Guillermo Lasso, a 66-year-old conservative former banker, has won Ecuador’s presidential election with 52.5%of votes, beating out Andrés Arauz, a 36-year-old leftist handpicked by former President Rafael Correa.
While neither candidate had declared himself anti-mining, Lasso vowed since the beginning of its campaign to promote foreign investments in the mining and oil sectors, while cutting tariffs on agricultural and other heavy equipment.
Lasso also warned he would emphasize the enforcement of environmental protection rules and larger involvement from indigenous communities in deciding projects’ future.
The President-elect has made public his position to bant open-pit mining nearby water sources, grasslands, moorlands and underground water flows.
He plans to appoint a Minister of Environment and Water in charge of ecological conservation, while supporting the use of non-renewable natural resources. Mining in Ecuador generates employs more than 3,000 people and it was one of the very few that grew in 2020.
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