“The real reason for conflict with leftwing opponents of Correa…has been his government’s decision to allow large-scale mining and oil exploration in the highly eco-sensitive areas of Ecuador’s Amazon basin”.
So says New Delhi journalist, Satya Sagar, in his recent analysis of the increasing oppression of activists by Ecuador’s purportedly “left wing” government.
It’s a concern echoed by the Latin American Observatory of Mining Conflicts (OCMAL) which accuses Correa of mounting “international, coordinated persecution of social protest related to mining opposition.”
Among the opponents of mining in Ecuador are groups with which LMN member group LAMMP is working.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12057&l=1.