| Margoth Escobar | |
| Nationality: | Ecuadorian |
| Occupation: | Indigenous rights activist, Environmentalist |
| Years Active: | 1975–present |
| Organization: | Provincial Union of Peasant Organizations of Manabi (Unión Provincial de Organizaciones Campesinas de Manabí) |
Margoth Escobar is an Ecuadorian activist for environmental and indigenous rights.[1]
Escobar is mestizo, and was born in Puyo, Pastaza.
Escobar, an Amazonian woman, opposes extraction of natural resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon.[2]
In 1975 Escobar helped create the Provincial Union of Peasant Organizations of Manabi (Unión Provincial de Organizaciones Campesinas de Manabí), which was significant in the recovering the rural lands of several families in Manabí Province.
Escobar was accused of assaulting the director of Belorusneft, Andrey Nikonov, and was summoned by the prosecutor's office in 2014, accused of sabotage and terrorism.
On 13 August 2015, Escobar was beaten and arrested following a general strike and demonstration in Puyo, which had been organized by the union of trade workers and indigenous organizations including Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador – Conaie (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador). The demonstrations called for agrarian reform, better access to health services, opposition to mining development, a free trade agreement with the European Union, and opposition to a proposed amendment of the Constitution of Ecuador that would have allowed President Rafael Correa to be re-elected indefinitely. A judge ruled that she should remain in preventative detention for 30 days, to stop her from disturbing the peace.[3] In December 2015 the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Margoth's home was destroyed by arson[4] on September 29, 2018.[5] The house had been a meeting place for Mujeres Amazónicas, the Amazon Women's collective, of which she is a member. Also known as Colectivo de Mujeres Amazonicas, the largely indigenous group defends the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Other Mujeres Amazónicas members Nema Grefa, Patricia Gualinga, and Salomé Aranda, had also been attacked and threatened,[6] and the group, in conjunction with Amnesty International, collected and delivered over 250,000 signatures to the Attorney General of Ecuador demanding progress in the stalled investigations.[7] The signatures were delivered on 9 March 2015.[8]