Manuel Mesías urgently needs $16,000 to cover medical debt for dental surgery and care after being shot in the jaw by armed forces during a protest in 2024 to defend land and water from a Canadian mining company seeking to exploit minerals without free, prior, informed consent from the affected communities. We’re crowdfunding $5,000 to bring to his family by the end of summer 2026.
This protest happened on March 26, 2024, in Palo Quemado, Ecuador, and it's one of many events of resistance in the territory that have led to state-backed violence against the residents.
The rise of the mining industry in Ecuador now threatens pristine and fertile ecosystems in the Andes—mountains, subtropics, wetlands, páramos, and vital water sources. With the backing of Ecuador's government, foreign mining companies, primarily from Canada and Australia, are expanding into areas like Palo Quemado and Las Pampas in Cotopaxi without consent and without clear community benefits. Many residents of rural communities in the Ecuadorian Andes are resisting these efforts to protect their access to safe water and fertile land, which they need to survive, feed their families, and feed the cities.
The corporate mining project seeking to develop in this part of Cotopaxi has been in an exploration phase for the last eight years to determine the profitability of the land (i.e., the land's gold, silver, and copper deposits). In recent years, the project has begun advancing into the territory without free, prior informed consultation of all affected communities. A project with immense social and environmental implications has prompted social activists like Manuel to take a strong stance to protect the rights of nature and keep water and mountains untouched by corporate interests.
These uprisings have been met by military and police brutality. During the March 2024 protest, Manuel was injured when armed forces shot him in the face with a rubber bullet, which shattered his jaw. His wife had given birth soon after this incident. His diagnosis shows a recovery from a coma but over the last two years, his body has rejected treatments, until February 2026, when he finally saw success. He is now recovering but the family is in immense medical debt.
Although the environmental issues at hand are structural and systemic, it is the expenses resulting from Manuel's inability to work and provide for his family combined with the medical and dental expenditures and childcare needs burdening his wife that inspire this crowdfunding campaign.
We invite you to participate in this cause by donating, sharing this page with your network, or reaching out with ideas for how to support land and water defenders like Manuel. Any contribution is valuable! As little as $1 can make a huge difference when we all come together – urban and rural, global north and global south.
