Chevron s War against Ecuador government goes to US Federal court By La Recontra Oferta Newspaper LRON at San Jose, CA US 13:05PM 10.18.2013 The oil accuses the lawyers and members of the Amazon region of falsifying evidence and bribe the judge who sentenced her to pay S19.00 billion for pollution One of the environmental pollution processes in Latin America and controversial longer decades faces its final stretch Tuesday in New York. Chevron hopes that a U.S. court that the judgment fails in 2011 ordered the company to pay compensation to $19.00 billion to the inhabitants of the canton of Lago Agrio in the Ecuadorian Amazon , for contaminating the region several decades ago, was fraudulent and that counsel falsified environmental reports and Ecuador bribed the judge who issued the ruling. Beyond the million dollar sum is at stake and, above all , the future and the conditions for the thousands of families and farmers affected by the pollution caused by the negligence of oil companies in the mid -twentieth century, the importance of the process lies that the ruling could set a precedent on the influence in foreign courts of decisions rendered by the U.S. legal system and the competence of this to judge American citizens malpractice trials that take place abroad. The importance of the process is that the ruling could set a precedent on the influence in foreign courts of decisions rendered by the U.S. legal system and the latters competence to judge American citizens malpractice trials that develop in outside Our goal is to obtain from U.S. jurisdiction an opinion that recognizes that the Ecuadorian judgment was the product of fraud and corruption and that this decision sends a message to other sections of the world that the execution of the judgment against Chevron should not prosper , said in a telephone interview to El Pais, James Craig , oil adviser for Africa and Latin America. When the judgment against Chevron , this had no presence in Ecuador and the prosecution is trying to be recognized and enforced the ruling in other countries, particularly Canada, Argentina and Brazil . It is in those courts where the company expects a favorable ruling from the New York court could influence their decisions . The origin of the legal dispute dates back to 1993 , when the U.S. lawyer Steven Donziger filed a lawsuit in the courts of New York on behalf of 30,000 indigenous people of Lago Agrio , in northeastern Ecuador , demanding financial compensation to Texaco for polluting the waters of the region with its extractive practices between 1964 and 1992 . Texaco got the suit was admitted to Ecuador and , when Chevron acquired the company in 2001 , also inherited the legal battle . During the process, the U.S. oil company alleged that Texaco had invested $ 40 million to undertake cleanup and removal of toxic products in the country under the supervision and approval of the Ecuadorian government . In 1992 , he finished the concession for the exploitation of Texaco , this was taken over by Petroecuador , Ecuadors state company . In 1998 , Ecuador signed an agreement with Texaco in the multinational exempting any environmental liability . Chevron argued that the pact he redeemed with any legal obligations , and that the only culprit of pollution was Petroecuador. Finally , in 2011 , Judge Nicolas Zambrano ruled against Chevron. Condemnation of 19,000 million became harder against an oil company for environmental contamination to date. But contrary to what usually happens in the case of ecological disaster multimillion cases , the U.S. company never agreed to comply with the judgment and in February of that year brought a lawsuit for violation of U.S. federal law against conspiracy and extortion a New York court to stay the execution of the same . allegations In its brief , Chevron accuses Donziger attorney to make false and environmental reports Zambrano bribe , promising a share of economic sanctions against the oil company. Donziger has defended claiming that oil demand is revenge by the judgment against , and a strategy to escape their responsibilities and that the trial judge , Lewis Kaplan , is full of prejudice against the judiciary Ecuador. It will look at the process in Ecuador through the red lens , blue and white , said the lawyer of Donziger , Zoe Littlepage . Last week , Kaplan issued a resolution in which it recognized that there is sufficient evidence to suspect possible fraud . In 1993, the U.S. lawyer Steven Donziger filed a lawsuit on behalf of 30,000 indigenous to Lago Agrio demanding financial compensation to Texaco for polluting the waters of the region with its extractive practices between 1964 and 1992 Throughout the process, which is due to continue for four to six weeks , Chevron presented , among others , the testimony of Alberto Guerra, a former Ecuadorian judge sworn Donziger s team paid him $ 1,000 a month to write the Zambrano - judgment of the judge who has also been called to testify . The defense attorney , said , meanwhile , that the testimony of unreliable War as the company is taking care of his expenses and those of his family in the U.S. where they moved at the expense of oil for several months , Chevron argues that something has been done to ensure the safety of the witness. Another evidence is provided for Stratus Consulting Company , a consulting firm based in Colorado and has recognized that , at the request of Donziger , developed much of the report of environmental damage and health of Richard Cabrera an independent expert designated by Ecuadorian judges . The vice president of Straus , Douglas Beltman , acknowledged that prepared the document without scientific evidence there be endorsed figures included , including cancer rates affected ( 30 % more than normal , it was noted in the letter ), the number of deaths ( 1,400 ) and affected by cancer (9,000 ) or other causes of deaths from pollution . Donziger has also insisted that the report was finally dismissed War as evidence. This Tuesday is expected to appear a manager of a venture fund that financially supported Donziger s team in the early months of the process to withdraw when they found evidence of fraud , said Craig , the first environmental consultant hired to prepare Donziger case and the lawyer who defended Chevron in Ecuador . Complexity of the process The condemnation process related to millionaire Chevron is much more complex and foothills beyond what is decided in court in New York. The oil in 2012 has brought an appeal before the National Court of Justice of Ecuador , the highest court of this country , against the judgment and have not heard back from the court , according to Craig . So far , the decisions of international tribunals to which Chevron appealed have been favorable to the company. In February this year the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled against Ecuador for not preventing the execution of the judgment against the oil in those countries where the applicants have requested to be carried into effect, Canada, Brazil and Argentina . The decisions of international tribunals to which Chevron appealed have been favorable to the company The Ontario Superior Court rejected the application claiming that Chevron Canada Donziger was not directly controlled by Chevron Corporation , the appeal in Brazil is still pending in the case of Argentina , although in November 2012 issued a garnishment order Chevrons assets in that country last June 4 Argentina Superior Court suspended the decision arguing that Chevron Argentina was not part of the process that took place in Ecuador . In September , another partial award of the Court of Arbitration in The Hague concluded that , in accordance with the agreements between Texaco and the Government of Ecuador in the 90s , the company and its subsidiaries were free of any class action lawsuit in the country or third . The process has been the subject of several documentaries and has attracted the attention of ecologists , environmental activists and Hollywood stars like Daryl Hannah , whose image with hands covered in oil to denounce pollution in the Amazon companies turned the world . The president of Ecuador , Rafael Correa, has made Chevron s refusal to comply with the Court a national crusade , ensuring that it is a matter of national honor . Chevron accuses Donziger attorney to make false environmental reports and to bribe the judge promised a share in the economic sanctions against the oil Beyond the economic, environmental or political , is still pending the situation of indigenous and farmers in Lago Agrio , still suffering the consequences of pollution caused by negligent practices of the oil companies , often with the connivance of governments, and where medical care is barely to treat diseases resulting from such pollution. Since joining Texaco , our culture has been decimated , our children have been poisoned and our jungle is ruined , he complained repeatedly Emergildo Criollo , leader of the Cofan tribe , settled in the lands he explored the company in 1964 . Their struggle , on Tuesday many have demonstrated in front of the doors of the court - has been tarnished by a struggle millionaire fraud and corruption
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 20:09:12 +0000
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