OS DIREITOS DA NATUREZA NA AMÉRICA LATINA:

novos direitos em uma cultura jurídica em formação

Abstract

This article analyzes the rights of nature enshrined in the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador as a new legal and environmental paradigm in Latin America. The research investigates the resistance of national legal systems to incorporating rights that challenge the traditional anthropocentric model, grounded in the framework of Latin American new constitutionalism, with an emphasis on Andean neoconstitutionalism. Using a historical-comparative approach and bibliographic review, the study examines the influence of indigenous cosmovision on the emergence of Sumak Kawsay and Buen Vivir as ethical-philosophical foundations of a post-extractivist model. The article also discusses the impact of the constitutionalization of the rights of nature on other legal systems, with particular attention to recent experiences in Brazil, Bolivia, and Colombia. It concludes that recognizing nature as a subject of rights represents not only a normative advance but also a challenge to the epistemological structure of the dominant legal system, requiring its transformation toward ecological justice.