Ecuador starts dismantling Yasuni National Park oil block two days before court deadline

Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Ecuador’s Ministry for Energy and Mines says it has begun to dismantle infrastructure on a controversial oil drilling block in Yasuni National Park, home to the Waorani Indigenous people. After a historic referendum last year that favored keeping oil in the ground in Yasuni, the country’s top court ordered the government to halt operations and remove wells by Aug. 30.  Last week, the government asked the court for an extension of five years and five months to complete the task. The drilling block is in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon.