Ecuadoran visitor finds her country in the news for all the wrong reasons

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Isabel", who has a special interest in the environment and the state of the world, came from Ecuador to study at the University of Melbourne.

Nearly two years ago she became a friend of Beneath the Wisteria, but several months ago returned home and now her home country is in the news, for all the wrong reasons.

A story on Business Insider Australia - “Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies” – would undoubtedly frustrate Isabel.

The story says, “Ecuador is planning to auction off three million of the country’s 8.1 million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, Jonathan Kaiman of The Guardian reports.

“The report comes as oil pollution forced neighbouring Peru to declare an environmental state of emergency in its northern Amazon rainforest.

“Ecuador owed China more than $7 billion — more than a tenth of its GDP — as of last summer.

“In 2009 China began loaning Ecuador billions of dollars in exchange for oil shipments. It also helped fund two of the country’s biggest hydroelectric infrastructure projects, and China National Petroleum Corp may soon have a 30 per cent stake in a $10 billion oil refinery in Ecuador.”