Ecuador Indigenous take on corporate giant Chevron

Meghan Luce Midterm PresentationAANT472 Professor Little

Photo courtesy of TIME

The Issue: 30,000 Indigenous Amazonians in Ecuador fight for human rights.Chevron operated in Ecuador from 1964-1990. 1

During this time the company used a flawed system of oil extraction with poor standards. 1

This caused extensive damage to the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people.1

It is estimated that in order to clean up the damage left by Chevron $18-$27 billion dollars is needed. 1

This is often call the Amazon Chernybol and is 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster (1989 oil tanker spills 10.8 million gallons in the Prince William Sound. 2

History: Why was Chevron in Ecuador? In 1964 Texaco

(later bought by Chevron) started drilling for crude oil in the Amazon Rainforest.

The operated there until 1990, drilling more than 900 oil pits.

Oil pit in Ecaudor

Chevron admits Texaco dumped over 18 million gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon waterways.

Texaco also abandoned more than 900 waste pits of gases with disregard to safety measures or controls.

17 million gallons of oil was spilt by pipeline ruptures & dumped millions of gallons of oil waste along dirt roads

Texaco never conducted health or environment impact studies while in operation in Ecuador.

Photo courtesy of Tree Hugger.

PetroEcuador bought the sites and equipment in the early 1990s from Texaco, after spending 26 years creating one of the worst oil spills in history. 3

PetroEcuador has had many oil spills during their operation for over 20 years, partly due to the inadequate infrastructure and machinery inherited from Texaco.

Chevron argues that they are not responsible for the damages, and PetroEcuador and the government of Ecuador should finance the cleanup and demands of the Indigenous community.

PetroEcuador workers clean up an oil spill.

Damages: Environmental Devastation in the AmazonChevron fought for 9 years to avoid trial in the U.S.

The court appointed 14 science & technology experts to analyze 62,000 sampling results.

The extensive Texaco contamination of all 94 test sites inspected.

Photo courtesy of Life In Ecuador

Effects: Exploitation & Unregulated Industrialization and in the AmazonCancer & oil-related health problems have surged.

Court expert estimated 1,041 excess deaths from cancer due to oil contamination.

Indigenous groups have lost 95% of ancestral land due to contamination and one group the Tetetes have disappeared.

The Indigenous people are afflicted with diseases never seen in the rainforest.1

Shuar indigenous nation. With their 2 deceased daughters, Maria Graciela died when she was 24, and Rosa died at 12. 1

Demands & the Coalition to defend National SovereintyThe people of Ecuador formed a Coalition to:‘demand clarity in the case, to stand watch to ensure that the trial develops transparently and with respect for the judicial process, and that this fight is one fought by all Ecuadorians for Chevron to be held responsible for cleaning, remediation and restoration, the fundamental wish of the 30,000 aggrieved plaintiffs.’ 1

Supporting the Indigenous community ‘demonstrates that the effective exercise of constitutional rights (such as the right to an uncontaminated environment) cannot be blocked by contract, law, or any act of government, as any government act is subject to legal principles.’ 1

Success: The slow road to progress in Ecuador

A major win for the case was the right to have Chevron tried in U.S. courts since Ecuador’s political has a history of corruption. 1

PetroEcuador has agreed to clean up parts of the land in the disputed areas, and has started to re-inject its waste water. 3

Unless the case is settled outside of court, observers expect atleast ten more years of litigation. 5

Ecuadorian community leaders and citizens protest Chevron in front of its headquarters in California on October 3, 2012. Man pictured in Ecuadorian lawyer representing Indigenous communities.

Members of Indigenous communities affected protest against the actions of Chevron.

Strategies: A Global Issue

The Amazon is called the ‘Lungs of the Earth’ making the contamination and destruction of the rainforest a major environmental issue. 5

The Movement has used the help of many international NGO’s to help bring the issue to the media and gain support globally.

After years of dealing with a corrupt political system, the Movement has gained the support of the Ecuadorian President Rafeal Correa, to help fight for justice and back government indicatives' to help the Indigenous communities. 5

The MovementThe basis of the 30,000 strong Movement for Environmental clean up and Human Rights.

Texaco spent 28 years in the Amazon and Indigenous communities have been fighting for rights and reparation for over 15. 5

Modesta Briones, who used to bathe and wash clothes just downstream from an oil well, had her leg amputated to remove a cancerous tumor. Five years after her surgery, Briones died when the cancer spread through her body.

Similarities: Other influential movements in Latin AmericaMaquilador Movement of Mexico: Similar to the movement in Ecuador, they both were fighting battles with large transnational companies for the reparation and cleanup of environmental disasters.

The movement is also similar to the case of 200 people from Junin Ecuador that organized to stop mining by Bishi Metals (a subsidary of Mitsubishi Corp) in 1997. This is an example of grassroots resistance to neoliberation, of 200 people confronting 3 large enities; The Mitsubishi Corp, the Ecuadorian Government and the World Bank.

As demonstrated in other readings, large areas in Latin America are starting to resist and over turn decades of transnational dominance, corruption, and exploitation of rights. The road ahead for the justice of 30,000 people against neoliberal economics and policy has proven to be a challenge, but also provided a space to develop national identity and unity.

An Amazonian family walks a lot the polluted road.

Work Cited:

1. Amazon defense coalition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://texacotoxico.org/eng/

2. Exxon valdez oil spill facts. (2012). Oceana; Protecting the Worlds Oceans. Retrieved from http://oceana.org/en/our-work/stop-ocean-pollution/oil-pollution/learn-act/exxon-valdez-oil-spill-facts

3. Chevron toxico; the campaign for justice in ecuador. (2000, 2012). Retrieved from http://chevrontoxico.com/

4. Berlinger, J. (Producer) (n.d.). Crude: A joe berlinger film [Theater]. Available from http://www.crudethemovie.com/

5. Circle of blue| waternews. (2012). Retrieved from www.circleofblue.org