Sacha Oil Field Concession is a Theft From the Ecuadorian People: CONAIE
CONAIE leader Leonidas Iza (C). X/ @EnfokeNews
March 3, 2025 Hour: 2:54 pm
While the country faces hunger, President Noboa hands natural resources to foreign firms, the Indigenous Confederation said.
On Monday, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) accused President Daniel Noboa of plundering the country’s heritage by granting a concession for the Sacha oil field—which produces 77,000 barrels per day—to a subsidiary of the Canadian company New Stratus Energy and Amodaimi Oil Company S.L.
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“Daniel Noboa’s administration has committed a robbery against the country: it handed over the Sacha oil field, Ecuador’s most productive one, to foreign hands. In a murky and non-transparent process, the administration ceded the exploitation of this strategic resource to the Sinopetrol consortium, giving it absolute control over our oil wealth,” the Indigenous Confederation stated in a communiqué.
“Sacha no longer belongs to the people. Now, 87.5% of its profits will go to private hands, while Ecuador will receive only 12.5%, leaving it with mere scraps of its own oil. This privatization means a loss of more than US$8 billion for the country. This plundering is no coincidence. Daniel Noboa is desperate for resources to use the State for electoral purposes and intends to mortgage the country’s future to remain in power,” it added.
“While the country faces hunger, crisis, and unemployment, the government, instead of defending our resources, hands them over to foreign interests. We reject this looting and will not allow them to keep selling off the country while the people bear the consequences,” CONAIE emphasized.
Meanwhile, former presidential candidate and historic leader of CONAIE, Leonidas Iza, called the concession illegitimate, pointing out that it is being awarded just three months before Noboa’s term ends. He stated that “Ecuador is a sovereign country that must be respected and is not for sale.”
Iza announced that his organization will take “all necessary actions” to prevent the Noboa administration from finalizing the concession of the Sacha oil field.
This controversy arises just weeks before the presidential runoff election, scheduled for April 13, between incumbent President Daniel Noboa, who is seeking re-election, and Luisa Gonzalez, the candidate from the Citizen Revolution party.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: CONAIE
