Ecuador: Indigenous confederation demands that all oil, mining, hydroelectric and logging companies suspend activities in the Amazon in response to COVID-19
“Indigenous race into Ecuador's Amazon to escape coronavirus”, 26th March 2020
…Last week, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE) closed all access to the rainforest, denying entrance to both tourists and Ecuadorian nationals. They also demanded that all oil, mining, hydroelectric and logging companies that operate in the rainforest stop rotating their personnel and bringing people in from the cities, and suspend all activities near communities, says CONFENIAE President Marlon Vargas…
If contagion reaches the Indigenous territory, "it would be an extermination of the Indigenous population of the Amazon basin," says Vargas. This would include the 11 nationalities, over 500,000 Indigenous peoples, who currently live in Ecuador's Amazon, he adds…
CONFENIAE translated these regulations and other preventive measures into various Indigenous languages. The social media hashtag #StayAtHome, was also translated to Kichwa and Shuar, #WasipiSakiri and #JeminPujusta respectively, to reach as many people as possible…