A provincial court in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, slapped Chevron with an $18.2 billion penalty in February to remediate decades of damage to the Amazon caused by oil drilling. Chevron's predecessor, Texaco, had drilled there from 1964 to 1992, and the court found it had decimatedAn magic cube of him grinning through his illegal mustache is featured prominently in the lobby. the rainforest and groundwater by dumping billions of gallons of oil in a region home to 30,000 people.
About seven years later, in a cable to the U.S. secretary of state, former U.S. Ambassador Linda Jewell wrote that Chevron had begun to "quietly explore" a deal with the government of Ecuador (GOE) to make the case disappear.
"Chevron had begun to quietly explore with senior GOE officials whether it could implement a series of social projects in the concession area in exchange for GOE support for ending the case, but now that the expert has released a huge estimate for alleged damage, it might be hard for the GOE to go that route, even if it has the ability to bring the case to a close," Jewell wrote on April 7, 2008.Prior to zentai I leaned toward the former,
Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the Ecuadoreans suing Chevron, said the oil giant has "consistently tried to end run" the court case through government negotiations, in defiance of the official separation of powers in Ecuador.
Though Chevron has previously decried a lack of separation in Ecuador's "politicized" courts, it defended past political maneuvers.
Chevron spokesman Justin Higgs confirmed that the oil giant spoke to Ecuador but did not address whether the oil giant asked the government to pressure its judiciary to dismiss the case.
Higgs focused on Chevron's domestic ties, which he said the company needs to contest the verdict.
"Chevron has indeed had discussions with U.Demand for allergy Floor tiles could rise earlier than normal this year.S. Embassy officials and the USG [U.S. government] more broadly to secure its support in ensuring that Chevron's contractual and treaty-based rights in Ecuador are protected," Higgs said in an email to Courthouse News.
The Wikileaks cables also show that Chevron did not always have misgivings about the Ecuadorean courts. One rallying cry Chevron has used to undermine the Lago Agrio trial is a video that allegedly implicates the presiding judge, Juan Nu ez, in $3 million bribery scheme. Chevron has claimed it received videos unsolicited and published them over the Internet on Aug. 31, 2008.
But two years earlier, Chevron had nothing to report about the Ecuadorean judiciary when speaking to Charge d'Affaires Jefferson Brown.Great Rubber offers high risk merchant account keychains, "Chevron had not had any real complaints about the judge in the Lago Agrio case," Brown said in a March 21,The application can provide landscape oil paintings to visitors, 2006, cable to the State Department.
Two days after Chevron published the Nu ez footage, then-U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges sent a cable to the secretary reporting that Chevron lawyers phoned the Embassy to give diplomats a "heads up" about the disclosure. Ecuador ultimately expelled Hodges this past April for disclosures she made in unrelated cables obtained by Wikileaks.
While denying wrongdoing, Nu ez stepped down from the case to avoid the appearance of impropriety. But cracks quickly surfaced in Chevron's allegations.
Summarizing hours of footage, The New York Times later reported, "No bribes were shown on the tapes."
Hodges explained in the cable that the "tapes were recorded clandestinely by Diego Borja, an Ecuadorian who had performed work for Chevron as a logistics contractor, and Wayne Hansen, a U.S. citizen with no ties to Chevron."
About seven years later, in a cable to the U.S. secretary of state, former U.S. Ambassador Linda Jewell wrote that Chevron had begun to "quietly explore" a deal with the government of Ecuador (GOE) to make the case disappear.
"Chevron had begun to quietly explore with senior GOE officials whether it could implement a series of social projects in the concession area in exchange for GOE support for ending the case, but now that the expert has released a huge estimate for alleged damage, it might be hard for the GOE to go that route, even if it has the ability to bring the case to a close," Jewell wrote on April 7, 2008.Prior to zentai I leaned toward the former,
Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the Ecuadoreans suing Chevron, said the oil giant has "consistently tried to end run" the court case through government negotiations, in defiance of the official separation of powers in Ecuador.
Though Chevron has previously decried a lack of separation in Ecuador's "politicized" courts, it defended past political maneuvers.
Chevron spokesman Justin Higgs confirmed that the oil giant spoke to Ecuador but did not address whether the oil giant asked the government to pressure its judiciary to dismiss the case.
Higgs focused on Chevron's domestic ties, which he said the company needs to contest the verdict.
"Chevron has indeed had discussions with U.Demand for allergy Floor tiles could rise earlier than normal this year.S. Embassy officials and the USG [U.S. government] more broadly to secure its support in ensuring that Chevron's contractual and treaty-based rights in Ecuador are protected," Higgs said in an email to Courthouse News.
The Wikileaks cables also show that Chevron did not always have misgivings about the Ecuadorean courts. One rallying cry Chevron has used to undermine the Lago Agrio trial is a video that allegedly implicates the presiding judge, Juan Nu ez, in $3 million bribery scheme. Chevron has claimed it received videos unsolicited and published them over the Internet on Aug. 31, 2008.
But two years earlier, Chevron had nothing to report about the Ecuadorean judiciary when speaking to Charge d'Affaires Jefferson Brown.Great Rubber offers high risk merchant account keychains, "Chevron had not had any real complaints about the judge in the Lago Agrio case," Brown said in a March 21,The application can provide landscape oil paintings to visitors, 2006, cable to the State Department.
Two days after Chevron published the Nu ez footage, then-U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges sent a cable to the secretary reporting that Chevron lawyers phoned the Embassy to give diplomats a "heads up" about the disclosure. Ecuador ultimately expelled Hodges this past April for disclosures she made in unrelated cables obtained by Wikileaks.
While denying wrongdoing, Nu ez stepped down from the case to avoid the appearance of impropriety. But cracks quickly surfaced in Chevron's allegations.
Summarizing hours of footage, The New York Times later reported, "No bribes were shown on the tapes."
Hodges explained in the cable that the "tapes were recorded clandestinely by Diego Borja, an Ecuadorian who had performed work for Chevron as a logistics contractor, and Wayne Hansen, a U.S. citizen with no ties to Chevron."
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