One person was arrested for alleged links to the murder of Eduardo Mendúa, leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie). Within the investigation into the Mendúa case, assassinated on Sunday the 26th, the Prosecutor’s Office carried out four raids in the Cofán commune Dureno, in the Dureno parish
One person was arrested for alleged links to the murder of Eduardo Mendúa, leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).
According to the newspaper TradeThe State Attorney General’s Office reported the arrest, this Monday, February 27, through its Twitter account.
As part of the investigation into the Mendúa case, murdered on Sunday the 26th, the Prosecutor’s Office carried out four raids in the Cofán Dureno commune, in the Dureno parish.
“Our partner was in his farm when hooded men shot him, (it is a) crime related to the oil conflict,” Conaie said in a statement.
For his part, Leonidas Iza, president of Conaie, called for the unity of the indigenous movement and pointed out that they hold the National Government responsible for any murder of Eduardo Mendúa and any other event that may occur with indigenous leaders.
The Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, reported on the night of February 26 that investigative teams from the National Police and the National Directorate for Crimes against Life, Violent Deaths, Disappearances, Extortion and Kidnappings (Dinased ) move to Sucumbíos, to support the Prosecutor’s Office in the investigations into the violent death of the indigenous leader.
Eduardo Mendúa was one of the visible faces of the resistance in the Dureno territory (Sucumbíos, on the border with Colombia) in the face of the conflict generated in recent months by the presence of oil companies.
In June 2022, the indigenous leader participated in the blockade that occurred against Petroecuador personnel in Sucumbíos, during the mobilizations. In that month, the organization carried out 18 days of harsh protests against the government that left six dead and some 600 injured.
In addition, he participated in the meetings that Conaie held at the Expanded Council, in Quito. In these, the indigenous position regarding the dialogues with the government of Guillermo Lasso was evaluated.
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