From: Examiner.com
When Texaco began drilling for oil in Ecuador in 1966, it probably could not have foreseen the legal drama that would unfold decades later in both US and Ecuadorian courtrooms. Texaco, which has since merged with Chevron, ceased drilling in 1992. However, the company is accused of causing widespread economic devastation in the Amazon rainforest, as well as chronic and sometimes fatal illnesses in the local population.
The Los Angeles Times reports that during those 26 years of drilling, it wasn’t just the land that was raped by Texaco. Oilmen working on the jungle sites allegedly swooped over local villages in helicopters, picking up Indians and dropping them in places miles from home. The villages also reportedly had several half-white children; a result of the oilmen’s forced affections on the local Indian women.
Chevron acknowledges that some crimes may have bee committed in oil-drilling areas, but denies responsibility because there is no evidence these crimes occurred:
"Do I think murders were committed back in that region in the 1970s? Perhaps -- it's plausible," said James Craig, another Chevron spokesman. "But where are the evidence and the witnesses? Where were the police? If you're going to make these types of accusations, you should back them up with something. I wasn't in Ecuador in the 1970s to say yes it happened or didn't happen. But if a criminal act occurs in an area, is that an indication that this is the company's practice? Or is it just a criminal act that would occur?"
As for the environmental effects, Business Week reports that Texaco said it cleaned up its mess, and that in 1997 the Ecuadoran government signed off on the cleanup and released it from future claims. Regardless of this “sign-off,” plaintiffs' attorneys sued Texaco in federal district court in New York in 1993. Texaco persuaded U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff to dismiss the case in 1996, arguing that it made more sense for the claims to be considered by Ecuadoran courts. The suit has since been re-filed in Ecuador, and the plaintiffs are seeking $27 billion in damages from Chevron. Juan Núñez, the Ecuadorian judge overseeing the case is widely expected to deem Chevron liable for those damages later this year or in early 2010.
But now, Chevron says it has recorded evidence implicating high-level Ecuadorian officials, and possibly Núñez, in seeking $3 million in bribes related to environmental cleanup contracts to be awarded in the event of a ruling against Chevron. The New York Times reported it was not clear from the recordings and transcripts provided by Chevron, however, whether any bribes discussed in the recordings were actually paid or whether Judge Núñez was even aware of plans to try to bribe him.
Forbes.com reported that, according to Chevron, Diego Borja shot the video surreptitiously. Borja is a sometime Chevron consultant who was representing an American pollution-remediation consultant named Wayne Hansen. Chevron said Borja made the tapes without its knowledge and turned them over for free, although Chevron has since paid to relocate Borja out of the country for his safety.
In the YouTube-posted video (overview shown below), Judge Juan Nunez appears to tell an American contractor that he has already determined that Chevron is guilty and will hand down a verdict for as much as $27 billion by October or November. In other excerpts a representative of Ecuador President Rafael Correa's political party appears to solicit $3 million in bribes from the American to be split among the judge, "the presidency" and plaintiffs in the case.
Lawyer Steven Donziger, who has been suing Chevron since 1993, said this latest effort will fail. "As the facts come out it's going to backfire heavily on Chevron," Donziger said.
In a news release, the Amazon Defense Coalition, a group affiliated with the plaintiffs, said the videos show the judge rebuffing repeated attempts by a former Chevron employee to bribe him. "The video seems to fit squarely into Chevron's historic pattern of corruption in Ecuador," the group said.
It’s likely that two parties in this case—Texaco/Chevron and the Ecuadorian government—are likely guilty of wrongdoing, based on historical precedent. “Big oil” is reputed worldwide for pure profit-seeking with little regard for the environmental consequences of their actions. Most US-based oil companies have made a huge PR push in the last few years to turn this image around. However, these efforts cannot erase the memories of many who have been witness to oil-related environmental disasters around the world.
But Texaco/Chevron probably isn’t the only guilty party here. Corruption has run rampant throughout Latin American countries for hundreds of years, and Ecuador isn’t immune. Whether or not the bribes implied in the video occurred or not, the scheme is plausible, and even likely. What will probably never be determined is how high in the Ecuadorian government knowledge of—and complicity in—the scheme actually goes.
It’s hard to tell whether or not the publicity surrounding this video and related bribery scandal will affect the outcome of the suit against Chevron. Time will obviously tell, but regardless of the result, nothing will completely repair any of the damage that has been done in the Amazon.
(Image: Actress Daryl Hannah testing water in Ecuador (AP Photo))