30 The Americas The Economist January 22nd 2022
F
ew doubtthescientificimportance
of the Galapagos islands. Situated in
the Pacific Ocean, they pullulate with
iguanas, giant tortoises and sea lions—
indeed, after visiting the islands in 1835
Charles Darwin developed the theory of
evolution. Since 1998 a marine reserve
has been in place to protect the waters
around the islands. On January 14th
Guillermo Lasso, the president of Ecua
dor, created a new reserve to expand the
protected area by around 50%.
The announcement follows on from
an agreement struck in November at the
unsummit in Glasgow between Mr Lasso
and the leaders of Colombia, Costa Rica
and Panama to create a vast protected
area spanning the four countries’ territo
rial waters. Iván Duque, Colombia’s
president, has claimed that the new
reserve will “guarantee the survival” of
40% of the world’s marine species. The
deal also suggests that South America’s
centreright governments are trying to
burnish their green credentials.
A marine corridor stretching up to the
waters of Costa Rica’s Cocos island will
now be patrolled by the boats of the
Galapagos national park, with a member
of the Ecuadorian navy on board. The
new reserve of 60,000 square kilometres
(23,000 square miles) will be enforced in
six months. Fishing is completely
banned across the main migration route
within the reserve and longline fish
ing—a method that often ensnares tur
tles and dolphins—is forbidden through
out. This should protect endangeredspecieslikethegreenturtle,saysSylvia
Earle, a marine biologist.
The importance of the new reserve
stems from an undersea mountain range
that links the Galapagos with the waters
of Costa Rica and Panama. “These under
water mountains are the key for marine
life,” says Gustavo Manrique, Ecuador’s
environment minister. This is because
they divert currents—and the nutrients
they carry—towards the surface, allow
ing plankton and the food webs it sus
tains to flourish.
Ecuador is discussing longterm
funding to monitor and patrol the area
with potential lenders or donors, accord
ing to Simón Cueva, the finance min
ister. Germany has announced $70m in
aid. The four presidents have also been
working with Chile and Peru to safeguard
the waters off their shores from industri
al fishing fleets, mostly from China.
Despite the recent announcement,
many green types are wary of Mr Lasso.
Ecuador has large reserves of oil, copper
and gold in rainforests that are home to
jaguars, monkeys and tropical birds. Mr
Lasso, an exbanker, inherited a crippling
national debt from the previous authori
tarian regime. Part of his plans for recov
ery include doubling oil production and
boosting mining projects. Many indige
nous Ecuadorians oppose these plans.
Indeed Mr Lasso, whose approval
ratings have fallen since he took office,
says that the balancing act between
profit and preservation keeps him awake
at night.EcuadorProtecting the deep blue sea
P UERTO AYORA
Guillermo Lasso’s balancing act between conservation and cashNot all that is golden glittersCubaClamping down
E
milioromán, a residentofLaGüinera,
a poor neighbourhood in Havana, is the
father of three children, all of whom are
currently behind bars. His two sons and
daughter, aged 18, 23 and 25, were detained
on July 14th last year, after taking part in
protests which brought thousands of Cu
bans out onto the streets. There they dem
onstrated peacefully against rampant in
flation, power outages, and shortages of
food and medicine. They also denounced
the Communist regime.
That regime has responded with
trumpedup charges which will no doubt
lead to harsh punishments. As The Econo-
mistwent to press, the state was holding a
series of closed trials. Some 60 protesters
are charged with such crimes as public dis
order, resisting arrest, robbery, sabotage
and sedition. Mr Román’s youngest son
has been told that he may face up to 15 years
behind bars, though because of his youth
his sentence could be reduced to seven.
His older son is looking at 25 years.
Miguel DíazCanel, the president, has
claimed with a straight face that “there are
no political prisoners in Cuba.” In fact
there were more than 800 at the end of
2021, according to Prisoners Defenders, a
Spanish humanrights organisation. Over
1,000 people were detained after the prot
ests in July. Probably most are still in cells.
Before the protests last year, most polit
ical prisoners were wellknown activists
and dissidents. By contrast, those being
charged this month are welders, art histo
rians, biologists, athletes, taxi drivers and
smallbusiness owners. At least five are as
young as 16. Laritza Diversent, the director
of Cubalex, a charity that provides legal ad
vice to the families of detainees, noticed a
surprisingly high number of schoolteach
ers and doctors, two professions that tend
to support the government.
The regime is clearly spooked by last
year’s display of discontent. It is clamping
down on any fresh sign of dissent with a
new ferocity. A followup protest, planned
for November, was squashed before it be
gan. Protesters are followed, their phones
are tapped and observers are stationed out
side their houses. Some have fled abroad to
escape such persecution.
The sentences being doled out this
month are unusually harsh and long, even
for a oneparty state.The idea is to make
detainees feel helpless,says Ms Diversent.
Sadly, it is working.nThe Communist regime charges
pro-democracy protesters