Leonidas Iza, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) denounced the economic interests of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in the social conflict between the indigenous populations of Cotopaxi and the mining firms that are operating in the region.
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"The president of the Republic has mining interests," the indigenous leader emphasized, adding that the Noboa Group, owned by the president’s family, has a stake in the Canadian mining company Adventus Mining Corporation.
Iza recalled that before being elected president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa was part of the family business which earns capital from mining.
Since March 5, Adventus Mining Corporation, signed a mining investment agreement with the Ecuadorian government, this association joined several more mining companies, with the aim of carrying out mining work in the east of the country.
The text reads, Daniel Noboa
No more violence against the people.
The strong military and police repression is again active in Palo Quemado, Cotopaxi. This action is directed against peasant families and community members who maintain the defense of their territory against the invasion of the Canadian mining company.
The installation of mining companies was not well received by the peasant population, which has suffered violent repression by police forces.
According to CONAIE, "more than 500 members of the police and armed forces have used excessive repression", with "the indiscriminate use of rubber bullets, pellets and tear gas bombs".
The actions have left 15 people injured, 7 of them with serious injuries, the organization details.
Leonidas Iza says that Noboa "is not seeing the pain of the people" and that the repression against the peasant population for its refusal to mining represents "a flagrant violation of human rights, collective and democratic principles".