We invited Energy & Palma to comment on allegations that, on 15 January 2025, Néstor Caicedo, an Afro-descendant land and environmental defender in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, received threats from individuals who identified themselves as “the mafia”, demanding money and warning of reprisals, and that these threats occurred days before a key hearing in a lawsuit brought by his community against the company. The company did not respond.