From the Amazon rainforest to the streets of Quito, chants of "¡Sí a la vida! ¡Sí a Yasuní!" reverberated throughout Ecuador last week as the Waorani marked the one-year anniversary of the country’s historic vote to keep its fossil fuels in the ground.

The government was given a year by its Constitutional Court to implement the “progressive and orderly” closure of wells, dismantling of all infrastructure, and remediation and restoration of affected areas.

But since then, President Noboa has sought to delay endlessly and keep the crude flowing. His government’s only action was to issue an executive decree establishing a committee to oversee the process – nine full months after the referendum results. Even worse, the committee excludes the participation of the Waorani Indigenous people who live there.

Faced with this deliberate inaction and egregious violation of their rights, the Waorani declared a state of emergency in their territory and began organizing.

At Amazon Watch, we’ve been working to stop drilling in Yasuní since 2003, when we coordinated with local allies to derail initial investments by oil companies like Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, and Exxon.