Issue #124: Ecuador Rejects Oil Drilling in the Amazon
President goes to runoff, big environmental victory
On Sunday, voters went to the polls for the Presidential and parliamentary elections. The contests were being held early after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved parliament earlier in the year. Facing an impeachment effort at the time, Lasso invoked muerte cruzada, which allowed the President to dissolve parliament but also meant new elections later that same year. The term is aptly translated as “mutual death.” Lasso, who’s right-wing administration ended 15 years of left-wing rule in the nation, opted not to run himself.
The campaign for President has been dominated by economic issues and the rise of gang violence, corruption, and organized crime. This security issue took to the center stage when Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down after leaving a campaign event.
The first-round election saw Luisa Gonzales come in first place. Gonzalez is an acolyte of Rafael Correa, who was the nation’s left wing President from 2007 to 2017. She faces off in a runoff against Daniel Noboa, a 35 year old businessman that is the son of Álvaro Noboa, a multi-time Presidential candidate. The family is well known and one of the richest in Latin America, running a banana empire. Christian Zurita, who replaced Villavicencio on the ballot, came in a strong third.
Noboa’s advancement into the runoff was a major upset, as polls held him around 5%. While polling error has been blamed, it has been noted his campaign seemed to gain momentum in the final week after a strong debate performance.
The runoff will set up a broad left v right fight. However, the Presidential contest is not my main focus for this article. Rather, its on oil in the Amazon
The Referendum on Oil in the Amazon
The same day the election for President and Parliament were taking place, a major referendum was also on the ballot. The referendum was a popular initiative over the drilling of oil in the Amazon rainforest; specifically over the plan to drill in Lot 43 of Yasuní National Park. The lot in question, can be seen highlighted in RED below.
The YNP is a critical part of the Amazon rain forest. It has been designated a world biosphere by the UN and is one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet. It is also home of major self-isolating tribes, including the Tagaeri and Taromenane people. Oil drilling expansion puts them at risk.
The park already had oil drilling, with the yellow blocks below being the site of leasing rights. Lot 43, also known as the ITT, was the last major oil spot untouched. It is believed there are 726 million barrels of oil in the ground.
At first, the plan to keep Block 43 pristine was planned. In 2007, then-President Correa offered for the international community to pay the Ecuadorian Government $3.6 Billion to offset the lost revenue from not drilling. When such international aid did not come to pass, and with the worldwide recession hitting, drilling plans were approved. Correa had harsh words
“The world has failed us. We were not asking for charity; we were asking for shared responsibility in the fight against climate change.”
Of course, Correa is not without blame. Environmentalists pointed out how long delayed the government was in getting a trust fund set up. Also, since the issue was only about drilling in Block 43, and not stopping drilling entirely in the area, it gave world leaders less incentive to paying the government off. A high price tag for a full ban on Amazon oil drilling would likely have had more takers.
Things are still in the early development of Block 43, but much of the region is home to the odd display of oil stacks in the middle of lush rainforest.
This set off a decade-plus fight as environmental groups and indigenous rights activists fought to put a measure to popular referendum.
Organizers spent years collecting signatures and then fighting in the courts over the validity of them. The organizers collected over 850,000 petitions, which would have been enough to trigger a referendum. However, the nation’s election commission invalidated over half, claiming fraud. Organizers accused the election commission of throwing out ballots due to the Government’s desire to drill and get the funds. Reports show that Yasunidos, the name of the petition backers, were being subject to intense surveillance. A journalist report also revealed that the election council had engaged in fraud to throw out petitions.
Years of court battles finally saw petitions validated. Finally in May of this year, the constitutional court green-lit the referendum. The ballot question would be…
“Are you in favor of the Ecuadorian government keeping oil from the ITT, known as Block 43, indefinitely underground?”
A YES vote would ban drilling, a NO vote would allow drilling to continue as planned.
A good rundown of the issues at play can be seen here.
In the campaign, YES groups had to fight with the larger resources of the oil industry. The drilling was backed by President Lasso and NO advocates warned that the move to stop drilling would cost the country several billion annually.
In the end, however, the referendum passed by a much wider margin than expected. 59% gave their support. As a result, drilling in the block is banned permanently, with the industry having one year to remove their equipment and materials.
The lone provinces to reject the measure were the ones right by Block 43. This doesn’t especially shock me, as the industry worked hard to emphasize that the industry brings jobs to the region. This phenomenon can be seen in American politics constantly. Economic fear was a major selling point of NO backers.
The referendum was not the only environmentalist victory on Sunday. In Quito, Ecuador’s capital, referendums took place to stop mining of gold, copper, and silver in the Chocó Andino de Pichincha, which is a biosphere outside of the city.
Those four referendums, all over different items, got 68% of the vote respectively.
The referendum victories are a major victory for the environmental and indigenous rights movement.
The country now moves to an October runoff for President. It will be a runoff featuring two candidates with very different takes on solving the nation’s problems. However, with the referendum results, one major political debate point has been taken off the table.