Over ten years, I have been privileged to play a role in most of the organization's major campaign initiatives. While the moments of exhilaration, frustration, learning, anger, and beauty could fill a book, I want to share ten snapshots of key experiences that represent what serving with Amazon Watch has meant to me.
Who is going to clean up Peru's northern Amazon after decades of companies spilling oil and dumping billions of barrels of toxic production waters? Certainly not US company Occidental which ran the biggest concession, Lot 1-AB, until 2000, nor, it would seem, Petroperu, which ran the other major concession, Lot 8, until 1996 and operates the...
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...
"I've seen a publicity campaign saying that Pluspetrol is working hand-in-hand with the communities, that they protect the environment, our health, our children. It makes me ashamed for them to see this advertising they aren't living up to. They don't care. What's more, they won't admit all the bad things they have done. The people who don't live...
The Guardian | Usually the indigenous peoples living in the remotest Amazon only draw international media attention if certain kinds of photos or film footage emerge, as in mid-2014, or they raid a village or, tragically, kill someone, as happened on 1 May. Many media reports misinform as much as inform: factual errors, no context and all kinds of sensationalism...
Alianza Arkana Blog | The last few days have seen the start of a process to decide the future of a territory that has been subjected to oil exploration for the last 40+ years – namely, oil block 192 (formally called 1AB) that spans three river basins (Tigre, Corrientes, Pastaza) and is home to over 100 indigenous communities.
The Guardian | Members of the indigenous Achuar tribe from the Peruvian Amazon have won an undisclosed sum from Occidental Petroleum in an out-of-court settlement after a long-running legal battle in the US courts.
"The parties are pleased to confirm a mutual settlement of the claims in the litigation. Under the settlement, the terms of which are confidential, Oxy will provide assistance for community development projects for the benefit of these five Achuar communities. All parties are satisfied with the resolution of this dispute."
Common Dreams | A large group of indigenous Peruvian community members took control of an airport in the Andoas region of the Amazon on Monday to protest Argentine energy company Pluspetrol, which they say is polluting the land and exploiting resources in the region to build their oil drilling operations.
The Guardian | Indigenous people in Peru have suffered "devastating consequences" as a result of extractive industries in the Amazon rainforest, according to the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights.
A new report by the Federation of Indigenous Communities of the Corrientes River reveals the devastating ongoing impacts of oil drilling.
Los Angeles, California – Indigenous plaintiffs from the Peruvian Amazon won their appeal today in the landmark human rights and environmental contamination lawsuit against U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the case should be heard in Los Angeles, Oxy's hometown.
AFP | LOS ANGELES - Hollywood actress Daryl Hannah joined indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon here Friday in a protest against Occidental Petroleum at the US oil giant's annual meeting.Hannah, best known for her roles in 1980s hits "Splash" and "Wall Street," accompanied leaders of the Achuar community who have accus
A group of Achuar indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon confronted Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) at the company's Annual General Meeting.
Reuters | BAGUA GRANDE, Peru (Reuters) - Peruvian troops searched for missing police and patrolled towns in the Amazon on Sunday after 60 people died in clashes with Indian tribes opposed to President Alan Garcia's plans to mine and drill oil in the jungle.Troops controlled the town of Bagua Grande, around 870 miles north of the
Los Angeles, California – Lawyers working on behalf of a group of indigenous plaintiffs from the Peruvian Amazon yesterday filed an appeal with the U.S.
Los Angeles Times | Depending on your perspective, Occidental Petroleum’s shareholder meeting in Santa Monica Friday was a celebration of historic financial achievments (profits are way up, the company ended 2007 with no debt and dividends just keep climbing) or, it was the scene of what is becoming a serious public relations irritation.
Los Angeles, CA – Leaders of the indigenous Achuar people of Peru accompanied by 40 demonstrators wearing hazmat suits today brought Occidental Petroleum’s Amazon disaster to the company’s doorstep as they marched inside the hotel hosting the Oxy annual shareholder meeting.
San Jose Mercury News | SANTA MONICA, Calif. – A group of Amazon Indians and their supporters dressed in white hazmat suits demonstrated outside a hotel Friday to demand that Occidental Petroleum Corp.
Los Angeles Times | THE OIL COMPANY ISSUES GLOWING ANNUAL REPORT TO INVESTORSIt's a time-honored ritual for Occidental Petroleum Corp.: the yearly gathering of shareholders and protesters.The setting Friday was a sea-view hotel in Santa Monica where shareholders, eager to hear how record energy prices made this year the West
Los Angeles Times | ***The actress and representatives of several groups say the firm's operations in Peru left behind toxics that continue to contaminate an indigenous people's waters.***Wearing white hazmat suits and carrying brooms and mops, dozens of activists crowded the entrance to Occidental Petroleum's headquarters in Westwood on
INTERVIEWS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH, B-ROLL AND PHOTOS OF CONTAMINATION AVAILABLE ON REQUESTLos Angeles, CA – Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon and environmentalists today donned hazmat suits and staged a major “clean-up operation” outside the global headquarters of Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to urg
*** Interviews in English and Spanish, B-roll and photos of contamination available on request ***When: April 30, 2008, 12:30 pmWhere: Occidental Petroleum Headquarters, 10889 Wilshire Blvd, LA 90024 (at Westwood Blvd)Los Angeles, CA – Indigenous leaders joined by scores of environmental and
Los Angeles Times | Tomas Maynas, an elder of the Achuar tribe in the Peruvian Amazon cut a powerful figure on his recent visit to Los Angeles. As the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit he and other members of his tribe filed against Occidental Petroleum, Maynas was in town to urge a federal court judge not to send the case to Peru.
Los Angeles – After a federal judge found that a case charging Occidental Petroleum with pollution of Amazonian communities should be heard in Peru, the plaintiffs, including indigenous Achuar villagers and the advocacy group Amazon Watch, vowed to continue pursuing all legal means of redress.“The plaintiffs are fu
Los Angeles Times | March 29, 2008Tomas Maynas Carijano, an elder of the Achuar tribe, left his home in the Peruvian Amazon earlier this week and traveled to Los Angeles. He came, he said, to tell the story of his people's suffering at the hands of a U.S. oil company.
Diario HOY | Los Ángeles – Dicen que hace algunos años la palabra 'cáncer' no se pronunciaba entre los indígenas Achuar del norte del Perú.Pero ahora esa palabra se ha vuelto parte de su diario vivir, dijo Apu Tomás Maynas Carijano, miembro de esa comunidad y quien es el principal demandante en una querella colectiva
BBC News | Loreto, Peru – It is a familiar story. Big business moves into a pristine wilderness and starts destroying the environment and by turn the livelihoods of the indigenous people who live there.
Diario La Republica | La empresa argentina Pluspetrol, responsable de explotar los lotes petroleros 1AB y 8, enfrenta una nueva denuncia por derrames de hidrocarburos en la cuenca del río Corrientes, departamento de Loreto.La denuncia fue presentada el 31 de enero del 2008 ante la Unidad de Exploración y Explotación del Organismo Supervi
