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Two days ago, Correa brought an end to the state of emergency he declared on Nov. 29 in the province of Orrelana, agreeing with human rights organizations and regional leaders to investigate charges of human rights abuse that occurred while the emergency was in effect.

Correa had called the state of emergency after people from Dayuma started taking over oil wells and cutting communication lines on November 26. Before this, the protesters were peacefully calling for the government to spend more revenue from oil on infrastructure (roads and electricity lines), and …

This past June, José Aviles and Rubén Naichap, two Ecuadorian men who claim to be leaders of indigenous organizations in Ecuador, accused Ottawa-based Mining Watch Canada of supporting ‘the Economic, Cultural and Social Genocide of the Shuar people’; and of helping to keep ‘the Indigenous People of the Amazon in Poverty.’

In one of two letters written to Mining Watch, Mr. Naichap also says they “endorsed, promoted, and supported a small group of individuals who marched on the EcuaCorriente camp (December 3, 2006)”, allegedly …

Fifty years ago, the Waorani lived a lifestyle identical to that of an uncontacted, nomadic people. But with the discovery of oil and an onslaught of Christian missionaries in the years following, the Waorani were abruptly dragged into the modern world. Soon after contact, they were put under missionary control–but only for a few short years.

Upon returning to their Ancestral lands, the Waorani, known to be some of the fiercest Warriors in the Amazon, found that they were no longer allowed to live as they did …

Earlier this week, the Ecuadorian government held a press conference where it announced that Canada’s Ascendant Copper must suspend all its activities at the controversial Junin project, an open pit copper mine located in the Tropical Andes of Ecuador, for violating the country’s mining laws. This is the fourth stop work order since last December.

Immediately after the conference, Ascendant issued a statement emphatically denying it has violated any laws, and even says the Minister of Oil and Mines just doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Should …

At the end of August, two Indigenous Leaders in Puyo, Ecuador were attacked after months of receiving death threats for their efforts to protect the territory of the Zapara people in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Gloria Ushigua and Rosa Gualinga were beaten until unconscious, thrown in the trunk of a car, and later left for dead.

From Free Peltier Now - Both women are internationally known human rights defenders. Gloria Ushigua is a leader of the Zapara people. Rosa Gualinga is of the Andoas people and works closely with …

The Transnational Institute (TNI) has just released a report which examines the impact of coca cultivation, petroleum activity and armed conflict on Cofan, a people traditionally living in the tropical forest between Ecuador and Colombia.

Today their territory, culture and very survival are being threatened by the dynamics associated with the drugs trade, the armed conflict and large mega-projects being developed in their territory.

Here’s the Introduction to the report (links added by me) followed by TNI’s recommendations to the Government of Colombia:

Coca, Petroleum and Conflict in Cofán …

This week, Amnesty International released an alert on behalf of activsts in Ecuador who are opposed to a local mining operation headed by Canada’s own Accendant Copper. According to the Press Release:

“community leader Jaime Polivio Pérez Lucero has been threatened and activist Mercy Catalina Torres Terán has been attacked, as a result of their opposition to a mining project close to their homes in the Intag area of Imbabura province, northern Ecuador. Their lives, and those of others who voice opposition to the mine, are in danger. Jaime …