Anti-mining campaigners become TikTok dancers

Dozens of Ecuadorian campaigners have joined forces to throw some shapes and back a ban on mining in the Andean Chocó, one of the country’s hotspots of biodiversity and ecological interest. Ecuador will have a referendum on the ban on August 20, and those in favor are pulling out all the stops to drum up support for it. ‘In the Andean Chocó, we have spectacled bears, otters, a large number of birds, amphibians, and biodiversity of fauna, flora, orchids,’ explained one dancer. ‘Really, we have the water that provides more than 100 thousand Quiteños with pure water, drinking water. It is definitely a treasure for us, a treasure that we want to preserve, that we want to keep free of mining.’