Brandi Morin in Ecuador part 4: ‘Canadian companies destroy in the name of Canada’ – Ricochet Media

March 6 2025

Government and industry will do whatever it takes to push through mining projects, but Indigenous opposition is strong in the heart of the Andes

Editors’ note: In December of 2024, Indigenous journalist Brandi Morin and photojournalist Ian Willms travelled to Ecuador on the eve of a new free trade deal with Canada to report on the brewing conflict between the Shuar people and a pair of Canadian mining giants. Parts one and two of this feature series were published last month, and deal with Solaris Resources’ Warintza copper mining project, and opposition in Indigenous communities like Maikuaints. In part three, our team travelled to Las Pampas to report on a mining project operated by Atico Mining, a Canadian company, and the scars, both physical and mental, left by this mining project. Now, in part four, we learn more about the resistance, the insistence of those who support the mining project and Canada’s role in steamrollering Human rights and Indigenous identity in the Amazon. Brandi will be returning to Ecuador this spring to continue reporting on the impact of Canadian mining operations, so stay tuned for more original journalism to come.

Photos by Ian Willms

In this series, we’ve sought to tell the stories of Indigenous Peoples standing, largely alone, against the forces of government and industry. They have found support for their claims from International legal teams, organizations like Amnesty International, branches of the United Nations, and Ecuador’s largest Indigenous association. As is the case globally when it comes to mining, many of these companies are Canadian — and yet the abuses and excesses of the global mining industry are rarely mentioned in Canada.

Read More: https://ricochet.media/indigenous/brandi-morin-in-ecuador-part-4-canadian-companies-destroy-in-the-name-of-canada/