The Economic Development Commission approved the report for debate on the officially named Organic Law for the Strengthening of the Strategic Mining and Energy Sectors, classified as an urgent economic matter.
The Executive branch defends the initiative, arguing that efficient regulation is necessary to promote the generation of tax revenue and foreign exchange, and contribute to the sustainability and macroeconomic stability of the State.
However, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) warned that the government’s proposal prioritizes expediting extractive investments without establishing clear and enforceable guarantees for the prior, free, and informed consultation of indigenous peoples, a right recognized in the Constitution.
Gustavo Redin, of the Ecuadorian Coordinating Body of Organizations for the Defense of Nature and the Environment (Cedenma), told Prensa Latina that this will generate “a great deal of legal uncertainty,” since communities could only challenge the constitutionality of the law once their rights have been violated, after lengthy legal processes.
Another concern of the activist is that the militarization of legal mining areas, as stipulated in the legislation, could be used to suppress social opposition.
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