"Ecuadorians handed their Trump-allied president a resounding defeat, choosing to maintain their “ecological constitution” and rejecting an attempt to allow foreign military bases in the country."

"Ecuadorians on Sunday rejected their president’s attempt to rewrite the constitution, a move that would likely have doomed the world’s only constitutional recognition of the rights of nature. 

Nearly 62 percent of voters opposed President Daniel Noboa’s request to convene a constituent assembly to overhaul the constitution. 

Since Ecuador recognized nature’s inherent rights to exist and regenerate in 2008, wild animals, coastal marine ecosystems, forests, rivers and other natural entities have prevailed in court against the government and polluting industries, including mining companies. The precedents have rippled worldwide, as has voters’ affirmation of the constitution that made them possible."

Katie Surma report for Inside Climate News November 17, 2025. [2]