Mindo, Ecuador – Approximately one hundred members of the Ecuadorian National Police forcibly evicted seventeen activists Monday evening blockading the OCP pipeline route through the sensitive Mindo Nambillo Protected Cloudforest. Residents of Mindo, with support from international allies, had been peacefully occupying the treetops and cloudforest ridgeline of this protected forest since January 2 in an effort to stop the construction of the heavy crude pipeline through the area.
The Mindo Nambillo Cloudforest Reserve and the surrounding ecologically sensitive forests are considered an unparalleled epicenter of biodiversity and are home to more than 450 species of birds – -46 of which are threatened by extinction.
Local Ecuadorian and foreign activists were arrested at the site and transported in buses contracted by the OCP Consortium to a detention center in capital city of Quito. They are expected to be charged at a hearing set for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.
In response to the arrests, sixty men and women demonstrated their opposition to the pipeline’s passage by blocking the principal highway from Quito to Los Bancos through the night. During this time, local citizens confiscated two large OCP tractor-trailers carrying pipeline tubes destined for Quito. Residents forced the vehicles into the town square where, in a display of colorful defiance, they painted tubes with the phrase “OCP out of Mindo.” Townspeople are demanding that all seventeen detainees be released before they relinquish the vehicles.
“We demand the immediate release of those detained whose only crime is defending the Ecuadorian patrimony and humanity. We also reaffirm our struggle against the construction of the OCP pipeline and declare that these types of repressive measures will not stop us,” said Efrain Toapanta of Acción por la Vida.
The eviction is the latest controversy to plague the embattled pipeline. On March 6, Ecuador’s Ministry of the Environment revoked OCP’s environmental license for the Mindo region until damage endured during construction has been repaired. The license suspension came just hours after the government reached an agreement with Amazonian communities who paralyzed commerce and brought oil production to a stand still over OCP construction and socio-economic conditions in the impoverished region. Three protesters were killed in a military crackdown during the week long state of emergency.
“Yet again we see OCP relying on the Ecuadorian military to do its dirty work. The Consortium is evidently willing to clear anything in its path-be it endangered species, old growth cloudforest, or peaceful protestors,” said Kevin Koenig, Oil Campaigner with Amazon Watch. “With this latest activity, OCP has shown their blatant indifference to sensitive ecosystems, the livelihoods of local communities, and basic human rights,” said Koenig.
The forest occupation in Mindo has drawn international attention and support, including letters of solidarity from Julia Butterfly Hill. Financial giants WestLB and Citibank, who have been hit with protests in 24 countries around the world, continue to come under fire for their involvement in the $1.1 billion project.
