Rosa, the woman who defends water in the Amazon

As a simple accountant, he leads an association that tries to stop the pollution of the Villano River, caused by oil extraction. This has caused enormous damage to health and the economy.

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It all happens around a river, in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforestA huge waste of environmental resources that has devastated a territory, destroyed an economic and social balance, polluting the Villano River basin and the surrounding trees. Only to leave the field open for oil extraction.

ROSA ARANDA CUJI

Only the association remained to face this unstoppable advance Sumak kawsay, around which 150 families from four Kichwa villages have gathered, located at the gateway to the Amazon, on the edge of a 200-hectare forest area crossed by the Villano River and effectively under the control of the oil group Pluspetrol. And at the head of the association is a woman, the environmental activist Rosa Aranda Cuji, 41 years old, native of Piwiri, Ecuador, accounting secretary.

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POLLUTED WATER IN THE AMAZON

The battle of Rosa and the families mobilized with her is first and foremost aboutwaterThe extractions have poisoned the river, causing enormous damage to the population, including from an economic point of view. The inhabitants who live around the Villano River now eat contaminated fish, la papaya is extinct e the yucca has mushrooms"This isn't development, it's destruction. It's not using environmental resources, it's wasting them," protests Rosa. The entire life of the population living in this part of the Amazon revolves around the river, and doctors have found that 80 percent have skin problems, linked precisely to environmental pollution. And unfortunately, the oil industry has been extremely successful in providing a solid alternative to the Amazon's meager agricultural activities. This has also been aided by a climate of violence that puts the lives of activists like Rosa, who have been repeatedly threatened, at risk.

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Image source: Own agenda

THE STORIES OF THOSE FIGHTING TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT:

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