Chevron, who through a coup controlled the Ecuadorian government for many years, got the government to sign a law called “The Act of Liberation”, which, although very much contradicting the name, made it impossible for anyone (especially indigenous people) to sue the oil company.

They made it illegal to be sued.

(due to being rightfully questioned about my, and the video's, source on this, I've done some of my own source checking and found this exact court document, for anyone curious)

Erik Uden 🍑

2024-10-20 09:04:12

@dev_nadine This is the specific source the video used to cite the so-called “Act of Liberation”

truthout.org/articles/ecuador-…

In the specific statement about the Act of Liberation it cites a now defunct webpage as a source.

The reason the webpage is defunct is not because the article is offline, but because the redirection to the article is offline. Using the Internet Archive I have found that it originally forwarded to this - still online - link:

therealnews.com/stories/empire…

This is simply a YouTube video embed inside of a webpage, which is a documentary named “The Empire Files: Chevron vs. the Amazon” which you can watch here:
youtu.be/MssnB31PmZI

Now, the documentary citing this somewhere in its 1.5 hour length is not good enough for me as a source, so I went looking with the keywords the “truthout.org” article used.

It is true that the work was finished by 1998 and the government signed an agreement discharging the company from any other liability, as supported by an article published in The Economist. However, tests undertaken by different parties and organizations, including Chevron’s own, proved that the “remediation” was a fraud

By seeingthewoods.org/2017/05/18/…

The Economist article mentioned can be read for free using the Internet Archive:

web.archive.org/web/2020102303…

The work was done by 1998 and the government signed an agreement releasing Texaco from any further liability. Petroecuador was supposed to clean up the rest of the pits, but didn't do so, partly because it continues to use some of them (including Shushufindi 61).

One site specifically mentions the foreign ministry doing so, here it is simply referred to as “the government” and sadly no further citation given.

In this New York Times Article from 2009 the claim is repeated:

nytimes.com/2009/09/24/busines…

Here it is seen as a statement by Chevron themselves.

This article links to the exact agreement, I think. Although I'm confused as to why it is in English:
theamazonpost.com/ecuador-gove…

The exact PDF document representing the court file:
theamazonpost.com/wp-content/u…
(apparently it's in English and Spanish...)

The exact agreement about liability in the agreement between Texaco and the Ecuadorian government

In accordance with that agreed in the Contract for Implementing of Environmental Remedial Work and Release from Obligations, Liability and Claims, specified above, the Government and PETROECUADOR proceed to release, absolve and discharge TEXPET, Texas Petroleum Company, Compañía Texaco de Petróleos del Ecuador, S.A., Texaco Inc. and all their respective agents, servants, employees, officers, attorneys, indemnitors, guarantors, heirs, administrators, executors, beneficiaries, successors, predecessors, principals and subsidiaries, forever, from any liability and claims by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, PETROECUADOR and its Affiliates, for items related to the obligations assumed by TEXPET in the aforementioned Contract, which has been fully performed by TEXPET, within the framework of that agreed with the Government and PETROECUADOR; for which reasons the parties declare the Contract dated May 4, 1995, and all its supplementary documents, scope, acts, etc., fully performed and concluded.

I guess the important part is:

the Government [...] proceed to release [...] Texaco Inc. and all their respective agents [...] forever, from any liability and claims by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador.

I hope this helps at first!

Ecuador government signed off on Texaco cleanup in 1998 – The Amazon Post

Ecuador government signed off on Texaco cleanup in 1998

^{mkgmarket (The Amazon Post)}

@dev_nadine Not sure what you call recent! To be fair, the event is so recent, I'd call it “ongoing”. But it's been happening since the 2010s where the lawyer began representing the indigenous people.

The video I linked has a bunch of sources in the description! I highly recommend you look into that!

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_D…

insideclimatenews.org/news/181…

Their Lives Were Ruined by Oil Pollution, and a Court Awarded Them $9.5 Billion. But Ecuadorians Have Yet to See a Penny From Chevron - Inside Climate News

Steven Donziger is back in his airy mid-century modern apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, engaged over Zoom on a marketing call with a representative of the online publishing platform Substack.

^{Katelyn Weisbrod (Inside Climate News)}

@dev_nadine This is the specific source the video used to cite the so-called “Act of Liberation”

truthout.org/articles/ecuador-…

In the specific statement about the Act of Liberation it cites a now defunct webpage as a source.

The reason the webpage is defunct is not because the article is offline, but because the redirection to the article is offline. Using the Internet Archive I have found that it originally forwarded to this - still online - link:

therealnews.com/stories/empire…

This is simply a YouTube video embed inside of a webpage, which is a documentary named “The Empire Files: Chevron vs. the Amazon” which you can watch here:
youtu.be/MssnB31PmZI

Now, the documentary citing this somewhere in its 1.5 hour length is not good enough for me as a source, so I went looking with the keywords the “truthout.org” article used.

It is true that the work was finished by 1998 and the government signed an agreement discharging the company from any other liability, as supported by an article published in The Economist. However, tests undertaken by different parties and organizations, including Chevron’s own, proved that the “remediation” was a fraud

By seeingthewoods.org/2017/05/18/…

The Economist article mentioned can be read for free using the Internet Archive:

web.archive.org/web/2020102303…

The work was done by 1998 and the government signed an agreement releasing Texaco from any further liability. Petroecuador was supposed to clean up the rest of the pits, but didn't do so, partly because it continues to use some of them (including Shushufindi 61).

One site specifically mentions the foreign ministry doing so, here it is simply referred to as “the government” and sadly no further citation given.

In this New York Times Article from 2009 the claim is repeated:

nytimes.com/2009/09/24/busines…

Here it is seen as a statement by Chevron themselves.

This article links to the exact agreement, I think. Although I'm confused as to why it is in English:
theamazonpost.com/ecuador-gove…

The exact PDF document representing the court file:
theamazonpost.com/wp-content/u…
(apparently it's in English and Spanish...)

The exact agreement about liability in the agreement between Texaco and the Ecuadorian government

In accordance with that agreed in the Contract for Implementing of Environmental Remedial Work and Release from Obligations, Liability and Claims, specified above, the Government and PETROECUADOR proceed to release, absolve and discharge TEXPET, Texas Petroleum Company, Compañía Texaco de Petróleos del Ecuador, S.A., Texaco Inc. and all their respective agents, servants, employees, officers, attorneys, indemnitors, guarantors, heirs, administrators, executors, beneficiaries, successors, predecessors, principals and subsidiaries, forever, from any liability and claims by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, PETROECUADOR and its Affiliates, for items related to the obligations assumed by TEXPET in the aforementioned Contract, which has been fully performed by TEXPET, within the framework of that agreed with the Government and PETROECUADOR; for which reasons the parties declare the Contract dated May 4, 1995, and all its supplementary documents, scope, acts, etc., fully performed and concluded.

I guess the important part is:

the Government [...] proceed to release [...] Texaco Inc. and all their respective agents [...] forever, from any liability and claims by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador.

I hope this helps at first!