The history of gringo mining in Latinoamérica is not stellar, from the locals' point of view, i've mentioned this a few times on these threads, it deserves loud repeat - mining has meant enslavement of indians, devastation of their cultures and lands, in most places they've never gotten any net benefit from it ... when this happens consistently over centuries, the very term 'mining' becomes negative, and strongly so, especially where indians prefer to continue traditional lifestyles, there are quite a few of these and for every one he has half a dozen family members in the cities supporting him, and voting ... that's the bulk of the electorate in enough places to count large

A couple of points.

1. there is no recent history of large scale mining in Ecuador. Most mining that occurs there is either artesan or locally owned. Not that there isn't exploitation... just that it isn't us doing it (yet).

2. The obverse of the stay-at-home "indian" (don't use that word around them - they don't like it) is the hard working urban family, pressed on all sides by rising costs, who just might look to mining as a way to get their lazy stay-at-home relatives off their backs.

One of the notions I draw from the concept of 21st Century Socialism is that everyone should have the chance to join the 21st Century, if that's what they want.

ebear