Quito, Ecuador – Amazonian communities will come together today for a mass mobilization in Quito to demand the resignation of the Minister of Foreign Relations Ivonne Baki, because of her involvement with the ChevronTexaco lawsuit and the compromises she is making which will be detrimental to the country and the communities affected by environmental contamination. The communities will also express concerns and ask the Ecaudorian National Congress and the Attorney General to defend national sovereignty in relation to the arbitration claim filed against the state oil company Petroecuador and the Ecuadorian Government on June 11, 2004 by ChevronTexaco. They will also address the pressure and disinformation campaign that ChevronTexaco has launched, according to Luis Yanza, Coordinator of the Legal Process of the ChevronTexaco case for the affected communities.
Representatives of the Amazonian communities will also hold a meeting with the President of the National Congress today.. Then they will gather for a march to the Chamber of Commerce and the office of the Minister of Foreign Relations, where they will demand the resignation of Ivonne Baki.
After 10 years of legal disputes U.S. courts, an American judge ordered that the ChevronTexaco case be submitted to the judicial system in Ecuador. In May 2003, affected communities filed a lawsuit against ChevronTexaco in the Supreme Court of Lago Agrio, Ecuador. In October 2003, a court hearing was held and the proof period began. Communities affected by ChevronTexaco await a ruling in their favor, which calls for the environmental cleanup of the land and the contaminated waters.
Those affected by the contamination say that Texaco dumped 18.5 million gallons of toxic waste waters and contaminated residue which produced unprecedented environmental devastation. At the time of ChevronTexaco’s operations in Ecuador, oil companies in the United States by law had to re-inject these waste waters, a toxic byproduct of oil extraction, back into the ground.
In response to the pending lawsuit against it, ChevronTexaco has filed an arbitration claim against Petroecudaor in the United States. The company wants Petroecuador, its former partner in Ecuador, to be held responsible for the environmental remediation (and legal costs incurred by ChevronTexaco), which the affected communities claim is ChevronTexaco’s responsibility.
The President of the Superior Court of Lago Agrio, is expected to announce the beginning of the judicial inspections of the affected areas in the next few days. Environmental experts and lawyers will be participating in these proceedings.
*Translated by Amazon Watch
