But perhaps more important in the long run, both for Ecuador and other countries in the region, is whether it will be possible to find a way out of the neoliberal export lead growth trap in which Ecuador finds itself, given that this model favours the governing elite which controls almost all political parties. The fact that it needs to is not in question. The country has only gone backwards in economic terms since the debt crisis of the early eighties, and finds itself porting increasing amounts of primary material, only to watch prices fall or at best fluctuate wildly on markets over which it has no control. The cost in terms of concentration of land, power and wealth is huge. The cost in terms of the environmental and social impacts related to finding and pumping more oil, growing more flowers, farming more shrimp, and growing more bananas are devastating a country which is defined by its cultural and natural diversity.
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The Amazon Coalition has not verified the accuracy of the forwarded message. Forwarding this message does not necessarily connote agreement with the positions stated there-in. Todos los derechos de autor pertenecen al autor originario. The Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment is an initiative born out of the alliance between indigenous and traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and individuals who share their concerns for the future of the Amazon and its peoples. The eighty non-governmental organizations from the North and the South active in the Coalition believe that the future of the Amazon depends on its indigenous and traditional peoples and the state of their environment.