OIL NEWS FROM ECUADOR
Friday,
9 May 2003
Inter Press Service
Vol. 11 - No. 82 UN Journal
Oil Giant Lawsuit Signals Power of Third
World Courts
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, May 8 (IPS) ˆ Attorneys representing some 30,000 Ecuadorian Indians
have filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against ChevronTexaco Corporation in Ecuador’s
Oriente region in a case that could greatly boost the power of local courts
in developing countries to hear complaints involving multi-national corporations.
The case, which was filed in the oil town of Lago Agrio, charges that ChevronTexaco
systematically destroyed the environment and homeland of a number of rainforest
peoples through massive dumping of billions of gallons of highly toxic wastewater
and crude oil from 1971 to 1992. In addition, the company left behind nearly
350 open waste pits, some just a few feet from the homes of residents, that
sickened and killed hundreds of people and animals over the past three decades,
claims the lawsuit.
The case, which has bounced around U.S. courts in the past decade, is being
filed under a new Ecuadorian law that requires mining companies doing business
in the country to pay for the costs of cleaning up pollution caused by their
operations. California-based ChevronTexaco has insisted that it fulfilled all
of its obligations under Ecuadorian law by paying 40 million dollars for a clean
up that ended in 1998. “We have not seen the complaint, so we cannot comment
on it specifically,” said
Chris Gidez, a company spokesman. “However, we believe that the statements
and allegations made by the plaintiffs’ attorneys are baseless, outrageous
and irresponsible. Since bringing their initial legal action a decade ago, the
plaintiffs have not presented any credible and independently substantiated scientific
evidence to support their claims.”
What makes the case potentially so important is a decision last August by a
U.S. federal appeals court that the case should be brought in Ecuador, and that
any final ruling and financial penalty imposed against ChevronTexaco by the
courts there would be enforceable by U.S. courts. If plaintiffs were unable
to effectively pursue the case in Ecuador, then U.S. courts could proceed with
it here, added the decision. The unprecedented ruling appeared designed to ensure
that plaintiffs would get their full day in court. Multinational corporations
frequently prefer to have cases of this kind brought against them in local countries
in order to take advantage of weak judicial systems that are susceptible to
lengthy procedural delays and even corruption.
In those cases where a judgement is eventually rendered against them, companies
then claim they did not receive due process and refuse to pay, counting on their
economic weight in the country where they have been sued to ensure that the
government does not move to enforce the decision. But with the U.S. courts retaining
jurisdiction, companies could find their leverage substantially reduced. “This
case has the potential to establish a new accountability for U.S. oil companies
that think they can operate abroad without adhering to responsible environmental
practices,” said Cristobal Bonifaz, the lead attorney for some 88 named
plaintiffs.
“On the face of it, this is a ‘David versus Goliath’ battle.
However, the United States court has leveled the playing field by ruling that
a small court in a remote town of Ecuador has the same power over a 99-billion-dollar
multinational corporation as a federal court in Manhattan,” he added. “This
alone is a breakthrough.” The case is being filed at a time when U.S.-
based energy and mining companies operating in Latin America are coming under
growing attacks for the environmental and social damage their operations have
caused. Projects, such as the Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) in Ecuador, and the proposed
Camisea gas project in neighbouring Peru have been so controversial that underwriters
have had difficulty raising the funds needed to complete them.
In addition, Latin American courts are increasingly permitting “class actions”
by workers against multi-national companies for environmental and health damages.
In January, for example, a Nicaraguan court ordered Shell Oil, Dole Food and
Dow Chemical to pay nearly 500 million dollars to 450 workers exposed to a pesticide
that rendered them impotent. So far, the companies have refused to pay. In the
opinion of the plaintiffs’ attorneys,
ChevronTexaco’s performance in the Ecuadorian Amazon region was particularly
egregious. Over 20 years, the firm dumped almost 500 million barrels of wastewater
containing crude oil and cancer-causing heavy metals, in addition to the open
pits it left behind. “We believe that what ChevronTexaco did in the Ecuador
rainforest was not only negligent, but might rise to the level of reckless behaviour,”
said Joseph Kohn, another of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “The company
claims it was fine because it did not violate any of Ecuador’s laws at
the time, but, at the time, Ecuador had no environmental laws governing oil
extraction because it had no oil industry.” The actual complaint alleges
that the company engaged in “negligent, reckless, deliberate, and outrageous
acts” in the Ecuadorian Amazon by refusing to adhere to accepted standards
of the oil industry to clean up toxic waste from drilling.
The waste pits now blanket much of the northern Amazon region, and their contents
have leeched into groundwater and rivers that residents rely on for drinking
water and bathing. One study of one small community by the London School of
Epidemiology found that cancer rates were many times higher than historical
norms and that larynx cancer in particular was found to be 30 times higher than
the norm for males. The toll has been fearsome, according to the attorneys,
with three indigenous tribes - the Cofan, Secoya and Siona ˆ especially hard
hit. Many members have contracted cancer and died, and most of the rivers are
so polluted that many others have left their ancestral lands.
The Cofan, who in 1971 - when Chevron first began operations on their land -
numbered 15,000, have seen their population in the area fall to less than 300.
For its part, ChevronTexaco stresses that its subsidiary, Texaco Petroleum Company
(TexPet) was a minority partner in a consortium led by PetroEcuador, the state
oil company, that its clean-up was certified by the government and that PetroEcuador
continues to use the same practices in the region since TexPet ceased its operations
there.
SEPT 2 2002
Dear John,
I got a few documents from Sarayacu yesterday, which I attach as txt-files.
The english translations are made by myself, sorry if it is hard to read, I
tried to translate as much word-by-word as possible. If you could get some people
to send protest letters, that would be great. Who knows, maybe even
the ChevronTexaco executives will be surprised to know what kind of criminals
and swindlers they employ in Ecuador (see the press release).
RESOLUTIONS OF THE SUMMIT
1. All the associations present at the summit (Sarayacu, Boberas, Pucayacu,
Santa Clara, Curaray, Canelos y Copataza), except that of Pacayacu which decided
consult its members, decide to support the presentation of a constitutional
protection lawsuit.
2. The participating associations decide to make a local, regional and national
march in order to present our demands to the central government.
3. All the grassroot associations of OPIP unanimously decide to expel the company
CGC and its subcontractors from the territorial circumscription of the Kichwa
people of Pastaza.
4. No person of member of any community has got autorization to speak and negotiate
without consultation in the name of the communities, much less to make decisions
or sign any document by unilateral decision and with personal interests.
5. All the associations definitively reject all the divisionist manueveurs and
intents to enter our traditional territories, in the Territorial Circumscription
of the Kichwa People of Pastaza.
6. The grassroot associations of the organization autorize the Government Council
of the OPIP to take legal actions based in the agreements and resolutions of
the summit.
7. From this date, all the Territorial Circumscription of the Kichwa People
of Pastaza is declared in state of emergency. Therefore, the presence of any
elements foreign to our people will be considered an aggression and violation
of the integrity and harmony of our peoples.
8. We totally reject the agreement signed on august 7, 2002, in the community
of Pitirishca between the company CGC, the organizations FENAKIPA, AIEPRA, FENASH,
and other communities, that do not represent criteria, of unity and of consensus
among all peoples and indigenous nationalities of the province and the Amazon
region.
Signed on august 24, 2002
PRESS RELEASE
DENOUNCEMENT TO THE PROVINCIAL, REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
OPINION
THE COMPANIA GENERAL DE COMBUSTIBLES CGC, TEXACO-CHEVRON AND THE SUBCONTRACTOR
DEYMY SERVICE USE FRAUD AND CONSPIRACY WITH DISSIDENT INDIGENOUS MEMBERS WITH
DUBIOUS REPUTATION IN ORDER TO CHEAT THE KICHWA PEOPLE OF SARAYACU AND EXPLOIT
THE PETROL IN THEIR TERRITORY
The Kichwa people of the Association of Indigenous Communities of Sarayaku,
TAYJASARUTA; is deeply concerned because of the permanent harassment and aggression
by the corporations TEXACO, CHEVRON, CGC; and their consultant of community
relations, DAYMI SERVICE S.A. With the purpose to convince, by any means, the
people of Sarayacu, they have associated themselves with community criminals
and swindlers, indigenous persons of dubious reputation and quality, whith a
past in prison. These people use a subtle discourse of manipulation and have
an experience of easy life in order to receive money without working, according
to themselves because of unemployment and development to the benefit of the
grassroot communities.
The people who stroll about with the discourses of heroes and defendors of the
life and the valuable patrimony of the rainforest, who cheat and exploit persons
and institutions, particularly foreign ones (appendix), are people paid and
used by CGC and its consultant DAYMY SERVICE for the campaign of supposed benefits
from the petrol exploitation. For this purpose they secretely gather signatures,
their main activity is to visit each community, house by house, with a message
of fraud and bribery; when they hand out for free to each one, expecially to
the elders, rations of food; rice and canned food.
Other of the activities of the campaign without moral of these corporations
and persons is to sistematically and sickly black mail leaders and officials
with arguments like:
"what has the organization done, what have the leaders done, the leaders
live eating in our name, the organization does not serve in benefit of the grassroots,
for the development, for the culture, the OPIP has not done anything during
these twenty years, enough corruption, no to community ecotourism, this gives
no benefit, managed by the gringos, by environmentalists, married to gringos,
the organization does not permit development, they have received millions of
dollars that does not reach the grassroots, they must get eliminated, the community
authorities do not represent us, we as grassroots must decide"
These actions have seriously affected the equilibrium of the families of Sarayaku,
destroying the family harmony, bringing about division, threats and conflicts
between communities, calumnies and manipulations, racism against leaders in
a sick way, threats against leaders, the psychological consequences area: violence,
confusion and instability of the community equilibrium and their inhabitants.
The persons, who supposedly represent the people of Sarayaku and other communities,
sign a document in the name of Sarayaku for the exploration and exploitation
of petrol in the block 23, dated PUYO, MARCH 18, 2002, directed to the Engineer
Ricardo Nicolas, the General Director of the CGC where it, among other thigs,
says the following:
"We support the unselfish actions for development of our grassroots by
the comrades: Freddy Vargas and Antonio Moncayo, we are members of Sarayaku,
we sign by our own rights the present document, with copy, to the Department
of Energy and Mines, Petroecuador, Subsecretariat of Environmental Protection,
Unity of Environment of Adm. Contracts and Petroleros of Ecuador."
The people who sign are:
TELMO GUALINGA (With the nickname Machín): Ex-Teniente Politico, Ex-Curaca,
Ex-President of Sarayaku. Person who got used to bad habits when he was Teniente
Político. All he did with the money he earned was to live an irresponsable life,
wasting his salary and abandoning his family. He has lived based on debts, he
cheated his community, he exploited the trust of his people, he is the direct
responsible of the dissapearence of the material goods of the Office of Sarayaku,
the objects were left in a pawnshop in the town of Shell.
He took advantage of airflights provided by the company in order to collect
payment without autorization. He got accused for corruption by the communty,
and at various assemblies he was asked to rectify his behaviours, without representativity
he participated in various meetings, illegaly compromising the good reputation
of the community and violating the internal statues of the community.
In march 2002, according to the internal regulations of the community, he was
sentenced by the community to a drastic punishment, accused for theft, debts
and desequilibrium of the community, in families where there is violence and
even death; for calumnies against leaders and officials of Sarayaku. For these
crimes he got imprisoned. In the early morning he escaped from the prison and
threatened various community members with a gun, but later got captured again.
After a twelve hour trial he was released, under a sacred oath in front of his
people, his children and authorities from the catholic church, he publicly promised
to rectify his behaviour and abandon his activity, recover his family and work
in a dignified way.
Today he continues working for the CGC and does not keep his oath. His family
is left in absolute abandonment, he has got 9 children. He is considered one
of the most dangerous persons in order to cheat and betray, encased in hypocracy
without moral and principles, he has sworn to destroy the unity.
FRANKLIN SANTI: The main part of his youth he lived at the coast and in Santo
Domingo in dangerous environments. Very little he has followed closely the efforts
of the community in order to develop and find solutions to the multiple problems
of the community. He does not even the know the history of the organization
Tayjasaruta.
He has got a record of imprisonment, he spent two years in the prison of Ambato
for having participated in a homicide. He finished his studies promising to
change and work for the development of his community. He became a victim of
Telmo Gualinga, manipulated by CGC and DEIMY SERVICE, which offered him a scholarship
for higher studies.
IVAN MALAVER: From the village of Calicali; He has lived in permanent conflict
without participating in the organizative life of Sarayacu, most of the time
in the headwater of the Rotuno River. He is unaware of the current situation
and movement. Uninformed about present times, deeply ignorant about the petrol
project; one more of the victims of Telmo Gualinga, CGC and its consultants.
CARLOS GUALINGA, village of Cali-cali: Totally ignorant about the petrol process,
victim of manipulation; CGC has offered him an outboard motor, which is the
reason why he persists in that he wants the company to enter. He is totally
unaware of all the changes of the present times.
CALIXTO MACHOA, village Calicali: Youngster who is totally ignorant of all what
is happening. He lived his life in Rutuno, without involving himself in the
organizative life of searching for development proper of Sarayacu, victim of
manipulation and innocent of the signature.
LUIS GUALINGA, village Shiguacocha: Youngster who finalized his secondary studies
in Sarayacu, CGC offered him a scholarship.
Other people who influence are:
DAVID GUALINGA, village Molino: Expelled from Sarayacu more than 15 years ago,
ex-prisoner of penitentiary for theft; He always lives asking for money in the
name of the grassroots. Evangelic pseudo-pastor.
Proclaims development with gifts such as bags of candy, rice and tools in order
to convince the communities. He pretends to be the saviour of the situation
of the communities. He does not live in his community, but in the town of Tena.
He organized the counter-march against OPIP in 1992 when the Indigenous peoples
of Pastaza obtained more than a million hectares of their territories legally
issued.
Unilaterally he legalized three thousand hectares witihn the territory of Sarayacu,
Molino sector, depriving mobility of more than ten families, by means of titling
by IERAC, blackmailed Sarayaku as COMMUNISTS, GUERILLA WARRIORS, TERRORISTS,
ANTI-DEVELOPMENTALISTS.
HE HAS INTENDED TO DIVIDE THE TERRITORY OF SARAYACU CREATING DEMARCATED BORDERS
AND FRONTIERS WITHIN THE SETTLEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF SARAYAKU, WITH THE PURPOSE
OF OPENING UP AND UNILATERALLY NEGOTIATE WITH THE CORPORATIONS. He is considered
a traitor of his people and its history.
The coroporations Texaco, CHEVRON and CGC and their consultant DEIMY SEVICE
and the high ministers of the state and the current government seem to have
selected the most negative persons for their activities of consultation and
community participation. In modern and democratic terms, this is nothing more
than a distorted picture of lies and frauds in complicity with the authorities
of the country right in the twentyfirst century.
Block 23 affects two hundred thousands hectars of primary rainforest in historical
territories of the indigenous peoples. 85% of the area is kichwa, most of which
is territory of Sarayacu. Sarayaku is in the center of Block 23. The other affected
territories are Achuar 10% and Shuar 5%.
The Kichwa people of Sarayacu form one of the settlements with recognized historical
trajectory and with the largest population. It possesses a big territorial circumscription
within the watershed of the Bobonaza river, legally issued by the ecuadorian
state.
To Sarayacu belong the villages: Sarayaquillo, Cali Cali, Chonta Yacu, Shiguacocha,
Centro Sarayaku and Teresa mama, totally we are a population of about a thousand
five hundred people. Each one of these villages is led by a Curaka elected in
the annual assembly of the Sarayaku people, together with the TAYAK APU (President),
these form the Government Council of TAYJASARUTA.
The assembly of the people of TAYJASARUTA is the maximum authority over all
other existing instances. It takes decisions related to the conduction and actions
of the organization, especially issues related to natural resources and territories.
The families and communities settled within the Indigenous Territorial Circumscription
of Sarayacu depend to a high degree on the use of the natural resources such
as hunting, fishing and gathering, which are complemented with productive agricultural
activities and raising of small animals, as reserves of primary forest (purinas).
The limits of the Territorial Circumscription of our association are: to the
north with the community Morete Cocha; to the south with Achuar territory (Shamimi
community); to the west with the association Pacayaku, and to the east with
Zapara territory (Community Jandia Yacu and Association Boberas).
The Sarayacu association has a territory of approximately one hundred and thirty
thousand hectars (130.000 Has) of primary forest in the Bobonaza river basin.
Within this space also the community of Molino is settled, in the intermediate
part, with three thousand hectareas. Thus Sarayaku is the most important parish
center in the Bobonaza river basin.
The people of Sarayaku will no permit the injustice and barbarism that they
try to impose at the cost of the most basic necessities that we require as ecuadorian
citizens. We have been forgotten by high minsteries and governments.
We denounce that the activities undertaken by CGC are, from a moral point of
view, hypocratic, with arguments that do not have any transparency whatsoever,
and that are not in agreement with the principles of the indigenous peoples.
They cause psychological damage, violence, dependency, indolence in our comrades
that have fallen in the games of these corporations.
As long as there is no clear transparency to discuss and dialogue in search
for a true solution in order to reach democratic agreements about substantial
changes in the petrol politics and the security of our communities, we will
maintain our position and we will not give way to frauds and bribes in modern
times.
The ones who sign below are: the council of TAYJASARUTA and the People of Sarayaku
(Men, women, elders, children)
Abdón Gualinga
KURARAKA CALICALI
Fausto Aranda
KURAKA SARAYAKILLO
Miltón Gualinga
KURAKA SHIGUACOCHA
Euclides Malaver
CURAKA CHONTA YAKU
Galo Manya
KURAKA CENTRO PISTA
Mario Santi
LICUATI SARAYAKU
Franco Viteri
TAYAC APU SARAYAKU
Cesar Santi
LICUATI SARAYAKU
Hilda Santi
YANAPAK APU SARAYAKU
Camilo Gualinga
DIRIGENETE DESARROLLO COMUNITARIO
María Machoa
DIRIGENTE EDUCACIÓN
Liza Cisneros
DIRIGENTE DE SALUD
Isidro Gualinga
COORD.. TRISMO COMUNITARIO
Camilo Guerra
SECRETARIO SARAYAKU
Teresa Aranda
DIRIGENTE MUJERES
Félix Santi
DIRIGENTE JUVENTUD SAMARUTA
Sabino Gualinga
JAYUK
Bolivar Dahua
COORD. GRUPO SEGURIDAD
Dionisio Machoa
COORD.. GRUPO DE APOYO
DECLARATION OF THE KICHWA PEOPLE OF SARAYAKU REGARDING THE PETROL
EXPLOITATION IN THEIR TERRITORIES
1. We categorically oppose the petrol exploitation because it threatens the
fundamental base of our present and future: economically, culturally, cognitivelly,
nutritionally, ecologically, and spiritually, which is our TERRITORY; at the
same time undermining our social equilibrium.
2. We demand respect of our right to decide about our future in freedom, to
promote our own processes of economic, social, political, cultural, scientific
and technological consolidation, based on our world view and our values.
3. As a guarantee for the forementioned we demand de validity of the Kichwa
Indigenous Territorial Circumscription of Sarayaku and the recognition of the
AUTONOMY, as political-administrative status that will permit us to progress
as a people.
4. The companies CGC, Chevron - Texaco and DAYMI SERVICES S.A. are provoking
the dislocation of the fundamental bases of the society and culture of the Kichwa
people of Sarayaku. Therefore, we accuse these companies and the ecuadorian
state of applying a PLAN FOR CULTURAL ETHNOCIDE through the petrol exploitation
policy.
5. We deny any agreement made by means of fraud between the petrol companies
and people not authorized by the assembly of the Sarayaku community.
6. We exercise our norms and codes of conduct against persons and families that
compromise the rights, the integrity and the ancestral collective property of
our territory.
7. We demand from CGC, Chevron-Texaco, Daymi Service SA and the ecuadorian state;
indemnization for damage done by the conflicts, for the desequilibrium of our
life, for the calumnies, for all the time we have lost and for the psychological
impact. Because these are responsible for the great insecurity that we confront,
the inhabitants of the Kichwa Territory of Sarayaku.
8. We demand respect for and validity of the constitutional collective rights.
9. We demand the immediate withdrawal of CGC, Chevron-Texaco and Daymi Services
SA from our territory and of their activities in what is called block 23 in
the ecuadorian Amazon.
10. We disavow any version about supposed economical support that the companies
claim having provided to Sarayaku.
11. We will not permit the intiation of the seismic phase in our territories,
and we make the companies and the state responsible for the regrettable situations
that may occur.
12. We will continue to maintain our firm position in quest of the truth, transparency
and justice, and we will make respect our rights valid at national and international
level, if possible with our lives.
13. We propose to the International Labor Organization, the Interamerican Court
of Human Rights, and the Office of the High Comissioner of Human Rights of the
United Nations, the initiation of an investigation in order to establish the
responsibilities of the companies and the state for all the actions indicated
in this document.
14. We authorize the OPIP to initiate legal actions of constitutional protection
lawsuit against the CGC corresponding to our collective rights declared in the
constitution of the republic, in the convention 169 if the ILO and other national
laws and international treaties.
15. We consider that all the peoples of the world contribute to the diversity
and the richness of the cultures that constitute our common patrimony of the
humanity. We, the Kichwa of Sarayaku, will continue to defend, by all means,
our habitat, the biodiversity, the natural resources, the nature, and our right
to be an live as a people, with rights prior to those of the state.
Sarayaku, august 25, 2002
SEPTEMBER 15, 2000
TEXACO NEEDS TO CLEAN UP ITS MESS IN ECUADOR
This petition involves pledging to boycott Texaco until they clean up their mess in Ecuador's rainforest. For 20 years, Texaco Inc. pumped oil from the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, one of the Earth's gems of biodiversity, and home to Quichua, Siona, Secoya, Cofan, Shuar, and Huaorani indigenous peoples. After extracting more than a billion barrels of crude, Texaco washed its hands and pulled out of Ecuador in 1992, leaving behind a colossal mess of cleared rainforest, toxic waste pits, oil spills, and poisoned communities.
Rainforest Relief has submitted over 1,200 signatures on this petition to Texaco at its 1999 shareholders meeting. Author and attorney Judith Kimerling has told us that the communities in the affected area were encouraged that we had kept this issue alive with the petitions.
The Texaco petition can be downloaded and printed from the Rainforest Relief website:
http://www.enviroweb.org/rainrelief/newsnotes/texacopetition.htm
More information about Texaco's activities in Ecuador is available at:
http://www.enviroweb.org/rainrelief/newsnotes/texaco.htm
We have found that almost anyone will sign these kinds of petitions if approached in the right way. Just say "Would you like to sign a petition to help save the rainforest?" Sometimes it helps to point out that anyone, registered voter or not, child or adult, may sign these petitions. When they are full, send them to us (Rainforest Relief) and we will forward them to the corporations.
Please distribute blank petitions to your friends!
SEPTEMBER 7, 2000
TEXACO, OXY SHELL AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Globalized grievance - Over the past seven years a precedent-setting legal case over multinational corporate responsibility has been winding its way through the U.S. legal system. A group of indigenous communities in Ecuador is suing Texaco for $1.5 billion in an environmental lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New York.
By Ana Arana and Garry M. Leech
Full story at: http://salon.com/news/feature/2000/09/07/oil/index.html
JULY 2000
INDIGENOUS
CONFEDERATION DEMANDS
OCCIDENTAL LEAVE ECUADOR
CONAIE Holds Two Protests in Quito After Weekend Attacks on Colombia’s U’wa
Quito, Ecuador—Ecuador’s powerful indigenous confederation, CONAIE, today demanded that Occidental Petroleum leave Ecuador and Colombia. In a letter delivered to Occidental’s Quito office by a delegation of fifty indigenous rights and environmental activists, CONAIE promised nonviolent direct actions against the company’s facilities in Ecuador if Occidental does not abandon its proposal to drill on the land of the U’wa people of northeastern Colombia. After delivering their demands to Occidental, the demonstrators—led by Blanca Chancoso of CONAIE and including representatives of the international Oilwatch network—presented a letter from the Confederation to the Colombian Embassy calling for the suspension of Occidental’s drilling plans and the release of protesters detained over the weekend.
Today’s protests, which also included a demonstration at the Colombian Embassy in Quito, were prompted by the Colombian government’s latest round of violence against peaceful U’wa protesters. On Saturday, some 300 anti-riot police and soldiers participated in a surprise attack against 200 U’wa blockading a road in northeastern Colombia. The police and soldiers removed the protesters with tear gas and physical blows. U’wa spokespeople report that twenty-eight people were injured, with some requiring medical attention. At least one U’wa man was treated for bullet wounds. On Sunday, another protest was attacked and as many as 70 protesters have been detained. The attacks came just days after the US Congress approved over $1 billion in aid to Colombia’s military.
In a statement
read by Blanca Chancoso, CONAIE denounced Occidental’s "inhuman and aggressive
attitude" towards indigenous peoples and called for the company’s "definitive
exit from Ecuador and Colombia." The Confederation cites three
reasons for its show of solidarity of the U’wa: First, the weekend’s attacks
on the U’wa suggest that the Colombian government is on track to continue its
civil war, which also brought suffering to Ecuador. Second, communities represented
within CONAIE, the Secoya and Quichua peoples of Ecuador’s Amazon, have also
seen their environments damaged by Occidental Petroleum. Finally, the U’wa and
Ecuador’s indigenous people have developed strong ties through past struggles.
CONAIE has a long history of effective mobilizations against the oil industry
and for political change in Ecuador. In January, CONAIE organized uprisings
that brought Ecuadorian life to a halt and toppled the government of President
Jamil Mahuad. Earlier mobilizations prompted a rewrite of the constitution declaring
Ecuador a "plurinational" state and increasing recognition of indigenous
rights.
Since the attacks, U’wa protesters holding out against Occidental’s plans to drill a well called Gibraltar 1 have been joined by thousands of peasants and other non-indigenous supporters. These nonviolent blockades are the latest phase in a nine year struggle by the U’wa to stop drilling on traditional lands which they hold sacred. The U’wa have repeatedly stated that they are willing to die to stop the project, which they see as a threat to the spiritual equilibrium of the world, the environment and their physical safety from Colombia’s civil war.
"Ecuador’s
indigenous people are demonstrating that violence against the U’wa will bring
great costs for Oxy around the world," said Carwil James, Oil Campaign
Coordinator of Project Underground. "Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian
and American governments must abandon force as a solution, and recognize the
U’wa people’s right to a peaceful future in a healthy
environment."
Project Underground is the North American focal point for Oilwatch, an international network of resistance to the oil industry led from the Global South.
Contact: Carwil James, +1 510 666 0520 (-6pm PDT), +1 510 705 8981
JANUARY 2000
YASUNI AND CUYABENO NO LONGER PROTECTED!
Letter to Ecuadorian
Environmental Minister
Letter to Chase Manhattan
Bank
THE
MOST UNPROTECTED "PROTECTED" AREA ON EARTH
By Alexandra Almeida
CAMPAÑA AMAZONIA POR LA VIDA
ACCION ECOLOGICA
Quito, Ecuador
29th December 1999
Oil activity
in Ecuador has been, and continues to be, a permanent threat to protected
areas. Unfortunately, and much against our wishes, we now find ourselves obliged
to end the old millennium and to begin the new with the announcement of two
terrible pieces of news related to oil:
The first refers to Yasuni National Park and the North American oil company,
Vintage Oil Ecuador S.A.. Vintage is the inheritor of the infrastructure and
operations of the French company Elf Aquitaine , which transferred its operations
and rights to block 14 in October of this year, has made its debut with its
first oil spill. With this event which we can begin to perceive the environmental
management methods which lie in wait both for this protected area and the peoples
which live in the surrounding areas. The spill occurred on the 17th of December
of 1999 due to a break in the pipeline, and polluted a stretch of approximately
100 metres of a 10 metres wide stream which flows into the Tiputini river. The
Tiputini crosses Yasuni National Park and later discharges into the Napo river
and subsequently into the Amazon.
During its 12 years of operation, Elf made a negative mark on the zone: affecting
primary forest within the park, and thus making a mockery of the idea of a protected
area; affecting the hunting area of the Huaorani people; building infrastructure
and roads which have become the gateway to the devastation of the forest, from
which timber such as Caoba, Cedro and Guayacan is illegally taken for sale in
Colombia. Game animals such as Monkeys, Armadillos, Danta, and Guanta also are
taken from the area and sold as meat in the city of Coca.
Elf operated in this area with polluting technology, did not re-inject the formation
water and produced frequent spills from the pipelines. The same practices are
operative today. However, the most paradoxical and irrational thing is that
besides all this damage, the company produces only 4,500 barrels of oil a day
(1.5% of national production). This implies that for the production to be profitable
and for the company to stay operational, the Ecuadorian government has to subsidise
it, as it has been shown to do with all the trans-national oil companies. Thus
leading to the absurd situation in which the Ecuadorian Government is actually
subsidising the destruction of the protected areas in the country.
The second piece of news is that this month , the City Investing oil company
entered the Cuyabeno Animal reserve in order to carry out seismic prospecting
. This leads us to wonder about the interests or reasons which motivated the
adoption by the Ministry of the Environment of a resolution authorising oil
activity in the Reserve and Siona ancestral territory. This resolution flies
in the face of the environmental conservation discourse of the Minster, Yolanda
Kakabadze, who is also the President of the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature (IUCN).
The most astounding part of this is that precisely at the beginning of the year,
by means of an Presidential decree, the government declared two zones within
Yasuni National Park and Cuyabeno Animal Reserve to be off limits to oil, timber
and mining activities in perpetuity. We ask ourselves once again, How will it
be possible to protect an area while at the same time it is being destroyed.?
The threat to these areas is even greater if we consider the danger posed by
the much heralded concession of the Ishpingo Tambacocha Tiputini project within
Yasuni National Park, and the construction of a new heavy oil pipeline which
will come out of these same areas.
We call on all people and organisations who receive this message send letters
demanding that the companies involved, together with the Ecuadorian government,
stop these events and the threats to protected areas. We are attaching a sample
letter which you can use.
In solidarity,
Alexandra Almeida
CAMPAÑA AMAZONIA POR LA VIDA
ACCION ECOLOGICA
Letter to Ecuadorian Environmental Minister
Modelo de la carta
a la Ministra de Medio Ambiente
Sra. Yolanda Kakabadse
MINISTRA DEL AMBIENTE
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: (593 2) 564 037
De nuestras consideraciones
Reciba un saludo de quienes hacemos Accion Ecologica. El objetivo de la presente
es darle a conocer la profunda preocupación que tenemos respecto a la reciente
autorizacion que la Subsecretaria de Medio Ambiente del Ministerio a su cargo
ha dado a la compania petrolera City Investing para realizar prospeccion sismica
dentro de la Reserva Faunistica Cuyabeno y areas de Patrimonio Forestal del
Estado.
Esta decision contradice los principios y fundamentos por los que se crearon
las areas protegidas, contradice el discurso de Conservacion que Ud. y el gobierno
han proclamado y contradice la declaratoria de intangibilidad de inicios de
este año a dos zonas en la Amazonia, una de ellas muy cercana al area donde
se pretende realizar actividad petrolera.
La otra preocupación que tenemos esta relacionada con el reciente derrame de
crudo producido en el bloque 14, dentro del Parque Nacional Yasuni. En Octubre
de este año la compañía Elf Aquitaine traspaso sus acciones y derechos a la
compañía Vintage Oil Ecuador S.A. en el bloque 14. La Elf fue responsable de
una serie de conflictos socio-ambientales y ha ocasionado muchos derrames de
crudo que han afectado a esta area protegida, ahora se ha ido del pais "lavandose
las manos" y sin atender sus responsabilidades ambientales para con el
pais. Su heredera, con este primer derrame nos demuestra que la situacion no
va a cambiar y que el futuro del Parque Nacional Yasuni, reserva mundial de
la Biósfera, seguira estando en segundo plano.
Por todo esto, es necesario y urgente que el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente revea
la decision de autorizar la entrada de la compañía City y la actividad petrolera
en la Reserva Faunística Cuyabeno. Y en consideración de todos los daños que
ocasionó la Elf que estan siendo prolongados por la Vintage, le solicitamos
que luego de la correspondiente auditoría ambiental y restauración de la zona,
esta empresa salga del país porque ademas debido a su poca producción representa
una gran pérdida económica, por lo que el Estado ecuatoriano está subsidiando
la destrucción de las áreas protegidas.
Atentamente,
LETTER TO CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
We have recently learned of Chase Manhattan Bank's involvement with the construction
of Heavy Oil Pipeline in Ecuador.
The undersigned wish to express in the strongest terms their opposition to the
construction of this new pipeline in Ecuador because:
1. SOCIAL & LEGAL ISSUES: The Heavy Oil Pipeline will encounter social and
legal opposition, as Ecuador has developed specific laws governing. If the pipeline
is constructed it will be necessary to increase national production by 250,000
barrels per day. Oil that will come from new concessions located in indigenous
territory and protected areas.
The indigenous people who live in these territories have told the national government
of Ecuador, and the oil companies themselves, that they will not permit the
exploration for, and exploitation of oil. They have declared their territories
as intangible areas and have made this public both on a national and international
level.
In Ecuador, the national government has signed international treaties such as
Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation, Collective Rights have
been enshrined in the Constitution, and specific laws have been passed. All
of that prohibit the carrying out of projects which cause or can affect the
environment or our rights.
2. POLITICAL RISK: to guarantee the operation of the heavy oil pipeline it will
be necessary to exploit the Ishpingo Tambacocha Tiputini (ITT). The ITT has
faced significant political risks that have caused companies such as Shell and
BP to withdraw. The ITT project is located in the heart of Yasuní National Park,
which has been declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO and which is also part
of the traditional territory of the Huaorani people.
The whole world has expressed its opposition to the possible exploitation of
these oil fields, due to their location in one of the most fragile and diverse
zones on the planet.
A number of campaigns have been carried out in defence of Yasuní National Park
, for which reason companies which were initially interested, such as Shell
and BP, have been forced to withdraw. In the latter case, BP was obliged to
sell the oil projects of ARCO before the two companies were merged.
3. NOT FINANCIALLY VIABLE: It is also necessary to mention that the Heavy Oil
Pipeline project may NOT be financially viable, because it relies on the success
of the ITT project, a drilling operation based on overestimated oil reserves
and facing significal political opposition.
The Heavy Oil Pipeline faces significant downside risk associated with the environmental
and social controversies surrounding the pipeline and the ITT project. The undersigned
groups strongly oppose the Heavy Oil Pipeline and request thet Chase Manhattan
Bank avoid or cease all financial involvement in this project.
SIGNED,
Did you know you
can fax for free to the US, Canada and UK? www.fax4free.com
Send it, please, to the follow adresses:
William B. Harrison
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-2070
Fax: 212-270-1882
Walter Shipley
Chairman
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-2070
Fax: 212-270-1882
James Lee
Vice Chairman
Global Investment Banking
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-2070
Fax: 212-270-1882
Carter Booth
Managing Director
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-2070
Fax: 212-270-1882
Dod A. Fraser
Managing Director
Corporate Finance, Global Oil & Gas
CHASE MANHATTAN BANK
270 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-2070
Fax: 212-270-1882
With copy to:
Teodoro Abdo
MINISTRO DE ENERGIA Y MINAS
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: (593 2) 571228
Yolanda Kakabadse
MINISTRA DEL AMBIENTE
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: (593 2) 564 037
December, 99
OCCIDENTAL SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH THE SECOYA PEOPLE OF ECUADOR
Leaders of the
Secoya Indigenous Organization of Ecuador (OISE) and officers of Occidental
Exploration and Petroluem Company (OEPC), signed a code of conduct setting out
the "principles, procedures, requirements, responsibilities, and obligations
with which OISE and Occidental must comply" during discussions related
to the company's oil activities in Secoya territory.
The Code, signed on October 29 in Quito is unprecedented in Ecuador and was
the culmination of four months of intense negotiations between OISE, the democratically
elected representative body of the Secoya Nation, and OEPC, the local subsidiary
of Los Angeles, California, based Occidental Petroleum. The code of conduct
aims to
ensure the recognition and protection of the rights of the Secoya. It also establishes
OISE as the sole representative body in all negotiations relating to oil mining
on Secoya territory.
The Secoya number about 300 and live in the rainforests of northeastern Ecuador.
Much of their territory lies within what is known as Block 15. The area slated
for development is over 494,000 acres (200,000 hectares) and was signed over
to Occidental by the Ecuadorian government in 1985. The Secoya has been fighting
off Occidental's advances ever since. According to Occidental's own estimates
the entire production of this area would satisfy the total oil consumption of
the United States for about 13 days.
"In the past, Occidental confused and divided us by not dealing with the
Secoyas as a whole but only with the leaders of certain villages by giving them
gifts," said Humberto Piaguaje. Occidental has been exploring on Secoya
territory since 1992 on the basis of a secret "agreement" signed by
the residents of one Secoya community, in
exchange for chainsaws, medicine chests and raincoats.
Once OISE discovered the agreement they and the group who had originally signed
rejected and canceled the agreement. Situations such as these have been typically
the way Occidental has dealt with the community and they are what has fuelled
OISE's determination to set a code of conduct in place.
"We are a small people and we are tired of arguing with Occidental,"
said Humberto Piaguaje, president of OISE. "We are worried that oil exploration
will completely change our culture and that the animals and fish will leave
if exploration starts in our territory."
The Code of Conduct promises access to information about the possible environmental,
social and cultural impacts of proposed oil activities and gives the community
the right to choose independent and appropriately qualified advisers to assist
them to understand and respond to Occidental's proposals.
Finally, the code secures the right to make decisions according to Secoya norms
and traditions, free from pressures of any kind. Occidental is also responsible
for providing, unconditionally, the financial means for OISE's full and informed
participation in the negotiations.
OISE with the help of international observers and a group called the Secoya
Survival Project will continue to force Occidental to respect their rights as
a community to control development on their territory. Occidental is currently
pressuring OISE to agree by March 31, 2000 to the drilling of three exploratory
wells in the territory. Occidental claims it is contractually bound to carry
out exploration by the end of 2000.
Meanwhile, in northeastern Colombia, 200 men, women and children of the U'wa
indigenous tribe have marched to the Gibraltar 1 wellsite where Occidental plans
to start drilling for oil in the coming weeks. The U'wa have established a permanent
settlement at the site, with hundreds more U'wa expected to peacefully occupy
the area. This action follows the failure of legal battles and direct appeals
to the company and Colombian government to cancel all plans to drill for oil.
"We U'wa people are willing to give our lives to defend Mother Earth from
this project which will annihilate our culture, destroy nature, and upset the
world's equilibrium. Caring for the Earth and the welfare of our children and
of future generations is not only the responsibility of the U'wa people but
of the entire national and international society," read a statement from
the traditional U'wa authority.
SOURCES: Personal Communication with The Secoya Survival Project and Centro
de Derechos Economicos y Sociales (Center for Economic and Social Rights); "Deal
With It; The Secoya and Other Complex Communities in a World Turned Around",
by the Secoya Survival Project; "200 U'wa Assemble at Oxy Oil Well Site
to Block Drilling; Tribe Calls for International Support to Stop the Oil Project",
U'wa Defense Working Group Press Release, November 17, 1999.
September, 99
Indigenous Tribes March Against Oil Development
Project
From: Amazon Coalition amazoncoal@igc.org
Written by Kevin Koenig, Rainforest Action Network
September 1, 1999
Legal injunction
presented against Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO)
for rights violations
"The Shuar women will not die on their knees.
We will die fighting until every last drop of blood is gone."
- Shuar woman, August 24, 1999
August 24, 1999
Macas, Ecuador.
Some had traveled
by plane, some by bus, but the majority traveled by foot.Carrying spears and
enough chicha (a traditional fermented drink) for
everyone, the Shuar and Achuar tribes mobilized from their communities deep
within the rainforests of the southern Ecuadorian Amazon and descended upon
the town of Macas to deliver a message: their land, culture, and conscience
are not for sale.
Bearing the brunt
of the collaborative efforts of aggressive transnational oil companies and a
debt-ridden Ecuadorian government vying for the reserves of black gold that
lie beneath their territories, close to four hundred Shuar and Achuar had made
the multiple day journey to speak out against the crude oil project slated for
their ancestral homelands. The tribes inhabit
some of the last untouched old growth rainforest in all of Ecuador, a region
known as one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world and commonly
referred to as the "lungs of the planet." The physical, cultural,
spiritual, and economic existence of both tribes continues to be based on the
abundance and diversity of uncontaminated forests and rivers. However, in April
of 1998, the Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO) was granted a 500,000-acre
oil concession known as block 24 that falls entirely on Shuar and Achuar territory.
While the Ecuadorian government claims control of sub-surface minerals, the indigenous communities have never relinquished their rights to defend their lands and culture. For this reason the Shuar and Achuar are taking a stand against ARCO´s Block 24 project.
The Shuar and
Achuar are organized into three federations which collectively represent roughly
100,000 people- and have repeatedly resolved "to not permit the penetration
of oil, mining, or logging companies or their respective subcontractors in our
territory." Tito Puanchir, president of the Shuar federation FIPSE explains,
"We are unconditionally saying no to oil exploitation on our land. Our
rivers, our forests, which are the source of life for us, for our children,
and for our children's children, can not
be bought. We are demanding that our right to develop our communities in a sustainable
manner be respected."
Carrying signs
that read "Oil companies - ghosts of death," and chanting "No
more Texacos,"--referring to the toxic legacy left by the oil giant in
the northern Ecuadorian Amazon-- the sea of men, women, children and elders
marched to the Superior Court office of the southern Province of Morona Santiago
to present an "Acción de Amparo," a legal injunction to prevent
further rights violations by ARCO. According to the tribes, since ARCO bought
the concession, the company has violated numerous rights of the Shuar and Achuar
guaranteed under international law and the Ecuadorian constitution. They point
to the total disregard for the authority of their tribal organizations to represent
their peoples´ decisions and will. The injunction would prevent ARCO from entering
the tribal territory or approaching communities without the consent of the general
tribal assembly,
whose positions are represented by the federations. Indigenous leaders explain
that ARCO, faced with the unified opposition of all tribal federations in the
area, secretly approached threeindividual communities, offering each roughly
$2,500 USD, plane rides, and food contributions for an agreement to permit oil
exploration. ARCO spokesperson in Ecuador Herb Vickers, explained that the company,
"has concentrated on working more on the local level because, in its opinion,
the large indigenous organizations no longer represent the people," and
that the majority of them, "want ARCO to construct roads in the area, like
we have promised." The Shuar and Achuar view this
statement as an example of the blatant subversion of the legal and recognized
tribal representative federations. Santiago Kawarim, the Achuar president,
feels that through statements like this and divisive actions on the ground,
ARCO is intentionally manipulating the indigenous communities.
"The politics of negotiation of these companies are dirty, tricking the leaders with small candies like airplane rides, invitations, money, and in this way enter their territories. Then, when they enter the territory, they contaminate the rivers and emit dirty gases that contaminate the air, which then kills animals. Then what are we going to eat? Where are we going to hunt? How are we going to feed our children?" asks Kawarim.
The traditions of the Shuar and Achuar remain strong, and the people are determined not to suffer the same fate as their indigenous neighbors to the north, who, at the hands of Texaco, have seen their once-pristine homelands crisscrossed with roads, their rivers run black with crude, and their land dotted with more than 600 abandoned toxic-waste pits. "The Shuar and Achuar are here today to send a message to ARCO and any other company that wants to enter our territory: we fundamentally reject the presence of oil companies on our land," explains Ricardo Vargas, an Achuar leader. "We don't want our territory contaminated, nor do we want the sicknesses caused by oil companies in indigenous areas in the north of the Ecuadorian Amazon. We want to live in a clean environment. We also know that these companies create conflicts and divisions between nationalities, communities, and families. This is why we will resist."
The combination of rising oil consumption, technological advances making previously inaccessible reserves recoverable, and free market policies imposed on heavily indebted countries by international creditors, is opening the way for big oil to penetrate deeper and deeper into frontier ecosystems and indigenous homelands. While the total reserves that lie beneath the larger homelands of the Shuar and Achuar are still unknown, ARCO's Block 10 operations further north are estimated to yield close to 200 million barrels, less than what the US consumes in a mere two weeks.
Written by Kevin
Koenig, Rainforest Action Network
September 1, 1999
OIL
SPILL IN ECUADOR
(InterPress Service, June 2 & July 20, 1999)
ECUADOR: 11,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from the Trans-Ecuador pipeline owned by Petroecuado r -- the seventh spill in 15 months. Landslides in Santo Domingo and Esmereldas caused the rupture that has seriously damaged the Toachi River and local fisheries. Pedro Freile, the pipeline's administrative director, admitted that the spill would cause significant enviornmental damage. Petroecuador transports 365,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the oil fields of the Amazon jungle to a refinery in the Esmereldas. Elsewhere in Ecuador, an army unit in the Pastaza province blocked a group of environmentalists and indigneous rights activists from entering the village of San Virgilio Saturday to check on an oil spill caused by ARCO.
Community members say that the pipeline has been leaking for over a month and that according to an employee, ARCO has been covering it up. The 40 kilometer of oil flowline adjacent to villages populated by Quechua, Shuar and Achuar has been heavily militarized raising the potential of violence against them. ARCO says it had no choice but to militarize the area because of threat to blow up the pipeline.
July 15, 1999
Indigenous
Group takes on US Oil Giant
Copyright 1999 InterPress Service, all rights
reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
By Danielle Knight
QUITO, Ecuador, July 15 (IPS) - Oil companies, pushing ever deeper into the biologically-rich Amazon rain forests in their hunt for "black gold" have been confronted by demands from an indigenous group for a code of conduct to continue their operations. The 300 strong Secoya community wants to negotiate an agreement with the California-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. before it can continue exploring for oil in Secoya territory in north-east Ecuador.
''In the past, Occidental confused and divided us by not dealing with the Secoyas as a whole but only with the leaders of certain villages by giving them gifts,'' Humberto Piaguaje, the president of the Secoya Indigenous Organisation of Ecuador, known as OISE, told IPS. ''Now we want the company to negotiate only with OISE with the full approval of the assembly of the Secoya people,'' he said.
In 1985, California-based Occidental Petroleum signed an agreement with the government of Ecuador giving the company the right to extract oil for 20 years from an area of more than 200,000 hectares known as Block 15. This region includes part of the protected Limoncocha Reserve and the traditional indigenous territory of the Secoya, Siona and Quichua groups. Using Occidental's own estimates of the existing reserves, the entire production of Block 15 would supply the total oil consumption in the United States for about 13 days.
In 1992 the company developed five oil fields near the town of Limoncocha and constructed a 30 kilometer pipeline to connect to the country's Transecuadorian pipeline that goes to the coastal refineries for foreign export. Later Occidental began negotiating with individual Secoya communities to allow them to explore for oil. In exchange for chain saws, medicine chests and rain-coats, one community signed an agreement that allowed the company the right to conduct ''petroleum activities'' in the all indigenous territories of Block 15.
Other Secoya and Siona communities located in Block 15, however, were outraged and immediately called on Occidental to cancel the agreement. The company eventually did retract the contract but made it clear that they intended to continue to push for access to Secoya lands.
Under the new code of conduct, OISE wants to make clear who will be the exact representatives on each side with the complete agreement of all the Secoya people. As currently written, the draft agreement would prohibit the company giving gifts to indigenous communities.
''We are a small people and we are tired of arguing with Occidental,'' says Piaguaje. ''We are worried that oil exploration will completely change our culture and that the animals and fish will leave if exploration starts in our territory.''
Human rights organisations in Ecuador are closely watching the negotiations and hope it will set a precedent for other indigenous communities fighting against oil exploration on their territory.
''This is the first time in Ecuador that such negotiations are taking place on an agreement that will regulate the dialogue between an indigenous group and an oil company,'' said Paulina Garzon, coordinator of the Quito-based Center for Economic and Social Rights.
When asked about the current negotiations, Occidental spokesman Lawrence Meriage told IPS that the code of conduct was a matter between the indigenous people and the company. He pointed to the efforts the company had made to reduce the number of roads, drilling pads and structures built in Block 15 in order to minimize the impact on the environment.
''We basically have set the standard for stringent environmental behavior in Latin America,'' Meriage said and added that the company was replanting native tree species in areas disturbed by Occidental.
Piaguaaje said, however, past experiences with pollution and health problems that followed the operations of another US oil company, Texaco, weakened his faith in Occidental's promises.
''From our experience with Texaco, there is no more trust,'' says Piaguaje. ''We don't feel in harmony with nature like we did before oil was discovered here,'' said Piaguaje.
Several members of the Secoya people are plaintiffs in a class-action suit against Texaco currently in New York, which accused the company of deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste water into the environment without treatment or monitoring.
In addition to the contamination caused by oil exploration, environmentalists warn that because of the expanding petroleum frontier, Ecuador has one of the highest rates of deforestation in South America. Between 140,000 and 340,000 hectares of rain forest were being cut each year in Ecuador, according to the Nature Foundation, Ecuador's largest environmental group which is affiliated with the World Wildlife Fund.
If the current
rate of deforestation continued, environmentalists with the California-based
Rainforest Action Network estimated that Ecuador's rain forests would be decimated
within 15 years.
(END/IPS/dk/99)
ECUADOR
NATIVES FEND OFF OIL EXPLORATION
By Lydia Fernandez/Native Americas
The following article is provided by Native Americas, published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University. For more information on how to stay informed of emerging trends that impact Native peoples throughout the hemisphere visit our website at http://nativeamericas.aip.cornell.edu
The Achuar people are seeking international support in their fight against the U.S.-based ARCO oil company. ARCO has bought oil exploration rights for nearly 2.5 million acres of rainforest from Ecuador's government, including a large section of Achuar territory.
The tribe has proposed an alternative that would allow the land to be purchased by ARCO to be set aside in perpetuity as a biological reserve. This plan would create a development mechanism, as described by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, to absorb excess carbon released from the burning of fossil fuels. The Kyoto Protocol, if ratified, would require developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 percent. One of the ways to do this is through flexible reduction methods like the carbon offset process.
The Achuar nation, of about 4,300 people, hold communal title to nearly 2 million acres of old-growth rain forest. They maintain that any group affected by proposed development should have a voice in how traditional land is used.
The Achuar have joined a number of indigenous nations like the Machiguenga of Peru and the U'wa of Colombia, to prevent oil development on their territories.
"The Achuar are doing everything they can to open these doors peacefully," said Shannon Wright, the Amazon Oil Campaign director at the Rainforest Action Network in California.
The Achuar proposal is similar to an arrangement in place in Costa Rica, where territory, though not under indigenous ownership, has been conserved for carbon dioxide reduction. Wright said the Achuar are trying to meet with the Ecuadorian government on the carbon offset proposal. The Achuar have environmental consultants working with them on the project to ensure its feasibility.
"The Ecuadorian government could actually make money by keeping this territory because of its ability to absorb carbon," Wright said.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, if ratified, countries like the United States could purchase the rights to lands in rainforest areas in exchange for conserving them. This would earn them credits toward their greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
ARCO officials say they are committed to dialogue with the Achuar, but the Achuar remain opposed to oil extraction no matter what, Wright said.
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