todo es posible en ecuador

 

Items of Interest:

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Oil Spill near Santa Rosa River. February 2009


  • Crude, a Sundance Film Festival 2009 award-winning documentary, is coming to theaters this fall. It focuses on the 13-year old court battle between Chevron and Amazonian Ecuadorian communities that have been subject to poisonous water, air, and land due to three decades of systematic contamination during drilling. Watch a trailer for Crude.

  • Reports of human rights abuses done by oil companies such as Chevron, Exxon, Shell, Occidental Petroleum, etc in Ecuador, as well as current disputes are posted here: Amazon Watch-- working to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin.

  • Paul Collier, in his book, The Bottom Billion, analyzes the root causes of poverty and stagnation within countries -- conflict, natural resources, being landlocked, and bad governance.

  • Development Economist, Amartya Sen, has published many articles that tie into Ecuador's current issues of poverty, inequality, poor representation, corruption, etc that come with economic development.

  • The Informal Rule of Law by Laura Van Cott -- helps explain how indigenous and rural legal practices emerged, and how they relate to the state's formal justice system.

  • The Great Turning and When Corporations Rule the World by David Korten. He brings hope to readers who are fed up with the current global economy, run by corporations and rich elites. He not only argues that a shift towards a more egalitarian way of living is possible, but that it is imperative.


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  • Guayasamin, an Ecuadorian artist famous for depicting the strife that indigenous peoples have endured. Here is a page on how his artwork has helped to empower indigenous communities.