Canadian’s terrorists “consult” indigenous communities

 

A consultation, by its very definition, is a discussion seeking the advice of experts.

Terrorism, on the other hand, is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation against civilians in the pursuit of political aims.

In July 2023, an “environmental consultation” in Cotopaxi left six civilians injured by police and the military using tear gas, pellets and rubber bullets against them.

This “consultation” was conducted by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, Water & Ecological Transition so that a subsidiary of the Canadian transnational mining company, Atico, could move into the exploitation stage of their plans. The community “consulted” are Ecuadorian citizens from the Palo Quemado parish, in the Sigchos canton of the province of Cotopaxi.

In March 2024, paramilitary forces of the “Campesino Defense Councils” on behalf of Atico mining, gathered in the parish. They set up check-points demanding documentation from passersby. They travelled in trucks and motorbikes with no license plates. They were hooded. They wore no uniform. They had no identification. They had no court order. They had Mosberg shotguns, revolvers, submachine guns and 9 mm caliber pistols.

Around twenty human rights defenders assembled and were intimidated by the weapon yielding terrorists. Around 120 paramilitary troops conquered and occupied the area.

They tried to seize a shipment of certified organic panela for export to Europe (from the Flor de Caña Association). This is one of the main economic sources of the town.

At night, the paramilitaries broke into the homes of the community members of San Pablo, without a court order and with weapons to intimidate the families who oppose the company Atico Mining and its subsidiary La Plata.

This all occurred six days after the Ecuadorian President met with Canada’s Justin Trudeau agreeing to develop a bilateral trade agreement. Simultaneously, six deals were made with six Canadian mining corporations for more than $4.8 billion. At a “mining fair” in Canada, Noboa talked in terms of combatting illegal mining and promoting “sustainable” mining.

He didn’t mention using terrorism to “consult” with communities.

Canada has become the largest mining investor in Ecuador.

And then, on March the 18^th, the leader of the terrorists accused their victims of being terrorists – and reported 70 community members to the Prosecutor’s office (Fiscalia).

500 soldiers and police were deployed to guard the Canadian mining company’s base.

The National Anti-Mining Front state that:

“Environmental consultation” has common patterns in the territories where it has been imposed by the Government: a lack of adequate and accessible information, the exclusion of dissident voices, the manipulation of data, police and military repression and the omission of standards international, which turn this process into a mere bureaucratic procedure to justify decisions that have already been made in the offices of the mining companies and the corrupt politicians who support them.”

They added:

“We condemn the vile way in which the Government attempts to divert attention from the real crimes committed by companies. Instead of investigating the events caused by the company, the Government persecutes, harasses and criminalizes the communities. We are men and women who defend our right to life, to water, to live in a healthy environment, to work in our agricultural fields and to preserve our ways of life.”

They remind the Noboa government that Ecuador signed the Escazú Agreement, obliging states to provide access to authentic participation in environmental decision making, access to information, access to justice in decision making and above all protection for environmental human rights defenders.

In the Palo Quemado parish, exactly the opposite is occurring. Terrorizing a community denies them participation. Criminalizing human rights defenders is an attempt to delegitimize their considerable concerns. Militarization or Para militarization is not protection, it is intimidation. 

By the 19th March, 15 people have been wounded - amongst them children, women and the elderly. 7 of those have very serious injuries - burns on their faces, arms and legs from police and military attacks using rubber bullets, pellets and tear-gas bombs.