worldview and their experience in relation to the facts of the case. The President of the Court also gave the members of the delegations an opportunity to express their views. At that point, the Secretary for Legal Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic, Alexis Mera, formally acknowledged the State’s responsibility (infra paras. 23 and 24). Lastly, the delegations went on a walking tour around the community, specifically the center of Sarayaku, where the People performed various cultural activities and rituals. The delegations also overflew the territory, observing the places where the events of the case occurred. Subsequently, the delegations visited the village of Jatun Molino, where they listened to some of the local people. III COMPETENCE 22. The Inter-American Court is competent to hear this case, under Article 62(3) of the Convention, because Ecuador has been a State Party to the American Convention since December 28, 1977, and accepted the binding jurisdiction of the Court on July 24, 1984. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY 23. During the Court’s visit to the Sarayaku territory, after hearing the statements of several members of the People, the President of the Court gave the floor to the Secretary for Legal Affairs of the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador, Alexis Mera, who made the following statement: […] What I am going to say to you, I say not just on my own behalf but on behalf of President Correa, who asked me to come here […] I do not feel that we are in conflict. Why? Because all the things that have been denounced today, all the testimonies, all the invasive oil extraction activities that occurred in 2003, the Government does not want to challenge them. The Government considers that the State is responsible for the events that occurred in 2003. I want this to be clearly stated and understood. The Government recognizes its responsibility. Therefore, all the actions that occurred, the invasive measures, the actions of the armed forces, the acts against the destruction of the rivers, are all issues that we as a Government condemn, and believe that there is a right to reparation. Therefore, I invite the other party to sit down with us and try to discuss reparations. The State is willing to make all necessary reparations to the community. And I say this in the most direct way possible. In fact, this hearing was convened at the request of the President of the Republic himself: it was the President himself who requested in writing that the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights come here to verify the situation of the Sarayaku people, and also to verify that it was this Government that expelled the CGC oil company. When we took office five years ago we discovered all these incidents and all this unease and the serious problem in the block and, as you know, our reaction was, to expel the CGC oil company. It is no longer carrying out exploitation activities. And there will be no more oil exploitation without prior consultation. I saw those who came here to visit, who said “No to round 23.” A new round will not begin without informed consultation. And what is this consultation? In particular, it deals with what was said about pollution; what should not be polluted, because rivers and communities cannot be polluted by oil activities; there cannot be pollution, we cannot allow oil exploitation that pollutes. And we must also discuss the situation of the communities themselves. What is the health situation? What about education? When we begin to discuss the oil issue, we could have the best doctors treating the mothers in the communities, we could have the best health teams and best teachers coming from Quito to the area, if there is going to be money generated by oil exploitation. Oil exploitation should benefit the communities. However, the fact is that historically the State has acted behind the backs of the indigenous peoples. That is the historical reality of this country; because the State has acted behind the backs of the indigenous people, oil exploration has been carried out to the detriment of communities. However, we don’t want this system, this Government does not want it, and therefore we will not allow any oil exploration to continue behind the backs of the communities. Instead, we will seek dialogue if we decide to resume oil exploration or think about a new oil project here. There will be no oil development without an open, frank dialogue; not a dialogue by the oil company, as has always been denounced. We have changed the law so that the dialogue is initiated by the Government and not by the extractive industry. Representative of Pista; Cesar Santi, representative of Sarayakillu; Isidro Gualinga, representative of Kali Kali, and Sira Viteri and Ronny Ávilez in representation of the young people of Sarayaku. 9