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Weekly Report - 8 March 2012 (WR-12-10)

ECUADOR: Correa’s mining victory could carry cost

President Rafael Correa was able to celebrate a notable victory on 6 March when his government announced Ecuador’s first large-scale mining project. The Chinese company, Ecuacorriente, signed up to an accord to develop the El Mirador copper mine. The US$1.4bn deal (which came shortly after the agreement of yet another loan from China for a similar amount) will boost state coffers ahead of Correa’s re-election bid in February 2013. Correa claimed, with some justification, that it was necessary to diversify Ecuador’s exports away from a historical dependence on volatile oil exports. He faces an immediate challenge, however, in the form of a protest march by the umbrella indigenous organisation Conaie over this and other proposed mining projects and water rights.

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