What do locals think of the Ecuadorian Government’s proposal to keep the oil in the ground?
Marlon Santi President of Ecuador’s indigenous organization CONAIE As a representative of the indigenous movement – I represent 14 ‘nations’ – my main goal is to reclaim and defend our human rights which have been trampled upon. The Yasuní-ITT proposal was born within the indigenous movement. We have been calling for the development model to be changed so that, instead of oil, alternative ways are sought which will benefit humanity. Now we hear the speeches coming from the Government… It would be magnificent if it worked, if other countries were interested, but we will have to see… Oil is oil. We are not close to the Government, but we are campaigning for countries like Germany, France, Switzerland, to support the proposal. We don’t want a ‘moratorium’; we want the crude to be left in the ground forever. The problem is that there is not enough interest at a world level; at the moment there are, I think, three countries that are interested. If Ecuador sets this example, it could cha
