A portrait of this Ecuadorian couple’s family members who died from cancer in a community contaminated by Chevron
Reposted from Medium.
I am sitting now in Ontario Superior Court wondering how the hell I got here but also marveling at the fact.
Over 23 years ago, 48 Ecuadorians sued Chevron for massive oil contamination in the Amazon rainforest.
Nobody thought they would win. They may never see a dime from Chevron.
But, like Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) said in The Color Purple, "I'm poor, black; I may even be ugly, but dear God! I'm here!"
The Ecuadorians have no money; no power; no influence. But, they are still here, demanding justice.
This Ecuadorian woman died from cancer not long after this photo was taken
The Ecuadorians are asking a Canadian court to enforce a $9.5 billion Ecuador judgment against Chevron for massive contamination since the oil giant sold all its assets there. I'm here to answer reporters' questions about the enforcement hearing.
For three decades, Chevron's predecessor Texaco treated the Ecuadorians' homeland, the Amazon rainforest, like a trash dump, intentionally pumping 16 billion gallons of toxic water into streams used for drinking and storing left over crude in over 900 huge unlined oil pits that leached into soil and water.
In 1993, the Ecuadorians sued Texaco in U.S. court. At Texaco's request, the court moved the case to Ecuador, and both Texaco and Chevron promised to abide by the Ecuador court's rulings. By 2013, three levels of Ecuador's judiciary had ruled against Chevron, affirming the $9.5 billion in damages.
Meanwhile, Chevron refuses to pay, saying it will fight "until hell freezes over, and then we will fight it out on the ice."
Given that indigenous peoples and the poor everywhere rarely have any pull with their governments and not enough money to pay for lawyers and lobbyists, they generally have been left to fend for themselves when the news media grows tired of their causes.
The Ecuadorians, however, have refused to go away.
They are still here, fighting for the justice that they deserve, beyond a shadow of a doubt.