In the News
Financial Times – An Amazonian publicity battle
Tuesday, January 19th 2010
In 2003, Silvia Garrigo, then a US lawyer for Chevron, was preparing to go into the Ecuadorian rainforest to collect soil samples for testing. She was accompanied by plaintiffs accusing the US’s second biggest oil company of having left a swathe of environmental destruction when it left the country in 1992.
“The plaintiffs’ entire technical team showed up in moon suits, with gas masks, put up red tape and said it was a dangerous zone,’’ recalls Ms Garrigo, now Chevron’s manager for global issues and policy.
San Francisco Sentinel – ECUADOR’S PRESIDENT CORREA: IF YOU DON’T PAY ECUADOR MONEY, WE WILL KILL THE AMAZON
Friday, January 15th 2010
“Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has threatened to drill for oil in one of the most biologically important and pristine areas of the Amazon River.
Fander Falconi, the country’s foreign minister, resigned yesterday after President Correa criticized his handling of negotiations to wrestle money from foreign governments interested in preserving a swath of virgin forests along the Amazon River.”
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Amazon Defense Coalition Watch – Amazon Watch’s Han Shan promotes bogus cancer claims at The Huffington Post
Thursday, January 14th 2010
“Han Shan, hired campaign organizer, is promoting a new video produced by Amazon Watch that smears Chevron with cancer claims that have been proven false long ago. The video titled, “Message from Ecuador to Chevron CEO John Watson” spins together bogus claims concocted by the Amazon Defense Coalition to increase pressure on Chevron to settle a trial lawyer funded lawsuit.”
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Miami Herald – BY CARLOS ALBERTO MONTANER – Correa’s recipe for disaster
Tuesday, January 5th 2010
“Rafael Correa, the president of Ecuador, has just published a book. He titled it Ecuador: From Banana Republic to Non-republic.
He posits that the country, under his leadership, ceased to be a banana republic, governed arbitrarily for the benefit of a dishonest oligarchy and foreign capital, and became a traditional republic with a separation and balance of powers, a neutral constitution and open institutions that propitiate changes smoothly under the tranquil protection of the rule of law — something that it’s not.”
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Breitbart.tv – The B-Cast: Ecuador, Hollywood & Trial Lawyers vs. Chevron = Liberal Hypocrisy
Wednesday, December 30th 2009
Watch the video here:
http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-ecuador-hollywood-and-trial-lawyers-vs-chevron-equals-liberal-hypocrisy/
Politics Daily – Ecuador, Hollywood and Trial Lawyers vs. Chevron Equals Liberal Hypocrisy
Wednesday, December 16th 2009
“It was nice to see a slice of the commentariat point out the gaudy display of hypocrisy coming from the left in Copenhagen, where the limos and private planes of the emissaries of climate change emitted their requisite greenhouse gases so everyone could talk about how to reduce emissions. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. And, global warming or not, when it comes to liberals’ double standard, this metaphorical iceberg is hardly shrinking.”
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LA Times – by Dave Samson – If Ecuador wants free trade with the U.S., it should earn it
Wednesday, December 16th 2009
“The Times’ Dec. 3 editorial, “Trading with Ecuador,” ignores evidence of Ecuador’s hostility to the United States and misleadingly asserted that Chevron is calling for an end to beneficiary status for Ecuador under the Andean Trade Preferences Act.”
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Time – Ecuador Officials Linked to Colombia Rebels
Wednesday, December 16th 2009
“Several former officials of the Ecuadorian government had ties with Colombia’s Marxist guerrillas, a commission named by President Rafael Correa conceded Tuesday. The announcement is sure to stir up new questions about how deeply South America’s political left, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, has aided a rebel force condemned worldwide as drug traffickers and terrorists. And it raises the risk, said the commission’s coordinator, Francisco Huerta, that Ecuador is “becoming a narco-democracy.””
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Forbes – There’s no glitz or glamour in Lago Agrio, Ecuador
Monday, November 23rd 2009
“Led by a group of American lawyers, representing 48 plaintiffs, the Lago Agrio lawsuit attempts to apply the 1999 Environmental Management Act retroactively, issued one year after Texaco was granted a clean bill attesting that its remediation measures were successful. Ecuador’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, and Petroecuador president, released Texaco from any further environmental liability in the future.
Incredibly, this legal outrage is backed by Correa, who joined Hollywood stars on a Toxic Tour. After his visit, he demanded Ecuador’s attorney general begin a criminal investigation against Texaco’s clean bill signatories.”
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The Washington Times – Editorial: Inequities in Ecuador – Trade preferences are unwarranted
Thursday, November 19th 2009
“U.S. trade preferences should not be awarded to nations where corruption runs rampant and American companies are preyed upon. Today, the Senate Finance Committee becomes the second congressional committee this week to consider whether to renew the Andean Trade Preference Act. The committee ought to exclude the government of Ecuador from some or all of the act’s benefits.”
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ABA Journal – Chevron Sues Plaintiffs Lawyer for $4M, Alleges Malicious Prosecution
Wednesday, November 18th 2009
“After making headlines several months ago by posting a video on YouTube to bolster its defense of an Ecuador-based environmental mass tort case, Chevron is again trying an unusual litigation tactic in a closely related case.”
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The AM Law Daily – Chevron Files Malicious Prosecution Suit Against Plaintiffs Lawyer
Tuesday, November 17th 2009
“Chevron is suing one of the architects of a massive environmental torts case against the company for his role in filing a separate civil suit against the energy giant in April 2006.”
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San Francisco Chronicle – Chevron sues former lawyer in Ecuador case
Tuesday, November 17th 2009
“Chevron Corp. has sued a lawyer who used to represent the plaintiffs in a $27 billion pollution lawsuit against the oil company in Ecuador, hoping to cast doubt on the case.
Chevron on Friday filed a complaint for malicious prosecution against Cristobal Bonifaz, who worked on both incarnations of the long-running lawsuit up until 2006. The oil company, the nation’s second largest, is seeking more than $4 million.”
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SFGate.com – Amazon Defense Coalition is foreign nonprofit corporation
Thursday, November 12th 2009
“Time again to expose real problems with the so-called Amazon Defense Coalition – which fails to sue Ecuador, or any other oil company save for one that’s no longer there (Chevron) and regarding environmental damage in the Amazon River Delta – where it is an organization that’s really just a front for a group of savvy trial lawyers to make a financial killing.”
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Reuters – Ecuador trade benefits a “sticky” issue: U.S. senator
Wednesday, November 11th 2009
“The U.S. Congress will probably approve a short extension of trade benefits for Ecuador that expire next month despite concerns about actions that country has taken, a senior senator said on Tuesday.”
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Ecuador Chevron Roundup – The latest Amazon Defense Coalition smear, Karen Hinton is at it again
Thursday, October 29th 2009
“Karen Hinton, paid Washington, DC based PR representative for the Amazon Defense Coalition, is leveling a new baseless accusation against bloggers who are raising legitimate questions about the organization’s lawsuit against Chevron. Commenting on an article by Carter Wood titled “What 30,000?” Ms. Hinton makes the following remark…”
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Dow Jones – Chevron: Does Not Know Reason Behind Ecuador Videotapes
Wednesday, October 28th 2009
“Chevron Corp. (CVX) told Ecuadorean authorities that it did not arrange the videotaping of allegedly improper meetings with the judge who had been overseeing a multi-billion dollar environmental lawsuit the company faces in Ecuador.”
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Bloomberg – Chevron Denies Role in Recording of Judge in Pollution Case
Wednesday, October 28th 2009
“Chevron Corp. said it didn’t request or encourage an Ecuadorean contractor, who it later assisted with a stipend and housing, to meet with a judge presiding over a pollution lawsuit against the company.”
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Bob McCarty Writes – Massachusetts Congressman Blasts Chevron
Tuesday, October 27th 2009
“For more than 16 years, Chevron has been fighting a bogus lawsuit in Ecuador that many estimate could result in a record $27 billion judgment against the company. Recently, the company produced video evidence revealing what appeared to be evidence of a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme involving government officials — including the judge hearing the case who had to recuse himself after the video became public!”
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ShopFloor – Against Chevron, the Strategy Has Always Been Political
Tuesday, October 27th 2009
“And hire a lobbyist while you’re at it. Only someone who believes the issue is going to be resolved politically, not legally, hires lobbyists as have Donziger, the Amazon Defense Coalition, and Kohn, Swift and Graf, the Philadelphia law firm paying the bills.”
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