To protest against mining activity by the Canadian company Ascendant Copper Corporation, in Ecuador, dozens of residents recently burnt down a building owned by the company.

"The company is outraged by this assault against company personnel and medical equipments that were dedicated to the assistance of the local community,' stated Gary Davis, Ascendant's President and ceo. But according to Jamie Kneen, spokesperson for the ngo Mining Watch Canada, it was the first time they had heard of Ascendant's "health clinic' or the company mentioning it.

Carlos Zorilla, a member of Defensay Conservacion Ecologica de Intag, a local environmental group, said, "They burnt down the building because their voices weren't heard.' He claimed to have a copy of the legal document stating the ravaged structure was not a clinic but just a