Friday, November 23, 2018

Statement From Ecuadorian Communities About Support From Musician Roger Waters

The following is a statement regarding Roger Waters released today from Carmen Cartuche, the President of the Front for Defense of the Amazon (FDA), the grass roots organization in Ecuador that is the beneficiary of the historic environmental judgment against Chevron:

Rumors that Roger Waters received money to come to Ecuador or that he might profit from the historic litigation are based on lies propagated by Chevron. Roger has generously supported the local Ecuadorian communities in their legal battle with donations just as he has many other social justice movements around the world. Roger has never expected to profit from the affected communities should they collect on their judgment against Chevron.

The document being circulated by Chevron to supposedly show Roger was entitled to a minuscule percentage of the Ecuador judgment should there be a collection is wholly misleading. The Chevron document reflects what the affected communities aspired to give Roger in exchange for his donation. Roger never asked to be an investor, is not an investor, and will never be an investor.

To be clear, the use by the affected Indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador of third-party investor funds to finance their lawsuit against Chevron has allowed us to achieve great success. Many of our supporters around the world have participated in this funding model, which is entirely proper and laudable even though Chevron obviously would much prefer that its victims rely only on “charity” to press their legal claims. The funding model is also a paradigm-shifting breakthrough for the human rights movement. Outside funds in relatively modest amounts have allowed the Ecuadorians to win their case and sustain their campaign against Chevron for 25 years. Without funds provided by investors and donors, Chevron’s victims would never stand a chance against the estimated $2 billion the company has spent on its army of 60 law firms and 2,000 lawyers.

The funding model used by the affected communities in Ecuador has enabled a historically unprecedented level of accountability for corporate criminality and fraud committed by a major oil company, Chevron. The model is one of many that human rights advocates can use to increase accountability for corporate wrongdoers. We also believe the model we use can enhance access to the justice system for all who are victimized by private companies that perpetrate human rights abuses.

We again thank Roger Waters and all donors and investors for their continued support of our campaign in the face of Chevron’s unethical and illegal attacks on our right to seek just compensation for the company’s environmental pollution.

Carmen Cartuche
President, Frente de Defensa de la Amazonia (Front for the Defense of the Amazon)
November 23, 2018