The Constitutional Court of Ecuador confirmed compensation of US $ 9.5 billion in favor of 30.000 indigenous citizens. The trial of 25 years corresponds to a demand for environmental pollution caused by the company Texaco, the same that was purchased by Chevron in 2001.
By José Díaz
Servindi, 13 July, 2018.- One of the largest judicial cases between indigenous populations and extractive companies is undoubtedly the one that has faced the transnational Chevron and the indigenous people of Ecuador for 25 years. The most recent chapter of this story was written this weekend when the Constitutional Court of that country ordered the company to pay US $ 9.5 billion in compensation for the pollution caused by its activity.
Although the sentence had been imposed a few years ago, the company of US origin imposed an appeal against its execution that led to the last instance of the Ecuadorian judicial system. At this point the sentence was confirmed forcing Chevron to pay the millionaire compensation to the inhabitants of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
"It is the most important case for indigenous peoples and peasants. For 25 years, we have fought and now we are defeating the system of global corporate impunity. Those transnational companies that commit crimes anywhere in the world and never want to respond for these crimes”, said the lawyer of the indigenous communities, Pablo Fajardo.
The case corresponds to a lawsuit established by 30,000 indigenous citizens of Ecuador against Chevron to which they demand to repair the contamination produced by Texaco -company bought by Chevron in 2001-. The polluting activity of this company occurred between 1964 and 1992, during which time they burned gas in the open air and spilled toxic waters into the Amazon.
The fight continues
The first reaction of the oil company has been to describe as "unpayable" the compensation established by the Constitutional Court. Besides Chevron accuses the state oil company Petroecuador, which would have operated in conjunction with Texaco during the years that imply the demand made by the indigenous population.
Temporarily, one of the plaintiffs' biggest concerns is being able to collect the compensation. This last due to Chevron does not have any properties in Ecuador, so it would seek to validate the Constitutional Court ruling at an international level in order to be able to make the payment. However, to complete this step, the indigenous peoples must pay the Canadian judicial system, in which they won one of the several instances that constituted this trial.
"We will continue with the attempt to standardize the sentence in other countries and that is why we are asking for international cooperation to pay 350.000 dollars that the Canadian court has imposed on us as a judicial cost and that has been our main obstacle in that country", said the lawyer Pablo Fajardo.
Far from admitting the contaminating responsibilities of its extractive activity, Chevron has always accused the Ecuadorian judicial system of acting motivated by corruption, an argument with which they refuse to recognize the ruling. The indigenous peoples of Ecuador seek to validate the ruling in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Argentina and Canada where the company does own properties in order to collect the compensation.
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— Servindi (@Servindi) 12 de julio de 2018
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