In the News
8/13/09 – Miami Herald – Is Ecuador’s leader settling old scores?
Friday, August 14th 2009
“Is Ecuador’s leader settling old scores?”
Miami Herald, August 13, 2009
“I have long been curious about Correa’s claims to be an anti-U.S. leftist “revolutionary.” Correa has lived in the United States, and he received a doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois. How could a Ph.D. in economics make public speeches that scare away domestic and foreign investments, trigger capital flight and make the country poorer? Does he know something the rest of us don’t know, or is he just posing as a leftist to grab absolute powers?”
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8/11/09 – Economist.com – Pay us, or the rainforests get it
Tuesday, August 11th 2009
“Pay us, or the rainforests get it”
Economist.com, August 11, 2009
“The other matter is that Ecuador isn’t exactly the most credible counterparty at the moment.
Ideally, an international climate agreement will ultimately contain provisions for securing offsets for things like rainforest preservation and providing value to places like Ecuador, with an oversight and enforcement mechanism that has some teeth. In the meantime, I’m not sure Mr Correa will get any takers on his offer.”
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8/11/09 – Either Give Ecuador $3.7 Billion, Or Let It Burn Down The Rainforest
Tuesday, August 11th 2009
“Either Give Ecuador $3.7 Billion, Or Let It Burn Down The Rainforest”
allyinsider.com, August 11, 2009
“Two years ago, the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, told the world he’d burn down the rainforest if he didn’t get billions of dollars.
There’s 850 million barrels of oil sitting underneath the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. Tearing down the rainforest, and extracting that oil would give Ecuador $5.7 billion.”
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8/11/09 – Correa’s Radicalism and Freedom in the Region
Tuesday, August 11th 2009
“Correa’s Radicalism and Freedom in the Region”
Diario Las Americas, August 11, 2009
“Without any qualms whatsoever, President Correa proclaims his wish and his decision to go to the extremes of “radicalism” in the political and social philosophy of his government, described as socialist. In other words, reaching the extremes, expressing everything with revolutionary dialectics at the same level of the most exalted demagogues of our times, among them, of course, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. Furthermore, it must be taken into consideration that he has openly spoken against freedom of expression. To all this we must add that the presence of Cuban dictator Raúl Castro at the inauguration, with a display of publicity worthy of a better cause, indicates Correa’s full identification with the founder of the Cuban totalitarian tyranny, Fidel Castro. There is a photo of Raúl and Correa in the balcony of a beautiful palace in Quito that shows in their smiles and gestures an alarming and also disparaging solidarity.”
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8/10/09 – Reuters – Ecuador’s Correa vows socialism in a slow economy
Monday, August 10th 2009
“Ecuador’s Correa vows socialism in a slow economy”
Reuters, August 10, 2009
“Heavy social spending and his frequent outbursts against Ecuador’s business elites have raised Correa’s popularity but have rattled investors.”
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8/6/09 – Reuters – Challenges for Ecuador’s Correa in New Term
Friday, August 7th 2009
“Challenges for Ecuador’s Correa in new term”
Reuters, August 6, 2009
“Correa often calls journalists “rabid dogs” and “liars.” He says he is considering issuing fines against media outlets, or even revoking the licenses of radio and TV networks because of irregularities. That could prompt international criticism over press freedoms.”
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8/5/09 – “Jackpot Justice Goes Global”
Wednesday, August 5th 2009
“Jackpot Justice Goes Global”
By Vince Vitkowsky – Real Clear Markets, August 5, 2009
“To avoid U.S. courts and their requirements of real evidence, some attorneys prefer litigation in other countries, in which the rule of law is weak and manufactured evidence is more readily accepted. An example is the case against Chevron in Ecuador” … “A federal court in the U.S. soundly dismissed the plaintiffs’ allegations against Chevron in a related case, and fined the attorney for fabricating claims of alleged cancer victims. But the plaintiffs have found a far friendlier forum in Ecuador. Reports by the International Bar Association and the U.S. State Department have pointed out that Ecuador’s judicial system has little independence, and that the rule of law there is weak.”
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8/4/09 – Ecuador Take-Over of Perenco
Tuesday, August 4th 2009
“Ecuador Take-Over of Perenco”
Petroleum Economist, August 4, 2009
“The state’s take-over of two oil concessions held by France’s Perenco would put future foreign investments at risk, the French government told the country last month. Perenco ceased its oil operations last month after a tax-dispute with the government saw the state take 70% of output from its oilfields in the country, which produce 21,000 b/d. The World Bank’s arbitration panel has also condemned the expropriations; however, the government is adamant that Perenco owes it over $300m in taxes.”
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8/3/09 – AP: Correa: Ecuador to take over radio, TV stations
Monday, August 3rd 2009
“Correa: Ecuador to take over radio, TV stations ”
Associated Press, August 3, 2009
“Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa says “many” radio and TV frequencies will revert to state control due to what he’s calling irregularities. The president has been at war with Ecuador’s news media since taking office in January 2007. He has called TV stations and newspapers corrupt and mediocre, and twice fined an opposition broadcaster.”
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7/29/09 – American Thinker: “Extorting Big Oil”
Wednesday, July 29th 2009
“Extorting Big Oil”
American Thinker, July 29, 2009
“However, closer scrutiny of the lawsuit, including an evaluation of an allegedly independent investigation and the tendentious posture of the Ecuadoran court and president reveals a well-orchestrated smear campaign with false and misleading evidence and corruption at the highest levels of government in an attempt to pry money from an American oil company with deep pockets. … It is clear that Chevron, after a 19-year absence from the area following a certified remediation process, is being held hostage to a despotic government under the guise of environmental concerns.”
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7/24/09 – The Washington Times: Ecuador – Cut Off Trade Preferences
Friday, July 24th 2009
“EDITORIAL: Cut Off Ecuador”
Washington Times, July 24, 2009
“Several recent developments make it imperative for the United States to end the trade preferences it gives to the leftist government of Ecuador. On July 15, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said that in his new role as president of the Union of South American Nations, he will try to create a regional organization to shut down critics in the media. This frightening move against a free press came two weeks after Mr. Correa began efforts to shut down Ecuador’s Teleamazonas television network. On July 16, Ecuador’s state-owned Petroecuador oil company seized the oil fields of the Anglo-French Perenco Corp. This was despite a demand in May from an official arbitration body of the World Bank that the Ecuadorean government stop seizing oil. The expropriation of oil is nothing new. In 2006, Ecuador did the same thing to the American Occidental Petroleum Corp.”
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7/24/09 – Chevron battle is now goliath vs. golaith, company says
Friday, July 24th 2009
“Chevron battle is now goliath vs. golaith, company says”
World City, July 20, 2009
“For starters, it [Chevron] wants the world to understand that the case was initiated by and is being led by a U.S. lawyer, Steven Donziger, with money coming from a Philadelphia law firm, Kohn Swift and Graf, on behalf of the plaintiff, a non-governmental organization called the Amazon Defense Coalition. Lawsuits like this can be securitized with investors anteing up in the hopes of striking it rich…”
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7/24/09 – Chevron Ecuador Woes Mask Potential
Friday, July 24th 2009
“Chevron Ecuador Woes Mask Potential”
Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2009
“A legal process involving a massive judgment in an Ecuadorean court and attempting to have it enforced in the U.S. would, at the least, take years. The Exxon Valdez saga dragged on for two decades, and the final settlement, after appeals, was about one-tenth the original.”
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7/22/09 – Showdown Between Chevron Oil and the Third World
Wednesday, July 22nd 2009
“Showdown Between Chevron Oil and the Third World”
ChattahBox.com, July 22, 2009
“Chevron denies the allegations in the lawsuit, claiming Texaco performed a $40 million clean up of its operational sites in the 1990s, before it left Ecuador and that the government signed off on the cleanup efforts, releasing Texaco from any further liability. Any residual oil spills and pollution were caused by Petroecuador, the state-run oil company claims Chevron.”
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7/21/09 – Toxic Revenge – A $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron won’t clean Ecuador’s dirty slate
Tuesday, July 21st 2009
“Toxic Revenge – A $27 billion lawsuit against Chevron won’t clean Ecuador’s dirty slate”
By Silvia Santacruz – Forbes.com, July 21, 2009
“But where were the Ecuadorian government and Petroecuador all these years when remediation at Lago Agrio was badly needed? During the 1970s and 1980s, when the pollution allegedly occurred, Petroecuador did nothing to provide suitable cleanup or social assistance for the Amazonian people. Between 2000 and 2008, 1,415 oil spills occurred in Ecuador under the sole authority of Petroecuador. Chevron-Texaco ceased operations in Ecuador in 1990, and today has no operations or assets in the Andean nation.”
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7/21/09 – Chevron Ecuadorian Amazon Film Tries Not to Take Sides, but Fails
Tuesday, July 21st 2009
“Chevron/Ecuadorian Amazon Film Tries Not to Take Sides, but Fails -
‘Crude’ relies heavily on footage of anti-oil company plaintiffs and alleged victims, but does give behind scenes glimpse of eco-litigator.”
By Jeff Poor – Business & Media Institute, July 21, 2009
“A shakedown is still a shakedown – even when every side of a ‘complicated’ story is shown…But ‘Crude,’ Joe Berlinger’s documentary about the Amazon Defense Front’s $27-billion lawsuit against Chevron for allegedly not cleaning up abandoned Ecuadorian oil wells, doesn’t quite see it as a shakedown…Berlinger did viewers of the film a disservice by not examining the poor track record of PetroEcuador, the state-owned oil company. PetroEcuador has a horrendous environmental record with more than 1,000 oil spills since 2000. In 2006, BusinessWeek said the company had ’suffered an oil spill every two days this year.’ That in itself is something Berlinger should have noted in his reporting. But Berlinger had another agenda.”
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7/20/09 – Chevron Looks For Home-Field Advantage In Ecuador Fight
Monday, July 20th 2009
“Chevron Looks For Home-Field Advantage In Ecuador Fight”
Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2009
“Chevron, which expects to lose the case in Ecuador, has been telling its shareholders it doesn’t expect to be forced to pay any judgment. “We’re not paying and we’re going to fight this for years if not decades into the future,” the company told WSJ.”
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7/20/09 – Chevron Expects to Fight Ecuador Lawsuit in U.S.
Monday, July 20th 2009
“Chevron Expects to Fight Ecuador Lawsuit in U.S.”
Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2009
“Chevron denies the allegations, arguing that Texaco’s operations in Ecuador met local and international standards, that a $40 million cleanup effort in the 1990s resolved any environmental liability the company had there, and that any remaining problems are the responsibility of Petroecuador, the state-run oil company that took over Texaco’s operations.”
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7/18/09 – Ecuador warned over two oilfield seizures
Saturday, July 18th 2009
“Ecuador warned over two oilfield seizures”
Financial Times, July 18, 2009
“Ecuador’s seizure of two oil concessions operated by Perenco exposes the state to ‘billions’ of dollars in compensation claims, Rodrigo Marquez, head of the group’s Latin American division, said yesterday. … ‘We’ve been expelled and our assets have been taken over,’ Mr Marquez told the Financial Times. ‘They are trying to say they did not really take over the facilities because they did not send the army in, but before we were due to start the suspension of activities government officials went in . . . and started to persuade the employees not to carry out their instructions. You would appreciate that an employee caught in that situation would feel intimidated,’ he said.”
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7/15/09 – A Baseless Lawsuit Against Chevron in Ecuador
Wednesday, July 15th 2009
“A Baseless Lawsuit Against Chevron in Ecuador”
By Gail Tverberg – Whiskey and Gunpowder, July 15, 2009
“Can plaintiffs in a lawsuit generate infinite favorable publicity, yet have virtually no substance to back up their claims? The Amazon Defense Coalition (ADC) has found a way to play into many peoples’ concerns about oil companies—but with very little substance behind their accusations. ADC is shaking down Chevron for $27.3 billion, with essentially nothing to back it up.”
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