LatinNews Daily - 20 May 2025

*The Ecuadorean mining lobby Cámara de Minería del Ecuador (CME) has announced the conclusion of the country’s first prior, free and informed consent (FPIC) process regarding the Loma Larga gold mining concession in Azuay province, which is held by the Canada-headquartered firm Dundee Precious Metals. The consent process, which the CME said was carried out in line with the International Labour Organization’s Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous peoples, saw the community of Escaleras in Azuay province agree to a mining project that the CME says will involve an investment of US$400m and create over 1,500 jobs. Ecuador’s national assembly is still deliberating a law on FPIC, which has been a key demand of the umbrella indigenous organisation Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (Conaie) under successive governments. Yet there is still strong opposition to mining projects from a large faction of the indigenous movement that opposes the expansion of all extractive industry. Yaku Pérez, a 2021 presidential candidate for Conaie’s political arm Pachakutik, declared yesterday that residents had been pressured into backing the mining plan and said that “the people of Azuay will resist authoritarianism and defend water with our lives”.

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