Ecología Política de los Desastres: El Terremoto del 2016 en Ecuador

The earthquake of April 16, 2016, which struck the coast of the provinces of Manabí and southern Esmeraldas, marked a before and after in the way of seeing the management of natural risks, vulnerabilities, lack of preparedness and fragility of certain populations of Ecuador in the face of extreme natural events. It revealed poverty, unsatisfied basic needs of communities in the affected areas, inequalities that persist, but also the great solidarity with which people responded to this emergency. This publication gathers articles on the earthquake from the perspective of political ecology. Most of the texts are theses by students of the Local Development career at the UPS and they show that we do not have equal access to resources, nor do we have the same opportunities, therefore we are not exposed to the same levels of vulnerability in the face of extreme natural events. Ecuador is a vulnerable country. In order to understand disasters, it is necessary to know the potential hazards of an area, its different levels of vulnerability and risk. Whether or not people have enough land to grow crops, access to water or a decent home is determined by social, economic and political factors. This is why it is necessary to discuss the mechanisms of redress that should be implemented. We hope that this publication will be a contribution in that sense.