Like the entire Andean region, Ecuador has an economic structure that is dependent on primary exports. During the last boom in commodity prices the (neo-)extractivist development strategy generated economic growth and simultaneously reduced inequality. However, this bonanza was not used to advance in economic diversification or for transition towards Buen Vivir (Sumak Kawsay –Good Living) as postulated in the Constitution and the National Development Plans. We establish that (neo-)extractivism is not compatible with Buen Vivir, analysing three concrete aspects to this end: the failure to fulfill the rights of nature and ecological sustainability; the lack of advances in transforming the productive matrix; insufficient results in matters of redistributive social policies.