Abstract

Consultation in Ecuador: Institutional Fragility and Participation in National Extractive Policy

Abstract: An analysis of five lawsuits against the infringement of the rights to participation illustrates that effective compliance with free prior and informed consultation and popular consultation on extractive projects in Ecuador is compromised by state institutional fragility. While suits on the rights to participation have served as strategies to halt extractive projects that lack prior consultation, extractive activities continue to present great risks to territorial defense and the good-living agenda.