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Article

12 Aug 2020

Author:
The Real News

Ecuador: NGO alleges that Chevron-Texaco oil spill, climate change, and pandemic compound inequities put Indigenous peoples at risk

“Climate, crude, and COVID devastate Ecuador’s Amazon” – 11 August 2020

 …In April, as COVID-19 began to overwhelm the healthcare system, both of Ecuador’s transnational oil pipelines ruptured, dumping thousands of barrels of oil into the Coca river and its tributaries that provide fresh water and livelihoods to native communities. Regarded as Ecuador’s worst spill in a decade, the collapsed pipelines are still not fully repaired, and the government remains tightlipped over the incident. A similar environmental disaster was caused by an oil spill linked to Chevron-Texaco in Aguarico in Sept. 2013. Caught between the pandemic, historic flooding, and governmental negligence, Ecuador’s Indigenous people have launched an international appeal to crowdsource rebuilding efforts, and a COVID-19 monitoring platform with help from international environmental groups. As of early August, nearly 2,000 Indigenous people have tested positive for COVID-19, and almost 40 deaths have been recorded in the monitored territories…Beset by the coronavirus pandemic and crude-contaminated waters, the Indigenous people of the Ecuadorian Amazon are entirely left to fend for themselves. With little or no government healthcare support…the native people of the Ecuadorian Amazon are struggling with food security, access to drinking water, and sanitation supplies. The government in Quito recently moved to reopen businesses, allowing the oil, gas, and mineral industries to restart operations. Workers and equipment have been brought back into Indigenous land, considerably elevating communities’ exposure to COVID-19…Despite the uncertain global oil market amidst surging COVID-19 cases, the government in Quito has announced plans to expand oil production. And then came the floods. In April, Bobonaza River—located in Ecuador’s central Amazon—swelled to historic levels, leading to unprecedented flooding. Community bridges collapsed and water swept away homes and crops providing livelihoods to hundreds of families…