Brazil Next Victim of Chevron’s Irresponsible Behavior

Chevron’s recent oil spill in Latin America has made Brazil the company’s most recent victim of environmental damage and contamination due to their irresponsible behavior.  Much like the situation in Ecuador, Chevron had been attempting to evade any fines  by trying to convince the Brazilian government that the oil spill that occurred at one of the Chevron’s undersea wells on November 7th was significantly smaller what investigations are proving. Visit Chevron Pit for more details

Same As It Ever Was

Exxon in 1989, BP 2010 and for the last 18 years, Chevron. Each of these companies knowingly followed a reckless protocol of profit over people.

Consequences be damned. They don't change safety standards; they aren't interested in kneeling before Justice and making reparations. Nope, they lawyer up and launch a PR campaign that would make even Quadaffi seem a candidate for sainthood.

And so it goes with Chevron. Chevron has repeatedly refused to disclose important legal documents related to a video scam. The oil giant tried but failed to bribe an Ecuadorian court on videotape (secretly recorded) to derail a trial that produced an $18 billion judgment against the company for contamination the likes of which we have never seen anywhere else.

Meanwhile, they launch these epic ad campaigns declaring their "commitment to the environment and improving the quality of lives around the world". I'm serious, just check out their website if you've somehow been lucky enough to escape the nonstop television, radio and print ads.

So, while us folks at home are being swooned by a multi-million dollar sermon on the goodness of Chevron, the Ecuadorians are fighting for their lives. Check out this Chevron Pit blog, too.

Chevron Trying To Hide Its Illegal Shenanigans Once Again

Chevron’s lawyers are fighting feverishly to withhold the documents that might prove Chevron’s continuous obstruction of law during the Ecuadorian pollution lawsuit. I learned from this press release that Chevron's lawyers are withholding 700 documents related to the 2009 bribery scheme and are refusing to release them, despite a court order to do. The Ecuadorians are fighting for the release of the documents in order to prove Chevron’s illegal attempts to derail the trial. Interestingly, last month, during proceedings in the San Francisco court, the lawyer who is representing Chevron’s dirty trick operative Diego Borja, admitted that Borja could be facing criminal charges in U.S. for his involvement in Chevron’s illegal operations. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Chevron’s Unethical Lobbying of Ecuador Government Revealed in Wikileaks Cables

Just days after Second Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved (link to yesterdays post) the injunction prohibiting the enforcement of multibillion judgment against Chevron; Wikileaks cables written by U.S officials exposed another attempt by the oil giant to illegally end the pollution lawsuit.

Wikileaks documents show that Chevron tried to manipulate Ecuadorian government to interfere with the lawsuit, knowing that such intervention is forbidden by the Ecuadorian Constitution and would be illegal.

Read Amazon Defense Coalition Press Release or Chevron Pit

Judge Kaplan’s Absurd Decisions

It seems like Judge Kaplan is confused over what his role in the Chevron trial is. Looking at his behavior, comments and rulings, you’d think he is representing Chevron. He is supposed to be impartial and make a fair decision whether the multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron is enforceable or not. And most importantly, he is supposed to listen to everyone’s arguments. Instead, he decided to exclude the Ecuadorians’ lead lawyer Steven Donziger from the trial. Even though Donziger has been a key person in the historic pollution case for over 18 years, he is not allowed to be in the courtroom as crucial decisions are being made about his case.

Read more here and here

Judge Kaplan's Unacceptable Behavior

I wrote about Judge Lewis Kaplan a while ago. Chevron filed a lawsuit against Ecuadorians in an effort to block the enforcement of the $18 billion judgement that was awarded to them and Judge Kaplan is presiding over it. He is biased. He keeps making inappropriate comments towards the Ecuadorians referring to them as “so-called Lago Agrio plaintiffs” and "a number of indigenous peoples said to reside in the Amazon rainforest." and according to him the Ecuadorian lawsuit-one of the biggest environmental lawsuits ever, is just a "game" brought about by the "imagination of American lawyers" trying to solve the "balance of payments" problem of the United States. This is absolutely unacceptable!

Chevron back to its old tricks.

In 2009, a few days before 60 Minutes program about Chevron's contamination in Ecuador was scheduled to air, Chevron released a video featuring CNN's Gene Randall. The video was purposely designed to fool the viewers into thinking that it was a real news broadcast. Last year Chevron tried to pay an American freelance journalist to spy on the Ecuadorian plaintiffs. Now, Alex Thorne- pro-Chevron blogger is pretending to be working on an article and reaching out to Amazon Watch donors asking them to reconsider their support for Amazon Watch. As Chevron Pit points out, this is Chevron's another attempt to use fake journalism to undermine the pollution lawsuit.