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Here is a translation of an interview with Roque Sevilla, the ex-president of the Yasuni ITT Commission who also helped draw up the borders of Yasuni National Park 32 years ago and.

The Yasuni ITT initiative is a project that aims to preserve the most biologically diverse region on the planet, the region of Ecuadors Amazon between the rivers Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini (ITT) by securing donations from developed countries in exchange for keeping the vast oil reserves beneath the national park untapped.

If the Ecuadorian government does not receive 100 million dollars by January 1st 2012 it will exploit the oil inside the national park.   In this frank and critical interview Roque Sevilla claims that this was the Ecuadorians governments intention the entire time.  

Please share this interview or the original transcript in Spanish.

Where you surprised by the statements of German parliamentarians who visited the country?

“Yes, I noticed that those MPs where looking at current events in a newspaper like El Universo. That means that a local issue like Freedom of the in Ecuador is certainly important and is being projected internationally. This shows that the national management influences the confidence that creates a doors to the outside world.”

The statements of the minister of the German cooperation are clear. Do you rule out the governments support for the Yasuni-ITT project?

“I will rule it out while this actual government is in power. Ecuador has constantly sent ambigious and contradictory messages with respect to the Yassuni ITT. It remains in force, for example, the Pacific Refinery which will process 100,000 barrels inside the ITT. The president in his remarks on saturday explained in detail the techniques that will apply to the development of plan B. So clearly, it sends the message that Plan B is the real plan A. This creates distrust.”

How do you explain then that the chancellor Patiño did a tour of Europe to supposedly achieve more support for the Yasuní?

“Ill get back to that answer. Alberto Acosta, when he was energy minister, proposed the idea of leaving the oil underground in Yasuní. That became a hot potato for the government which always wanted to get out of that truck.”

He did not do it? How do you explain it?

“Because surveys show that 65% of Ecuadorians support the Yasuni-ITT project.  Now the government is making the effort to fix the quotes to present the force, between quotation marks, that helps the government get the contributions from developed countries. This is clear, with contradictory messages and with, sometimes, agression on the future contributors. This is to say, for example, they get the coins out of his ears.”

Are you saying that the official strategy is to boycott the project?

“If I promote an idea and then do my best so that it is not accepted, I get the result I want: the failure of the project.”

That was a very clear strategy since January 2010 because we could have advanced, in an extraordinary way, if a month before the resignation of the commission to which I belonged, we would have signed, as scheduled on December 17, 2009, the contract trust with the United Nations in Copenhagen. The previous day, the president called to say do not sign.

But the Government replaced the team and did not undo the project.

“But since then there has been a systematic policy to avoid all possible contributions and be able to justify it. Now in December, the President will announce – as I am certain he will do – that they have made every effort humanly possible to get that money. He will say that the developed countries are bad because they did not want to contribute and that the government is consequently forced to exploit the oil of Yasuni.”

In this theory, Maria Fernanda Espinosa and Ivonne Baki are parts used by the president?

“Absolutely used, because the intention has been to do everything the opposite. If its not like that then explain the Pacific Refinery. Then explain the additional concessions given to PetroChina right on the bank of the Napo River for pipefitters right in front of Tiputini. It explains the presidents remarks that Tiputini is no longer part of the ITT and all that remains is the IT.”

“He invents a new compass, a new GPS which excludes the Yasuni National Park area Tiputini.  This invention allows them to exploit this oil without asking the people of Ecuador, because that goes against Article 407 of the Constitution.  These plans are drawn and advanced to exploit the oil.”

But has the government ever talked of a plan C. Do you know Rafael Correa?

“I do not know it. I think there is a single plan, B, which is to exploit the oil. So much so that in the case of Armadillo, which everyone knows is the Taromenani (uncontacted tribe in the Yasuni Amazon) just made a tender to operate without complying with any of the principles of the Constitution or international treaties to protect communities that have chosen to live in voluntary isolation. So the signals are wholesale. Here’s what will happen on January 1st – they are going to exploit the Yasuni ITT oil.”

You say that this topic is popular, which will generate resistence in the peoples opinion. What is the benefit to the Government to develop antidote policies against the Yasuni ITT?

“That’s the risk you run. But with the confidence they have in their power to manipulate public opinion through television channels, and the president’s personal popularity, they believe they will win this battle. I think those who are aware of the importance of the issue of Yasuní, we have to go to battle against the decision to exploit the oil from the world’s richest area of biodiversity as dumb and stupid. The Government itself has said this to the United Nations itself, therefore, those who are in favor of the protection of the Yasuni have to prove it.

Following your logic, the Yasuní may become a political boomerang for President?

He will produce a political boomerang because Ecuadorians are not easily fooled. The Government will say that the exploitation will be a perfect surgery. But that does not exist. The oil will spill and cause damage. Look at the final research survey which has only been done in two dimensions, 2D. You have to make the third dimension and this includes the construction of trails on a grid and, at the intersection of each track, you have to put a stick of dynamite and exploit it to measure the effect of sound waves. The rebound is measured by the size of the oil fields.

That demands a brutal intervention with groups of cutters and bulldozers that knock down everything to make the trails and explode dynamite. There are helicopter flights, installing the pipes… Now the president says that everything’s going to be underground, that drilling will be 11 km horizontal to Tambococha. They already know everything. That itself has advanced to the final detail, but if we ask them how much they have advanced in the regulation of the trust agreement, or even have it.

There will be nothing left of Yasuni National Park.

There has been, however, a sustainable alternative to the Government’s argument that says, in short, that under the Yasuní is a gold mine for social work.

There are alternatives: the use of biodiversity with economic valuation through the pharmaceutical industry and the systematic investigation of organized wealth that is there.

Tourism is another alternative. Costa Rica lives with three million tourists a year and here we are barely a million, but Ecuador has twice the biodiversity of Costa Rica. What happens is that Costa Ricans understand what sustainability is and here we like the exploitation of natural resources for fast, easy and short term money.

We can also take advantage of alternative energy sources other than oil. In hydropower we use a seventh of what we have available to us. Solar power, geothermal water that is heated with volcanoes. The advantage of New Zealand, Costa Rica and Iceland.

There are options, then. And the first is to continue the Yasuní-ITT project by negotiations with the countries concerned, but showing signs of confidence and strength in the proposal. No contradictions or game fixing. Along these lines I am convinced that we can raise $ 3,600 million.

Right now when there is virtually recession in Europe and the U.S.? What signals is this based on?

“It is worthwhile to follow closely what is happening in Guyana. In 2009, two years after us, Guyana Prime Minister proposed to the world that he would raise 540 million dollars a year and give up mining and logging in their country to preserve their natural resources.

The country has already received $250 million of contributions from Norway and is in line to receive the 540 million that was set because there has been a commitment of that State, a sovereign decision and a job to do so unambiguously that builds confidence in the world”

Are you going to fight in the street to avoid exploitation of Yasuni?

I have always fought for the protection of the environment. Ill say that a few days ago a friend sent me a photograph from 1976 in which I am in a canoe in the middle of Yasuní creating the border of the national park in conjunction with two technicians of the FAO, Allain Putney and a Dutch man.

Thanks to these studies Yasuni was declared a National Park. The defense of the park for me, then, is old enough to accept that without further ado, it violates the Constitution and the government will destroy the incredible biological richness of this country.

Huaorani Children after Christian Missionaries Westernized their Tribe

Few of these Amazonian tribes live as they did as little as 50 years ago and fewer still remain uncontacted by what we egotistically refer to as “civilization.”

The uncontacted tribes that remain in the Amazon are under threat as illegal loggers, poachers (and in Ecuadors case the Oil Companies) ruthlessly push further and further into the jungle. Another of the biggest dangers to these tribes is that their immune systems have been sheltered from the innumerous diseases and infections of modern civilization and something as small as the common cold can wipe them out like they did to the Australian Aboriginies and other indigenous groups in world history.

We need to do more to protect these peoples so that history does not repeat.

Uncontacted Tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon

Because Ecuador has the fastest rate of deforestation in the entire Amazon basin and the largest oil reserves outside of Venezuela the rich and magical cultures of the Kichwa, Shuar, and Huaorani have had no choice but to change and adapt to an increasingly brutal and unjust world to survive.

The majority of these tribes have had to abandon the nomadic lifestyle and setup small villages to protect their territory from illegal land grabs and sadly in the worst effected areas some of these tribes have abandoned their native religion and language as well.

Ecuador does however have as many as five tribes living in voluntary isolation that have refused to be eaten up by the modern world. These tribes are of the Huaorani ethnicity and are called the Tagaeri, the Huiñatare, the Oñamenane, and two groups of the Taromenane that currently live the naked and nomadic life of their ancestors inside the Yasuni Biosphere and along the border of Peru.

The impending drilling of the giant oil fields inside Yasuni National Park will change all of that.

Today in Ecuador many people doubt these tribes still exist and the oil companies with vested interests in the Yasuni have rigorously tried to push this view. A friend who works in the Ministry of Environment in Coca has seen aerial photos taken by the Ecuadorian Military that prove their existence but the government will not release them – the optimist in me hopes this is to conceal their location instead of attempting to conform to the oil companies powerful point of view.

From time to time other evidence emerges that is too hard to refute about the existence of these tribes – like the body of a illegal rare wood logger found in Yasuni National Park with 7 spears in his stomach. Or reports that these illegal loggers murdered five uncontacted tribes people and cut off their heads to intimidate them.

Uncontacted Tribes of the Brazillian Amazon

We know very little about the language and cultures and even whereabouts of many of the Amazons uncontacted tribes. Sadly a few of South Americas governments like Peru have used this as an excuse to claim they do not even exist. To counter this stupidity a documentary with some fascinating footage of an uncontacted tribe in Brazil has been released to defend the rights of these people. You can see part of it here:

You can help by signing this petition addressed to President Humala of Peru to step up and protect the human rights of these people.

For the last couple of weeks the news in Ecuador has been dominated by a court case that throes into doubt the future of freedom of expression in this small Andean nation.

Rafael Correa, the president of the republic of Ecuador has sued the journalist Emilio Palacio as well as three board members of the newspaper where Palacio works, El Universo, for allegations made in his article calling the president a dictator and murderer.

The article refers to the police uprising on the 30th of September when Rafael Correa was kidnapped by rogue elements of the Ecuadorian police force and held hostage in a military hospital. In the article Emilio Palacio calls the President Correa a dictator 8 times and accuses him of ordering the military to use lethal force when rescuing him which is a pretty asinine accusation right there.

Firstly, 4 out of the 5 people who died were trying to rescue the president and secondly: Which president on Earth would NOT order the military to use lethal force had he or she been kidnapped by rogue police units?

The Guayaquilenan Newspaper that is being sued, El Universo, is pretty much the mouth-piece of the countries incredibly corrupt and astronomically wealthy elite class. In this respect it makes sense that the newspaper has dedicated itself to defaming Correa and everyone else deemed a threat to these very powerful people that have ransacked Ecuador with impunity for decades.

Emilio Palacio himself seems like one of those snake-skin journalists that skews the news as well as the finest and most manipulative of FOX News anchormen. His skills and talents probably suit him more for celebrity gossip than for balanced and informed political opinion but that does not mean should not be able to express his opinion.

The Right to Express Ourselves Freely

I personally believe this to be a stupid and downright dangerous move by President Correa, one that has made a martyr out of Palacio and legitimized this journalists outlandish ravings. This move has unfortunately made one of the best democratically elected presidents Ecuador has ever had look like they very thing his enemies have tried so hard to paint him as – a dictator.

According to the court ruling Emilio Palacio and the three directors of El Universo owe President Correa $42 million in damages and are sentenced to three years in jail – a punishment completely disproportional to the so called crime whatever way you look at it. The case is currently being appealed and Emilio Palacio has fled Ecuador in the last few days to seek exile in the United States to continue his uneding diatribe against the president.

I have always admired much of what I have seen Rafael Correa do here in Ecuador for the four years. He really has been such a fantastic leader for this country compared to all of the corrupt presidents Ecuador has had in the past. This incident however has made me question him for the first time – the right to express yourself freely is one of our fundamental rights as human beings and should not be taken for granted.

¡Que Viva la Libertad de Expression!

Yesterday there was an huge amount of political unrest in Ecuador that saw the country collapse into chaos. If you are worried then I can tell you with 100% certainty its all over now, order has been restored and its perfectly safe to travel.

The unrest started when elements of the police force started nation wide strikes to protest against a new law passed on Wednesday that changed the way public servants are paid. President Rafael Correa tried to negotiate with the police at their headquarters in Quito yesterday morning to explain the new laws which to my understanding means they will lose a bonus that gives them $1,000 USD for every year they have worked in the force given to them on their 25th year as well as a bonus for any police decorations they may receive.

In compensation the police and military will see their salary triple: a police officer that earned $450 in 2008 will now earn $1200. The compensation was not enough to stop the police protests however and as the President left the police headquarters after the failed negotiations a crowd surrounded him that turned violent as elements of the police fired teargas bombs at their own president. Correa was forced to flee to a military hospital which the police forces surrounded and kept him their against his will for twelve hours.
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Today Carolina from Finland starts her second week of volunteer work in the Animal Rescue Center. This is the second time she has volunteered inside Ecuador, the first was for a similar center focused on protecting endangered animals in a place called Ibarra in Northern Ecuador which she loved and had an amazing time.

Fortunately, unlike many other volunteers, Carolina wasn’t ripped off or scammed into paying thousands of dollars for volunteer work which normally costs a few hundred dollars at most. A travel agent in London originally offered her the price of $2,000 to volunteer for two weeks at the NGO but she was wise enough to wait until she got to Ecuador before organizing the volunteer work and to her surprise she was able to find the EXACT same NGO for the price of $100 per week!

That decision saved her $1,800!

Sadly however, there was another girl from Connecticut in the States volunteering in the same center for two weeks who paid the corporation “I-to-I”, one of the biggest international volunteer work cartels in the world, $2,500 to volunteer for two weeks. This poor girl was devastated when she found out that all the money she had worked so hard to save up over the summer filled the coffers of I-to-I and a measly $200 of the $2,500 was given to the NGO rehabilitating the endangered animals.

So guys and girls be very very careful when choosing volunteer work especially if it costs over $1,000 month because it may turn out to be a scam. I’m not trying to scare you out of volunteering nor am i trying to convince you that www.ecuadorecovolunteer.org is the only safe way to go because there are so many amazing programs out there.

Just be careful when organizing volunteer work especially if its with one of the big international companies. A great site for anyone interested in finding high quality low cost volunteer work in Latin America is www.volunteersouthamerica.net which is an amazing directory of all the best programs on the continent (you will see us under Ecuador:)

Its a shame that these big companies give the entire industry a bad name but whats good is that i believe more and more people are becoming aware of the volunteer work scams out there and are beginning to avoid them at all costs thanks to altruistic websites like www.volunteersouthamerica.net