This February, Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa is expected to win a third term in office. But unlike the elections in 2006 and 2009, this time the leaders of Ecuador’s biggest indigenous organizations – the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (COFENIAE) – say they will not support him.
This comes as no surprise. Disagreement between the government and indigenous organizations, which had been apparent for some time, came to a head when he launched a new oil licensing round in November, tendering 13 blocks of land for bids in pristine Amazon areas, as well as three more blocks that have been assigned to the state-run oil company Petroamazonas.
