When we last discussed the environmental pollution case against Chevron in Ecuador the judge overseeing the trial withdrew himself. Representatives of the oil giant claimed that Judge Juan Nunez was involved in a bribery scheme after a contractor for the firm secretly taped him in a “sting operation.” That incident was the latest chapter in Chevron’s PR offensive regarding the multibillion dollar case.
Ecuador’s government has fought back after Chevron implied that government officials were involved in the alleged bribery scheme:
Ecuador's attorney general wants legal action in the U.S. against Chevron Corp. (CVX), after the company released videos that it says showed undue influence on a court case involving Chevron.Chevron countered and claimed that the company did not make the videos and that the Ecuadorian government is trying to distract attention from the case’s facts. Yet a spokesman for Chevron said that the firm might be willing to pay the legal bills of the U.S. businessman who made the secret recordings.
In a statement, Attorney General Washington Pesantez said Chevron could be held accountable under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and called on Ecuador's state prosecutor to open a legal suit in the U.S…
Ecuador's Pesantez alleged in a statement that those two businessmen had been present in meetings where activities took place that would be against the law in the U.S.
Chevron may get a taste of its own medicine with the release this week of a documentary focusing on the case in Ecuador. Though New York Times film critic A.O. Scott praised “Crude” for its “intelligently and artfully made” portrayal of both sides, a Chevron rep told Reuters that the film was “long on emotion and short on facts.”
Image- The Star Ledger (“In "Crude," cancer victim Maria Garofalo is reflected in the polluted stream behind her home along the Ecuadorean Amazon river.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Bloomberg, AFP, New York Times, Reuters, CNNMoney.com
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