Every once in a while the people will get their political 'servants' off their ruler's throne long enough to actually look out for the people, and not just their own personal power.
It's rare, but it happens.'
Here is one example in Ecuador.
The Chinese private corporation Junefield/Ecuagoldmining South America exported over 330 tons of minerals during its first trimester operating in the Ecuadorian highlands of Molleturo.
Its Rio Blanco mine, located at 3800 meters above sea level, is one of five strategic projects developed by President Correa’s “Citizen Revolution.”
In the early 2000s, Ecuador’s government licensed 5700 hectares of ancestral lands holding a rich hydric system in the Cajas reserve to the foreign corporation without consulting communities.
The US$ 78 million project is expected to extract 240 thousand tons of gold and silver to generate a total of US$ 336 millions to the Ecuadorean state over a lifetime of 11 years.
“It seemed impossible to stop a mine with so many millions at stake,” recalls Yaku Perez Guartambel, the Kichwa-Kañari lawyer and president of the Confederation of Kichwa Nationalities of Ecuador (ECUARUNARI) who led the trial against the mine.
On June 1st 2018, a provincial judge ordered the suspension of all mining activities at the Rio Blanco project arguing that the Rio Blanco mine failed to have a prior consultation with indigenous communities as required by the Constitution (Art. 57.7) and international law (ILO 169).
Molleturo communities visit the site of the Rio Blanco mine to make sure the activities are suspended as required by the court order.
It was the state that appealed—not the Chinese corporation—ironically enough, through the Ministry of the Environment.
Ecuador’s indigenous communities know that the state is the best advocate of mining corporations, even when there are leftist governments in office. The state continues to treat native land as terra nullius, dispossessing communities to sell resources on global markets.
On August 3, 2018, Azuay’s Provincial Court confirmed the sentence, denying the appeal and confirming that the state and the corporation had violated indigenous rights to prior consultation. The final verdict was adamant: the immediate suspension of all mining operations and definite closing of the Rio Blanco mine.
Keep in mind, dear reader, it is our apathy that allows this to persist.
Crapitalism is hardly our lord and savior.
If you still believe that, please look around.
You don't sell your soul when you can't buy anything with it.