The Handbook of Power recommends, “If you don’t know something, you’re better off doing nothing.” Advice that the Constitutional Court (CC) – by a majority of five votes – ignored when it approved a public consultation on the exploitation of Block 43/ITT in the Yasuní Park, which was postponed for ten years. In their reserved minority vote, judges Carmen Corral and Enrique Herrería noted that after so much time has passed, this (consultation) lacks an overarching goal due to the complex chain of legal relationships that allow said oil exploitation. Correct but rejected opinion.

There are 900 contracts with workers and 50 Ecuadorian companies that provide services that could be insignificant if a yes vote is won, which would mean leaving the production of 55,000 barrels of crude oil per day underground, representing an income of $1,200 million a year for the state’s general budget , with projected assets of 15,000 million.

Presidential elections and a popular consultation on Yasuní will be held on August 20

The amazing thing is that the approval resolution ensures that Block 43 – which is the only new one and the fourth most important after Sacha, Shushufindi and Auca – is “not essential” to cover the oil forward contract, nor does it pose a “risk of paying a high fee”.

The same Constitutional Court that confirmed the impeachment of the President of the Republic and that indirectly led to the death cross decided not only that the country can do without this wealth in the end, but that the consultative debate can be easily mixed into that of the general election. He acted indifferent to the risk of not having the guarantee of an informed vote despite the distraction of the main event.

Two public consultations on the way: Ecuadorians will return to the polls to decide on mining and oil exploitation

More seriously, the Court did not convene a hearing to listen to the indigenous communities living near Block 43 to find out their opinion on whether or not they support the environmental NGO that saw to it that the problem was reactivated. Through social media, the leaders of the Huaorani and Quechua ethnic groups expressed their displeasure because the existence of seven small communities, 661 families and 2,514 inhabitants of the Amazon became uncertain by openly ignoring them.

In accordance with the Amazon Law, which guarantees that 70% of the workforce will be local, most of the heads of families, men or women, earn their living directly or indirectly from the oil activities carried out in the said Petroecuador field. . Furthermore, the state-owned company invests its own funds in health, education, drinking water and electrification, as part of its commitment to engagement with community members (who are zealous guardians of the farm that respects their natural habitat).

The loss, in the case of getting Yes, due to irrelevant factors of disinformation or environmental idealism, is also for the Amazon GAD which receives, thanks to the Law, four dollars per barrel produced, income that serves to meet the most urgent needs of its population.

In the raw scenario the country is experiencing, these consultations represent another brake on the loss of collective sanity. (OR)