Texaco's discovery of oil in Ecuador in 1967 seemed to be a harbinger of good news: the small nation's first oil boom during the 1970s spurred the nation's economy and fattened the state's coffers. Unfortunately Sixty percent of Ecuadorians live in poverty, and this number can grow as high as 75 percent in rural areas such as those found in the country's eastern Oriente region, where most of Ecuador's oil reserves are located. As the state and foreign companies have continued to press for more oil development in these areas, Ecuador's indigenous Indian tribes have grown more forceful in their demands that the government respect their lands and distribute more of the wealth generated by oil to their communities.