Ecuador voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to halt oil drilling in one of the most biodiverse places on earth.
With almost all ballots counted, 59 percent of voters sided with the young activists who spent a decade fighting for the referendum, as we wrote last week.
It is widely considered to be the first time a country’s citizens voted decisively to leave oil in the ground.
In a separate referendum, Ecuadoreans also voted to block mining in a biosphere reserve.
The oil will keep flowing in dozens of other sites in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Persons:
Ecuadoreans, Monserrat
Locations:
Ecuador