“We don’t accept, and we will not accept, the exploitation of oil in our territories because our vision of the world, our ideas about development, has no place for it. It would be better if the Chinese company gave up on these lots. We are not going to accept the end of our lives and the end of the Sápara nation’s history and world.” Gloria Ushiga, Sápara leader Support the Sápara and protect the Amazon. Recently indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon urged Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to cancel plans for Chinese state oil company Andes Petroleum to drill for oil in their territory. Li has promised to use an “iron fist” to punish companies that destroy the environment. Ask him to live up to his promise and to cancel China’s plans to drill the Amazon. Controversial Chinese investment in Ecuador and oil-backed loans are creating an unprecedented new oil boom in the country’s Amazon region. The region is home to ten different indigenous nationalities and some of the world’s most pristine and biodiverse forest. Chinese state-owned oil company Andes Petroleum is hoping to operate in the rainforest homes of the Sápara and the Kichwa of Sarayaku. China is also considering financing drilling in Yasuni-ITT, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet and the home of Ecuador’s last communities living in voluntary isolation. This must be stopped. Tell Prime Minister Li to #KeepItInTheGround” – don’t drill the Amazon! In May, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang visited South America and indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon urged him not to drill for oil in their territory. In 2013, Li promised to use an “iron fist” to punish companies that destroy the environment. Support indigenous communities, ask Li to live up to his promise and to cancel China’s plans to drill the Amazon. Source URL |
