The Yasuní Is The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg
For those of you who haven't been keeping up with the conversation about oil development in Ecuador, I hope you decide to read this and learn more. Last week, President Rafael Correa cancelled an agreement with Germany that would have created a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Yasuní National Park. The agreement, referred to as Yasuní ITT, was a groundbreaking experiment in economic development; the government of Ecuador asked the international community for the equivalent of 50% of the potential oil revenue in exchange for not developing the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil reserves.
Since Correa's decision to cancel the agreement, a local newspaper in Quito, HOY, has had a constant stream of articles about the Yasuní, the National Park, and oil exploitation. Yes, they call it exactly that. This Sunday alone, the first three pages of the paper were about this single topic.
And while President Correa has made up his mind to open the National Park to oil development, it seems that the people of Ecuador, many of them Correa supporters, are not convinced that he has made the right decision. And it may not matter as it may not be his decision alone to make.
...el artículo 407 de la Constitución ya establece que los yacimientos ubicados en zonas intangibles y áreas protegidas no pueden ser explotados salvo que se obtenga la declaratoria de interés nacional solicitada por el Presidente Rafael Correa y entregada por la Asamblea.
Article 407 of the Constitution states that sites located in protected zones and protected areas cannot be exploited without a declaration of national interest solicited by President Rafael Correa and delivered by the Assembly.