La clara y oscura

Salango is a small parish south of Manabí What this land means to Ecuador however is huge Its name is associated with the preColumbian legacy of the Manta Wancavilca cultures the humpback whales that arrive each year to mate the homonymous island and its coral reefs the great wealth of marine fauna It is there in one of the places with the greatest archeological and environmental heritage of our country where the Polar fishmeal processor has been operating for 35 years What does not emerge from the idyllic postcards of the area is the foul smell that pollutes the air the portrait of people sick from the factorys toxic wastes the disgusting black smoke that flows into the sea directly from the processor pipeline That is why it is the struggle of the few members of the community who have not given up and demand that Polar leave