Ecuador: nationwide protests against new mining law - Huelga de hambre en contra de mineria a gran escala

Protests are continuing in Ecuador, following blockades in Cuenca city on January 5th, aimed against the country's proposed new mining law and its licensing of large scale mining. Several women, including two in their 70's, are also on hunger strike and nationwide protests have been called for next week. See: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9001

La huelga de hambre continuea en Cuenca en contra de la nueva ley minera y en mineria a gran escala en Ecuador. Hay 8 personas (dos de ellos de tercera edad) y luego se asumieron dos mujers a la huelga.

Ecuador: Anti-Mining Blockades Met With Repression, National Mobilization Called for

Written by Daniel Denvir, Photographs by Ximena Warnaars

UpsideDown World

20th January 2009

The ongoing conflict over mining in Ecuador escalated this week as blockades shut down highways throughout the country's Southern Andean highlands and Amazon rainforest, while nationwide protests have been called for January 20.

The government of President Rafael Correa has assumed an aggressive posture, insulting indigenous and environmental activists and pledging to secure approval for a controversial new Mining Law. Canadian companies hold the majority of mining concessions in Ecuador and are pressing for a new law that would allow for large-scale, open pit metal mining.

A number of leaders have been arrested and other protesters were beaten and shot at by police. Campesino and indigenous protesters, who depend on clean water to farm and for drinking water, are demanding that the government shelve President Rafael Correa's proposed Mining Law, saying that it would be a social and environmental disaster. The rural blockades follow months of regular protests in Quito and other parts of the country.

Protesters also argue that the law contradicts important provisions of the new constitution protecting water, the environment and indigenous peoples' rights. The document drew international attention for awarding legal rights to nature. The new constitution, approved by popular referendum in September, is the centerpiece of Correa's first term.

After emergency meetings on January 7, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) called for a national mobilization on January 20, calling the government "dictatorial." It is unclear whether the January 20 mobilization will spread road blockades to other provinces in central and northern Ecuador. Protesters are demanding a dialogue with central government leaders and for a broad national discussion on mining before any legislation is passed.

Some protesters in the Southern provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago suspended their blockades for 24 hours in response to the provincial governor's promise to reach out to Francisco Cordero, the President of the Congresillo, Ecuador's interim legislature. Other blockades were suspended in anticipation of the nationwide actions.

The blockades began on Monday January 5 in the Southern province of Azuay, cutting off much of the traffic into and out of Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city. Over the next few days, the protests spread to the neighboring Andean province of Loja and to the Amazonian provinces of Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago.

In Giron, Molleturo, Tarqui (Azuay), Limon Indanza (Morona Santiago) and in El Pangui (Zamora Chinchipe) protestors have been beaten or shot by police. Police officials and journalists were released after being briefly detained by campesinos.

On January 6, campesino leader Vicente Zhunio Samaniego was arrested in the Southern province of Morona Santiago, showing up 16 hours later in a hospital with bullet wounds to the head. On January 7, protest leader Miguel Ángel Criollo and his son Orlando were arrested in an early morning raid on the village of Pueblo Nuevo in Azuay province. The newspaper El Universo reports that over fifty police officers from the Special Operations Group (GOE) took part in the raid. When villagers tried to defend the Criollos from arrest, police fired tear gas, forcing the evacuation of a local school.

In the city of Cuenca, police violently repressed protests at the Court of Justice. As six leaders began a hunger strike inside the building, the police attacked a press conference taking place outside the building, arresting Water Board leader Carlos Pérez Guartambel. Police used tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to defend Pérez. Police then forced hunger strikers and four women supporting them out of the Court building, dragging them by their necks. The governor of Azuay denied that Pérez was arrested, and he was freed later that day. The six hunger strikers are now in Cuenca's Cathedral.

According to the newspaper El Comercio, Minister of Mines and Petroleum Derlis Palacios said that the government would push forward with the Mining Law. Palacios said that Ecuador "was a poor country that could not afford to just sit on these large resources." He added that protests were the result of manipulation by indigenous leaders who mislead community members by claiming that mining would harm their access to clean water. Palacios said that the new law would ensure that water sources are protected. Congresillo President Cordero told El Comercio that protesters were using the demonstrations to advance electoral ambitions.

The CONAIE condemned the government's description of protesters as "criminals and subversive terrorists," saying that "the only thing we are fighting for is life and dignity for all of Ecuador's citizens." The CONAIE that such comments are aimed "to stigmatize [protesters] and prepare public opinion for even more severe repression."

Correa is coming into increasing conflict with social and indigenous movement activists. On Thursday January 8, the United Labor Front (FUT), Ecuador's largest labor federation, announced mass protests for a higher minimum wage increase for January 15. They say that Correa's proposed increase of $18 a month, to $218, is a step back and fails to meet provisions in the new constitution ensuring that all Ecuadorians are paid a living wage.

[Ximena Warnaars is an anthropologist and PhD student from the University of Manchester, UK living in Cuenca, Ecuador. Daniel Denvir is a Quito, Ecuador based journalist in the process of moving to Philadelphia, and a 2008 recipient of NACLA's Samuel Chavkin Investigative Journalism Grant. He is an editor at www.caterwaulquarterly.com.]

ECUADOR: HUELGA DE HAMBRE EN CONTRA DE MINERIA A GRAN ESCALA

Cuenca,

8 Enero 2009

En la ciudad de Cuenca, el día 8 de enero de 2009, a las 10:30, se ubicaron en Huelga de Hambre Indefinida, varios miembros de comunidades de Azuay y Ecuador para protestar en contra de la actual Ley Minera que pretende instalar la explotación a cielo abierto por parte de varias transnacionales mineras. Los huelguistas están en la Corte Superior de Justicia del Azuay emplazada en el centro histórico de la ciudad.

Se encuentran en la medida de hecho: Salvador Quizhpe, 38 años, dirigente de la CONAIE; Manuel Tacuri, 70 años, de la parroquia Tarqui; José Humberto Paute, 69 años, de la parroquia Victoria del Portete; Gilberto Chuinda, Germán Pirush y Manuel Salazar de la provincia de Zamora Chinchipe; hay que señalar que en el interior de la Corte Superior de Justicia, y apoyando la medida de hecho, se encuentran cuatro mujeres de la parroquia Victoria del Portete del Azuay.

Detienen a dirigente

En medio del humo de gas lácrimógeno, Carlos Pérez, dirigente campesino de los Sistemas Comunitarios de Agua del Azuay, fue capturado por un piquete de más 15 policías, con el uso de la violencia. Varias mujeres que acompañaban a Pérez fueron golpeadas en el operativo. En este momento el dirigente se encuentra detenido en la Comandancia de Policía Azuay, número 6.

Las campesinas golpeadas manifestaron "que él no es un ladrón, ni delincuente para que lo capturen, lo único que hace es defender el agua para todos, el agua para la vida. No sabemos por qué utilizaron mucha violencia y lo arrastraron". Algunas mujeres de más de 50 años derramaron lágrimas por la acción represiva y ante la impotencia.

El ambiente en el lugar de los hechos

Los huelguistas se instalaron en la recepción de la Corte Superior de Justicia. Varios miembros de la prensa cubrieron los sucesos, mientras varios policías de fuerzas especiales custodiaban la entrada y salida de las personas. En las afueras del recinto, varias campesinas del Azuay explicaban a los policías de las fuerzas especiales que están atropellando sus derechos. "Ustedes también son pueblo", decían indignadas.

Realizó las siguientes declaraciones: "Con el afán de conversar sobre el tema de la Ley Minera con el gobierno del Ecuador, hemos acordado suspender la toma de las carreteras en Azuay, por eso convocamos a un diálogo en el sur del país en el marco de una acción pacífica. Ahora nos instalaremos en una Huelga de Hambre de carácter indefinido. El gobierno tiene 12 días, de los contrario, para el 20 de enero, la CONAIE convoca a retomar la movilización. Está en sus manos cualquier cosa que ocurra, porque se han negado al diálogo que nosotros seguimos buscando".

Carlos Pérez Guartambel

Declaró: 1) "La Ley Minera pretende entregar a las multinacionales mineras concesiones hídricas"; 2) "Emprendemos propuestas y no solamente protestas". Estas declaraciones antes de ser detenido en el operativo policial.

Desalojo Salvaje

A las 12:14 fueron desalojadas brutalmente las personas que se encontraban en la Corte Superior de Justicia en la Huelga de Hambre, luego se refugiaron alrededor del Parque Calderón y su intención era instalar la medida de hecho en la Catedral Nueva, o en otro punto de la ciudad.

Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Cuenca

Una comisión, integrada por varias autoridades y docentes de la Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de la Universidad de Cuenca, entre otros, Sergio Guevara, subdecano, y María Merchán, directora de la Escuela de Enfermería, está acompañando a los huelguistas, a fin de asegurar su integridad y salud.