The neoliberal period in Ecuador officially ended in 2006 when President Rafael Correa was elected in Ecuador transforming the weak state into a powerful one. Correa immediately started his presidency with an agenda that put the people first, however, the money to do so was collected from increased resource extraction. The time period of 2006 - 2015 is called the “citizens revolution” in Ecuador. The state was strong and more areas were designated as protected regions. Ecoimperialists and ecodependents experienced less power with a strong state, especially because the transnational funders (that remained) were now giving money directly to the state. Ecoentrepreneur groups lost power since the services they typically helped with were being done by the state during this period. Some of the ecoresisters policy ideas were supported by Correa, however, they still continued to face new issues.
Correa comes across as a president for the people however his actions cause a paradox that will ultimately harm the citizens of Ecuador. Lewis briefly introduces this paradox of the need for funding from extractive practices in order to achieve social (and environmental) improvements in the earlier chapters of Ecuador’s Environmental Revolutions. In order to develop social programs, including a shift to the Buen Vivir paradigm, the state needs money. During this time period, the extraction levels increased simultaneously with the incorporation of environmental protection into the 2008 constitution and the proposal of the Yasuni-ITT proposal. While the state has officially adopted Buen Vivir, the National Plan for Good Living, the Yasuni-ITT proposal failed under Correa.
Correa was appealing to environmentalists at the beginning of his first term, however, as time went on this seems to not be the case. The environmentalists that supported his election are unhappy with his extraction practices. In addition to this Correa started to “limit the role of civil society”. He has openly mocked ecoresisters (including DECOIN) and added new legal restrictions for civil society groups, including a new complicated registration process for NGOs. However, while environmentalists may see the injustices and degradation of democracy taking place, a majority of the people still support Correa. This is because the polices Correa enacted have decreased poverty rates and made the people happier by focusing on fixing infrastructures like roads and schools.
Overall, while it may appear that in this period ecological synthesis is being exhibited Lewis claims it is actually managed scarcity. I am not sure that I agree with her suggestion that the state's incorporation of environmental plans like the Yasuni-ITT proposal was greenwashing. I feel that Correa may have started his presidency with the intention of significantly improving the environment but that once confronted with the paradox gave up trying to solve these problems. Perhaps Correa feels that the extraction problem should be ignored because he does not have a viable solution. However, there are multiple news articles that also suspect Correa of greenwashing because he still supports using extractive practices; he also did not include a clause to ask communities for consent when development has the potential to affect the ecosystem. Whether it was intentional greenwashing or not, the extractive practices that Correa is using are not sustainable. Ecoresisters are continuing to protest for the long term health of the environment, but by the time they get a platform to speak, it may be too late. This chapter shows how a strong state has the power to make great change but how it also has the power to shut out civil society groups.
Works Cited: Magazine, Plenty. “Pachamama's Rights.” MNN, Mother Nature Network, 31 May 2017, www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/pachamamas-rights. Mychalejko, Cyril. “Ecuador's Constitution Gives Rights to Nature.” Upside Down World, 25 Sept. 2008, upsidedownworld.org/archives/ecuador/ecuadors-constitution-gives-rights-to-nature/.