Court rejects emergencies in Azuay and four other provinces; Dundee ends operations at Loma Larga; Noboa extends Guayaquil holiday by a day
The Constitutional Court on Friday rejected President Daniel Noboa’s emergency declaration for five provinces, including
Azuay, but allowed the order to stand for Carchi and Imbabura. The court said that “the facts do not justify” emergency status for Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Bolívar, Azuay and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas Provinces.
The emergency was declared at the start of the indigenous strike in September.
Despite the ongoing indigenous strike, the Constitutional Court ruled Friday that emergency conditions only exist in two of the country’s provinces.
The emergency declaration allowed restrictions on the rights of assembly and personal privacy and the imposition of curfews by the government.
“The emergency status and the reduction of constitutional rights should be invoked only in the most extreme situations,” the court said in its ruling. “We find that such conditions exist in Carchi and Imbabura Provinces but not in the other five provinces named in the presidential order.”
Dundee ends operations at Loma Larga
The Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals announced Wednesday that it is “temporarily ending all operations” at the Loma Larga gold mine south of Cuenca. The announcement followed a decision two weeks ago by President Daniel Noboa to suspend the environmental license for the project.
“We will continue to collaborate with stakeholders to address their concerns and with the government of Ecuador to understand their expectations for the resumption of activities,” the company said in a statement issued from Toronto.
According to officials for the city of Cuenca and the Azuay Province prefecture, legal actions are underway to make permanent the suspension of the mine, including the termination of the concession granted in 2002 by the government. “We are preparing the documentation to ensure that this project will never return,” Cuenca Mayor Cristian Zamora said Thursday. “This is the overwhelming will of the people.”
Dundee claims it had invested almost $600 million in the project before the environmental license was revoked.
Guayaquil holiday extended
President Daniel Noboa announced Thursday that the Guayaquil independence holiday will be extended by a day. Originally schedule to be observed Friday October 10, the holiday will now include Thursday, October 9.
According to Noboa, except for essential staff, all public employees will enjoy a two-day vacation. He encouraged private businesses to also observe the additional holiday “if circumstances permit.”
FBI raids Miami home of assassination suspect
The FBI on Thursday raided the Miami home of an Ecuadorian man being investigated for alleged ties to the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. According to news reports, agents busted open the front gate of Xavier Jordan’s multi-million-dollar Kendall home and spent several hours searching the premises.
Jordan was taken into custody but was later released.
“I handed over documents that they asked for and then they left,” Jordan told news reporters. “They said that they will talk to me next week,” Jordan said, adding that the FBI is interested in “political problems and cases of corruption in Ecuador.”
In addition to the Villavicencio assassination, Jordan is being investigated by the Ecuadorian prosecutors for involvement in a scandal involving public hospital purchases.
