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WARNING: If you are a person that believes everything you are told and you don't have your own way of thinking, don't watch this video!
My name is Jonathan Gaitan, I'm 28 years old and I'm Ecuadorian.
I don't work for any media company. I don't have any political or economic interest.
I obey my conscience and I'm a free human being.
I invite you to come with me on this journey.
This is not my story; it's the story of all of us. It's a story of life and death.
It's a story which is happening right now.
Low Budget Productions
Presents
"The Dark Side of the Amazon"
Jonathan told me about the government's Yasuni ITT initiative
which pretends to maintain a part of the Ecuadorian Amazon intact and ***
but, on the other hand, we saw a documentary in which indigenous communities were willing to give their lives to stop the advance of the oil companies.
Why, if the government is protecting this part of the Amazon, are there so many affected communities?
So, as lovers of animals and nature, we decided to go and see what was really happening,
to be able to share it with you and bring as much attention as we can to the cause,
so everybody is conscious of the reality we are living in.
It's a political problem. Who commands in society? Human beings or capital?
And the economy doesn't look to protect capital interests.
So it's purely and simply abuse of capital, and especially finance capital, above human beings.
And it's purely and simply abuse of capital. The risk should fall on capital and not on human beings
So, the clear objective is to contribute to the avoidance of global warming.
Many of these obstructions are being made in the name of our ancestral people. Our ancestral people don't live well.
Also, this crude oil is in the most bio-diverse zone in the world. Therefore very sensitive, ecologically.
And it's also inhabited by tribes who are uncontacted; voluntarily isolated.
An open contradiction. Let's love ourselves.
Remember that the most important thing in nature is the human being,
but there are goods with a priceless value, like the environment.
Because without the environment, with all the pure air of the Amazon, there is no life on the planet.
The ecological revolution,
to commit ourselves even more to the only planet we have.
The dilemma is not to exploit or not exploit the natural resources.
The dilemma is to exploit them with environmental and social responsibility.
Well I assume that if he's exploiting with environmental and social responsibility, then it's ok,
but I had to go and see with my own eyes
In Guayaquil, the "La Resistencia Ecuador" and "La Amazonia Que Nos Queda" ("The Amazon That is Left") were organising a video forum in the Maac.
There was a mud slide that broke a pipeline and obviously this oil was spilled in the Coca River and the Napo River.
It's a spill and a damage that has even reached Brazil, passing Peru.
It's not the first spill we have had.
We had another in February 2009, also in the Coca River.
On 12th March 2013, recently, there was also a problem. The drinking water system was paralysed in the county of Shushufindi.
Ecuador has a debt with China of $7,200,000,000.
By extracting oil or any other natural resource, it's the only way that a government gets money directly into their pockets.
We could say, as other countries have done, that we can promote tourism, turn into agro-ecology.
This would bring economic benefit, but it doesn't bring economic benefit to a government.
The only thing that brings economic benefit is the direct sale of natural resources, such as oil, mining.
The oil industry has been characterised for putting capital ahead of human rights.
The Napo River, which is a huge river, is stained from side to side, kilometres and kilometres.
Practically all the river is black, with an oil stain.
Imagine, only in Ecuadorian territory this stretches for 300 km, with many populations on the banks of the river.
In the middle of all this, we can see that politics is following the line of extracting more oil, from other sectors of the country.
We have the ITT initiative, which honestly....
This video was made before they decided to exploit ITT
but, as there is already a lot of information circulating about it, we're not going to focus on this issue.
Here he said that the Yasuni ITT is only 10 % of the whole park.
... only because of the size is insufficient. What's going on with the rest of the Yasuni?
All the north part for example, is full of oil blocks;
there is a highway being built inside Yasuni; there are oil platforms inside Yasuni.
And all the while we are being sold the idea of Yasuni ITT.
It affects the national park too, because it's one of the zones with the highest number oil spills in history.
The spills flow down the rivers through the Intangible Zone to the national park.
A bit further down we have the Armadillo Field, which is not being exploited because we were able to stop it,
by showing evidence of the presence of isolated indigenous tribes there.
Apparently he worked for the government, for the Ministry of the Environment,
and was responsible for monitoring the uncontacted indigenous,
but when one of his reports evidenced the presence of them in an area of exploitation, they asked him to alter his report.
He refused and was fired.
It's now when he mentions something that at the time went in one ear and out of the other,
but it seems is even more important than the whole Yasuni controversy.
Seven indigenous tribes will be affected by the concession of the 11th Oil Round.
THE ELEVENTH OIL ROUND
More than 3 million hectares will be affected; three million hectares of the most pristine Amazon in all the country.
There are no roads there yet, no cities, just jungle.
Although we still couldn't distinguish between the Yasuni, Yasuni ITT and the 11th Oil Round, we knew that all would become clear once we were there.
At the Guayaquil terminal we meet Alicia, a friend of Gema's who lived in her house and, knowing that were going to the jungle, decided to join us.
We took the bus to Banos; then from Banos to Coca, arriving at three in the morning.
As there was nothing to do at that hour, we had to wait ...
... wait until dawn.
The next day came and nobody knew anything about it, or nobody wanted to talk about it.
We arrived at the hotel and searched on the internet for a contact; any person who would like to talk about this issue and shed some light on the matter.
Through a German blog, we read about a family who had told the bloggers a little about the oil, and we went to find them.
They showed us a video about the oil spill on May 31 this year.
This video can be found on Youtube.
Seeing this, one wonders if the President is aware of these kinds of accidents.
I don't think he can be.
otherwise how could he discuss social and environmental responsibility, when the river crossing the Amazon is charged with oil for more than 300 kilometres?
This can't be cutting edge technology, it's not even low impact. I felt really confused.
Once I got sick there, in the Payamino, in both ears. I got sick but so what? There are so many people getting sick ...
... is that also caused by oil?
Yes, oil, and they also wash their trucks in the rivers, so all of that gasoline goes into the water too, at least when the river is dry.
That is also contamination! It's not only the oil from the spills.
When the river is very dry, you can see many dead fish.
You see the trucks lifting their load beds and washing them in the river ...
... and downstream people are drinking the water.
That's why I ask: Where are our authorities?
We are thinking in terms of the future. In 30 or 40 years, what will become of our Yasuni National Park, which is a lung for the whole world?
We need air. In time, will we still have it?
I don't want the national park to be lost. It would be better to convert it to tourism.
Sooner or later the oil will run out, but tourism will remain if we protect the park.
If we can see our animals healthy, we can come and visit and our plants will be there.
I want tourists to come and discover the Yasuni National Park.
We are the ones who cry for the jungle.
What is civilization? The civilization we were given, this civilization has brought us discrimination.
They have *** our culture, because beforehand our culture was healthy and good.
After sharing with us the negative realities they were living as a result of oil exploitation, we were invited to their home.
We left Coca ...
... cruising down the Napo River ...
... entering the forest, seeing the beauty of this planet.
We reached a ladder fused with the earth; they taught us about their medicinal plants;
about respect for life; and getting oranges from the garden.
Dawn was more beautiful than I could have imagined ...
... the fruits returning to the trees, merging with the earth.
The sun, powerful, gave us a warm good morning, slipping through the branches of the trees.
We camped on her land.
The next day we got ready to go, an hour north of Coca, where apparently there were a lot of oil stains on the stones.
In those moments, you feel like you're touching blood,
not only of the land, but also of all the humans, animals and plants that have died for this oil.
Your mind is divided, it debates. What is right?
On Wednesday 10 (of June) I joined a march of citizens manifesting the rejection.
The rejection of what? Of the oil spill that was in the Coca River.
There are more than 80,000 people living here, many living under the oppression of the governmental system, where if you raise your voice, if you complain, you go to jail!
They are attempting against our lives, these lives they are killing, just like you see me now, stabbing us! Killing us! Drowning us!
And when I wanted to protest, the National Police of Ecuador were there, not to back me up... but I made them conscious
that they also use water with faeces in it, with urine, with residuals of sewage water.
They just put their heads down and said "Doctor, you are right" and I said "Then cooperate!" So they said "We can't, we will lose our jobs". SO ... What is our right to life?
Today, nature has been affected; our Amazon River has been contaminated too.
Petroecuador worries about oil, but doesn't worry about us, the human being.
How far will it go, this ... greed?
How far will it go, this ambition for money?
I curse today: I curse transnational oil corporations!
I bless today, to my almighty God that created the skies and the earth and the humanity that is here,
because we are the ones that are condemned to judge, to guide and take care of nature, not governments!
Governments are employees of the real governors - us! They are just our employees. We are the people!
Back in the land of the Grefa family, we learned of the goodness of life;
of the relationship between species.
We ate oranges, grapefruit, and more oranges.
We bathed in the river;
we did yoga on an old boat.
At six in the morning Doris, Isha's daughter, went down to the river and washed her clothes.
When it rained, we collected the water to use for our needs. We boiled it and drank it.
After a week, we said goodbye to Alicia, who had to return home, and we met Eduardo, who in turn connected us to Moipa.
Moipa is one of the only, if not the only, Waorani leader who has never accepted money from the oil companies.
With him we went inside the Yasuni, in one of the oil blocks, where Moipa's family lives.
My opinion is ... I don't think I'll go for radicalisms. We can't think that tomorrow the oil industry is going to leave and suddenly everything will be cool.
That's not going to happen. The oil industry leaves and tomorrow we will have big conflicts. Even though I would like it, it's not real.
And the Waoranis, as many other groups, colonials, Quichuas, Shuars, that live in this area, have to come up with a plan to improve their way of living.
Look how they live here, this is Dayuma; the population of Dayuma is a one that has suffered a lot.
There have been major conflicts, environmental conflicts, the people have risen up, there has been repression.
Really in places where people live in these conditions, it's very difficult to talk about protecting populations of isolated indigenous, indigenous in general.
Something we need to be conscious of is that the wealth they talk about which comes from oil, it didn't come here. Here there is poverty.
Then they grabbed him, he was dragged, they hit him, they put him under the car, and one of those guys ordered "run him over with the car; kill him"
Hitting them! Their sons, hitting them with one of those sticks...
They threw a stone, and my baby was in the bed. They almost got him in the head.
The abuse that they brutally suffered, our farmers, and some indigenous too, who have now been detained, is really incomparable. It has never happened in the history of our country.
So I ask: If the poor who raise their voices to live with more dignity are going to be criminalized, then where are we going? It means that everybody who raises their voice, here, is a criminal, or a terrorist.
So we want to say that this is the truth, and you have to say things the way they are, without trying to hide.
We don't have to retain this fear; we were just reclaiming a right.
He has assured us already with the military, that if we organise a strike, he will send the military to put us in jail, like he is doing now. Imagine! That's why we said, when he came on his campaign, he came dressed as a sheep!
We suffer calamities, we lack necessities and roads. What we are drinking here is water contaminated with oil. This is what we are protesting about and the government thinks we are wrong!
I think that what Rafael Correa, the president of the Republic, has done to our people is pitiful!
After knowing this little story of Dayuma, we continued on our way to Moipa's house.
With my logic like a leader, I have thought of defending the territory, of protecting the Waorani family and the people in voluntary isolation, to stop more progress on the agricultural frontier.
No more loggers and no more oil industries, so the Waorani family can live healthily, the way they lived five hundred years ago.
It's not only the humans that are contaminated, but also the animals, the fish, the insects.
So some days a Waorani can eat, and can die.
There are... there are.... almost four Waorani dead from contamination.
Previous leaders are responsible too; they were the ones that negotiated with the oil companies. We are still living with this. But today my position is "no more!"
To the Ecuadorian state and the government: Let us live in peace! We want to live free, healthy.
Almost at the end of the trip, in a conversation with Eduardo, we mentioned the 11th Oil Round and the Sarayaku, the indigenous community who are fighting back.
When we asked where we could find them, he told us that the community lived south of the Amazon, so we bid farewell to Grefa's family and their beautiful land ...
... and went to Puyo.
On the internet, we found the address of the Sarayaku offices.
Good afternoon... Francisco de Orellana y General Villamil?
We were crossing our fingers hoping they were there.
We found a locked office.
I don't know, but it's like you think there is nothing else to do...
and there is always something to be done, even the unimportant things, the less weighty things ... you know?
We will wait... until the night if you want.
The next day ...
Mario showed us a map, where you could see the eleventh oil round.
It was incredible to consider that the only part of the Amazon that has not been exploited, totally pristine, is ALL to be sold ...
... ALL in November.
The Achuar already said, "there will be blood spilled". There was not a consultation.
You haven't been consulted?
No, they haven't consulted us; they haven't come to our president. They did a survey of people in the street; they put up a tent and they asked people who were walking in the street.
The Department of Defence and the Department of Non-Renewable Resources said that they can use the "strongest force", meaning the army. The indigenous said "Do it! We are going to resist".
Four million hectares and this is the new boom of development. It's estimated that in twenty years Pastaza will be bigger than Guayaquil,
with oil industries, malls, big food corporations.
If you say that the Amazon rainforest is the lungs of the world, it's not a cliché; it means that we will face serious consequences.
But they are not looking at what is going to happen.
Sarayaku is a Quichua town, located on the banks of the Waonassi River.
What Sarayaku defends is life. They defend their territory, nature. Because it's from her that we live, we are provided for by her.
She provides roofs for our houses, food for our children, medicine, the environment ... everything.
So all actions, economic, political, that have been launched in the name of development, have affected many towns in the Amazon ...
... and nobody has said a thing. Nobody has said "enough", so Sarayaku had to decide to say, "It stops here".
Many have criticised us, saying that we are blocking development; that we are radical, extremist,
but the final result, thanks to this fight, is that a large area of the Amazon is conserved,
and that is a big support to society and the whole world, so we continue with this process.
The 11th oil round: physically, geographically, what does it include?
All the South Central Amazon, 21 blocks, from the Yasuni National Park, covering all the province of Pastaza, reaching to Zamora.
Approximately 4 million hectares.
All there is left?
All there is left.
This is Ecuador. This is the Amazon Jungle.
These are all the oil blocks; the ones that are currently being exploited and those which are planned for exploitation.
This is the Yasuni ITT, which is around 100,000 hectares. Around the ITT there is exploitation; all these colours are oil blocks.
The north zone of the jungle is already heavily exploited, but the south zone of our jungle hasn't been touched, it's *** jungle.
and all these blocks, totalling 4 million hectares, are included in the 11th oil round that is going to be launched around November.
Tomorrow the President could say that he won't exploit the Yasuni ITT and we will all jump for joy,
but the Yasuni ITT is not the only place they want to exploit
Whilst we are all submerged in a propaganda game, everything that is left of the jungle is for sale.
We have a very good President. He invests in health, roads and education.
Nevertheless, nobody is perfect; we can all make mistakes.
For the youth and all those people who want do something about it, going out to protest in the streets and sharing information through social media
is an effective way to generate consciousness and to inform those who know nothing about this issue.
Nevertheless, I think that in economic, political, international decisions, these protests won't be taken into account.
I believe that the only way we can make a difference is to connect with those indigenous tribes that will resist, and peacefully join them.
This video has delivered objective information.
YOU ARE FREE
to decide what to think and what to do.
Be smart. Investigate and make your own conclusions.
I am going to stand next to the indigenous who will resist. Are you coming?
What I think, say or do is completely independent from the people, organisations and communities that appear in this video.
This being said, I recommend that you connect with...
You can find them on Facebook.
THANK YOU
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