Ecuador has based its economy on the extraction of natural resources. This process has arbitrarily used, abused and polluted the environment, and established an economic model characterised by external dependence, growth in internal and external debt, and the destruction of ecosystems. The
recent introduction of the Ecuadorian Mining Law inaugurated a new episode in this story, which has characterised Ecuador since the country was founded: namely, basing economic development on a single commodity and degrading its natural resources.