Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Celam
Dureno (Agenzia Fides) - Eduardo Mendúa, indigenous leader in the Amazon territory, was assassinated on Sunday afternoon, February 26, in Dureno, in the province of Sucumbios, in the northern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, by hooded men who killed him with twelve shots in the garden of his house, where he was with his family. The Commission of Indigenous Peoples of CELAM (Episcopal Council of Latin America and the Caribbean), chaired by Monsignor José Hiráis, Bishop of Huejutla, calls for a transparent investigation to identify the material and intellectual perpetrators of this murder.
"As the Pastoral of Indigenous Peoples, we deeply condemn this act of violence and the silence of the defenders of the territories who fight for the respect of the rights of indigenous peoples", indicates the letter of the Commission, distributed by Adn Celam. Expressing its solidarity with the family and the Kofán people, the letter underlines the importance of the denunciation of Eduardo Mendúa, especially in view of the serious consequences for the territory, caused by the excessive increase in oil exploitation in the areas ancestrally inhabited by its people.
Eduardo Mendúa was an indigenous leader of the Amazon territory as a member of the Cofán nationality, belonging to the province of Sucumbíos, and was also responsible for international relations of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador - Conaie. On January 12, he denounced the start of oil operations in northeastern Ecuador and the violation of the agreements signed with the government after the national strike of June 2022
(see Fides, 22/6/2022; 24/6/2022; 1/7/2022; 6/7/2022).
"We have been resisting for six months here, in the territory, since they tried to start oil exploitation," Eduardo Mendúa said on social media, "as the national leader of Conaie, I categorically reject this kind of acts by the government which seeks to provoke a confrontation, violence between the Cofanes brothers. I ask the national government: please, stop this violence that you have caused". The oil exploitation in this area, in addition to generating serious environmental damage, has also caused a serious deterioration in relations between members of the Cofán community. The Cofán people have become victims of an industrial process in which they have not been consulted beforehand on the execution of an expansive project, carried out by the state oil company.
La Conaie, through its president, Leonidas Iza, expressed deep sadness following the assassination of Eduardo Mendúa, leader of La Conaie, who "was fighting against the exploitation and contamination of oil in the Amazon. The
State, Government and oil companies must answer for this crime". The day after the assassination of Mendúa, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, spoke at a press conference of the irresponsibility of the indigenous movement which names culprits without proof. However, he assured that the investigations were continuing according to regulatory procedures, in search of clues and by carrying out
appropriate reports. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 6/3/2023)
