in the state petroleum company Petroecuador,
production of a minimum of 16 thousand barrels a day of oil was
prevented by the takeover. The loss of petroleum revenue to the
government ran into the millions of dollars as each barrel is
worth, at the moment, US$15.
Last week, the indigenous people surrendered without a struggle,
giving up the installations they had held, but maintaining
solidarity among themselves. Their demands were not met.
Copyright Environment News Service 1991
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ENS - ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE Phone: (604) 732-4000
3505 West 15th Avenue Fax: (604) 732-4400
Vancouver, British Columbia Internet: a1234@mindlink.uucp
CANADA V6R 2Z3 APC: web:ens or cdp!web!ens
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +