"The land is for the people who are living in the rainforest...My territory is already contaminated. How can I back down? How will my children live a healthy life? How will future generations live?"
All: 2015
This Epic Environmental Lawsuit Just Got a Bit More Complicated
During the tribunal, Chevron's key witness admitted that there is no evidence to corroborate allegations that he received bribes or that he acted as a ghostwriter in the judgment against Chevron. He also conceded, in cross-examination, that elements of his sworn testimony were exaggerated and, in other cases, simply false.
Amazon Rainforest Defense Now Part of Activists’ Global Strategy to Defeat Fossil Fuel Industry
The fate of the world's climate and the Amazon Rainforest are intertwined. That was the message brought by Amazon Watch founder and board president Atossa Soltani to a session of the annual Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA on October 23rd.
Ecuador’s Oil Polarizes the Country
Oil is one of Ecuador’s most controversial and polarizing topics. On one hand the country is dependent on oil for income, while on the other, oil drilling is a perceived threat to livelihoods in communities where drilling ensues. Testimony given before an international tribunal released Monday, calls into question the legitimacy of Chevron’s star...
"Yes, I Lied": Vindicating Villagers, Star Chevron Witness Busted for Perjury
In what is being called "a dramatic turn" in a protracted legal battle, documents publicized Monday reveal that the star witness in a case pitting rainforest villagers against a multinational oil giant has admitted to lying under oath in an effort to help Chevron avoid paying a $9.5 billion judgment for deliberate pollution of the Ecuadorian...
Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.
Game Over: Chevron's RICO Case Spectacularly Implodes as Corrupt Ex-Judge Admits to Making It Up in Exchange for Chevron Payoff
Chevron's polluted house of cards has come crashing down around them. Guerra is a liar – and he freely admits it. Chevron can either double down and insist Guerra was "before it before he was against it" or denounce him now – in which case they can never argue he's credible by any stretch.
Chevron's Star Witness Admits to Lying in the Amazon Pollution Case
VICE News | In testimony given before the international tribunal, Guerra has now admitted that there is no evidence to corroborate allegations of a bribe or a ghostwritten judgment, and that large parts of his sworn testimony were exaggerated and, in other cases, simply not true.
Chevron's Star Witness in Retaliatory RICO Case Recants Accusations Against Ecuadorians and Their Counsel
Newly released transcripts reveal stunning admission under oath, leave Chevron case in shambles as communities move closer to seizing company assets in Canada
Quito, Ecuador – In a dramatic turn in the 22 year-old legal effort by Ecuadorian rainforest villagers to hold Chevron Corporation to account for massive on-going environmental contamination in the Amazon, the key witness in Chevron's counter-suit has admitted under oath to making up accusations of bribery and ghostwriting.
Amazon Fracking Scheme Encounters Stiff Resistance in Brazil
In an act of defiance targeting the Brazilian Oil and Gas Agency, Brazilian indigenous leaders and activists interrupted a major auction of new fracking concessions set to spread across the Amazon rainforest.
There Is Persistent Contamination at Former Chevron Sites in the Amazon
VICE News | "In terms of what they found, it absolutely affirms everything that the court system in Ecuador, and Ecuador's supreme court has found: that Chevron is guilty," said Kevin Koenig, the Ecuador program director for Amazon Watch. "It shows exactly what the Ecuadorian court system found, which was egregious contamination, health risks, and from sites...
How They Won
What we can learn from the U'wa and Achuar Victories in 2015
In 2015, several indigenous peoples announced important advances in their decades-long struggles to defend their sacred homelands. The Achuar people of the Northern Peruvian Amazon and the U'wa people of the Colombian cloud forest both embody the power of grassroots resistance in the face of multi-billion dollar corporations.
How These Women Are Saving the Amazon
Refinery29 | "People see indigenous people as very primitive. And many times the government, well, our president, he has called a lot of our leaders stupid and ignorant," Gualinga said. "I know that the things that I am doing will have a consequence in the future, but I'm not afraid."
Indigenous Women Fulfilling Prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor
As Indigenous Women of the Americas, we understand the responsibilities toward the sacred system of life given to us by the Creator to protect the territorial integrity of Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples. These responsibilities include the safety, health and well being of our children and those yet to come, as well as the children of all of...
The Unseen Truth: Mega-dams and Human Rights
For the people who once lived within and relied upon the forest for survival, industrial development such as mega-dam construction greatly impacts the natural balance, automatically altering their right to live in a healthy environment. That's why talking about human rights abuses in the Amazon requires the acknowledgement that environmental...
How Hydroelectric Power May Undermine Brazil's Pledge to Slash Greenhouse Gases
VICE News | "Brazil is putting these dams into the energy mix, without so much as looking at their carbon footprints," said Brent Millikin, the Brazil-based Amazon program director for International Rivers, a US environmental group. "The dams are a disaster every way you look at it."
Journey to Ecuador’s Secret Oil Road
reported.ly | In an exclusive investigation for reported.ly, journalist Nina Bigalke traveled to an oil concession deep in the Amazon rainforest to film an illegal access road, the existence of which Ecuador’s government has denied. As indigenous peoples seek to secure the future of their ancestral lands, President Rafael Correa faces fierce political...
Greenpeace Report Slams Brazil Plan for Tapajos Dam in Amazon
Reuters | Greenpeace called on Brazilian authorities on Tuesday to reject an environmental assessment for a hydroelectric dam on the Tapajos River in the Amazon because it was a "marketing tool" that disregarded the indigenous people living along its banks.
Brazilian Indigenous Resistance Movement Wins Prominent UN Environmental Prize
2015 Equator Prize recognizes Munduruku efforts to defend the Tapajós River from new wave of Amazon mega-dams
New York, NY – Last Monday, the Munduruku indigenous people's resistance movement Ipereg Ayu was awarded the 2015 United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Equator Prize. The announcement recognizes the Munduruku's tireless and innovative struggle to preserve the Amazon's Tapajós River and its vast forests from destruction.
Keep It in the Ground
What becomes of places like the Amazon Basin that don't have major oil reserves, but are vital for the regulation of the earth's climate, house 20% of the planet's fresh water, and one in ten of the world's known species?
"The Green Inferno" – Even Worse Than We Anticipated
Publicity for "The Green Inferno," the latest film by "torture porn" film director Eli Roth, left our team at Amazon Watch in disbelief that anyone thought making a film based around the retrograde stereotype of the savage cannibal indigenous tribe was an acceptable idea in 2015. Understanding that controversy might well boost ticket sales, we...
Amazon in Focus 2015
The past year saw many important victories for our partners, yet the next several years will be critical to advancing rainforest protection, indigenous rights, and solutions to climate change such as clean, renewable energy.
Amazon Watch's 10th Annual Luncheon
Thank you to all who joined Amazon Watch at our 10th Annual Luncheon at the gorgeous Bently Reserve in San Francisco. It was a special opportunity to celebrate our accomplishments, learn more about the plans for the coming year and support our work.
Victory on the Xingu: Belo Monte Denied Operational License
Recently we asked the international community to take action by urging the Brazilian environmental agency IBAMA to reject the dam-building consortium Norte Energia's request for Belo Monte's operational license. In a stunning victory for social and environmental accountability – and thanks in part to the many thousands of you that took...
Ecuadorian Government Promotes Farce in an Attempt to Divide CONFENIAE
Pese a los evidentes intentos que tras este teatro ha movido el gobierno, financiando logística y movilización de 200 personas desde varias partes de la Amazonia, como CONFENIAE estamos claros del camino a seguir. Es evidente que esta acción responde a la altiva participación que como CONFENIAE y Amazonia, de manera especial las nacionalidades...
Recollections of Home: Thoughts on the Flooding of Altamira and the Belo Monte Dam
Antonia Melo is standing on her front porch. Behind her sits a room full of memories and photos. Her grandchildren wrap their arms around her legs. She speaks with strength, energy and indignation. At first, I couldn't really feel the sadness in her tone when I spoke with her, but now I can.
Canada Decision Is Message to Chevron: Stop Deaths in Ecuador Now!
In light of yet another of Chevron's courtroom setbacks in the Ecuador pollution case, company CEO John Watson and his management team again face a stark choice: admit defeat and prevent further death to rainforest villagers, or continue on their disastrous folly by denying the truth. How many more people will lose their lives if Chevron fights on?
Supreme Court of Canada Ruling Says Ecuadorian Villages Can Sue Chevron
Paul Paz y Miño of Amazon Watch and Dimitri Lascaris, Green Party Candidate for London West, Ontario, discuss the decision of an Ontario court to allow the case to go forward
The Real News Network | The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday ruled that indigenous Amazonians of Ecuador can use an Ontario court in an attempt to collect billions of dollars from Chevron for contaminating their rainforest and the subsequent environmental and health damages it caused for the people living in the area.
Block 192: Government in Disarray; Indigenous Indignant
Peru Support Group | Peru's government and its Congress appear to be at loggerheads over control of Block 192, the country's main onshore source of crude. Indigenous peoples of the north-eastern jungle are indignant at the government turning its back on dialogue about the future of Block 192. The issue throws into question the government's whole approach to prior...
Ecuadoreans Can Sue Chevron in Canada, Supreme Court Rules
The Globe and Mail | Ecuadorean villagers can sue Chevron and its Canadian subsidiary in an Ontario court to enforce a $9.5-billion (U.S.) judgment from Ecuador, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday.
