Azuay
Colonial silver wealth created artisan industries instead of extraction dependency; 2021 water referendum blocked mining, but illegal extraction and energy crisis pressure that choice. By 2026, Loma Larga project tests constitutional limits.
Colonial-era silver wealth seeded an artisan tradition that defied Ecuador's commodity curse. While most Andean provinces exported raw materials, Cuenca's craftsmen refined gold into jewelry and clay into ceramics—value-added production that created a merchant class instead of a mining camp. This path-dependence explains why Azuay developed Ecuador's second-largest banking sector by 1970 and sends more emigrants per capita to the United States than any province.
The post-2000 remittance economy ($800M+ annually) funded construction booms and university expansion, creating a consumption-driven growth model. But the province sits atop untapped riches: Loma Larga contains 4.5 million ounces of gold and 28 million ounces of silver. In 2021, Cuenca became the first Ecuadorian city to successfully block large-scale mining through referendum—citizens voted 80% against projects threatening their water sources.
By 2024, Azuay faces a fundamental choice: its constitutional court victory protects water but forfeits $2B in mining investment during Ecuador's worst energy crisis. The province relies on remittances that are declining as emigrant populations age out. Meanwhile, illegal mining in Camilo Ponce Enríquez canton has exploded—43% poverty rates drive families into artisanal extraction where Los Lobos gang controls processing.
2026 trajectory: Loma Larga construction begins (slated Q1 2025), testing whether Cuenca's water-protection ruling can withstand national emergency powers. Expect conflict between formal mining interests, artisanal miners, and environmental coalitions.