On April 11th, Ecuador will hold a presidential election that could have critical implications for the country’s nascent mining industry, though companies and analysts alike believe the two candidates facing each other in the second round will continue to support the sector. Leftist Andrés Arauz and right-wing Guillermo Lasso have both vowed to continue promoting the oil and mining sectors, despite protests from environmental activists. They claim resource extraction is responsible for the devastation of a sixth of Ecuador’s Amazon jungle. The Environment Front, a collective of 60 ecological and human rights o ... (full story)