Ecuador

Ecuador's Amazon rainforest contains some of the planet's most bio-diverse ecosystems and are home to thousands of indigenous peoples who have lived there for millennia. Below the surface of this fragile jungle also lay reserves of crude oil and natural gas, the ever-growing demand for which threatens the environment and the indigenous communities that inhabit it.More »

$19B Ecuador Liability Puts Chevron CEO Watson on Hot Seat Before Annual Meeting

May 14, 2013 | Press Release

Oakland, CA – Facing growing shareholder unrest over asset seizure actions and forced to testify about his alleged misconduct in the $19 billon Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson again will be on the hot seat at the company's annual meeting in late May where rainforest indigenous villagers and investors plan to confront him over his company's toxic dumping in the Amazon.More »

Oil Demand Threatens Ecuador's Rainforest

Up to 8 million acres of pristine Ecuadorian rainforest is under threat by a new plan to drill for oil. A local tribe vows to fight to protect their land.

May 3, 2013 | NBC Nightly News

The Wauroni tribes, who live in the forests of Ecuador, are getting ready to challenge the Ecuadorian government’s plan to sell as much as 8 million acres of rainforest for oil drilling, saying they are prepared to fight to the death to protect the land. More »

Is Chinese Big Oil Going to Destroy Ecuador's Amazon?

May 2, 2013 | VICE

To the world's oil and gas companies, the Amazon rainforest is one huge cash cow just begging to be milked. But anyone who'd rather not rid the world of 30 percent of its animal species would probably argue it's a region that shouldn't be destroyed by rich people.More »

Visiting Yawepare and Clean Water for the Amazon

April 25, 2013 | Blog Post

ClearWater is a community-based project that is providing clean water drinking systems to hundreds of affected families among the indigenous nationalities in this oil-affected region.More »

Ecuador Punts Its Oil Bidding Round but China May Be Only Taker

April 24, 2013 | Financial Times

Ecuador is licensing a chunk of the Amazon and now has extended a deadline by which bid for oil blocks must be submitted. To some, it could suggest Ecuador had received less interest than initially hoped for.More »

Actress Michelle Thrush Helps Win Oil Company Concession for Indigenous Ecuadorians

April 23, 2013 | Indian Country Today

Canadian Gemini award–winning Cree actress and self-proclaimed "artist in solidarity with Idle No More" Michelle Thrush is wielding her celebrity clout in defense of Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador.More »

Ecuador Extends to July 16 Deadline for Bids on 11th Oil-Licensing Round

April 22, 2013 | Wall Street Journal

Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador has extended to July 16 the deadline to submit offers for companies interested in the country's 11th oil-licensing round for blocks located in the southeast.More »

Ecuador Delays 11th Oil Round Deadline

April 22, 2013 | Blog Post

In a bit of an Earth Day reprieve, Ecuador has extended the deadline for companies to offer bids for the 16 oil blocks up for sale in the country's southeastern Amazon rainforests.More »

Idle No More Goes Up Against Ecuador's 11th Round

April 19, 2013 | Blog Post

Actress and aboriginal activist Michelle Thrush demanded to know why the Ecuadorian government is "auctioning off over three million hectares of indigenous land in the Amazon without the consent of the people who live there."More »

Coalition Confronts Ecuador in Canada Over Amazon Oil Auction

Protests mark meeting between Canadian oil executives and Ecuadorian government

April 17, 2013 | Press Release

Calgary, Canada – Amidst protests from a broad coalition of Canadians and international allies, Ecuadorian government officials met with Canadian investors and oil company executives Wednesday at the Telus Convention Center in Calgary. Labor unionists, aboriginals, environmentalists and faith groups united in support of Idle No More, calling on the Ecuadorian government to suspend its auction of oil concessions in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest. The group delivered a declaration of opposition from five indigenous nationalities whose rainforest communities would be devastated by the oil round.More »