NEW LOW: President Rafael Correa's government has marked a new low in its relations with U.S. investors by indicting Chevron lawyers. (Photo: Ecuador President's Office)
POLLUTED AREA: An example of an area polluted by Petroecuador. (Photo: Chevron)
Ecuador's environmental farce reaches a new low as it indicts lawyers of Chevron, while Petroecuador continues to pollute.
BY CHRONICLE EDITORS
Hollywood should make a Latin American version of Erin Brockovich, the 2000 legal thriller starring Julie Roberts. It would include the tragic story of thousands of citizens near oil spills that have been affected by polluted waters. It should also gradually unveil how the culprit has been abusing the victims twice - first by its environmental damage, then by systematically misleading them about who the culprit is. Add to the mix a bag of supporters that range from an authoritarian president to U.S. trial lawyers and you've got the ingredients for a legal thriller blockbuster.
The culprit? Petroecuador, the Ecuadorian state oil company which managed to cause more than 1,000 oil spills between 2002 and 2007, of which 168 took place last year alone. It accounted for 90 percent of all oil spills in Ecuador last year. (The remaining 10 percent were contaminated by six different private companies).
BLAME SOMEONE ELSE
However, rather than assume responsibility, Petroecuador and its de facto boss, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, are blaming a foreign multinational for the mess. Ever since assuming office, he has supported a pending lawsuit against Chevron, claiming that the U.S. company was responsible for extensive environmental damage in the country before it left in 1992. Chevron, through its subsidiary Texaco, operated an oil field consortium with Petroecuador from 1964 to 1990, when the state company took over management of the oil field. Texaco then continued with a minority stake in the consortium until 1992.
In 1998, Ecuador's government released Texaco from any future liability after the company had conducted a $40 million environmental remediation in the area of the former concession and officials declared that the remediation was completed according to the terms and parameters agreed upon.
However, now the current government of Ecuador - led by its investor-hostile president - is reneging on the 1998 agreement. Not only has it sided with the plaintiffs in the farcical lawsuit against Chevron, it now has gone one step further - indicting two Chevron lawyers, a former Ecuadorian energy minister and six other individuals. They are being charged with their role in the cleanup and subsequent certification, which were not proper, Ecuador’s Prosecutor General alleged last week.
LAWSUITS AGAINST ECUADOR
The lawsuit against Chevron comes on top of Ecuador's expropriation of Occidental's oilfields in the country in 2006 (before Correa assumed office). Oxy was the largest foreign investor in the Andean country at the time. As a result, Oxy has sued the Ecuadorian government at The World Bank's InternationalCenter for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). And it's not alone. Ecuador's government is facing legal demands from 15 multinationals that may end up costing the country's government as much as its foreign debt.
Correa's indictments against the Chevron lawyers also come as he has grown increasingly authoritarian, including taking over opposition media and abusing state funds in his campaign to win a referendum this month on changing the constitution. (Among other things, the changes include lifting the central bank's autonomy and increased state control of the economy).
The indictments mark a new low in Ecuador's attacks against Chevron specifically and foreign investors in general. Along with the recent court report that Chevron charges is full of false evidence, it also proves the U.S. company's claims that it has not received its fair day in Ecuadorian courts.
Meanwhile, the victims of Petroecuador's catastrophic environmental damage are no closer to any justice.
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From: luis, miami the only thing "pathetic" is your biased coverage of the story. why dont you tell your readers that chevron fought tooth and nail to have this case removed from the united states federal court and transferred to ecuador's courts? what could be the reason for that? maybe because at the time, chevron had influence over ecuador's then puppet government? and now that an independent president who doesnt bow to corporate interests is in office, chevron is crying that ecuadors courts arent fair! your readers deserve all the facts.
From: Tina, Canada Someone should have done some research. Since I have, I will set the record straight. I spent 4 months living in the contaminated areas. Interviewing locals I found that without a doubt Chevron/Texaco contaminated for some 28 years, leaving oil waste pools, unlined, allowing the contamination to go directly in the water. The people living in these areas have witnessed first-hand the illnesses, such as high levels of cancer. Chevron, at the time of their operations in Ecuador, were liable by law to using liners in all oil waste pools in the USA, but they failed to give Ecuadorians the same respect. The case against Texaco/Chevron is justifiable. Just ask the people!!!!
From: Geoff, Canada I must agree with the others. Your concept of objective, professional journalism leaves much to be desired. While I don't pretend to be as fully informed of the facts in this matter, we have looked into many factors with regard to Ecuador over the last while. Monitoring yours and other news sources has been part of our research. Your news methods have consistently showed severe bias, lack of research and quite unprofessional performance. Perhaps you could take lessons from the new wave of visionary leaders like Mr. Correa who are taking steps to truly make a positive, people focused difference in South America.
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