He Minister of Energy and Mining, Fernando Santos Alvite, He said military intelligence was already “analyzing” to find those responsible for the incidents which happened in block 16.

On the morning of April 6, according to the Armed Forces (FF. AA.), military personnel guarding the vicinity of Block 16 “were violently attacked with shotguns and spears by members of the Guayero community.”

They stated that they “illegally tried to take over those facilities, and as a result, two members of the FF remained. AA. with serious injuries…”, for which deterrent devices (tear gas) attributed to members of the Waorani nationality were activated before the incursion.

They report an attack by Waorani natives on the facilities in Block 16 and talk of wounded soldiers

“Unfortunately, this social conflict that someone is promoting has already entered, I don’t know why, military intelligence is already analyzing to find out who is behind this conflict and of course punish those who are responsible,” the minister said on Monday, April 10, during an interview with a digital channel visionariesasked when there will be a bid for block 16, which was previously managed by the company Petrolia, and is now in the hands of Petroecuador.

The official commented on it earlier “the tender could not be done if there was an atmosphere of conflict with the communities.” “The day after the end of the contract, December 31 (2022), the communities started to agitate, so what kind of tender you can do, you have to deliver peacefully and guarantee the security of the block.” Therefore, in order to determine the date of the competition, the situation is expected to calm down and the damages are remedied.

“You have to tell the community, they have the right to a preliminary consultation, you have to tell them that a new contractor is coming, let’s announce the tender and hope that new companies will present themselves and that the best will win, but everything is calm, everything is in accordance with the laws. We cannot rush it, it was in private hands for 30 years, it has ended, we want it to return to private hands, but through a well-executed tender; I don’t think it will change for two, three weeks, another month, but the principle is (that) this block will return to private hands, to serious hands, to correct hands, to technical hands, to a company that is financially capable,” he added..

Force majeure has been declared in Auca, Edén Yuturi, ITT and Block 16, due to de facto measures taken by indigenous peoples, amid demands for dialogue from the Government

Blocks 16 and 67, which were managed by Repsol for 38 years, and then by New Stratus (Petrolia), passed into state hands with the termination of the concession contract on January 1, 2023. However, Petrolia insisted on extending the concession term, which the Ministry of Energy did not accept.

A few days before Petroecuador began its administration, Waorani representatives initiated a de facto measure.

The minister said in the dialogue that after the departure of Repsol, Petrolia arrived, that it made agreements with the community “in order to stay” and when the bloc passed to Petroecuador, it could not comply. “The leaders cannot receive salaries, because they are not officials of Petroecuador… The salary they wanted to receive, which was offered by the company, and Petroecuador cannot offer, so that was the trigger and apparently there are accumulated claims from Amazonian communities who have seen oil come out of their guts for 50 years and it has not benefited them”.

According to officials, the state-owned company cannot make these payments. “We are a public company, a private company can pay as much as it wants. A public company has very strict rules, where public funds go.” And he indicated: “All obligations that the contractor had towards communities, Petroecuador would maintain them, however, this direct financial assistance to the community leadership was not possible for Petroecuador”.

Petrolia, for its part, rejected all the violent actions that took place in block 16 and expressed solidarity with Petroecuador employees and members of the armed forces who worked in the said facilities.

He also rejected any suggestion that the company was behind the protests and violence attributed to members of the Waorani community.

“Given the great need for support in the Amazon region, over the last 30 years the operator of blocks 16 and 67, Repsol at the time, now called Petrolia, has maintained very serious mutual cooperation agreements with the Waorani nation. These agreements, which were periodically renewed, for support in health, education, employment, infrastructure and community development, were implemented through two separate annual operational programmes, prepared, agreed and monitored by envoys of the parties who recorded their agreement annually with regard to to full compliance with the assumed obligations that have been properly executed. Thus, an atmosphere of cooperation, peace and good neighborliness was always maintained. Such incidents have never occurred during three decades of private management,” he said in a statement.