Anti-mining movement and political opportunities in the south of Ecuador

In June 2018 and March 2019, environmental organizations in the province of Azuay achieved two objectives against the Rio Blanco and Loma Larga mining projects, obtaining the suspension of extractive activities by means of a protective action and a popular referendum, respectively. What factors influenced the fact that the anti-mining actors in the province of Azuay achieved the results described above, considering that the mechanisms to make them effective were carried out through institutional channels? This article answers this question based on qualitative research. The data have been collected through the review of written and digital media and of digital portals of social organizations and governmental entities. The argument is that this result has been the product of a variation in political opportunities - changes in the coalitions of the ruling elite and presence of conjunctural allies - in two moments of Ecuador's recent history (2007-2008 and 2017-2018), which favored the institutional actions of anti-mining organizations. It has been found that the transformations in the coalitions of the ruling elite, expressed in changes in the authorities of national state entities, also shaped the presence of conjunctural political allies for social organizations.