After more than 50 days of protest, from December 25, 2022, the Waorani Dicaro community began a peaceful resistance in its territory, in the areas of influence of blocks 16 and 67, in the province of Orellana, there are contradictions between this community and Petroecuador.

The protest is due to the alleged contamination caused by the Repsol-Petrolia company and Petroecuador’s unconsulted entry into the ancestral territory of the Waorani community in Dicaro.

Petroecuador supplies Block 16 by air to maintain operations

The state oil company assured, through a statement, that the measure was finalized after a working group held on February 14 with community members and after several dialogues with multidisciplinary teams from the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Petroecuador and other entities; the Waorani community from Dicar clarified that the measure is continuing.

“We clarify that we have not withdrawn our protest, we have agreed on a deadline of three days so that Petroecuador can inspect its oil facilities and also raise information about our unsatisfied basic needs and enter with ministries and other responsible parties to fulfill our demands. We are a people who value the word, we will see if Petroecuador will honor it,” the community statement said, warning that if the state-owned company does not honor the agreement, the protest will be reactivated. .

They also rejected that the opening to dialogue was the result of a working group or the management of a multidisciplinary committee of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, the government of Orellana or Petroecuador. “This rapprochement between the Dicaro community and Petroecuador was our initiative given the impossibility of giving concrete answers from the aforementioned institutions,” added the community, which assured that on February 12 they directly contacted the officials of the oil company to propose a meeting that took place on their area.

Since the start of the protests, the community has demanded that the state make transparent the entire operations of the private company that operated Blocks 16 and 67, which were returned to the state on December 31, 2022. After the contract expired, Petroecuador took over operations the next day.

Petroecuador condemns the sabotage in Block 16 and points to the Waorani of Dicar as possible protagonists

Among other demands, the community requested the initiation of legal and administrative proceedings for alleged violations of the rights of the Waorani people affected by the company Repsol-Petrolia; and to Petroecuador to provide information on the overall operations and plans of the state-owned company in block 16, as well as the possible benefits that the continuity of oil exploitation will represent for the community.

Meanwhile, Petroecuador assured that after taking over the operations of Blocks 16 and 67 from January 1, 2023, it maintained and increased production until February 11, when the valve closure caused a significant drop. This public company predicts that with the lifting of the measure, production will gradually recover.

In the meantime, the community members in their response did not refer to the alleged closing of the valves pointed out by Petroecuador, but condemned that during the 50 days of the protest “they felt the pressure of all the state apparatuses, from the overflight of the police, the entry of uniformed officers, power outages, water supply interruptions, division of communities”. All this against the 300 people who live in the Waorani community in Dicaro, they added.