Quito, Ecuador — Julia Butterfly Hill and seven Ecuadorians arrested Tuesday during a peaceful protest outside Occidental Petroleum (OXY)’s Quito offices remained in jail for a second night pending their 9 am hearing Thursday. Lawyers today filed a Habeas Corpus petition and will present the case tomorrow that the eight activists have been illegally detained and arrested, calling for their immediate release with all charges dropped.
Most of those arrested represent Ecuadorian communities in Mindo, Lago Agrio, Esmeraldas and Shushufindi, who are adversely affected by the new OCP pipeline. Los Angeles-based Occidental is a key member of the OCP consortium, and is planning significant expansion of its Ecuador operations in pristine Amazon ecosystems, in expectation of the pipeline’s completion. The project has been mired in controversy since its inception, with hundreds of protests over the last few months along its route, which crosses fragile ecosystems and 11 protected areas. Julia Butterfly has been in Ecuador since July 9, joining the national struggle to resist this destructive petroleum infrastructure project.
Shortly following her arrest yesterday, Julia announced her determination not to leave the jail until all eight of the protesters are released together. After a four hour deportation hearing today in Quito’s Provisional Detention Center, where the eight are being held, a decision will be made within 24 hours regarding her deportation. After the hearing Julia released this statement:
“It has been a very long and exhausting night and day here in the Ecuadorian prison. In my deportation hearing today I was not surprised to learn that the OCP sent a letter to the police pressuring for my deportation. I believe my civil rights have been violated more than once in this experience, but my biggest concern continues to be with the rights of those arrested with me and the communities devastated by oil exploitation.”
Seven people were also arrested yesterday in the Amazonian province of Sucumbios in another show of resistance against the pipeline. Members of two local farming families near Lago Agrio were dispersed with tear gas by police. Two children were among those detained.
On Monday Julia Butterfly, best known for her 738 day tree sit 200 feet atop a 2000-year old threatened California old-growth redwood tree, accompanied Mindo community members to re-occupy OCP’s construction site in the Mindo Nambillo Cloudforest Reserve, stating “I come to Ecuador to stand in solidarity with people who stand against the absolute greed that imminently threatens the destruction of these priceless and diverse ecosystems.” Construction has now illegally advanced 200 meters inside community-owned property. A judge will visit the site Friday, accompanied by local community members, to issue a ruling on the property demarcation.
Lead financer of the project, German bank WestLB, has come under intense fire for syndicating a $900 million loan to the OCP in violation of its own lending policies. The loan, which does not meet minimum World Bank environmental guidelines has sparked public outrage in the German state of North Rhine Westphalia (NWR), which holds a 43 percent stake in WestLB. US bank, Citigroup has also been highlighted as a top lender to consortium members.
The majority of Amazon crude that will flow through the pipeline is destined for US West Coast markets. The OCP Consortium includes: Alberta Energy (Canada), Occidental Petroleum (OXY- USA), AGIP (Italy), Repsol-YPF (Spain), Perez Companc (Argentina), and Techint (Argentina). JP Morgan Chase is financial advisor for the project.
