The events of October 2019 dealt a hard blow to the economic plans of Ecuador’s elites, in particular their programme for eliminating fuel subsidies. But for the people these dates will be remembered as beautiful days of solidarity, of re-encounter with living traditions, of mutual recognition among equals, and of respect for differences.
On October 14th, a US foundation, Defend them All (DTA), sent an open letter to Canadian mining company INV Metals urging the company to abandon its activities in Ecuador following a field visit to the Kimsakocha páramo in south-central Ecuador.
A Peruvian court has ruled that police and the Ministry of the Interior acted with bias as a result of a security contract between Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals and national police when they illegally detained former Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, Jen Moore (now an Associate Fellow with the Mining and Trade project at the Institute for Policy Studies), and U.S. investigative journalist John Dougherty in late April 2017.
Over 250 organizations from around the world express their solidarity with Ecuadorians in a joint letter published today, opposing IMF-imposed austerity measures and the Ecuadorian government’s firm pro-extractivism agenda. Eleven days of mass protests led by Indigenous and labour organizations brought thousands to the streets and ended on Sunday, October 14, when the government revoked IMF-sponsored Decree 883.
(Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto) More than twenty Canadian labour unions, not-for-profit, and civil society organizations today released an open statement to express their solidarity and support to Indigenous, labour, campesino and civil-society organizations currently engaged in nationwide protests against the IMF-imposed economic austerity package.
Since October 2, Indigenous organizations, along with trade unions, social movements and peasant organizations, have been demonstrating across Ecuador against a set of economic austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international lending institutions that have resulted in: increases of up to 120 percent in fuel prices; labour reforms that undermine labour protections in Ecuador, such as turning good private sector employment into precarious jobs, and the downward “harmonization” of wages resulting in a 20 percent cut in wages for new hires in t
(Montreal/Val d’Or) Quebec groups welcome and respect the decision announced today by Malartic residents to accept an out-of-court agreement with Canadian Malartic Mine Corporation (Agnico-Eagle/Yamana Gold).
In 2016, residents launched an unprecedented multi-million class suit against the largest Canadian gold producer for its noise, dust, blasting, and ground tremors impacts.
Group will meet with investors, politicians and representatives of international organizations in seven countries to discuss shared responsibility for deaths and other violations caused by mineral extractivism
Since October 2, Indigenous organizations, along with trade unions, social movements and peasant organizations have been demonstrating across Ecuador against a set of economic austerity measures (called the Paquetazo) imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international lending institutions that have resulted in increases of up to 120% in fuel prices; labour reforms that seriously undermine worker protections in Ecuador, such as job precarization, a downward “harmonization” of wages resulting in a 20% cut for new contracts in public sector jobs; and imposition of extractive projects (mining, oil, and gas) in a misdirected effort to solve the debt crisis. These mobilizations are indicative of a broad, decades-long opposition of Indigenous and campesino communities in particular to the imposition of extractive projects in their territories.
From CONAIE to the Country
