"Video recordings reveal a $3 million bribery scheme implicating the judge presiding over the environmental lawsuit currently pending against Chevron and individuals who identify themselves as representatives of the Ecuadorian government and its ruling party"
Chevron has posted the videos on their website, complete with PDF Video Transcripts and the letter written to the 'Ecuadorian Prosecutor General'. Perhaps this is just me, but I feel that during a lawsuit, it is a perhaps a bit wrong for the opposition to be posting videos and reports onto their website, that they are later relying on in court as evidence. Questions arise immediately as to how Chevron got ahold of video footage of secret meetings. Are Chevron employing spies now? Have they hired Ecuadorians to record these secret meetings? Or are they even more sinister than imagined, are they setting up these bribes and corruption, letting Ecuadorian individuals take the fall and essentially undermining the whole lawsuit?
Chevron are claiming that the evidence that they have obtained implicates several individuals including the judge overseeing the lawsuit, Juan Núñez, in bribery and pre-judging the verdict of the lawsuit. Chevron's website also includes copies in PDF format of both a "Motion to Disqualify Judge Nunez" and a "Motion to Disqualify Judge Nunez's Rulings". So if Judge Nunez had pre-judged the verdict to ensure that Chevron lose the lawsuit, and his 'Rulings' are disqualified by Chevron's Motions, then who is to take his place? A Chevron appointed judge? Or a Chevron backed/financed judge? The vacuum that would be left if Nunez is disqualified would mean that Chevron have the upper hand, able to influence or oversee the implementation of a new judge. And I wonder how long it would be before a new judge, with negative attitudes towards the overbearing multi-national corporation, is discovered to be embroiled in deceit and corruption.
With such a historical and expensive lawsuit, asking around $27 billion from Chevron, bribery and corruption were inevitable. Firstly, because a multi-national corporation is involved. I am pretty sure no-one expects Chevron to roll over and play ball on command. Secondly, because the lawsuit is being judged by Ecuadorian courts. Ecuador is much poorer than Chevron, which is kind of sad in a way. An actual country, with thousands and thousands of people, is poorer than an international oil company. So of course Ecuadorian political individuals, lawyers and even the judge overseeing the lawsuit will be tempted by the money. It is human nature, in a way. And the Chevron site explains that the videos reveal a "$3 million bribery scheme". I'm sorry, maybe this is wrong or irrelevant, but I'm sure Chevron could spend $3 million without batting an eyelid, I'm sure the higher-ups' holidays cost the company more than $3 million each year. But again the question arises, is Chevron involved in the bribery scheme? Did they set it up somehow, knowing that the poorer Ecuadorian individuals involved in the lawsuit would acquiesce? The fact is, that before the lawsuit even begun, anyone could have predicted this. From one side or another, bribery or corruption was bound to have surfaced. From Chevron, who has the capital to influence and destroy decisions and careers, and from the Ecuadorian side, many times poorer than Chevron. Regardless of Chevron's involvement in the bribery scheme, they haven't exactly been playing fair. According to Amnesty International's website:
"Chevron (CVX) has filled a claim with the American Arbitration Association (AAA), so that the Ecuadorian oil company, Petroecuador, will take on any clean up costs and legal fees if Chevron (CVX) loses the lawsuit to the Amazon residents. The Ecuadorian Government and Petroecuador have filled a suit with New York's Supreme Court against Chevron (CVX) and the AAA to stop the arbitration proceedings, which have been temporarily suspended."
So the lawsuit has not yet reached a conclusion, and the multi-billion dollar corporation is already trying to ensure that an Ecuadorian oil company takes on the clean up costs and the legal fees, which goes against many of the principles that the trial is essentially founded upon. It is obvious that 30,000 Ecuadorians have not filed a lawsuit so that one of their own oil companies takes on the costs of Chevron's actions, particularly if Chevron loses the lawsuit. This is on top of Chevron's "Motions" to disqualify Nunez and his rulings. So as well as attempting to void the result of the lawsuit, Chevron are also attempting to ensure that should they lose, they are not liable for the clean up costs or legal fees.
The trial has been ongoing since 2003, and these accusations and games will only serve to prolong the trial. As soon as money comes into the picture, greed and deceit come into play. Chevron doesn't want to admit responsibility, or pay out any money to clean up the toxic waste and the repercussions its had. Ecuadorian individuals involved in the lawsuit have been accused of bribery and corruption. And all this while, the 30,000 Ecuadorians who filed the lawsuit, as well as many more that stand by them, suffer all the more while money causes more problems, and those responsible for the harm caused to these people are tied up in the courts, the law, bureaucracy, paperwork, etc etc, meaning that a decision will still be a long time coming. And reparations to the Ecuadorian area will be longer still. The 30,000 Ecuadorians do not, I imagine, ultimately care about how much money Chevron is made to pay, or if they admit to all the damages or not. They do not care if their lawyers or judge is involved in bribery or not. Ultimately, all these Ecuadorians want is for clean, safe land once more, for an end to the suffering and harm caused to the people and the subsequent generations born in the regions. And this is the same for all people across the globe, who have had to suffer at the hands of multi-national corporations who have more rights than individual human beings, and more money than many countries on the planet today. For these people to get back their safe land and their health, they cannot wage war. They cannot take arms against the intangible corporation, they cannot vote them out of their country or refuse them entry onto their land. They cannot realistically protect their land and its resources from the bloated, wealthy corporations who take the country's resources and sell it on at profit. So they have filed a lawsuit, trying to use the legal system to protect their rights, their basic human rights, and their land. But not having lived in a modern, wealthy capitalist society, these Ecuadorians have not realised something: the legal system protects the wealthy and the corporations, over and above the rights of the individual. And when money is involved, these 30,000 Ecuadorians are pushed to one side whilst arguments of bribery, corruption and unfair practices are uncovered. My hope and compassion is not with the Ecuadorians involved in the lawsuit- the judges and the lawyers and the other individuals. Though I wish them success with winning the lawsuit, bribery/corruption is not acceptable and only serves to weaken their defence against Chevron, who have filed against Judge Nunez and his future rulings. My hope and compassion is with the 30,000 Ecuadorians who filed the lawsuit, and those who suffer even now as we in the West live in comfort, using the oil taken from countries like Ecuador to enhance our standards of living. Because truly, they do not care about the money, or for "revenge" on Chevron; for them it would be enough, I imagine, for the land to be made safe again, their waters to be made clean, and for the damage that has been done in the name of profits to be reversed.
The damages that the Ecuadorians are filing to be reversed have come from 30 years of oil drilling. Chevron's continuing tactics to divert attention and responsibility from its own actions will only serve to lengthen the ongoing lawsuit and may undermine the final rulings. Ecuadorians are still struggling for survival with devastating levels of miscarriages, cancers and birth defects as a result of the toxic waste that still pollutes the area.
