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World News
Chevron battles government, indigenous people--Ecuador
By Duroyan Fertl
Aug 12, 2008, 10:10
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International oil giant Chevron is lobbying the US
government to cancel trade deals with Ecuador over a court case where it faces a
US$16 billion fine for polluting the Amazonian rainforest.
(Green Left) - Chevron is accused of dumping over 18 billion gallons of
toxic oil waste into the Ecuadorian jungle, in what many are calling a
“rainforest Chernobyl” and maybe the biggest environmental court case in
history.
The pollution has caused thousands of birth defects and deaths,
and incalculable environmental damage — poisoning animals, plants and the water
table.
The court case, on behalf of over 30,000 affected residents —
many of them indigenous — was initiated in 1993 in the US. Chevron spent 10
years arguing it should be heard in Ecuador, renowned for it institutionalised
corruption.
Having succeeded, however, they are now stuck in an Ecuador
where left-wing President Rafael Correa has pledged to root out all corruption.
Correa argued earlier this year that “Ecuador is no longer on sale”.
Apparently fearing that they will now lose the case, Chevron is calling
on the US government to cancel favourable trade deals with the small Andean
country unless Ecuador’s government forces its citizens to drop the case.
This is only the latest attempt by Chevon to derail the case. Activists
in the campaign have been bullied, beaten, and even killed in an attempt to stop
the case. To avoid having to pay any damages awarded against it, Chevron has
pulled almost all of its assets out of Ecuador.
In response, Correa has
threatened to set up an international tribunal to ensure Chevron pays up if
required.
According to a July 26 Newsweek article, one of
Chevron’s lobbyists in Washington put the company’s position point blank: “We
can’t let little countries screw around with big companies like this.”
However, the “little country” of Ecuador is refusing to lie down before
one of the world’s biggest companies.
[For more information on the
campaign, visit http://www.chevrontoxico.com.]
(link to source)
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