Documents Reveal Chevron's Changing Tune In Ecuador Rainforest Destruction Case

DeSmogBlog.com:

New documents uncovered in the ongoing legal battle over Chevron/Texaco's destruction of the Ecuadorian rainforest show that, while Chevron recently labeled the guilty verdict and $18 billion fine leveled against its Texaco unit by an Ecuadorian court as "illegitimate and unenforceable," it was in fact the oil company that lobbied fiercely to have the case moved out of U.S. courts to the Ecuadorian justice system.

Read the whole story: DeSmogBlog.com

Comments

[Martin Joseph Baer]

12:27 PM on 03/25/2011

I have to admire Chevron, as stewards of their stockholders assets at least, for standing up to the conspirators and weathering the storm of self righteous indignation from the uninformed. I believe, if brought to trial in the US, Donziger will be disbarred and serve some prison time. This entire case has proven to be a PR Rorshach test for justice versus social activism. Chevron’s successful defense stategy is a lesson for those who would attempt to falsify evidence in a foreign court in order to steal from an American company. One lesson is clear. Don’t make a film about it.
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[Pippen]

10:07 AM on 03/29/2011

MJB - I'm confused about your posting. Are you suggesting that Chevron is not culpabal ? If so, I'd have to ask, did you read ANYTHING on this article or study the situaton AT ALL ?

Please clarify why you think Chevron is not guilty -

[CrazyEyes]

04:50 PM on 04/05/2011

Of course, you didn't get an answer.

[aligatorhardt]

09:38 PM on 03/20/2011

The polluters should be forced to clean up all sludge left behind as well as pay for the effects of it. It is only the oil company that is to blame for the pollution, so they are the ones to make things right and if they go bankrupt in the process. the personal finances of all former officers of the company that were responsible for company actions should also be bankrupted. Only after those persons have paid should any taxpayer money be spent on the problem.

[piperson]

07:00 PM on 03/20/2011

This must have been a particularly egregious case.....Chevron still lost although it had its thumb heavily on the scale of justice.

[Kenz300]

02:07 PM on 03/18/2011

If you break it, you buy it! ! ! !

Pay for the damage caused. Where are the ethics in business today?

The greed is good gang wants it all. They do not care about the "little people".

It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy.

Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from
waste, cellulose and algae are the future.

[tjconkster]

11:26 AM on 03/18/2011

This is what happens when the RepubliCorp/Republican Tea Party's belief that de-regulation and the Free market will allow a corporation to regulate itself and do the right thing is put into practice....As demonstrated by Chevron..the only thing a multi-national corporation cares about is money....they will do anything they can to extract the raw materials including putting workers at risk, destroying the environment and paying off gov't officials to get what they want...then when the extraction of the raw material is complete...they move on like a swarm of locusts to the next site...leaving their mess for someone else to clean up.....

Not to sound like a broken record here...but Naomi Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine" shows what the Chicago Boys Free Market model does to a country when allowed to run unchecked....and it also shows how corporation sill exploit anyone, and any country to get what they want....

[SolarArray]

01:24 AM on 03/18/2011

I hope they are forced to pay so that a precedent is set. Liars, cheats and killers are who the shareholders are in bed with. Sleep well?

[GandenT]

05:36 PM on 03/17/2011

As usual the lazy crooks who comprise Chevrons' shareholders, board, and management will use every possible trick, legal or illegal, to lie and cheat their way out of taking any responsibility for their actions and the consequences of their actions. They will however happily take any fat checks that result from their actions as entitlement poses less of a moral hazard for them than responsibility.

[Martin Joseph Baer]

04:32 PM on 03/17/2011

The criminal conspiracy to defraud Chevron stockholders is very old news now. It's all on video tape, the lies, the false test results, and the collusion to provide false evidence to the court. Then there is, as always in these types of blogs, failure to acknowledge that Ecuador is making record oil profits now without using any of the money to provide sanitary sewers and clean drinking water to the peoples of the Oriente region. Why would anyone think that monies from Chevron would filter though the fingers of the Ecuadorian government and be used for any public good?

[Michell Guzmn Talbot]

12:17 PM on 03/18/2011

I guess you've been to Ecuador right? Well let me tell you, I'm from Ecuador, Cuenca to be more precise. I'v been to the Oriente region. Have you seen what Chevron did to this people? Lies? Oh yeah I forgot that big oil companies never lie. Their only interest is the people, not the money. And of course fools like you believe it! Or maybe you have your own interest...

The neglect of previous governments regarding the indigenous people of our amazon basin is no reason to forget what Texaco did. It's well documented, and proven that there are people with cancer and other diseases due to the poor environmental handling of Texaco. They HAVE to pay, not to the Ecuadorian government but to the 55,000 people affected by this monstrosity.

The FACTS are on our side, not in your imaginary "well intended oil companies" mind.

[abbienormal]

08:38 AM on 03/19/2011

Fanned.

[aligatorhardt]

09:43 PM on 03/20/2011

Keep your distractions for another day. Now it is the oil company's day in court and the actions of others are not in question here. The others will be dealt with on their own time.