Azuay Bar demands total suspension of Loma Larga; Legal group blasts government’s ‘attack’ on the court; Correismo loses another Assembly member

The Azuay Bar Association wants the Loma Larga mining project permanently suspended. “According to the constitution, residents living near proposed mining developments have the right to prior consultation and in the case of Loma Larga, this was not provided by the government,” the association said in statement released Friday.

Bar members also say the “rights of nature” have been ignored in preliminary planning for the gold mine. “The Quimsacocha paramo is an environmentally sensitive area, both for the collection of water and for its fauna and flora,” the statement continued. “There are contradictory reports on the environmental impact of the mine by the government and the Cuenca public company ETAPA, and the government is ignoring the ETAPA findings of potential damage.”

When the Loma Larga mine project, south of Cuenca, was given the go-ahead in January, a small group of protesters was outnumbered three to one by soldiers and police.

In its statement, the bar association asked constitutional judge Carlos Cárdenas to “expedite” a review to determine whether to allow the Loma Larga mining project to go forward. “It is critical that a decision be made quickly in the interest of citizens in the Cuenca and Girón cantons. We recommend that the project be suspended.”

The lawyers point out that in public referendums in Cuenca and Girón voters overwhelming rejected mining projects that could affect water quality, by 80% in Cuenca and 86% in Girón.

Legal group blasts government’s ‘attack’ on the Constitutional Court
Thirty-one legal experts have released a statement condemning the government’s attack on the Constitutional Court. The lawyers who make up the Forum for Democracy specifically denounced President Daniel Noboa’s plan for a protest march to the court and National Assembly President Niels Olsen’s claim that the court is “the enemy of the people.”

The attorneys also called the Noboa’s proposed referendum question to allow impeach of Constitutional Court judges a “threat to the principle of the separation of democratic powers.”

The statement follows criticism of the court by Noboa and Olsen for temporarily suspending measures from three recently passed laws intended to combat organized crime. It claimed the measures may violate constitutional guarantees for human rights.

“We reaffirm our absolute support for the role of the Constitutional Court as the highest body of control, interpretation and administration of constitutional justice in Ecuador, as established in Article 429 of the Constitution,” the statement read.

The statement by the Forum continued: “The Court fulfills the fundamental function of ensuring that the rules of the democratic system are respected, even when they may be uncomfortable for those in power. The rules are designed to prevent the authoritarian concentration of power in a single branch of government.

Correismo loses another Assembly member
The Citizens’ Revolution suffered its sixth National Assembly casualty when party leaders expelled Carlos Vargas for voting in favor of partial reform of the constitution to prevent the government from financing electoral campaigns.

“There is no room in our movement for false revolutionaries,” RC said in a statement. “Carlos Vargas has once again voted with the neoliberal right and the ruling party, betraying the principles of equity and democracy that we defend. We prefer to be fewer, but remain true to our principles.”