Op-Eds
The Other L.A.
The hot and humid impoverished region of Lago Agrio has unusual tourism traffic these days. Its renowned Toxic Tours have attracted many…
Blog
Chevron Plaintiff Lawyer’s Least Favorite Writer
In Forbes yesterday, New York lawyer Steven Donziger, consultant attorney for Ecuadorian plaintiffs in the suit against Chevron, criticizes my article,…
Op-Eds
Toxic Revenge
A $27 billion lawsuit brought by an Ecuadorian attorney against Chevron-Texaco blames the oil company for crude spills that have polluted Ecuador’s formerly pristine…
Blog
David, Goliath and Chevron
How is little Ecuador going to collect from big Chevron? In 2007, investigative reporter Greg Palast posed the question to Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa regarding…
Op-Eds
The war on mining: Fighting back
Gold has become a safe haven as jittery investors move away from weakened stock markets, and currencies are threatened by inflation. But the allure of…
Blog
Americas Summit: Two Views
Abajo! (“Down!”) was the response given by the friendly, bronzed-skinned middle-aged Cuban man who chatted with my husband and me over Cuban coffee on Calle…
Blog
Tech is Key in Ideas Battle
Earlier today, Competitive Enterprise Institute President Fred Smith delivered an informative but lively, entertaining speech about the role of NGOs. The speech was delivered at…
Op-Eds
Silvia’s Ecuador Trip Diary: Entry Two
The conference began with remarks from Gustavo Pinto, president of the Geologists Association, who commented on the need to develop mining in mineral-rich Ecuador,…
Blog
Ironic Snowfall for Resource-Rich Greenies
Environmentalists characterize themselves as petite Davids battling gargantuan corporate Goliaths in order to grab media attention. But hundreds of green activists demonstrated today to raise…
Blog
Nobody Messes with The Dow
Last night a charismatic President Obama delivered a forceful speech to a joint session of Congress, promising that his plan “will rebuild, will recover, and…
Citation
The Release of Global Mining FInance
Blog
Gold is King Among Investors
Gold prices are skyrocketing—recently closing at over $1,000 an ounce, the highest in almost a year—while inflation fears continue rising and the dollar weakens. This…
Blog
Inflation Fears Propel Gold Prices
As the Dow Jones Industrial Average approached record lows, gold prices shined on a seven-month peak, on Tuesday. Details of President Obama’s new stimulus package…
Blog
Flawed Plan Relies on Consumer Spending
After President Obama signs the controversial stimulus plan, which will add on average $8 per week to most paychecks, his administration will have to cross…
Blog
Ecuador’s Mining Law and the 70% WFT
Ecuador, the only Latin American country that lacks large-scale mining operations, is passing a new mining law that will lift a six-month ban on mining…
Op-Eds
The Mining Law
Translated from Spanish to English by Ecuador Mining News and can be read here. The United States president-elect, Barack Obama, dismissed his…
Op-Eds
Country Profile: Ecuador
Document Availabe in PDF Despite Ecuador’s metallic mineral wealth dating to before the Inca Empire (600 B.C. to 400 A.D.),…
Op-Eds
Latin American Round Up
Document Availabe in PDF Fueled by escalating precious and base metal prices, exploration companies around the world earmarked 25% of…
Blog
Gold Is Not the Enemy – Poverty Is
National Geographic magazine has published an article titled The Price of Gold focusing on the high price of gold and the…
Blog
Banana Entrepreneurs Should Follow the Cocoa Initiative
Last Wednesday, The New York Times ran an appealing story on the rise of an Ecuadorian Quichua community from…
Blog
Oil Prices Plunge Hits Ecuador
Today's Washington Times features an article on Ecuador “Economic Crisis Starts to Show up in Ecuador”, in which author John Zarocostas…
Blog
Latin America Should be on Washington’s Agenda
Yesterday, Nelson Cunningham, one of the panelists at a Hudson Institute conference on Latin America's “Radical Populism Challenge” commented that it is better that the…
Citation
Ecuador taking control of more mining concessions, Petrobas oil field
Op-Eds
Ecuador Should End WFT Double-speak
In the midst of congratulating the Ecuadorian government on its landmark decision to eliminate the proposed 70 percent windfall tax on mining…
Citation
Ecuador Mining
Op-Eds
Cementing Ecuador’s Poverty by Decree
During my pro-mining mission to Ecuador weeks ago, I visited the Tres Chorreras exploration project and witnessed how a single company can…
Study
Ecuador Mining News’ Investor Survey: A Mixed Bag
The EMN Investor Concerns Survey, an initiative of this publication, reveals that half of respondents want to keep their mining stocks in firms operating in…
Op-Eds
An Industry Worth Its Weight in Gold
Originally published in Spanish in the Sunday, December 16, 2007 edition of El Comercio newspaper, Quito, Ecuador. Translated by Ecuador Mining News…