1. Ecuador Indigenous take on
corporate giant Chevron
Meghan Luce Midterm Presentation
AANT472 Professor Little
Photo courtesy of TIME

2. Chevron operated in Ecuador from 1964-1990. 1
During this time the company used a flawed system of oil extraction
with poor standards. 1
This caused extensive damage to the Amazon rainforest and the
indigenous people.1
It is estimated that in order to clean up the damage left by Chevron
$18-$27 billion dollars is needed.1
This is often call the Amazon Chernybol and is 30 times larger than
the Exxon Valdez disaster (1989 oil tanker spills 10.8 million gallons
in the Prince William Sound.2

3. History: Why was Chevron in
Ecuador?
 In 1964 Texaco (later
bought by Chevron)
started drilling for
crude oil in the
Amazon Rainforest.
 The operated there
until 1990, drilling
more than 900 oil
pits.
Oil pit in Ecaudor

4. Chevron admits Texaco dumped over 18 million gallons of toxic waste into the
Amazon waterways.
Texaco also abandoned more than 900 waste pits of gases with disregard to
safety measures or controls.
17 million gallons of oil was spilt by pipeline ruptures & dumped millions of
gallons of oil waste along dirt roads
Texaco never conducted health or environment impact studies while in
operation in Ecuador.
Photo courtesy of Tree Hugger.

5. PetroEcuador bought the sites and equipment in the early 1990s from
Texaco, after spending 26 years creating one of the worst oil spills in
history. 3
PetroEcuador has had many oil spills during their operation for over
20 years, partly due to the inadequate infrastructure and machinery
inherited from Texaco.
Chevron argues that they are not responsible for the damages, and
PetroEcuador and the government of Ecuador should finance the
cleanup and demands of the Indigenous community.
PetroEcuador workers clean up an oil spill.

6. Damages: Environmental Devastation
in the Amazon
Chevron fought for 9 years to avoid trial in the U.S.
The court appointed 14 science & technology experts to analyze
62,000 sampling results.
The extensive Texaco contamination of all 94 test sites inspected.
Photo courtesy of Life In Ecuador

7. Effects: Exploitation & Unregulated
Industrialization and in the Amazon
Cancer & oil-related health problems have surged.
Court expert estimated 1,041 excess deaths from cancer due to oil contamination.
Indigenous groups have lost 95% of ancestral land due to contamination and one group the
Tetetes have disappeared.
The Indigenous people are afflicted with diseases never seen in the rainforest.
1
Shuar indigenous nation. With their 2 deceased daughters, Maria Graciela died when
she was 24, and Rosa died at 12. 1

8. Demands & the Coalition to
defend National Sovereinty
The people of Ecuador formed a Coalition to:
‘demand clarity in the case, to stand watch to ensure that the trial
develops transparently and with respect for the judicial process, and
that this fight is one fought by all Ecuadorians for Chevron to be held
responsible for cleaning, remediation and restoration, the
fundamental wish of the 30,000 aggrieved plaintiffs.’ 1
Supporting the Indigenous community ‘demonstrates that the
effective exercise of constitutional rights (such as the right to an
uncontaminated environment) cannot be blocked by contract, law, or
any act of government, as any government act is subject to legal
principles.’ 1

9. Success: The slow road to
progress in Ecuador
A major win for the case was the right to have Chevron tried in U.S.
courts since Ecuador’s political has a history of corruption. 1
PetroEcuador has agreed to clean up parts of the land in the
disputed areas, and has started to re-inject its waste water.3
Unless the case is settled outside of court, observers expect atleast
ten more years of litigation.5

10. Ecuadorian community leaders and citizens protest Chevron in front of
its headquarters in California on October 3, 2012. Man pictured in
Ecuadorian lawyer representing Indigenous communities.

11. Members of Indigenous communities affected protest
against the actions of Chevron.

12. Strategies: A Global Issue
The Amazon is called the ‘Lungs of the Earth’ making the
contamination and destruction of the rainforest a major
environmental issue. 5
The Movement has used the help of many international NGO’s to
help bring the issue to the media and gain support globally.
After years of dealing with a corrupt political system, the
Movement has gained the support of the Ecuadorian President
Rafeal Correa, to help fight for justice and back government
indicatives' to help the Indigenous communities. 5

13. The Movement
The basis of the 30,000 strong
Movement for Environmental
clean up and Human Rights.
Texaco spent 28 years in the
Amazon and Indigenous
communities have been fighting
for rights and reparation for over
15. 5
Modesta Briones, who used to bathe and
wash clothes just downstream from an oil
well, had her leg amputated to remove a
cancerous tumor. Five years after her
surgery, Briones died when the cancer
spread through her body.

14. Similarities: Other influential
movements in Latin America
Maquilador Movement of Mexico: Similar to the
movement in Ecuador, they both were fighting battles with
large transnational companies for the reparation and
cleanup of environmental disasters.
The movement is also similar to the case of 200 people
from Junin Ecuador that organized to stop mining by Bishi
Metals (a subsidary of Mitsubishi Corp) in 1997. This is an
example of grassroots resistance to neoliberation, of 200
people confronting 3 large enities; The Mitsubishi Corp,
the Ecuadorian Government and the World Bank.

15. As demonstrated in other readings, large areas in Latin
America are starting to resist and over turn decades of
transnational dominance, corruption, and exploitation of
rights. The road ahead for the justice of 30,000 people
against neoliberal economics and policy has proven to
be a challenge, but also provided a space to develop
national identity and unity.
An Amazonian family walks a lot the polluted road.

16. Work Cited:
1. Amazon defense coalition. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://texacotoxico.org/eng/
2. Exxon valdez oil spill facts. (2012). Oceana; Protecting the
Worlds Oceans. Retrieved from http://oceana.org/en/our-
work/stop-ocean-pollution/oil-pollution/learn-act/exxon-
valdez-oil-spill-facts
3. Chevron toxico; the campaign for justice in ecuador. (2000,
2012). Retrieved from http://chevrontoxico.com/
4. Berlinger, J. (Producer) (n.d.). Crude: A joe berlinger film
[Theater]. Available from http://www.crudethemovie.com/
5. Circle of blue| waternews. (2012). Retrieved from
www.circleofblue.org