News & Multimedia from 2003
Fighting Goliath Ecuadoreans Seek Billions from ChevronTexaco in a Widely Watched Environmental Justice Case
December 31, 2003 | San Francisco Bay Guardian
In an environmental justice lawsuit with major international implications, ChevronTexaco is battling plaintiffs representing 30,000 residents of northeastern Ecuador who claim they were harmed by the toxic mess the San Ramon-based oil giant left in their communities. The case, Aguinda v. [...]More »
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Extends Precautionary Measures in Favor of Sarayaku
December 18, 2003 | Press Release
Quito, Ecuador - On December 17, 2003 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, based in Washington D.C., extended the Precautionary Measures granted in favor of Sarayaku for an additional six months. This extension is primarily based on the grave incidents that occurred on December 4th and 5th of 2003 when several Sarayaku inhabitants traveling on the way to Puyo were assaulted physically and verbally by a group [...]More »
Religious Leaders Blast Oil Cleanup in Ecuador
December 12, 2003 | Contra Costa Times
Pleasant Hill - Three community leaders have returned from a visit to Ecuador, and Wednesday night they showed pictures from their trip of oil-slicked rivers and sludge-filled pits. ChevronTexaco paid $40 million to clean up the spilled and dumped waste it left behind when it pulled out of the Amazon in 1992, but the people who live there say the land and water is still polluted, and they are getting sick. "Ther [...]More »
Seeking Balance: Growth vs. Culture in Amazon
December 10, 2003 | New York Times
Pumpuentsa, Ecuador — As international energy companies move into the Amazon basin to tap some of the last untouched oil and natural gas reserves, more and more natives are fighting to keep them out. Oil workers and contractors have been kidnapped, company officials say. Equipment has been vandalized. [...]More »
An Announcement by the Kichwa People of Sarayacu
December 4, 2003 | Press Release
Puyo, Ecuador - The Kichwa People of Sarayacu, in fulfillment of its historic declaration that it will defend its ancestral territories and its absolute opposition to petroleum related exploitation on its lands, is now informing all authorities (whether they be at the local, provincial, national or international levels) as well as the media, indigenous organizations, human rights NGOs, and all other elements of Ecuadoran ci [...]More »
BOLETIN INFORMATIVO - Resguardo Indígena Unido U’wa, Cubará (Boyacá)
December 3, 2003 | Press Release
ECOPETROL en el año 1.985 inicia actividades petroleras en territorio ancestral U’wa con el proyecto de explotación en Caño Limón (Arauca), la construcción del oleoducto Caño Limón Coveñas, y la construcción de la Estación de bombeo en territorio de la comunidad indígena de Tamarana”Sutota” en el corregimiento de Samore, municipio de Toledo, Norte de Santander. [...]More »
The Hunt for Black Gold Leaves a Stain in Ecuador; As ChevronTexaco Faces a Major Lawsuit, Evidence Portrays a Company and a Nation that for Years Showed Little Concern for the Environment
November 30, 2003 | Los Angeles Times
Lago Agrio, Ecuador When Texaco contractors showed up at Monica Torres' wood shack in the jungle, they said they had come to clean up the mess the company had left behind. A pool of black oil sludge sat like a tar pit in her backyard, dumped by the company years earlier while drilling nearby. [...]More »
Controversial Oil Projects in the Amazon Spark Shareholder Resolution for Houston-based Burlington Resources Inc. Investors Call on Oil Company to Adopt Policy on Indigenous Peoples Amazon Indigenous Peoples Reaffirm Opposition to Burlington’s Plans t
November 20, 2003 | Press Release
Resolution Text at End. Boston - Today Boston Common Asset Management filed a shareholder resolution with Houston-based Burlington Resources Inc. calling on the company to adopt a policy on indigenous peoples. Boston Common filed the resolution on behalf of its client, the Brethren Benefit Trust, Inc. in response to the growing controversy around Burlington’s oil operations in the Amazon basin. [...]More »
Victory for Peru’s Nahua People as Oil Development is Removed from their Territories
November 13, 2003 | Press Release
The Nahua, an indigenous people in initial contact with the outside world, have learnt that plans for oil exploration in their territories adjacent to the controversial Camisea Gas Project in Peru’s remote southeastern Amazon, have been abandoned in the face of strong local and international condemnation. The Nahua and their allies in Peru and the U.S. welcome and celebrate this positive news. [...]More »
Peru’s Nahua Indigenous Leaders Come Out of Isolation to Say No to Oil Right to Life At Risk As Camisea Project Companies Eye Indigenous Rainforest Refuge Photos available from Shinai Serjali
November 11, 2003 | Press Release
A delegation of Nahua, an indigenous people in initial contact with the outside world, has arrived in Lima from a remote corner of the Amazon rainforest to call on the Peruvian government to remove oil concessions from their territories. [...]More »
