Chevron is one of six major oil companies in the world. Against this economic giant there is a trial underway in Ecuador, for environmental damage caused by Texaco company, now owned by Chevron, in the region of Lago Agrio. The oil company would have shed 130 million gallons of oil waste in the area, damaging the 30,000 inhabitants of the Amazon in Ecuador, at least 1400 of whom have developed cancer and physical deformities.
The cause was started in 1993 by local residents supported by American environmental organizations, in 2002 a New York court decided that the process had to be held in Ecuador, and there began in 2003 in Nueva Loja. If Chevron will be found guilty will have to pay 27 billion dollars in damage to restore the polluted land.
The latest move by the oil company is a video in which according to Chevron the judge assigned to the trial discuss with two businessmen involved in the restoration and with representatives of the party of Ecuadorian President Correa on how to issue the sentence and use the money of the big fine. According to the judge and a spokesman for the president the video is just an attempt by Chevron to bribe the local legal system, a trap that had no effect. One of the men who recorded the video is an Ecuadorian entrepreneur who put himself forward as a candidate for land restoration, and after recording meetings with government officials has been brought to the United States by Chevron.
The judge recused himself, even if he said he had done nothing improper. The recusal could cause a delay in reaching a verdict.
The purpose of the oil company was to demonstrate that the sentence has already been politically decided, but the fact is that environmental damages in the region are very real and really awful, as shown in the documentary "Crude", presented earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. Chevron was already brought to trial in the past by relatives of Nigerian enviromentalists killed while protesting on one of its oil platforms in the Niger Delta. But this case, after the case against Shell for the death of Ken Saro Wiwa, whereby the company agreed to pay a huge compensation, is the second time that such an important lawsuit is brought against an oil giant.
The ruling should be issued in 2010 and has a decisive meaning, because could show that men can defend themselves and the environment in which they live from the arrogance and predation of large international companies.
The ruling should be issued in 2010 and has a decisive meaning, because could show that men can defend themselves and the environment in which they live from the arrogance and predation of large international companies.
Francesco Defferrari
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