CHAPTER 10 CONFLICTS BETWEEN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE (ENGLISH VERSION)

• Jurisdiction: United States

Mining And Oil & Gas Development In Latin America
(2001)
CHAPTER 10
CONFLICTS BETWEEN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE (ENGLISH VERSION)
Manuel Eduardo Echeverría G.
Petroleum and Environmental Consultant
Quito, Ecuador

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INTRODUCTION

Even though the Ecuadorian oil production dates back to the beginning of the last century, it was not until 1967, when oil was discovered in profitable amounts in the Ecuadorian Amazon jungle, that a new era started. This new era was characterized by a strange relationship between indigenous communities, which had lived isolated, without any contact with the rest of the country and companies as well. These companies, like the ones dedicated to develop natural resources, had an expertise in searching for the accumulations of oil in the underground, and its exploitation. However, these companies lacked the knowledge, and in many cases, the cultural awareness and humanistic training to understand and immerse themselves with those human beings to whom they were not linked by any cultural, economic or social tie.

Activity in the region developed under these circumstances. In the first phase, simply, the presence of the indigenous communities was ignored and they were pushed out of their territories. In a second phase, which only dates back a decade ago, the indigenous communities were acknowledged and their customs and lifestyle was integrated to the activities in the agenda of the company. Not withstanding, the road traveled is far from taking us to safe ground. There is not an integrated legal framework that allows coherent actions. Also, it is lacking a strategy that delineates how to handle the difficult relationship between two cultures that are totally opposite; as was demonstrated by the Oil Dialogue carried out at the University of Harvard. This Oil Dialogue, which terminated its activities after two years of fruitless conversations, attempted to find common areas between environmentally oriented NGOs and oil companies. Even though important progress has happened regarding the relationship between the indigenous communities and the oil companies, it is also true that the future presents a few demands. These demands are the need for concrete methods to achieve agreements; adequate techniques to implement integration plans between the companies and the communities; follow-up formulas for such plans; and, proper strategies for conflict resolution. Otherwise, the price to pay could be that conflict is an obstacle for an activity, that if well managed, not only could provide the energy that moves the world, but it could become an authentic living school of what is known as sustainable development.

ECUADORIAN REALITY

Ecuador is a multiethnic and multicultural country. It has twelve ethnic groups. Currently, just in the Amazon Region live Waorani, Shuaras, Ashuaras, Zaparos, Amazon Quichuas, Sionas, Secoyas and Cofanes. Each one of these ethnic groups has its own culture and its own domain in the Amazon jungle. As a result of the flawed governmental policy to settle the Amazon region and industrial activities, like oil exploitation and palm cultivation, a few

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ethnic groups have lost part of their territories to the hands of the settlers, industries, high quality wood businesses, and land merchants.

At the beginning of the oil activity in the 1960s, the relationship between the operating companies, including the newly born national enterprise named CEPE, settlers and indigenous populations was marked by indifference first and violence later. This relationship resulted in many deaths between oil workers and settlers. These deaths did not have an effect on the government's line of action. The government did not open an opportunity to meditate on the problems surrounding the indigenous populations, and consequently, no long-term solutions were sought. In these circumstances, the folksy and idyllic vision of the Amazon region that had existed based on narratives and publications of those who knew the area was followed by a crude and real vision. The folksy and idyllic vision presented an area that had previously been explored by missionaries, scientists, writers of short stories, and jungle adventurers. The crude and real vision transformed the past appreciation of the jungle into a place of multicultural coexistence and forced encounters of different jungle visions. For its ancestral inhabitants, the jungle represented their mother, the one that provided all the life resources. For the oil world, the jungle was solely one more place where a resource would be exploited and cause deep changes in Ecuador. The country was beginning to walk the path of transformation from an agricultural and feudal nation to an industrial one. Ecuador was becoming a technologic and bureaucratic State, highly involved with politics, and a strong middle class.

During those three decades between 1960-1990, conflict was the result of the absence of a State policy that manages the blending of different cultures toward commonly understood attitudes, mutual respect and organization of potentials to work together. Conflict was also the end product of the lack of environmental and social regulations, as well as, the presence of settlers and oil enterprises in the rain forest. The beginning of a relationship between the world of oil and the world of the Amazon region took place within a context of aggression and lack of knowledge of the parts involved, without the capacity to establish a dialogue and with life visions totally different. For this reason, it is not strange that the conflict was characterized by a tendency to increase. Nowadays, this conflict has led into attitudes of rejection to oil activities by some indigenous communities. This attitude has, in some cases, hampered the initiation of activities in areas granted by the government for oil exploration.¹

Fortunately, there are a few cases in which conflict has been overcome and the relationship between the two parts, indigenous and oil companies, is based on the search for equitable actions. These actions make the industry sensitive to the indigenous communities, and the indigenous groups have awakened from a lethargic life that they have traditionally endured. This awakening moves the indigenous groups to become political actors of high transcendence in Ecuador. Currently, the organization of indigenous people of Ecuador is possibly the best organized in all of Latin America. Its strength has totally transformed the political framework of the country. Its organizational form has proven to be very effective in four levels. The first level is the inhabitants of a community, the second one is made of the organizations that group various communities of a province, the third level gathers second degree associations of a region of the country — like the Amazon region — and the fourth one constitutes the mother organization that groups all the third degree organizations of the

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country. With this in mind, the second degree and third degree organizations carry out the negotiations with the oil companies. This negotiation strategy has put pressure on the oil companies to adopt an attitude that is more proactive and professional in this matter. The oil companies have understood that actions that are strictly technical, and that do not take into account their surroundings, simply can turn the projects not viable. Social and environmental aspects are important for a successful operation of the projects, reason why the community relations issues are part of the policies of the companies. Now, the oil companies have as part of their personnel specialists in sociological and anthropological matters. Experience has demonstrated that negotiations that are open and sincere are feasible and highly positive for all the parts that share the Ecuadorian Amazon world. However, there is a group of activists who oppose any type of development and interfere in the course of this process that needs support to mature.

In effect, some non-governmental organizations have undertaken the task to defend the indigenous people, almost always without anybody asking them to do so. These organizations oppose any development project like the oil related ones. The aforementioned organizations continue to promote fiction about chemically pure indigenous people who must live in the jungle without changing their costumes, without being influenced by western lifestyle. However, what they do not want to understand is that the indigenous people also want to progress in their western ways, they want to have access to the services that are enjoyed by the rest of the citizens. In order to achieve their objectives they try their luck with a variety of tactics. The "action alerts", for example, try to create a picturesque situation about a so-called act that is contrary to the rights of the indigenous populations. Once this situation is created, they spread it through the World Wide Web and proceed to bring into disrepute the company accused of such situation. In some occasions, these "action alerts" are accompanied by acts of violence like riots on street and public squares, both within the country and outside of its borders as well. All is done with the hope that the disrepute of the company is such that may cause depreciation of their shares in the stock market. They are very active people who have many publications. They do not doubt about bringing into disrepute company professionals or executives. In the heat of the campaign, reputation is affected, minimal consideration is given to a good name, one of the most important human rights that these groups say try to defend.

An important factor that affects the relationship between indigenous communities and oil companies is the lack of attention, on the part of the State, to these communities. In many of these communities, the only sign of the government is a school made of one...