You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

“The Curse of Abundance”: Alberto Acosta on the Failure of Extractive Industries and Alternative Models of Development in Ecuador

Web ExclusiveApril 29, 2010
Listen
Media Options
Listen

The government of Ecuador is pioneering a new strategy to promote development in poor countries while also minimizing environmental damage caused by extraction of natural resources.

Under Ecuador’s proposal known as ”ITT Yasuni,” Ecuador will refrain from exploiting an oil field under the Amazon rainforest park, noted for being the most biodiverse region in South America.

In exchange for leaving the oil in the ground, funds will be provided to Ecuador for development. The trust will be comprised of voluntary contributions from developed countries, international or multilateral organizations, civil society organizations, private sector companies, and citizens worldwide.

Alberto Acosta is the former President of the Constituent Assembly as well as a former minister of Energy in Ecuador. Democracy Now! producer Sharif Abdel Kouddous caught up with Acosta at the World People’s Summit on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia, last week.

Related Story

StoryApr 26, 2010“The United Nations Is Beyond Reform…It Has to Be Reinvented”–Fmr. UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto
The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top