Ahmadinejad is seeking to reinforce ties with the few allies Iran has left – and also possibly to annoy the United States.

Marco Werman speaks with Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue.

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Marco Werman: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Latin America today. He’s on a four-nation tour with visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. Ahmadinejad is seeking to reinforce ties with his allies in the region. He may also be looking to annoy the United States. Michael Shifter is President of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. Michael, you just wrote a piece in Foreign Policy Magazine with the subtitle “Is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s latest tour of Latin America a waste of time?” Is it?

Michael Shifter: Well, I don’t think he’s going to get very much out of it. He is going to needle and irk the United States and annoy the United States; he’s already accomplished that. There’s been some reaction in Washington. But he’s not getting much play in the major countries of the region that are not very interested in joining alliance with Ahmadinejad; they reject him. He’s really going to four countries that are on the margins politically, so he’s not going to get very much out of it either in economic terms or in diplomatic terms.

Werman: This is his sixth tour, though, of Latin America since he came to power in 2005. What’s his real interest there? Does he want to expand Iranian influence in this hemisphere and what do the Latin Americans make of that influence anyway?

Shifter: I think he wants to expand and there have been some Embassies that have opened up in the region. Trade has increased with a number of countries. There have been some modest investments, but it really hasn’t amounted to very much. The country itself, Iran, is in dire straits and it’s very little what he can do in Latin America. The countries are open to the economic and diplomatic side but certainly are very wary and cautious and understand that he is under enormous international pressure because of the nuclear program.

Werman: If you look across Latin America though, aren’t there economic relations with Iran in place that are pretty significant; trade deals, oil deals, etcetera that many countries would probably prefer not to put at risk, and I’m wondering, will they abide by U.S. sanctions on Iran or not when push comes to shove?

Shifter: They have a number of trading relationships. Brazil is the most significant trading relationship which has more than doubled since 2005, but there have been a lot of projects that have been promised that haven’t delivered. That oil refinery in Ecuador, constructing a port in Nicaragua; Iran really hasn’t come through. So, Latin Americans are waiting to see whether Iran will come through this time, but there’s a lot of skepticism. As far as the sanctions are concerned, there’s not going to be any appetite to really confront Iran. Also, most Latin American countries, the major countries have said they’ve got to go along with sanctions that are supported by the United Nations and by the international community.

Werman: So, you don’t really see this as an Iranian threat in the U.S. backyard?

Shifter: I think it’s something to keep a close watch on, but I don’t think it’s a threat. Given that he’s going to these four countries really doesn’t amount to very much and it really is to provoke and needle the United States which I think he is accomplishing.

Werman: Michael Shifter, President of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, thanks very much.

Shifter: Thank you.

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(Photo: Dan Grossman)

At an open-air market on the bank of the Napo River in eastern Ecuador, a group of men bid on smoked wild animal parts offered for sale by four native Huaorani women. The women have just arrived here in the village of Pompeya by motorized canoe from their territory across the Napo. Within a day or two, the meat from their rainforest home will be served in restaurants across Ecuador’s Amazonia region.

The Pompeya market is the only regular bushmeat bazaar in Ecuador, and business is brisk. A recent report estimated that about 12 tons is sold here every year. Quito-based Biologist Esteben Suarez, who wrote the report, says nearly 50 species are traded at the market, including the agouti—a large local rodent—wild pigs, birds, reptiles and fish. Suarez says the numbers are growing, and the hunting is starting to take a toll.

“They’re pretty much catching every single monkey that they can get their hands on,” Suarez says.

He’s worried about the impact on animal local populations, but he’s more concerned about the overall health of the forest. Big mammals like the agouti perform critical jobs in a rainforest, like dispersing seeds and controlling seed-eating rodents. A forest without its big mammals could be an ecosystem in trouble.

The problem is especially acute because of where the Huaorani live. Their forest territory is in what’s now Yasuni National Park, which harbors among the greatest variety of animal and plant life on Earth. Among its hundreds of animals species are troops of common howler monkeys and rare mammals such as jaguars and pumas.

The Huaorani have hunted in this forest for centuries but until recently only to feed themselves. What’s happening now is different.

“It’s totally illegal,” says Ecuadorean wildlife official Javier Vargas.

Vargas says the Huaorani have the right to hunt, but only for subsistence. Commercial hunting is not permitted, which may be why it’s difficult to find any Huaorani willing to talk about the bushmeat trade.

The Huaorani have been selling bushmeat to outsiders since the 1960s, when Ecuador began to open its Amazonian lowlands to oil drilling. The Huaorani developed an appetite for modern goods, and hunting earned them cash to buy things.

But it was a new road that turned the new commercial hunting from a small problem into a big one.

The road was built by an oil Company in the 1990s, and was touted at the time as ecologically friendly, because access would be tightly controlled. That has mostly prevented the kinds of problems that have followed new forest roads elsewhere, such as homesteading and clearing of the forest by outsiders. But it seems no one foresaw that the road would become a bushmeat superhighway. It created an easy route out of the forest for Huaorani hunters, including free transportation. Any Huaorani can hitch a ride on an oil company vehicle.

Biologist Suarez says that means hunters can bring out a lot more meat.

“If you’re walking, you can’t carry much more than two wild peccaries on your back and that’s it,” Suarez says. “You don’t hunt any more.”

“But if you know that there is going to be a truck that will come eventually through the road, and you can transport that much more meat, then you kill like the whole troupe of peccaries.”

Suarez says commercial hunting in the Yasuni forest is simply not sustainable.

Wildlife official Javier Vargas agrees, but he says there are no plans to shut down the meat market.

Vargas says the government has already tried seizing all the animals in similar markets elsewhere, and that it doesn’t work. Instead, he says the environment ministry plans to join forces with other institutions to help to fight the issue in a more strategic way. Among other things, they’re trying to develop ecotourism and other sources of income for the Huaorani,

Wildlife scientist Esteban Suarez is cautiously optimistic about such plans. But he says the Ecuadorean government will need to work creatively to protect the forest and its wildlife while also respecting the rights of the people who live there.

This report was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Whole Systems Foundation.

• Impact of oil exploitation in Ecuador

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LISA MULLINS: Nine and a half billion dollars is a lot of money, even for America’s third largest corporation Chevron. And so Chevron says it’s going to appeal yesterday’s ruling in an Ecuadorian court that has paying those billions to clean up a wide swath of Ecuador’s remote jungle. The territory was contaminated by oil operations that started decades ago. The court ruled that Chevron was responsible for the contamination. But the oil giant calls that ruling illegitimate and unenforceable. The case has been going on for more than 17 years and it probably has a ways to go. The BBC’s Irene Caselli is in the Ecuadorian capital Quito. There was in fact a press conference today that pretty much guaranteed that there’s a lot more to come in this case. Tell us what happened.

IRENE CASELLI: That’s right Lisa. What happened today is that the plaintiffs and their lawyers held a press conference to announce that they’re going to appeal the ruling as well. Now, their point of view is that the amount of damages established by the ruling is not large enough for them. Obviously 9.5 billion sounds like a lot of money but the plaintiffs and their lawyers are actually saying that it falls short of the 27 billion that were initially recommended by a court appointed expert.

MULLINS: It’s important to know that the suit was originally filed as you said in New York in 1993, and it was filed against Texaco but then Chevron bought Texaco in 2001. The accusations against Texaco itself, what is the nature of them, and what are the claims about the damage done?

CASELLI: The plaintiffs claimed that Texaco knowingly polluted a large portion of rain forest by spilling crude oil and dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in rivers that they were using for bathing, drinking and fishing. Now, we are talking about an area in Ecuador’s Amazon region which until the 1960s was very pristine. So all of a sudden people that were used to go bathing in the rivers and drink their river water straight without boiling it started seeing oil floating a top this river. And just today I was talking to one of the plaintiffs in the case, and he was remembering when he was six years old when Chevron first came in and he would go running around on the river bank with some friends and would always end up with the soles of his feet black, dark with the oil. And he said that the oil wouldn’t go away for days. It’s a destruction of a culture they call it.

MULLINS: It was an enormous area that’s been contested here. It’s basically the size of Rhode Island this oil patch that was part of virgin rain forest at the time. What’s Chevron’s response?

CASELLI: Chevron’s response is that whatever damage Texaco did at the time was repaired in the 1990s once the company left the country. The company actually came to an agreement with the Ecuadorian government in the early 90s to spend some 40 million dollars in reparations. So Chevron says that Texaco is clear, and that’s why there is no reason to go ahead with this trial.

MULLINS: Chevron is as we said a US company. The case is being tried in Ecuador. Could a final ruling against Chevron be enforced?

CASELLI: There was a sentence just last week by the International Arbitration Tribunal in the Hague saying that no judgment can be enforced until further notice. Obviously also the other issue is that both sizes are appealing at the moment. So it won’t be for months, and maybe years until Chevron is actually asked to pay for its damages, or maybe not.

MULLINS: OK. The BBC’s Irene Caselli, thank you very much, speaking to us from Quito, Ecuador. Thanks again.

CASELLI: Thank you.

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These are the two western-most countries in South America. The weather in this equatorial jungle region is usually very warm and humid with heavy rains all year round.

The Achuar have struggled to protect their land from logging and oil interests. Now they’re trying limited tourism as a way to preserve and protect their way of life.

We pay a visit to one of the Achuar ancestral communities and listen in on the sounds of the rainforest.

Achuar village of Tiinkias

• In Ecuador, striking it rich by keeping oil in the ground
• More of The World’s Environment coverage

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DAVID BARON: A few weeks ago we reported on an unusual plan to protect an especially rich swath of the Amazon rainforest, in Ecuador. Well, today that plan is a big step closer to reality. Ecuador’s Yasuni national park is home to more species of trees, birds and bugs than just about anywhere on earth. And its home to several groups of indigenous people. But the park also harbors a large amount of oil, and drilling for it could destroy the forest. Well, yesterday Ecuador signed a deal to lock up that oil. They’ll keep it in the ground in exchange for payments from outside donors, equaling about half the oil’s value, or more than three billion dollars. The money will be held in trust by the United Nations. Ecuador’s UN ambassador Francisco Carreon says the trust will pay for projects to protect the forest and its inhabitants.

FRANCISCO CARREON:  The idea is that countries, enterprises, NGO’s and people, citizens of the world, as we call them, can put their money in this trust fund.

BARON:  Ecuador’s hoping donors will also be interested in another benefit of the deal. It’ll help fight global warming by preventing the release of more than 400 million tons of CO2.

CARREON: And here Ecuador is putting forward a proposal that is unique, but can be replicable in other parts of the world.

BARON: Yesterday’s signing doesn’t mean the Yasuni pact is a done deal. It still needs at least 100 million dollars in pledges over the next 18 months to go into effect. You can hear our report on the Yasuni forest plan at TheWorld.org.

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World. There’d been great hope these past few days that BP was on the verge of capping the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. But today the company announced a delay in a key test for that procedure. People in the region are getting used to delays. Of course, there are delays, and there are delays. In Ecuador, five indigenous tribes have been involved in a huge environmental lawsuit for the past 17 years. The suit charged the oil company Texaco, now owned by Chevron, with dumping more than 15 billion gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon rainforest. A final ruling is still pending. Now, in the wake of the BP disaster, some Ecuadorian tribal leaders have visited Louisiana to share their experience with indigenous people there. Reporter David Weinberg travelled with the delegation and brings us this story from Dulac, Louisiana.

DAVID WEINBERG:  In 1963 Humberto Piaguaje was a six year old growing up in [SOUNDS LIKE] Cuyabeno, a remote village in the Amazon rainforest. He remembers the first time he encountered the workers who came to his village in search of oil.

SPANISH SPEAKING

HUMBERTO PIAGUAJE: I remember when I was six years old, it was the first time that we saw helicopters land in our community. We ran to the mountains thinking it was some kind of ghost. Later we saw people arriving with their helmets and boots and we had never seen people like that. It had a huge impact on the community and on the children. They began to cut down the forest in huge segments, including the trees that we hold sacred.

WEINBERG: The Secoya people had never seen oil before it started flowing into the rivers they used for bathing, fishing and drinking. When they saw what they called “black blankets of crude” in the water they asked the oil company workers if it was dangerous. Piaguaje says they told the people that the water was safe and that it could be used as medicine, to treat rheumatism and gastritis.

SPANISH SPEAKING

PIAGUAJE: The oil flows downstream and the children go to bathe without knowing how it will affect them. The women wash their clothes, clean their dishes, and take water from the river to cook their daily meals for the family. This has really caused a problem over all these years. And since we don’t have anywhere else to turn, we continue consuming. I have seen many children die. The mothers want their children to grow and really has been extremely painful, more than anything for the families.

WEINBERG: The non-profits Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch thought Piaguaje might be able to help local indigenous groups. So they brought him and other indigenous leaders from around the world to the bayous of southern Louisiana to see the devastation for themselves. The boat tour weaves its way through the wetlands, between houses built on stilts. Piaguaje picks up a blade of marsh grass coated in a thick black goo and holds it to his nose.

SPANISH SPEAKING

WEINBERG: He says it has a familiar smell of varnish and petroleum. As the sun inches toward the horizon, the indigenous leaders gather in a community center in Dulac.

BRENDA DARDAR ROBICHAUX:  As I’ve gotten to visit with our friends from Ecuador and if I was to hear their story and close my eyes they are sharing our story.

WEINBERG: Brenda Dardar Robichaux was the principal chief of the United Houma Nation for 13 years. The oil showing up in the nearby wetlands has crippled the fishing industry, but provides food and jobs to most of the Houma Nation. Residents here are also concerned about the effects contaminated water would have if a hurricane comes this season. No one knows how long, or if ever, people could return to their homes after being flooded with toxic water. The Houma Nation is looking to Ecuadorians like Luis Yanza for answers. Yanza is the lead plaintiff in the case against Chevron. He says that one of the most important goals during the long struggle ahead is to maintain unity as a community.

SPANISH SPEAKING

LUIS YANZA: I think it’s important to document the evidence of the damages with independent credible scientists. Because when you go to court, you have to prove the damages and if you don’t have strong and conclusive evidence, the company will evade its responsibility.

WEINBERG: For the Ecuadorians, this strategy has so far been successful. A ruling in the case against Chevron is expected sometime in the next few months. And many legal experts think the indigenous communities have a good chance of winning. But here in the Gulf, it’s likely that these indigenous communities would face a long legal battle should they decide to take that route. For The World, I’m David Weinberg in Dulac.

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• See Bella English’s Ecuador photos

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KATY CLARK: We’re headed to a lush valley in South America for today’s geo quiz. This valley is in southern Ecuador at the foot of the Andes mountains. It’s rich in Inca history. And it’s been dubbed the “valley of longevity.” That’s because there’s a little town there with more than its share of centenarians. That’s the place we want you to name. Some say the town’s key to longevity is in the drinking water. Others mention an herbal tea prepared by local grandmothers. Or it might just be the altitude. Some 5000 feet above sea level. This town attracts tourists from all over the world. And a few Americans have even decided to move there. So, what’s the name of this town where people seem to live long lives? You’ve got no time at all to come up with the answer.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Next, it’s to Quito, Ecuador, and a special screening of Avatar.

The 3-D screening was for a couple of Ecuador’s indigenous groups, the Shuar and the Achuar. Both are struggling to maintain control of their land in the face of attempts to exploit it by Ecuadorean and multinational corporations. Avatar, of course, is about much the same thing, albeit with a future setting on a far-away planet inhabited by tall blue creatures who speak a language called Na’vi. (See my previous post on Na’vi, the new Klingon.) We have a report on the screening, and some language-related comments from Alejandro Mayaprua, an Achuar leader, and Mayra Vega, president of the Women’s Association of the Shuar Nation of Ecuador. That’s them below. Also, check out this video on the screening from reporter Melaina Spitzer.

After that, there’s a piece from Beijing correspondent Mary Kay Magistad on a new online satirical movie that’s all the rage in China. It features a Chinese double-entendre phrase aimed at avoiding government censorship (it didn’t avoid censorship; it was eventually banned). People became aware of the expression here in the U.S. after the New York Times ran a story on it. The movie also includes a fantastic “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” rant, which you can hear in all its glory in the pod. Or you can watch a version of the movie with English subtitles here.
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These women say this is the first time they’ve ever been to a theater. Some have never seen a movie.

As we pass into the theater, a few look confused as ushers hand out thick dark 3D glasses. The seats fill up so people sit on the steps and in the aisles. And then the lights go down.

Indigenous viewers are impressed by the 3D graphics in Avatar for many, it's their first time in a movie theater.

The movie tells the story of a planet called Pandora, home to the indigenous Na’vi. They’re fighting to protect their forests from a company set on mining a rare mineral called “unobtaneum.”

When it’s over, I speak with Mayra Vega. She’s 24 years old and head of the Women’s Association of the Shuar Nation. She says Avatar hit home for her people.

Mayra Vega, 24, Director of the Women's Association of the Shuar Nation, travelled overnight from the Amazonian city of Macas to see Avatar on the big screen.

“It left a huge impression on us. For example, the movies are almost real. It’s an example that makes us think a lot because the indigenous are defending their rights. We have to defend just as the indigenous so clearly defended in the movie. We had an uprising we had a confrontation with gases; it’s the same as what we just saw in the movie.”

Vega says just like in Avatar, the Shuar are fighting to protect their land from mining companies. And they’re not the only ones.

The Kichwa Community of Sarayaku took on CGC, an Argentine Energy company. Marlon Santi is President of the National Indigenous Confederation of Ecuador and a Sarayaku native. He sees the Sarayaku case as a real life Avatar story, where the indigenous triumphed over the oil company. But unlike in Avatar, they didn’t use violence.

The Sarayaku Case is one of the emblematic cases in the struggle for territorial and environmental defense, and for human rights.

Another case involves the Waorani: beneath their territory in Yasuni National Park lie 846 million barrels of oil. Yasuni is a biodiverse hotspot that’s often referred to as a grand lung of the earth. It is also one of the few places left on earth where uncontacted indigenous groups live in isolation. Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has offered to forgo drilling in this pristine environment… if the international community will pay Ecuador more than three and a half billion dollars … about half the value of the oil. But Correa has recently questioned the deal causing an uproar at home.

At a reception after the film Marlon Santi says he hopes the president will ultimately bow to public pressure and keep his commitment to preserve Yasuni. And he thinks Avatar could help with that.

“Honestly, this is the first time I’m seeing this movie, and it’s reality, what’s happening now just in another dimension.”

Veteran Achuar leader Luis Vargas tries out the 3D glasses.

Others say there was at least one thing in the movie that veered from their reality Achuar leader Luis Vargas says it’s where the white guy sweeps in to the rescue. But he says that’s to be expected.

“This is a Hollywood movie, so it’s practically a given that a mestizo comes to the defense and leads (the people) to triumph in the end.”

Still, he liked the film and his fellow Achuar leader Ernesto Vargas says he hopes another group will get a chance to see it.

“Think of how much better it would be if we showed this film to people who actually want to exploit petroleum. I think it would serve them very well, even more than us.”

As for Ecuador’s President Correa, he saw the movie with his children the day after it premiered in Ecuador. No word yet on what he thought of it.

For the World, I’m Melaina Spitzer in Quito, Ecuador.

Video produced by Siegmund Thies.

This city is the capital of Ecuador’s Napo Province. Ecotourists often gather here before heading out into the rainforest for birdwatching or river rafting expeditions.

Or if you prefer to hang out in this city near the equator, search out a local cafe for a cool colada.  That’s a sweet drink made of oatmeal, flavored with cinnamon sticks. Or a batido…that’s something like a fruity American milkshake.

So name this Ecuadorian city at the edge of the Andes if you can, a city surrounded by dense rainforest…that’s perfect for growing cacao.

The name of the city in Ecuador we’e looking for is Tena. Melaina Spitzer recently traveled there to sample some of the locally grown organic chocolate. The chocolate is produced by a workers cooperative called Kallari.

And in order to follow the trail of chocolate from bean to bar — she first had to put on her boots:

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He’s a giant saddleback tortoise of the Galapagos Islands and he’s getting up in his years. We’re looking for the name of the Ecuadorian island where George comes from.

Lonesome George

His neighbors include swallow-tailed gulls, sea lions, and marine iguanas. In earlier centuries, this northern island of the Galapagos was a favorite meal stop for buccaneers, and whaling captains.

“And they would take live tortoises off the islands to have fresh meat on their ships so from the whaling logs it’s estimated that during less than a century they took somewhere between 100-200,000 tortoises off of Galapagos Islands.”

George somehow managed to escape that fate. We’ll tell you about what’s he’s been up to recently.

After you try to name this northern most island of the Galapagos.

Let’s get back to Lonesome George now… and the answer to Geo Quiz. Lonesome George is a Galapagos giant tortoise who’s believed to be the last of his species.

But wait…there’s word that George may yet become a father. Linda Cayot is going to help us understand this. She’s an expert on Galapagos giant tortoises. Listen to the interview:

The answer is Pinta Island.

Read more and view pictures

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LISA MULLINS: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this is The World. If you want to move a ship’s cargo from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific or vice versa, the Panama Canal still has few rivals in the business. But that hasn’t stopped ambitious entrepreneurs from dreaming up alternatives over the years. The latest scheme is to create a route across South America, along a chain of ports and highways, and river ways. Supporters say the plan could spur trade between Brazil and Asia. Critics say it’s a foolish idea. Reporter Melaina Spitzer begins our story in the Pacific port city of Manta in Ecuador.

MELAINA SPITZER: On the docks of Manta’s harbor, fishermen heave a catch of giant Dorado out of a rustic boat. Manta has long been a fishing port, but down the harbor lies a symbol of the city’s future, a huge ship packed with cars from Asia. Manta hopes to become a major hub for Asian imports to South America.

PATRICIO PADILLA: Manta is really the nearest port of South America to Asia.

MELAINA SPITZER: That’s Patricio Padilla, the Manager of Manta’s Port Authority. He was at a recent gathering to discuss a bold idea for Manta, to make this harbor a competitor with the Panama Canal.

PATRICIO PADILLA: The idea is to have some cargo, that right now is crossing the Panama Canal and going around South America, and that cargo will go from Manta to Manaus.

MELAINA SPITZER: Manaus is a Brazilian city almost 1500 miles to the east. It has a major port that’s connected to the Atlantic by the Amazon River.  The idea to link these cities by land is part of a 70 billion dollar plan for a web of trade routes across South America.  Here’s how the Manta-Manaus Project would work. Ships from Asia would dock in Manta and unload their cargo onto trucks.

[SOUND CLIP]

MELAINA SPITZER: The trucks would carry the cargo up the highway to Quito, over the Andes, and down the other side to the Ecuadorian Amazon.  From there, they would go by riverboat, through Peru, to Brazil. A key link in the chain is the Ecuadorian river port town of Coca.

[SOUND CLIP]

MELAINA SPITZER: Coca’s marina on the Napo river is currently a quiet docking point for canoes and small petroleum boats, but if the Manta-Manaus project goes forward, it will become a major shipping hub. Carlos Torres is with Coca’s Ministry of Agriculture. He says the project could provide a big help to area farmers.

[SOUND CLIP]

MELAINA SPITZER: He calls the project a huge opportunity.  He says local farmers would be able to ship their produce to distant markets and reap more of the benefits without middlemen calling the shots.  But many in Coca say putting a major trade route through the jungle is just asking for trouble.  Carlos Sierra spent twenty years navigating the Napo River in large petroleum ships. He says cargo boats heading for Brazil may never make it out of Ecuador because the water is too shallow.

CARLOS SIERRA: [TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH] With this type of boat it’s really risky. They’ve hired me many times to rescue international boats, Brazilian and Peruvian boats that had gotten stuck because of water levels.

MELAINA SPITZER: The engineers of Manta-Manaus are hoping that dredging the river will keep boats from getting stuck. The Ecuadorian government has already bought up land along the Amazonian route and paid contractors to clear forests and farms.  But those who make their home along the river say dredging and logging will threaten their communities and the area’s plant and animal life. The Manta-Manaus route runs through or alongside 4 national parks in Ecuador.  Coca’s mayor, Anita Rivas, says this shows the government is only interested in one thing.

ANITA RIVAS: [TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH] They’re not thinking about the communities, or the river or the biodiversity in the river.  They’re only thinking about making money for the country.  We are tired of being the milking cow while others are being served the milk, and we are always the ones to lose out.

MELAINA SPITZER: Others are concerned about threats the project poses to human health.  Indigenous groups in Ecuador have already seen cancer rates shoot up, including among children.  Many scientists blame the contamination of fish and water supplies by oil extraction.  Manuela Ima, President of the Association of Huaorani Women fears that pollution from the Manta-Manaus project will bring similar risks.

MANUELA IMA: [TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH] For me this means pain of the ugliest sort. It can bring sickness, vomiting, cancer, flu. There are so many problems caused by contamination.

MELAINA SPITZER: Many indigenous groups intend to fight the trade route, and they say they’ve got the law on their side.  Ecuador’s new Constitution protects the rights of nature and requires the government to consult indigenous groups before beginning infrastructure projects that affect their territory. The Manta-Manaus project, many say, violates these rights. Money could also be a problem for the project.  It’s estimated that the route will cost as much as two billion dollars to build. International lenders have been reluctant to put out money for the project.  And some question if this project could ever really make money.  They say this complex system of shipping by truck and riverboat won’t be able to compete on cost with the Panama Canal.  Among the skeptics is Manta’s mayor, Jorge Zambrano.

JORGE ZAMBRANO: Manta-Manaus is not even a project, it’s an idea. I can have an idea right now, I wanna construct a big mall, but I don’t have the money to do it. It’s just an idea, an illusion, a dream.

MELAINA SPITZER: Still, South America seems ready to dream big, with many infrastructure projects across the continent already underway.  Zambrano just hopes that dream doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare for Ecuadorians and for the Amazon. For the World, I’m Melaina Spitzer, Manta, Ecuador.

LISA MULLINS: You can see photos that Melaina Spitzer took along the planned Amazon trade root. They’re at the-world-dot-org.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Fishermen toss dorado into a refrigerated truck on the docks of Manta

Melaina Spitzer: On the docks in Manta’s harbor, fishermen heave a catch of giant Dorado out of a rustic boat. Manta has long been a fishing port, but down the harbor lies a symbol of the city’s future – a huge ship packed with cars from Asia. Manta hopes to become a major hub for Asian imports to South America.

Patricio Padilla

Melaina Spitzer: That’s Patricio Padilla, the Manager of Manta’s Port Authority. He was at a recent gathering to discuss a bold idea for Manta – to make this harbor a competitor with the Panama canal.

Patricio Padilla: “The idea is to have some cargo, that right now is crossing the Panama canal and going around South America, and that cargo will go from Manta through the Amazonas River to Manaus. “

Melaina Spitzer: Manaus is a Brazilian city almost 1,500 miles to the east. It has a major port that’s connected to the Atlantic by the Amazon River. The idea to link these cities by land is part of a $ 70 billion plan for a web of trade routes across South America. Here’s how the Manta-Manaus Project would work: Ships from Asia would dock in Manta and unload their cargo onto trucks. The trucks would carry the cargo up the highway to Quito, over the Andes, and down the other side to the Ecuadorian Amazon. From there, they would go by riverboat, through Peru, to Brazil.

Coca, Ecuador

A key link in the chain is the Ecuadorian river port town of Coca. Coca’s marina on the Napo river is currently a quiet docking point for canoes and small petroleum boats. But if the Manta-Manaus project goes forward, it will become a major shipping hub. Carlos Torres is with Coca’s Ministry of Agriculture. He says the project could provide a big help to area farmers.

Carlos Torres: Local farmers would be able to ship their produce to distant markets and reap more of the benefits without middlemen calling the shots. It’s a great project, a huge opportunity.

Melaina Spitzer: But many in Coca say putting a major trade route through the jungle is just asking for trouble. Carlos Sierra, spent twenty years navigating the Napo River in large petroleum ships. He says cargo boats heading for Brazil may never make it out of Ecuador – because the water is too shallow.

Carlos Sierra: With this type of boat it is truly very risky. They contracted me many times to rescue international Brazilian and Peruvian boats that had failed and were stuck because of water levels.

Melaina Spitzer: The engineers of Manta-Manaus hope that dredging the river will keep boats from getting stuck. The Ecuadorian government has already bought up land along the Amazonian route and paid contractors to clear forests and farms. But those who make their home along the river say dredging and logging will threaten their communities and the area’s plant and animal life. The Manta-Manaus route runs through or alongside 4 national parks in Ecuador. Coca’s mayor Anita Rivas says this shows the government is only interested in one thing:

Coca Mayor Anita Rivas

Melaina Spitzer: Others are concerned about threats the project poses to human health. Indigenous groups in Ecuador have already seen cancer rates shoot up, including among children. Many scientists blame the contamination of fish and water supplies by oil extraction. Manuela Ima, President of the Association of Huaorani Women fears that pollution from the Manta-Manaus project will bring similar risks.

Manuela Ima: For me this means pain of the ugliest sort. It can bring sickness, vomiting, cancer, flu. There are so many problems caused by contamination.

Melaina Spitzer: Many indigenous groups intend to fight the trade route, and they say they’ve got the law on their side. Ecuador’s new Constitution protects the rights of nature and requires the government to consult indigenous groups before beginning infrastructure projects that affect their territory. The Manta-Manaus project, many say, violates these rights.

This Kichwa indigenous family will have to leave their home to make way for a new airport

Money could also be a problem for the project. It’s estimated that the route will cost as much as two billion dollars to build. International lenders have been reluctant to put out money for the project. And some question if this project could ever really make money. They say this complex system of shipping by truck and riverboat won’t be able to compete on cost with the panama canal. Among the skeptics is Manta’s mayor, Jorge Zambrano.

Jorge Zambrano: Manta-Manaus is not even a project, it’s an idea…I can have an idea right now, I wanna construct a big Mall, but I don’t have the money to do it and it’s just an idea, an illusion, a dream.

Melaina Spitzer: Still, South America seems ready to dream big, with many infrastructure projects across the continent already underway. Zambrano just hopes that dream doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare for Ecuadorians and for the Amazon.

For the World, I’m Melaina Spitzer, Manta, Ecuador.

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