Carmen Luisa Perez Arevalo

Representative of the Women Defenders of Kimsakocha and the Federation of Peasant and Indigenous Organizations of Azuay.

Carmen Luisa Pérez Arévalo is a Kichwa woman from the Kañari people. For more than 30 years, she has defended the water sources and páramo ecosystems of Kimsakocha, which are essential for the life of surrounding communities and cities.

She has actively participated in resistance movements against foreign mining companies and the extractive policies promoted by successive governments. She is currently facing two lawsuits filed by a Canadian company as a result of her community work to protect and restore water sources that supply rural areas, valleys, and urban populations, ensuring the right to water for people, animals, and ecosystems.