Home Institution
Whitman College
Publication Date
Spring 2017
Abstract
En Ecuador, hay una “reprimarización” de la economía, un fenómeno por el que se produce una creciente dependencia en exportaciones de productos primarios como recursos no renovables. Este fenómeno ha sido acompañado con una retórica estatal sobre pobreza y deuda social. Para el gobierno del estado, la industria extractiva es parte importante de su estrategia y retórica para hacer inversión social y combatir la pobreza, lo cual ha justificado una rápida expansión del sector extractivista. En el sur de Ecuador, la gente de las parroquias de Victoria del Portete y Tarqui ha estado luchando por más de 15 años contra un proyecto minero de oro operado por la empresa canadiense INV Metals. La resistencia en Kimsakocha es una lucha emblemática por la soberanía y los derechos, un obstáculo para el modelo extractivista-capitalista. La fase de exploración ya ha impactado a las comunidades, introduciendo divisiones entre comunidades y a veces entre familias. El activismo en Victoria del Portete y Tarqui ha bajado mucho en los últimos años, pero todavía el sentimiento contra la mina es el mismo. La lucha continúa en formas diversas: en lo jurídico, en monitoreos comunitarios de las actividades de la empresa, en talleres para fortalecer organizativamente a la comunidad. En el caso de Victoria del Portete y Tarqui, las mujeres han estado y están al frente de la resistencia. La lucha va a continuar con una indignación justa, con comunidades que están imaginando otra forma de vida, basada en relaciones con, no contra, la naturaleza.
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In Ecuador, there is a "reprimarization" of the economy, a phenomenon increasing dependence on exports of primary products as non-renewable resources. This phenomenon has been accompanied by a state rhetoric about poverty and social debt. For him government, extractive industry is an important part of its strategy and rhetoric for social investment and combating poverty, which has justified a rapid expansion of the extractivist sector. In southern Ecuador, people from the parishes of Victoria del Portete and Tarqui has been fighting for more than 15 years against a gold mining project operated by the Canadian company INV Metals. The resistance in Kimsakocha is an emblematic struggle for the sovereignty and rights, an obstacle to the extractivist-capitalist model. The exploration has already impacted communities, introducing divisions between communities and times between families. Activism in Victoria del Portete and Tarqui has fallen a lot in the years, but still the feeling against the mine is the same. The struggle continues in different forms: in legal, in community monitoring of the activities of the company, in workshops to strengthen the community organizationally. In the case of Victoria del Portete and Tarqui, the women have been and are at the head of the resistance. The fight will continue with a righteous indignation, with communities that are imagining another way of life, based on relationships with, not against, nature.
Disciplines
Community-Based Research | Demography, Population, and Ecology | Environmental Studies | Growth and Development | Latin American Studies | Nature and Society Relations | Organizational Communication | Place and Environment | Politics and Social Change
Recommended Citation
Petroske, Lydia, "La lucha por Kimsakocha: resistencia contra la minería en Azuay, Ecuador \ The struggle for Kimsakocha: resistance against mining in Azuay, Ecuador" (2017). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2554.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2554
Included in
Community-Based Research Commons, Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Growth and Development Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons
Program Name
Ecuador: Development, Politics, and Languages