In a radio declaration on February 17, Ecuador’s Minister of Energy and Mines guaranteed government support of CGC, a foreign corporation conducting seismic exploration on the territory of the Kichwa people of Sarayacu. The minister claimed that 28 communities in “Block 23” – the area demarcated as an oil concession by the government - also support the company’s activities, and that resistance was only coming from two people from Sarayacu. The Sarayacu community has denounced these claims as false, and notes that ten indigenous leaders are reportedly on the CGC payroll for lending support to its project. The people of Sarayacu have also reported death threats and other acts of intimation made against them by CGC employees.
