Óscar Machoa sits on the floor of his community’s large central hall, the maloca, cutting leaves and watching patiently as he heats them over a fire. Now aged 67, his hands show the signs of years of collecting plants, of craft and building work.
He is the healer of the Kichwa community of San Carlos, charged with passing on ancestral knowledge to his neighbours in the canton of La Joya de los Sachas, in Ecuador’s eastern province of Orellana – home to a portion of the Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, which will this week be the focus of a national referendum over the future of oil reserves located beneath its soils.
As soon as he hears the word “oil”, Machoa’s patient attitude changes. “We don’t want anything to be extracted. I remember all the things they promised us and never fulfilled,” he says forcefully. The healer talks of a time nearly 60 years ago, recalling the beginnings of oil extraction in the area, led by Texaco (now owned by Chevron), and which saw more than 2 million hectares of the Ecuadorian Amazon affected over almost 30 years of exploitation.
“That’s when our nightmare began,” Machoa continues. “They told us they would use state-of-the-art technology, but spills became very common. Rivers were polluted, fish died, animals died, and nobody supported us. My grandparents, my parents, we grew up here. That’s why we are going to defend Yasuní for our children.”
This Sunday, 20 August, Ecuadorians will head to the polls for a general election to decide the country’s next president and parliament – clouded by the recent murder of candidate Fernando Villavicencio – as well as a parallel referendum to decide whether to continue or ban exploitation of the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) oil fields, also known as Block 43, located within the Yasuní National Park.
The Kichwa healer says he is determined to vote “Yes” to block their exploitation, a position shared by many of Ecuador’s Amazonian population – though not universally. As the vote nears, the issue has polarised some Indigenous groups, both near and far from Yasuní itself, reflecting long-standing debates over the benefits and damage of oil extraction, and the extent of state support for the remote communities.
