To the Editor:
Bob Herbert makes an excellent comparison between BP’s disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the experiences of indigenous peoples in the Ecuadorean Amazon (“Disaster in the Amazon,” column, June 5). As the Texaco case he mentions demonstrates, oil extraction has brought environmental disaster to large parts of the Amazon while providing little economic benefits to the indigenous peoples who live in the region.
Despite this history of environmental and social disaster, exploitation of resources in the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru is expanding rapidly. Despite President Rafael Correa’s attempts to appear environmentally friendly and pro-indigenous, Ecuador is actually aggressively pursuing new extractions in the Amazon.
Meanwhile, Peru’s government has been selling off new oil and gas concessions as quickly as possible. Concessions already cover more than 70 percent of the Peruvian Amazon.
These sad facts explain the overwhelming opposition to oil and gas extraction by indigenous communities whose lands are being opened for exploitation without their consent.
Suzanne Pelletier
New York, June 7, 2010
The writer is executive director of the Rainforest Foundation U.S., which works to empower indigenous peoples to protect their lands and resources.
A version of this letter appeared in print on June 14, 2010, on page A22 of the New York edition.
The online version can be found here
