Chevron in Ecuador

The archive of the Clean Up Ecuador campaign website


News and Multimedia from 2013

Chevron Became Terrified of Its Own Witnesses During Retaliatory RICO Trial

30 December 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Looking back on Chevron’s retaliatory RICO trial, it is clear that the oil company’s lawyers were so terrified of some of their own witnesses that they literally ordered them to stay away from court.     Read more...

Chevron Faces Dead End In Coming Months Over Its RICO Claims, Assert Lawyers for Villagers

24 December 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Chevron's RICO case is facing a dead end in the coming months because a U.S. court is barred by law from sitting in judgment of another country's judiciary.     Read more...

NGOs Condemn Chevron for Assaults on Free Speech

Following the most recent of Chevron's legal maneuvers to avoid responsibility for environmental damage in Ecuador, a group of nongovernmental organizations publish an open letter condemning its tactics
20 December 2013 | SocialFunds.com

Chevron is an example of how not to engage with stakeholders. For years, shareowners have sought to engage with Chevron over the potential long-term damage of choosing "to fight till hell freezes over and then fight it out on the ice," as the company's own legal counsel described its strategy for dealing with a $9.5 billion judgment against it for environmental destruction in Ecuador.     Read more...

Prominent Organizations Publicly Condemn Chevron's Actions in Ecuador Case

18 December 2013 | Amazon Watch

Oakland, CA – Today, a dozen prominent environmental and human rights organizations including Amazon Watch, the Sierra Club, 350.org and Food and Water Watch issued a public letter condemning Chevron's actions in its decades-long legal battle to evade responsibility for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador.     Read more...

Ontario Court Revives Chevron Amazon Pollution Case

17 December 2013 | The Globe and Mail

Referring to comments from a Chevron spokesman that the company would "fight this until hell freezes over" and then "fight it out on the ice," Justice James MacPherson of the Court of Appeal writes: "Chevron's wish is granted. After all these years, the Ecuadorian plaintiffs deserve to have the recognition and enforcement of the Ecuadorian judgment heard on the merits in the appropriate jurisdiction. At this juncture, Ontario is that jurisdiction."     Read more...

Could Hell Be Starting to Freeze Over in Canada?

17 December 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

"This order will allow us the opportunity to hold Chevron accountable for fleeing the scene of its environmental crimes in Ecuador after a valid judgment was entered against it," said Fajardo, lead lawyer for the communities.     Read more...

Breaking News: Canada Orders Enforcement Action to Proceed Against Chevron in Ecuador Pollution Case

17 December 2013 | UDAPT (Union of Communities Affected by Texaco)

Toronto, Canada – Indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador scored a major victory over Chevron today when an Ontario appeals court ruled they have the right to pursue enforcement of a $9.5 billion Ecuadorian court judgment against Chevron's assets in Canada.     Read more...

Analysis: Why Chevron's RICO Case Won't Survive Appeal and Will Backfire Abroad

13 December 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Chevron's RICO case will not survive appeal in the U.S. and will backfire against the oil giant in foreign courts where Ecuadorian villagers are trying to collect on their $9.5 billion judgment to pay for a clean-up of their polluted ancestral lands.     Read more...

After the Smoke Clears: What Chevron's RICO Show Trial Means, with Hindsight

12 December 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Now that the evidentiary phase of Chevron’s retaliatory RICO bench trial against New York human rights lawyer Steven Donziger and his Ecuadorian clients is over, we can take a deep breath and analyze what really happened before the controversial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. The answer is not much, other than one of the greatest abuses of the American civil justice system ever.      Read more...

Ecuador's Highest Court vs. a Foreign Tribunal: Who Will Have the Final Say on Whether Chevron Must Pay a $9.5 Billion Judgment for Amazon Devastation?

Investor-State Tribunal of Three Private Lawyers Ignores Years of U.S. and Ecuadorian Court Rulings, Tries to Extinguish Indigenous Communities' Rights to Sue Chevron for Contamination
11 December 2013 | Eyes on Trade

The tribunal’s latest decision left one thing abundantly clear: the investor-state regime is not constrained by domestic court rulings, Constitutions, international law, or a basic sense of decency.     Read more...

The Truth Has No Place in Kaplan's Court

26 November 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

How on Earth could this unlikely and significant victory be so ridiculously, unethically and illegally turned on its head and evolve into the shocking display that just played out in a US Federal Court?     Read more...

As RICO Trial Ends, Chevron Still Faces Myriad Problems Over Ecuador Judgment Even If It Wins

26 November 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – As Chevron's RICO trial winds down this week in New York federal court, the company faces a wave of ongoing problems related to its multi-billion dollar Ecuador liability that cannot be solved by controversial judge Lewis A. Kaplan even if he rules in favor of the oil giant.     Read more...

"Most Maligned Lawyer in America" Opens Up as End of Trial Nears

25 November 2013 | Courthouse News Service

New York, NY – ​For his role in securing a roughly $9.5 billion judgment for environmental devastation in Ecuador, attorney Steven Donziger has been branded a "racketeer" by Chevron, pilloried in the press, and saddled with allegations that could sap his finances and stain his professional reputation. So, what makes him so calm, cheerful and confident that he will have the last laugh?     Read more...

Judge In Chevron's Ecuador Case Suppresses Evidence of Oil Giant's Environmental Abuses

25 November 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, overseeing Chevron's RICO trial against Ecuadorian villagers and their lawyers, is suppressing critical witness testimony about Chevron's extensive contamination of Ecuador's rainforest that clearly demonstrates a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the company is valid.     Read more...

"Welcome to America – Now Give Us Your Property or You're under Arrest!"

18 November 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Donald Moncayo is no stranger to the foul smell and noxious contamination in Ecuador, but that wasn't enough to prepare him for the despicable treatment he would receive in a US federal court.     Read more...

U.S. Court Authorizes Ecuador to Use Information on Chevron

18 November 2013 | Prensa Latina

Quito, Ecuador – ​A U.S. court authorized Ecuador to use, within the international arbitration known as Chevron III, thousands of documents which the oil company intended to keep reserved, official sources said today.     Read more...

Testifying Today: Steven Donziger & Ecuadorian Indigenous Leader Javier Piaguaje

15 November 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Taking the stand today will be Javier Piaguaje, one of the original "named plaintiffs" in the lawsuit against Chevron. Javier is a local leader from the Secoya indigenous community of San Pablo in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and has been involved in helping organize Secoya villagers and surrounding community members in their two decade-long efforts to hold Chevron accountable for the company's contamination throughout their ancestral lands.     Read more...

Donziger: Chevron's $9.5 Billion Ecuador Liability a "Profound" Accomplishment for Indigenous Groups

15 November 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – The $9.51 billion environmental judgment against Chevron in Ecuador represents a "profound" historical accomplishment by indigenous groups and is based on valid scientific evidence that the oil company deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, American lawyer Steven Donziger asserted in his proposed sworn written testimony turned over to Chevron this week.     Read more...

Ecuadorian Court Upholds $9 Billion Judgment Against Chevron

Meanwhile NY judge and Chevron team up to intimidate witnesses and lawyers in desperate retaliatory lawsuit
13 November 2013 | Amazon Watch

Quito, Ecuador – In a major setback for Chevron, the Ecuadorian National Court issued its long-awaited decision in favor of a $9 billion pollution judgment against Chevron upholding and affirming lower court rulings. The court's decision is final.     Read more...

Through the Looking Glass in Chevron's Delusional Kangaroo Court

12 November 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Try to imagine an Ecuadorian oil company submerging Alabama in toxic wastewater and then when the people of Alabama successfully sued the company to pay for a cleanup, a random judge in Ecuador declares the verdict invalid.     Read more...

Chevron Ordered to Pay Ecuador $9.51 Billion on Appeal

12 November 2013 | AFP

Quito, Ecuador – An Ecuadoran court upheld a ruling that US oil giant Chevron was liable for environmental damage in its Amazon basin region by sister company Texaco, but ordered it to pay a reduced $9.51 billion.     Read more...

You Get What You Pay for (Perjury, in This Case)

31 October 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Having virtually all the money in the world often means you can buy silence, time, and lies. This time Chevron has bought a bag of lies from a thoroughly disreputable source, and they aren't able to hide the price tag.     Read more...

Donziger, Ecuadorians File Motion to Strike Testimony of Chevron's Star Witness

30 October 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – The testimony of Chevron's star witness in its New York RICO should be thrown out because he was bribed by the oil giant for his cooperation, according to a motion filed today before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.     Read more...

Donziger, Ecuadorians File Motion to Strike Former Judge's Testimony

30 October 2013 | Legal Newsline

New York, NY – The legal team for New York attorney Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorian defendants in Chevron Corp.'s fraud suit have filed a motion to strike the testimony of the company's key witness, former Ecuadorian judge Alberto Guerra.     Read more...

Donziger & Ecuadorians File Motion to Strike Testimony of Chevron's Well-Paid Witness

30 October 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Today, the legal team for Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorians targeted by Chevron's retaliatory RICO suit filed a motion – filled with devastating detail – to strike the testimony of the oil giant's star witness, disgraced former Ecuadorian Judge Alberto Guerra.     Read more...

Damning Testimony in Chevron Case Attacked

30 October 2013 | Courthouse News Service

New York, NY – An Ecuadorean judge whose testimony threatens a $19 billion judgment against Chevron must not be credited because he was paid off, the oil giant's opponents told a federal judge Wednesday.     Read more...

Chevron Withdraws Key Element of RICO Charge Against Donziger

18 October 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – With the first week of trial in Chevron’s RICO case over, it is becoming increasingly clear that the oil giant is facing significant hurdles as it attempts to salvage a verdict that will allow it to block international efforts to enforce the $19 billion Ecuador judgment.     Read more...

RICO Bombshell Further Erodes Credibility of Key Chevron Witness

16 October 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Reis Veiga's admission is substantial and eviscerates the credibility of the witness Chevron is relying on to support its most explosive – and ridiculous – allegations in the case.     Read more...

Corporate Rights or Human Rights?

16 October 2013 | EarthRights International

Faced with an $18 billion judgment against it for environmental devastation in the Amazon, Chevron has relentlessly targeted the organizations, lawyers, journalists and activists who have campaigned or publicly spoken out about the company’s destructive operations in Ecuador. In spite of sanctions and other judicial admonishments, Chevron’s lawyers have continued to SLAPP activists with harassing subpoenas and depositions, undoubtedly aimed at chilling the future First Amendment activity that makes their company look bad.      Read more...

Retaliation Trial Opens Against Victims of Chevron Contamination in Ecuador

15 October 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

The oil company has declared that it will fight us "until hell freezes over." Obviously our economic conditions are not the same; they can buy justice, we cannot. Because of this we must unite to fight against a giant that understands money, but not values like solidarity, truth, fellowship, and above all, justice.     Read more...

Smooth Criminal: Chevron Sues Rainforest Communities It Contaminated

15 October 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Chevron has taken "blame the victim" to a new extreme in its attempt to avoid the $19 billion guilty verdict handed down by an Ecuadorian court in February 2012.     Read more...

Richmond Mayor Vows Solidarity with Ecuador, Rips Chevron on Eve of Federal Court Case

15 October 2013 | Contra Costa Times

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin led about 25 protesters in a Tuesday morning demonstration at City Hall denouncing Chevron Corp. and pledging the city's solidarity with Ecuadorean plaintiffs in their legal battles with the energy giant. "What is really at the heart of this case is human rights, justice and environmental protection," McLaughlin said.     Read more...

NY Trial Begins in Chevron's Bid to Prevent Collection in US of $18B Environmental Judgment

15 October 2013 | Associated Press

A judge who once tried to stop collection worldwide of an $18 billion environmental judgment against energy giant Chevron began hearing evidence Tuesday in the oil company's bid to block collection in the U.S.     Read more...

Chevron's Retaliatory Show Trial Opens in New York

15 October 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Today in a New York courtroom, Chevron’s campaign to evade accountability for its environmental and human rights abuses in Ecuador officially enters a new, egregious, ridiculous stage.     Read more...

Chevron v. Donziger Is the $19 Billion Trial to Watch

The oil company is seeking to avoid a major fine imposed for environmental damage caused in Ecuador
15 October 2013 | Salon.com

The case deserves the attention it is receiving because it will help define the extent to which the U.S. legal system can be used to sort out alleged overseas misconduct of American multinationals. It will also help define the extent to which would-be American vindicators of the poor overseas will be held accountable for their alleged misconduct in foreign legal proceedings. Billions of dollars are at stake, as are the unhappy conditions in which tens of thousands of Ecuadorian villagers live.     Read more...

Chevron Fights Amazon Pollution Verdict in U.S. Court

15 October 2013 | IPS

Two years after they were awarded 18 billion dollars by an Ecuadorian court for environmental damage caused by Chevron in the Amazonian rainforest, a group of indigenous villagers and their U.S. lawyer went on trial Tuesday in New York, accused by the oil company of bribery and racketeering.     Read more...

Chevron Retaliation Trial Opens Against Victims of Pollution in Ecuador

Protestors rally for justice in Ecuador; Decry Chevron’s abuses
14 October 2013 | Amazon Watch

New York, NY – Tomorrow (Tuesday) Ecuadorian villagers from the Amazon rainforest region ravaged by Chevron's oil contamination will join supporters for a large rally in Foley Square across from the courthouse where a trial will open in the California-based oil giant's retaliatory RICO lawsuit against the Ecuadorians and their U.S. based legal advocates.      Read more...

Chevron Ecuador Case Shows Limits of Legal System

14 October 2013 | Huffington Post

Nothing better demonstrates how ineffective the judiciary can be at righting wrongs than the $19 billion legal battle over Texaco's massive oil contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest from 1964 to 1990.     Read more...

On Eve of Trial, Kaplan Further Restricts Rights of Donziger and Ecuadorians

11 October 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has finalized ground rules for Chevron’s RICO case that will allow him to limit the most important witnesses from testifying in open court and would bar New York attorney Steven Donziger from presenting the extensive evidence of Chevron’s pollution and corrupt activities in Ecuador.     Read more...

Donziger Files Motion for New Attorneys to Represent Him at Upcoming Trial

8 October 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Steven R. Donziger filed a motion today asking U.S. federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to allow him to be represented by two prominent lawyers in a bench trial involving Chevron’s racketeering case over an Ecuador environmental judgment.     Read more...

Judge Kaplan Denies Jury Trial for Donziger and Ecuadorians

8 October 2013 | The Chevron Pit

“This critical decision made only days before trial virtually guarantees Chevron its desired outcome from a judge who already has decided all key issues in the case before evidence has been presented,” said Donziger spokesman Chris Gowen.     Read more...

Whose First Amendment Rights Are These Anyway?

4 October 2013 | EarthRights International

Chevron's multifaceted crusade against environmental and human rights activists and lawyers provides a deeply problematic blueprint other companies may be tempted to mimic to strike back against critics.     Read more...

Donziger Defends Right to Jury in $19B Chevron RICO Trial

4 October 2013 | Law360

Attorney Steven Donziger on Friday fought back against an attempt by Chevron Corp. to secure a bench trial in its racketeering suit over a disputed $19 billion Amazon pollution judgment, saying the nature of the claims against him still entitle him to a jury trial.     Read more...

Chevron Launches New Effort to Deny Ecuadorians and Donziger a Fair Trial in RICO Case

3 October 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – Chevron is now trying to bar any and all evidence of environmental contamination in Ecuador from its RICO case as part of a strategy to deny rainforest villagers and their New York attorney Steven Donziger a fair trial.     Read more...

Chevron Seeks to Avoid Jury Trial for Its Ecuador Suit

Case Involves Lawyer Who Won $19 Billion Judgment Against the Firm in 2011
30 September 2013 | The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Donziger and representatives of the Ecuadorians deny Chevron's claims and accuse the company of improper conduct in the 20-year-old legal battle. Mr. Donziger said he would oppose Chevron's request for a nonjury trial. "I think this decision clearly proves that Chevron does not believe in the validity of its own case," he said.     Read more...

Richmond Mayor Returns from Ecuador, Vows to Turn Up Heat on Chevron

26 September 2013 | Contra Costa Times

Richmond, CA – After a nearly sleepless six-day excursion through Ecuador to tour sites of environmental devastation, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said she has returned to Richmond with a broadened perspective and steeled resolve to continue her struggle against big oil, including her city's biggest taxpayer.     Read more...

Chevron General Counsel Distorts Arbitration Ruling to Hide $19 Billion Ecuador Liability

Reporters Get Sucked In By Chevron’s Spin
24 September 2013 | The Chevron Pit

R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron’s General Counsel, faces a series of cascading problems relating to the company’s $19 billion Ecuador liability. That might explain his irrational exuberance last week over an inconsequential ruling in favor of Chevron issued by a private investor arbitration panel that bizarrely purports to exercise authority over Ecuador’s entire public judicial system.     Read more...

Chevron Imports the Great Ted Olson to Save Its RICO Case

Signs of More Serious Trouble for Oil Giant as It Tries to Evade Ecuador Judgment
20 September 2013 | The Chevron Pit

The great Republican lawyer Theodore Olson – who argued the winning side in the famous Supreme Court case that landed George W. Bush the presidency – is joining the company’s legal team just days before a critical argument before a New York appellate court.     Read more...

Ecuador's Correa Calls for Chevron Environmental Boycott

17 September 2013 | AFP

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa called Tuesday for a global boycott of Chevron, as part of a campaign to highlight Amazon environmental damage Ecuador attributed to the US oil giant.     Read more...

Bribery Bombshell Threatens Chevron Legal Strategy in Ecuador Case

16 September 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Late last week, lawyer Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorian villagers who have fought for decades to force Chevron to clean up its poisonous mess in their rainforest lands filed a motion in U.S. Federal court that could spell an end to the oil giant's legal maneuverings and attempts to evade responsibility for its toxic legacy in the Amazon.     Read more...

Chevron Tried to Bribe Ecuador Judge with $1 Million Payment on Eve of RICO Trial

Terminating Sanctions Sought Against Oil Giant for Corrupting U.S. Proceedings
13 September 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – In a move that could end Chevron’s RICO trial before it starts, Ecuadorian villagers and their lawyer have turned over proof to a U.S. court that the oil giant has engaged in a "pattern of misconduct and corruption" by offering illicit payments and outright bribes to secure favorable testimony.     Read more...

Bombshell Retreat: Chevron Seeks to Drop $60 Billion in Damages In Ecuador Case

Pleads With U.S. Court To Block Airing of Its Ecuador Abuses Before a Jury; Wants Secret Proceedings
10 September 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

New York, NY – In a clear 11th-hour retreat that suggests it does not believe its own allegations, Chevron has taken the extraordinary step of pleading with a U.S. judge to block a jury from deciding its retaliatory "fraud" and RICO claims against Ecuadorian villagers and their U.S. lawyer.     Read more...

Ahead of Trial, Chevron Drops $60 Billion Damages Claim Against Ecuadorians in RICO Suit

Maneuvering to Avoid Airing of its Crimes in Ecuador
10 September 2013 | The Chevron Pit

In a clear 11th-hour retreat that suggests it does not believe its own allegations, Chevron has taken the extraordinary step of pleading with a U.S. judge to block a jury from deciding its retaliatory “fraud” and RICO claims against Ecuadorian villagers and their U.S. lawyer.     Read more...

Judge Allows Chevron Additional Access to Email Usage Information of Activists, Lawyers

6 September 2013 | EarthRights International

Despite well-established case law recognizing the right to anonymous speech on the Internet, the judge held that online speakers forever waive their right to anonymity simply by using an email address.      Read more...

Appeals Court to Consider Removing Key U.S. Judge in Chevron-Ecuador Case

29 August 2013 | The Chevron Pit

A New York appellate court has said it will consider a petition to reassign federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan from an Ecuador environmental case that resulted in a $19 billion judgment against Chevron.      Read more...

Appeals Court to Consider Removing Key U.S. Judge in Chevron Ecuador Case

29 August 2013 | Gowen Group Law Office

Washington, DC – A New York appellate court has said it will consider a petition to reassign federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan from an Ecuador environmental case that resulted in a $19 billion judgment against Chevron.     Read more...

Chevron: The NSA of the Corporate World?

23 August 2013 | The Chevron Pit

For anyone interested in how our national surveillance state and leading U.S. corporations work in lockstep, look no further than what Chevron is doing to spy on the critics of its environmental atrocities and human rights violations in Ecuador.      Read more...

Chevron Getting the Jitters Over Its RICO Case

Shaky Evidence and Appellate Court Scrutiny Starting to Disrupt Company’s Master Plan
20 August 2013 | The Chevron Pit

In an otherwise routine scheduling conference recently before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Gibson Dunn lawyer Randy Mastro suggested the oil giant was prepared to drop all damages claims against the Ecuadorians and their counsel, Steven Donziger, just to avoid a jury trial.     Read more...

Lawyer Who Beat Chevron in Ecuador Faces Trial of His Own

30 July 2013 | The New York Times

"I have admiration for anyone who is willing to take on a rich, powerful oil company," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club."And to do it for more than two decades is either crazy or impressive and probably both."     Read more...

Federal Judge Grants Chevron Access to Private Internet Data

29 July 2013 | The Huffington Post

"Chevron fought particularly hard to enforce two extremely broad and invasive subpoenas against Amazon Watch, which has been running the Clean Up Ecuador Campaign for a decade."     Read more...

Court Gives Chevron Access to Nine Years of Americans' Email Metadata

22 July 2013 | TechDirt

Leaving aside the fact that the court thinks it's okay to do this even if it's just "non-Americans" who have their privacy violated here, Mother Jones points out that this claim that it only targeted non-Americans isn't, in fact, true. Pesky details.     Read more...

Court: Chevron Can Seize Americans' Email Data

In an almost unprecedented decision, a federal judge has allowed Chevron to subpoena Americans' private email data – and said the First Amendment doesn't apply.
22 July 2013 | Mother Jones

Thanks to disclosures made by Edward Snowden, Americans have learned that their email records are not necessarily safe from the National Security Agency – but a new ruling shows that they're not safe from big oil companies, either.     Read more...

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Socks Ecuador Indigenous Groups With Huge Bills for His "Special Master" Friends

The Disturbing Story of the Secret Invoices of Max Gitter and Theodore Katz
16 July 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Judge Kaplan has socked impoverished indigenous groups in Ecuador with the exorbitant and secret bills of two "Special Masters" he appointed to oversee depositions in the case.     Read more...

Chevron Granted Access to Environmental Activists' Email Accounts

Is oil giant Chevron trying to stifle criticism of its Ecuadorian oil drilling operations by accessing private email accounts of critics?
15 July 2013 | The Guardian

Oil giant Chevron has been granted access to "more than 100 email accounts, including environmental activists, journalists, and attorneys" involved in a long-running dispute involving damage "caused by oil drilling" in Ecuador.     Read more...

Judge Approves Chevron Subpoena of Private Internet Info

11 July 2013 | Democracy Now!

A federal judge has approved a request by the oil giant Chevron to subpoena the personal Internet information of more than 100 people, including environmental activists, journalists and lawyers.     Read more...

In "Chilling" Ruling, Chevron Granted Access to Activists' Private Internet Data

"Sweeping" subpoena violates rights of those who spoke out against oil giant's devastating actions in Ecuador
11 July 2013 | Common Dreams

The US government is not the only entity who, with judicial approval, is amassing massive amounts of personal information against their so-called enemies. A federal judge has ruled to allow Chevron to collect the IP usage records and identity information for email accounts owned by over 100 environmental activists, journalists and attorneys.     Read more...

Chevron Shows the NSA How to Spy

A judge's decision that the First Amendment doesn't protect anonymous speech gives the oil company a big win
9 July 2013 | Salon.com

According to a new ruling by a U.S. District Court judge, if you want to be anonymous, you give up your right to have your speech protected by the First Amendment. That's the alarming gist of Judge Lewis Kaplan's decision to give Chevron wide-ranging subpoena powers over the metadata associated with around 100 email accounts.     Read more...

Judge: Chevron Can Access Its Critics' Private User Information

8 July 2013 | EarthRights International

Kaplan’s decision upheld Chevron’s sweeping subpoena with an argument that is as breathtaking as the subpoena itself. According to Judge Kaplan, none of the accountholders could benefit from First Amendment protections since the accountholders had “not shown that they were U.S. citizens.”     Read more...

Chevron Suffers Major Setback in Ecuador Case as Court Freezes $96 Million in Assets

CEO Watson Forced To Testify Under Oath
8 July 2013 | The Chevron Pit

The asset freeze represents a major setback for Chevron, which has refused to pay the Ecuador judgment even though it promised to do so when it fought to move the trial to the South American nation.     Read more...

Chevron Cozies Up with Judge, Censors Blog

8 July 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

In another baldfaced example of bias, Judge Kaplan is letting Chevron maintain "confidential" a series of damning internal videos that prove the company committed a massive fraud in Ecuador by hiding evidence of contamination.     Read more...

Ecuadorian Victims Secure Rights to $96 Million to Compensate Them in Chevron Oil Disaster

2 July 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Quito, Ecuador – The plaintiffs in a successful suit against the giant oil company Chevron for contaminating the land and water supplies of 30,000 residents of Ecuador's Amazon region have secured the right to collect $96 million owed to Chevron in Ecuador.     Read more...

Karmic Justice: Chevron CEO Deposed

28 June 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Twelve years ago Amazon Watch's Atossa Soltani and affected communities in Ecuador urged Chevron not to purchase Texaco. Leading the charge to buy Texaco was John Watson, who is now Chevron's CEO.     Read more...

Appeals Court Asks Judge Kaplan to Defend Bizarre Rulings in Ecuador Pollution Case

26 June 2013 | The Chevron Pit

In a move that has raised eyebrows around the New York bar, the state’s highest federal appellate court last week gave Judge Kaplan 30 days to file papers defending his unprecedented rulings in a “fraud” case Chevron has brought in New York.      Read more...

Ecuadorian Locals Still Seeking Damages from Chevron for Environmental Damage

17 June 2013 | Public Radio International

Despite winning a long court battle, Ecuadorian plaintiffs seeking repayment for environmental destruction have been unable to collect from Chevron, the company the indigenous people and their lawyers blame for the leaked oil contaminating the land and water.     Read more...

Chevron Hides Behind Legal Fiction; Ecuador Fight Far from Over

13 June 2013 | The Huffington Post

Supporters of the heroic 20-year effort to hold Chevron accountable for its indisputable toxic dumping and destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador should not despair over recent court rulings that have slowed the seizing of the oil giant's assets in Argentina and Canada. The fight is far from over.     Read more...

Nobel Laureate Human Rights Leader Denounces Court Decision Favoring Chevron in Argentina

10 June 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Argentina's Nobel Prize-winning human rights figure Adolfo Pérez Esquivel today accused that country's Supreme Court of betraying the interests of Argentine and other Latin Americans last week with its decision freeing the global oil company Chevron from an embargo aimed at compensating victims of oil and chemical spills in the Amazon region of Ecuador.     Read more...

Recent Decisions on the $19b Ecuador Judgment Do Little to Decrease Chevron's Enormous Risk

For indigenous and farmer communities, the fight continues
6 June 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Supporters of the heroic two-decade effort to hold Chevron accountable for its indisputable toxic dumping and destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador should not despair over recent court rulings that have slowed the seizing of the oil giant’s assets in Argentina and Canada.     Read more...

Reaction of Ecuadorian Plaintiffs in Chevron Case to Ruling in Argentina

5 June 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

We have had a temporary setback in Argentina. Their Supreme Court ruled last night, in essence, that the embargo there was premature because the subsidiaries of Chevron in Argentina were not heard in the action in Ecuador that held that the subsidiaries were subject to the embargo, and thus were denied due process.      Read more...

Federal Judge Asked to Stay Case over $19b Ecuador Judgment

4 June 2013 | Donziger and Associates

New York, NY – A New York federal judge long accused of bias against Ecuadorian rainforest residents over a $19B pollution case is continuing to allow Chevron to "systematically harass" two victims of its toxic pollution and their long-time New York lawyer.     Read more...

Federal Judge Asked To Stay Case Over $19 Billion Ecuador Judgment

4 June 2013 | The Chevron Pit

A New York federal judge long accused of bias against Ecuadorian rainforest residents over a $19B pollution case is continuing to allow Chevron to "systematically harass" two victims of its toxic pollution and their long-time New York lawyer.     Read more...

Accompanying Servio to Chevron's "Alternate Reality"

3 June 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

I can't think of a better term to describe the world that the Chevron board and CEO are living in than "alternate reality." It certainly must seem that way to Servio Curipoma, who traveled from the Ecuadorian Amazon to confront them.     Read more...

Investors Square Off with Chevron CEO at Shareowner Meeting

Shareowner advocate Simon Billenness cites the company's $19 billion legal quagmire in Ecuador in requesting a lower threshold for calling special meetings while Atossa Soltani of Amazon Watch is ejected from meeting at request of CEO John Watson
1 June 2013 | SocialFunds.com

Much against the wishes of corporate management, Chevron's annual general meetings of recent years have prominently featured shareowner resolutions and demonstrations by activists addressing the $19 billion judgment against the company for environmental destruction in Ecuador.     Read more...

Forget WallyWorld, at Chevron They Live in WatsonWorld

31 May 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

While hundreds protested outside the 2013 Chevron Annual Shareholder Meeting holding the largest "pink slip" you've even seen, Chevron CEO John Watson once again demonstrated that he is largely divorced from reality when it comes to the company's $19B liability in Ecuador and its other environmental problems.     Read more...

Ecuadorians Take Case Against Chevron to United Nations

A day after sounding the alarm at Chevron’s shareholder meeting, victims of oil company’s bad faith ask for global action
30 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Geneva, Switzerland – Fresh from a day of confronting Chevron's CEO and board at their annual shareholders' meeting in San Ramon, CA, tomorrow representatives of Ecuador's community that won a $19 billion judgment against the U.S. oil company take their case to the United Nations.     Read more...

Chevron CEO Faces Down Critics

At shareholders meeting, CEO defends company's handling of pollution suit
30 May 2013 | San Francisco Chronicle

When an Ecuadoran farmer said oil-field contamination killed his parents, Watson told the man that he had been misled by lawyers eager to make money at Chevron's expense. When the head of an environmental group questioned Watson's own actions in the case and kept speaking past her allotted time, Watson had her ejected from the room.     Read more...

Investors and Activists Contest Chevron's Actions at Annual Shareholder Meeting

Group calls on Chevron to refrain from political spending and address environmental and human rights violations
29 May 2013 | True Cost of Chevron Network

San Ramon, CA – Chevron shareholders and a coalition of activist groups held a protest outside Chevron's annual shareholder meeting today to call on the company to refrain from political spending, its contribution to the growing threat of climate change, and its human rights abuses in South America.     Read more...

Chevron Touts Strong Year, Skeptics Question Company's Environmental Record

29 May 2013 | Contra Costa Times

San Ramon, CA – During a contentious annual meeting in San Ramon on Wednesday, Chevron executives touted the company's $26 billion in annual profits and robust production efforts, but skeptics peppered management with pointed questions about company's environmental practices.     Read more...

Chevron Rejects Shareholder Demands to Explain Record Political Spending

29 May 2013 | IPS

Washington, DC – At an annual shareholder meeting held Wednesday, upper-level management for the oil conglomerate Chevron faced renewed questioning over its record-setting political contributions during last year's national election.     Read more...

Chevron Foes Target CEO Watson

29 May 2013 | SFGate

Critics often crash Chevron's annual shareholders meeting to demand that America's second-largest oil company change its ways. This year, they're also demanding that Chevron change its management.     Read more...

$19 Billion Ecuadorian Lawsuit Dominates Chevron AGM

Communities and stakeholders unite to demand CEO Watson resign
29 May 2013 | Amazon Watch

San Ramon, CA – At the company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders today, Chevron CEO John Watson personally came under fire for his mishandling of the massive $19 billion environmental disaster in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Years after the landmark legal victory against Chevron in an Ecuadorian court, the Ecuadorian Amazon remains destroyed as the company continues to challenge the verdict and evade justice.      Read more...

Activist Shareholders Want Chevron CEO Watson Fired

28 May 2013 | Forbes

A day before Chevron's shareholder meeting in San Ramon, CA, environmental groups and and activists gathered for a conference call in Oakland to demand the firing of John Watson, the company's chief executive.     Read more...

$19B Ecuador Liability Puts Chevron CEO on Hot Seat at Annual Meeting Tomorrow

28 May 2013 | Amazon Watch

Oakland, CA – Facing growing unrest from shareholders and environmental activists and forced to testify about his own role in the $19 billion Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson will be under enormous pressure tomorrow at the company's annual meeting where rainforest indigenous villagers and their investor allies plan to confront him over his company's toxic dumping in the Amazon.     Read more...

Shareholders and Activists Call on Chevron to Refrain from Political Spending and Oust CEO John Watson at Annual Meeting

24 May 2013 | Amazon Watch, Public Citizen

Oakland, CA – Chevron shareholders and a coalition of activist groups will hold a press briefing on Tuesday, May 28, the day before the annual Chevron shareholder meeting, to demand that the company refrain from all election-related spending. Groups will also protest Chevron's inaction on the growing threat of climate change and environmental violations. Amazon Watch will be calling on the company to fire CEO John Watson for his failure to address human rights abuses.     Read more...

Chevron Investors Ask SEC to Investigate CVX for Lying to Shareholders about $19B Ecuador Judgment

23 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Fourteen shareholder groups petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission today to investigate lies and sins of omission to shareholders about the severity of the $19 billion judgment against the company for destruction of the environment and public health in Lago Agrio, Ecuador. The groups say Chevron is misleading investors about what the judgment could mean for Chevron's financial future.     Read more...

Servio Returns to Hand Watson a Pink Slip

20 May 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Two years ago Ecuadorian farmer Servio Curipoma left his rainforest home and traveled thousands of miles to bring his story to the US. This month he returns to demand that John Watson resign from his dirty post as CEO of Chevron.     Read more...

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Allowing Chevron to Use Secret Witnesses Against Ecuadorians and Donziger

Decision Compared to "Spanish Inquisition" and "Star Chamber"
17 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Judge Kaplan is now routinely entertaining Chevron motions to deny the Ecuadorians and Donziger the right to know the identities of witnesses the oil giant plans to use against them.     Read more...

Million Dollar Fee Denounced for Chevron Mediator Against Ecuador

15 May 2013 | Prensa Latina

Quito, Ecuador – The mediator that presided over the case against Chevron-Texaco in Ecuador charged nearly a million dollars in fees, reported the Andes agency today, citing the Cecilia Olivet report, "When Injustice is a Business."     Read more...

Chevron Loses Fight to Keep CEO off the Stand

Watson must testify about Chevron's bribery and environmental destruction in Ecuador
15 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Today Judge Lewis Kaplan refused Chevron's motion to quash the deposition of its CEO, John Watson, reaffirming the ruling made by magistrate James Francis last week. Kaplan's decision ensures that Watson, who perhaps more than anyone knew about the grim history of deliberate and negligent dumping of oil and toxic chemicals by his company into the soil and streams of Ecuador's Amazon region, will not escape his day in court.     Read more...

In the Dark

Chevron's Misrepresentations in Public Filings Regarding Its $19.04 Billion Environmental Liability in Ecuador
May 2013

Chevron is currently in default of a $19 billion civil judgment over environmental contamination left in Ecuador when it operated there under the Texaco brand from 1964 to 1992. Chevron's refusal to comply with its court-ordered legal obligation in Ecuador forced the plaintiffs in 2012 to file enforcement actions targeting approximately $20 billion in Chevron assets located in Canada, Brazil and Argentina. Rather than disclose the risks faced by Chevron due to its default, CEO John Watson and his senior management have chosen to keep their shareholders and the financial markets in the dark by misrepresenting basic facts in its public disclosures.     Read more...

In Rare Occurrence, Chevron's CEO & Chair, John Watson, Will Be Deposed

14 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Stop the presses! Even though he has characterized every aspect of Ecuador – its people, culture, government and courts – as corrupt, dysfunctional or a joke, U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan finally ruled in favor of a motion filed by a group of Ecuadorians and their U.S. legal adviser. The Ecuadorians may depose the oil giant's CEO and Chair, John Watson.      Read more...

Chevron CEO Watson Misleading Shareholders Over $19B Ecuador Liability, Says New Report

14 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Chevron's CEO John Watson and his management team are misleading shareholders over the company's $19 billion Ecuador judgment and potentially breaching U.S. securities laws, according to a new report published today.     Read more...

$19B Ecuador Liability Puts Chevron CEO Watson on Hot Seat Before Annual Meeting

14 May 2013 | Amazon Watch

Oakland, CA – Facing growing shareholder unrest over asset seizure actions and forced to testify about his alleged misconduct in the $19 billon Ecuador case, Chevron CEO John Watson again will be on the hot seat at the company's annual meeting in late May where rainforest indigenous villagers and investors plan to confront him over his company's toxic dumping in the Amazon.     Read more...

David v. Goliath: A Scorecard

May 2013

As Chevron's armies of lawyers bully and maneuver in New York's Southern District, it is easy to forget that the fraud case brought there by Chevron is just a sideshow. The real action that likely will bring Chevron to the bargaining table or to finally paying the full judgment from the courts of Ecuador is going on around the world.     Read more...

NBC Nightly News Airs Segment on Indigenous Peoples' Fight in Ecuador

9 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

NBC Nightly News' Ann Curry recently returned from Ecuador with this account of how impoverished indigenous groups in the Amazon rainforest are preparing to fight – literally and metaphorically – their government's efforts to explore for oil on their native, pristine lands.     Read more...

2,000 Lawyers Failed to Block Chevron CEO John Watson from Court Deposition on Ecuador Case

8 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

After spending hundreds of millions of dollars for 2,000 lawyers and legal assistants to fight a group of impoverished Ecuadorian indigenous people in a historic oil contamination lawsuit, Chevron's CEO and Chairman of the Board John Watson will finally have to answer questions under oath about the environmental crimes committed by an oil company he recommended Chevron purchase.      Read more...

Judge Orders Chevron CEO to Answer Questions about Company's Bribery and Toxic Destruction in Ecuador's Amazon

Kroll official also must answer questions about Chevron bribery
7 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Chevron CEO John S. Watson, who perhaps more than anyone knew about the grim history of deliberate and negligent dumping of oil and toxic chemicals by his company into the soil and streams of Ecuador's Amazon region, will not escape his day in court.     Read more...

Chevron CEO Can't Avoid Questioning in Ecuador Fraud Case

7 May 2013 | Bloomberg

Chevron lost a bid to stop Chief Executive Officer John Watson from being questioned by the attorney the company is suing over claims he committed fraud to win a $19 billion verdict in a pollution case in Ecuador.     Read more...

U.S. Judge Kaplan "Open to Fair Criticism" For Driving Up Ecuadorians' Court Costs

6 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Lawyer blogger Ted Folkman of the law firm Murphy & King had three interesting observations in his latest blog about the motion by Steven Donziger's lawyer and the Ecuadorians' lawyers to withdraw from their defense in Chevron's U.S. effort to block enforcement of the $19 billion Ecuador judgment against the oil giant for massive oil contamination.     Read more...

Statement of Steven Donziger Regarding Withdrawal of Counsel from Ecuador Case

6 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

"The historic judgment won by Ecuadorian rainforest communities against Chevron is not about me – nor is it about the United States. As Chevron itself recognized two decades ago when it demanded that the trial be heard in Ecuador, the litigation is about contamination in Ecuador, the suffering of the indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador, and it is now about a judgment rendered against Chevron in Ecuador that has been affirmed on appeal in Ecuador."     Read more...

Confronting Bribery and Bullying by Oil Company and Hostility of Judge, Lawyers Seek Withdrawal from New York Case

Chevron can afford to litigate until hell freezes over, but impoverished plaintiffs refuse to play along.
3 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Denouncing Chevron's use of bullying, bribery and its overwhelming financial power to crush defendants in a hostile courtroom, attorneys Craig Smyser and John Keker filed motions Friday afternoon to withdraw as counsel in the Southern District of New York case brought by Chevron against the participants in the successful $19 billion environmental contamination verdict obtained in Ecuador in 2011.     Read more...

Ecuadorian Plaintiffs Vow to Pursue Justice Following Canadian Court Ruling as Chevron Fights to Avoid $19 Billion Judgment

Legitimacy of Ecuadorian Judgment Not Affected
1 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

A provincial judge in Canada today ruled that although there was appropriate jurisdiction there for a suit to attach Chevron's assets in Canada to satisfy a $19 billion court judgment against the oil giant in Ecuador, he would stay the case because it was unclear that Chevron's had assets there that could be attached.     Read more...

Dumb Chevron Lawyer Tapes Himself Offering a Bribe in Ecuador

1 May 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron apparently got caught with its hand in the cookie jar again in its long-running campaign to weasel out of its $19 billion legal obligation in Ecuador. Only this time the company tripped all over itself, producing a tape in federal court made by company lawyer Andres Rivero that can only be described as staggering in its stupidity.     Read more...

Chevron Offered Suitcase Full of Cash to Former Ecuador Judge Guerra in Exchange for Testimony

1 May 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York – An American lawyer working for Chevron brought a suitcase full of cash to a meeting with a former Ecuador judge to coax favorable testimony to help the oil giant evade its $19 billion Ecuador judgment.     Read more...

Maria Aguinda's 20-Year Fight for Justice Continues as Chevron Refuses to Pay $19 Billion Judgment from Ecuador’s Courts

26 April 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Cambridge, MA – The 20-year fight by residents of Ecuador's Amazonian rain forest to make Chevron pay to clean up the contamination and polluted streams it left behind has made civil society stronger and Ecuador's courts better prepared to deal with similar cases in the future.     Read more...

On Oil Disasters: BP Took Responsibility; Chevron Hired Lawyers To Escape Justice

24 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

When I read the affidavit of my friend Douglas Beltman – who has been one of the scientists who spoke out against Chevron’s deliberate toxic dumping in Ecuador’s Amazon – I knew his testimony about the pollution and its impact had been coerced by Chevron.     Read more...

The Ugly Truth Behind the Burford-Chevron Settlement

23 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

It is becoming increasingly clear that Chevron’s so-called “settlement” with Burford Capital is beset by serious ethical problems. Just like the Stratus “settlement” that preceded it, this latest gambit by the oil giant will not diminish in the least its growing risk from the $19 billion adverse judgment.     Read more...

Note to Chevron: Your Trial Lawyers at Gibson Dunn Need Some Serious Help

23 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

It is becoming increasingly clear that Chevron's high-priced legal team in the $19 billion Ecuador case lacks basic trial skills. They looked like what they are: corporate lawyers representing a big oil company trying to crush its indigenous victims and their lawyers.     Read more...

Harvard University Hosts Representatives of Ecuadorians with $19 Billion Judgment Against Chevron

22 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Harvard University's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy is hosting representatives of the Ecuadorian indigenous groups who sued for and won a $19 billion judgment in Ecuador against Chevron for massive oil contamination.     Read more...

WikiLeaks Shows Nascent Oil Woes in Ecuador

17 April 2013 | Courthouse News

New York, NY – Long before Chevron's two-decade litigation over oil pits in the Amazon, its predecessor Texaco fretted with U.S. diplomats over frequent pipeline ruptures, bad press and tumultuous politics in Ecuador, WikiLeaks cables show.     Read more...

The Truth Behind the Stratus Affidavits

Scientific Evidence Against Oil Giant Remains Overwhelming
17 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

The Stratus affidavits did not change anything for Chevron's perilous legal position in the Ecuador environmental case where it faces a $19 billion liability, as well as asset seizure actions in Canada, Brazil, and Argentina.     Read more...

U.S. Appeals Court To Hear Request To Remove Biased Judge In Ecuador Case

12 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals – the same court that stopped cold Chevron's effort to block enforcement of the $19 billion Ecuador judgment in 2012 – has agreed to hear arguments by the Ecuadorians on why U.S. trial court judge Lewis A. Kaplan is continuing to engage in acts of insubordination from the bench.     Read more...

In Chevron Case, Stratus' Truth-Telling Loses Out to Oil Company Money

12 April 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

The decision by the environmental consulting firm Stratus to settle its legal dispute with Chevron and to criticize lawyers for the affected people in Ecuador represents a triumph of money and power over justice.     Read more...

Chevron Faces New 2nd Circuit Showdown

10 April 2013 | Courthouse News

New York, NY – The 2nd Circuit fast-tracked arguments for May in Chevron's battle against a $19 billion judgment it faces for oil contamination in Ecuador.     Read more...

More Revelations About Chevron's Paid Witness & Its Miami Lawyer, Andres Rivero

6 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron not only is lying to a U.S. court about what happened in the historic Ecuadorian trial that the oil giant lost, it also offered a $1 million bribe to turn evidence against the Ecuadorians and their lawyers, testified an Ecuador judge in a legal declaration filed yesterday in the Southern District Court of New York.     Read more...

We Beat Chevron, but the Fight for Real Justice Continues

5 April 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

At one point or another every social justice activist wakes up wondering if we stand a chance against the massive forces acting against us. This week, my faith in justice was given a boost when we won a major victory against Chevron.     Read more...

Ecuador Judge Rejects Bribe Claims Against Him in Chevron Case

5 April 2013 | Reuters

Zambrano denied the allegation in his own affidavit, filed in the same New York federal court for a fraud case being brought by Chevron. He also claimed in the affidavit that Guerra had told him that the U.S. oil company would offer Zambrano $1 million in exchange for a "statement in favor of Chevron."     Read more...

Victory! Judge Thwarts Chevron's Attempt to Open Amazon Watch's Confidential Files

4 April 2013 | EarthRights International

Yesterday, in a major victory for our friends at Amazon Watch and ERI’s legal team, a Federal Judge in California quashed two sweeping subpoenas issued to AW by Chevron. ERI, serving as AW’s lawyers, successfully argued that the subpoenas violated Amazon Watch’s First Amendment rights and were unduly burdensome and intended to harass one of Chevron’s public critics.     Read more...

Take That Chevron: There's A First Amendment After All

4 April 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron took a severe punch yesterday in its home state of California when a judge there ruled to ditch the oil giant's subpoena against an environmental group that has been highly critical of the company concerning its massive contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest.     Read more...

Chevron Can't Force Ecuador Advocacy Group To Reveal Docs

4 April 2013 | Law360

San Francisco, CA – A California federal judge on Wednesday rejected Chevron's bid to compel advocacy group Amazon Watch to turn over thousands of documents in connection with the company's New York racketeering suit over a $19.2 billion Ecuadorean pollution judgment.     Read more...

Judge Rejects Chevron Subpoena of Advocacy Group in Ecuador Case

3 April 2013 | Reuters

San Francisco, CA – A U.S. judge has rejected efforts by Chevron Corp to secure documents from a California environmental advocacy group in a fraud case related to a $19 billion award for rainforest pollution in Ecuador.     Read more...

Chevron Can Solve Its Argentina Problem: Pay the Judgment

28 March 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron's head of operations in Argentina has complained to the Ecuadorians, who recently won a $19 billion judgment against the company for massive oil contamination, that future exploration and drilling is threatened in Argentina because of a local court's decision to freeze its assets.     Read more...

Third Chevron Spill In Utah Bigger Than Thought – Why Are We Not Surprised

27 March 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron always downplays the impact of its drilling and exploration practices on the environment and human health. One expert, John Connor, has even testified that he has never found any evidence that Chevron's drilling has harmed anyone or anything EVER.      Read more...

More Chevron Spies & Lies

20 March 2013 | The Chevron Pit

This is the stuff of spy novels and would be hard to believe if it all hadn't been so well-documented. Karen Hinton offers up a compilation of some of the dirty tricks played by Chevron's private investigative firms that have been hired to discredit the $19 billion judgment against the company for oil contamination.     Read more...

SEC Tries to Silence Chevron Shareholders

18 March 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Not surprisingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission has rubber stamped Chevron's request to remove a shareholder resolution from consideration at its annual shareholders meeting that would have stripped John Watson of his Chairman's title and responsibilities.     Read more...

Feds Side with Chevron vs. Activist Shareholders

18 March 2013 | San Francisco Chronicle

"This decision prevents a free debate among Chevron shareholders over whether the board should exercise proper oversight of management and its strategy in the Ecuador case," said Simon Billenness.     Read more...

U.S. Oil Company Spies on Latin American Country to Escape Multi-Billion Court Judgment

14 March 2013 | The Huffington Post

The Chevron Corporation has spied – and perhaps is still spying – on the Republic of Ecuador, fueling a fierce battle between the oil giant and President Rafael Correa, who is calling on other South American countries to hold Chevron accountable for the world's largest oil-related disaster in the Ecuadorian rainforest.     Read more...

Shareholder Group Gets SEC Approval for Governance Proposal at Chevron

Motion gets onto ballot amid "campaign of shareholder intimidation"
14 March 2013 | Responsible Investor

The investors are seeking a way to voice their concerns about the company's controversial Ecuador litigation – and what they call its current "campaign of shareholder intimidation."     Read more...

Chevron Boxes Itself in with SEC Move

13 March 2013 | The Chevron Pit

Chevron's decision to ask the SEC to allow it to dropkick shareholder resolutions calling for the duties of Chairman and CEO to be split – essentially demoting current Chair and CEO John Watson – has boxed the oil giant into a public relations defeat.     Read more...

Chevron Battles Activist Shareholders

12 March 2013 | San Francisco Chronicle

"I've never had a case of a company playing such hardball tactics against its own shareholders this way," said Simon Billenness. "The feeling among institutional shareholders is we really have to draw a line in the sand here, because we can't have companies using these tactics against shareholders in the future."     Read more...

Ecuador Plans to Audit Bilateral Investment Treaties

11 March 2013 | Dow Jones Newswires

Quito, Ecuador – Ecuador plans to establish a commission to audit bilateral investment treaties and the international system for investment arbitration, President Rafael Correa said over the weekend, after harshly criticizing Chevron and Occidental Petroleum. Both U.S oil companies have arbitration procedures underway against the Andean country.     Read more...

Ecuadoreans Want Judge Kaplan off of $19B Chevron Dispute

6 March 2013 | Law360

Ecuadorean plaintiffs seeking to enforce a $19.2 billion pollution judgment against Chevron Corp. petitioned the Second Circuit on Tuesday, seeking to remove New York district Judge Lewis Kaplan from the case and accusing the court of systematically evading the appellate court's prior ruling.     Read more...

Chevron’s Kangaroo Court: Citizens United on Steroids

4 March 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

President Correa is no stranger to hyperbole, but in this he is right on the mark: "It's the end of sovereignty, the end of our independence; we have become colonies with these rulings from international courts."     Read more...

Ecuador/Chevron Dispute Enters a New Chapter: Correa Calls for Latam Support

26 February 2013 | MercoPress

President Rafael Correa said he expects the regional groupings Alba and Unasur to meet urgently and address the "legal aberration" committed by a UN trade law arbitrage tribunal against Ecuador in a case involving US multinational Chevron and decades of environmental damages.     Read more...

Ecuadorian Plaintiffs Say Chevron Withdrawing "Sham" Litigation Claim; Company Denies Move

20 February 2013 | Legal Newsline

New York, NY – Pointing to a federal court filing last month, the Ecuadorian plaintiffs suing Chevron contend the oil giant is withdrawing its claim that an $18 billion-plus judgment against it was the result of "sham" and "objectively baseless" litigation.     Read more...

In Shift, Chevron Drops Key Legal Claim and Now Concedes Pollution Does Exist In Ecuador

19 February 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – In a significant tactical retreat that likely will hurt its efforts to resist international enforcement actions, Chevron has told a New York judge that it is withdrawing its claim that the $19 billion Ecuador judgment was the result of "sham" and "objectively baseless" litigation and is in effect conceding that there is evidence that the company caused pollution in the country.     Read more...

Chevron's Goose to Face a Gander by Ecuador

19 February 2013 | Courthouse News Service

Evidence that Chevron used to avert responsibility for oil contamination in the Amazon may also serve to support the $19 billion verdict, the 5th Circuit ruled.     Read more...

U.S. Federal Appeals Court Deals Chevron Another Setback in $19 Billion Ecuador Case

15 February 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New Orleans, LA – A U.S. federal appellate court dealt Chevron another setback in its $19 billion Ecuador case by ordering the oil giant to turn over key discovery documents relating to an American technical expert accused by the plaintiffs of committing fraud on the Ecuador court.     Read more...

Chevron Hit by Argentine Legal Quagmire

13 February 2013 | The Financial Times

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Chevron's investment in Argentina has become bogged down in a morass of legal challenges. Many of its assets in Argentina have been frozen as a result of an action by Amazonian villagers pursuing $19bn in damages for pollution in Ecuador more than two decades ago.     Read more...

Three U.S. Citizens Exposed As Part of Chevron Espionage Ring In Ecuador, Say Reports

11 February 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Quito, Ecuador – In a front-page expose, a leading newspaper in Ecuador has published the names of three U.S. citizens accused of carrying out a corporate espionage campaign for Chevron and its lead U.S. law firm that is designed to intimidate judges and subvert the $19 billion environmental judgment against the company.     Read more...

Kangaroo Court Favors Chevron. Surprise, Surprise!

11 February 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

Chevron has found an obscure private arbitration panel, acting under the mantle of the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty, in an attempt to circumvent justice in Ecuador and threaten that country into interfering in the Lago Agrio case.     Read more...

Chevron Petitions SEC to Omit Enquiry on Shareholder Subpoenas from AGM Ballot

Firm seeks to block attempt to find out why it has started legal action against investors
8 February 2013 | Responsible Investor

US oil giant Chevron has written to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asking it to exclude a resolution from its annual general meeting (AGM) that seeks to find out why it is pressuring investors to reveal correspondence about its legal trouble with Ecuador.     Read more...

Chevron CEO Watson Again Keeps Analysts & Shareholders in the Dark Over $19 Billion Ecuador Liability

2 February 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

San Ramon, CA. – Chevron CEO John Watson continued his well-established pattern of misleading securities analysts and investors with a series of obfuscations and omissions when pressed on the "global theatre of operations" threatening the oil giant from its $19 billion Ecuador judgment during the company's 4th quarter earnings call.     Read more...

Chevron's New Ecuador Witness Linked to Drug Traffickers and Bribery Attempt

30 January 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Chevron's latest paid witness in the historic $19 billion Ecuador environmental case, disgraced former judge Alberto Guerra, has a long history of corruption and was dismissed from the bench in 2008 for his ties to drug traffickers.     Read more...

Chevron Loses Environment Case Appeal

30 January 2013 | The Financial Times

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Chevron has lost its appeal in Argentina against asset freezes to enforce an Ecuadorean judgment for the oil major to pay record $19bn damages for environmental pollution and must spell out the impact in its results statement on February 1 or risk violating SEC rules.     Read more...

Argentine Court Upholds Freeze on Chevron Assets

30 January 2013 | Reuters

Buenos Aires, Argentina – An Argentine appeals court has upheld a freeze on up to $19 billion worth of assets held by U.S. oil major Chevron Corp in Argentina as part of an environmental lawsuit by Ecuadorean villagers.     Read more...

Chevron Paying at Least $326,000 Bribe to Ecuadorian Judge for False Testimony

28 January 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – In press statements, Chevron has admitted it will pay at least $326,000 to a former disgraced Ecuador judge for false testimony designed to help the oil giant evade a $19 billion judgment against the company for the world's worst oil contamination.     Read more...

Takin' It to the Richmond Streets

23 January 2013 | Eye on the Amazon

We're thrilled to welcome Adam Zuckerman to our team as our Environmental and Human Rights Campaigner. Adam blew us away when he rapped about Chevron's nasty legacy during his final hiring interview, and it's just so good we thought we'd share it with you.     Read more...

Chevron Offering Bribes to Ecuadorian Judges, Investigation Reveals

21 January 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

Quito, Ecuador – New evidence suggests that Chevron CEO John Watson has resorted to authorizing the offering of lucrative benefits packages to former Ecuadorian judges in return for false testimony designed to undermine the environmental trial that led to a $19 billion verdict against the company.     Read more...

Villagers Accuse U.S. Judge of Bias in $19 Billion Ecuador Lawsuit

17 January 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – U.S. federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan is again denying due process and improperly acting as "the world's judicial police" to help Chevron try to block a $19 billion environmental judgment in Ecuador, says a new analysis by representatives of the Ecuadorians.     Read more...

Telling The Truth About Chevron in Ecuador

16 January 2013 | The Chevron Pit

It's no conspiracy, says Paul Paz y Miño of Amazon Watch in his blog about the subpoena Chevron served on Amazon Watch, one of the most effective environmental advocacy organizations in the country. It's truth telling, and, last time we checked, that wasn't against the law.     Read more...

Chevron Deceiving SEC and Shareholders Over $19 Billion Ecuador Liability, Says New Report

14 January 2013 | Amazon Defense Coalition

New York, NY – Chevron's CEO John Watson and his management team are continuing to publish false and materially misleading information to government regulators and shareholders regarding the enormous risks posed by the company’s failure to pay a $19 billion environmental damages judgment in Ecuador.     Read more...

For U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan, The Show Trial Must Go On

12 January 2013 | The Chevron Pit

For a real stinker in the federal judiciary, look no further than how New York federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan is desperately trying to protect Chevron from having to pay its $19 billion environmental liability in Ecuador. Once again, Kaplan is trying to act as the world's judicial police from his Manhattan courtroom.

     Read more...