Abstract

This article examines the 2023 referendum in Ecuador aimed at halting oil extraction in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. Far from being experienced as a democratic victory, the referendum was perceived by the Kichwa organization FCUNAE as an “unconsulted consultation.” We argue that this process weakened Indigenous self-determination and reproduced a historical marginalization, despite its celebration as a post-extractive milestone. We reconstruct this history through three key moments—the declaration of Yasuní as a national park in 1979, the beginning of oil extraction in 2016, and the 2023 referendum—to show the collision between plural legalities: the prospective temporality of state law and the ancestral temporality through which Kichwa communities understand their rights.

Keywords

Amazon Self-determination Indigenous peoples Legal pluralism Yasuní