The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
February 7, 2022

Ecuador High Court Sides with Indigenous Groups in Dispute over Drilling and Mining
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ecuador's Constitutional Court has ruled that Indigenous communities
should have much more control over whether to allow extractive projects
on their lands. In a decision handed down Friday, judges ruled that
Indigenous groups can halt proposed mining and oil drilling projects if
they're found to require "excessive sacrifices to the collective rights
of communities and nature." It's a blow to President Guillermo Lasso,
who has promised to double Ecuador's oil production, and a major victory
for the A'i Cofán community and other Indigenous groups who've suffered
the effects of environmental destruction for decades.


.