Yesterday we were notified of the decision of the Ministry of Health to provisionally suspend the execution of the Ministerial Agreement that determined the cancelation of our legal status. 

The state has a maximum period of two months to dictate and notify us of the resolution of our appeal (art. 175-2 del Estatuto del Régimen Jurídico Administrativo de la Función Ejecutiva).

We expect the definitive restitution of our legal status, especially after having heard the President of the Republic say on the 14th of March that our organization has complied with all legal requirements. The President favoured an agreement between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment, which should have been done from the beginning to avoid the arbitrary way in which we were victimized.

It is important for us to make clear that we are in agreement with the President’s organizational division of labor between the ministries – which, we interpret, should mean greater protection for fundamental rights – but we insist that this work must be carried out with the greatest respect towards Ecuadorian citizens.

Thanks to the provisional restoration of our legal status, we can continue our activities defending the rights to health, natural heritage, ecosystems, life, and nature’s rights.

We want to express our gratitude for the support we have received from hundreds of individuals, communities, social and non-government organizations, parliamentary authorities, agencies, scholars and writers – in our country and across the five continents - who felt moved by the grave environmental situation of our planet.

With your words and support we feel closer to that great wave of solidarity, ever more universal, defending life and nature, which washes into the struggles of each and every one of us.


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