1 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: When we left off last time, it was two thousand 2 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: and three, and the Ecuadorian plaintiffs had just agreed to 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: refile their case against Chevron Texico down in Ecuador. At 4 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: the center of this case were these waste pits, unlined 5 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: pits where Texico would dump toxic wastewater from oil drilling. 6 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: When the case was first filed in nineteen ninety three 7 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: in New York, Texico said it had cleaned up its 8 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: fair share and anything left was Petro Ecuador's mess. The 9 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,959 Speaker 1: plaintiffs said the cleanup was no good and that Texico 10 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: had overseen all operations and should clean it all up, 11 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: that it should be based on who did what, not 12 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: who got what percentage of the profits. Ten years later, 13 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: the arguments hadn't changed, but the defendant had. Chevron's acqui 14 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: position of Texaco was complete in two thousand and one, 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,399 Speaker 1: and it had inherited this case as part of that acquisition. 16 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 2: Today we're going to. 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: Look at what happened next as the trial got underway 18 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: in Ecuador. I want to tell you about one of 19 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: my favorite podcasts. It's called Floodlins from the Atlantic. In 20 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: this year of crisis, it's worth remembering that the country 21 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: has been through a lot of big extreme weather disasters before, 22 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 1: and history often repeats itself. Floodlines is about Hurricane Katrina 23 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: in New Orleans. It follows the lives of four people 24 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: who lived through the flooding and its aftermath, and it 25 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: shows how government failures and misinformation led to tragedies beyond 26 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: what the hurricane caused. Host Van Nukirk shows what we 27 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: can learn today from that disaster fifteen years ago. Listen 28 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: to Floodlines wherever you get your podcasts. A bunch of 29 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: people told us that if we wanted to understand what 30 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: the oil pollution in the Amazon really looked like, we 31 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: had to talk to Donald Moncayo. He was born and 32 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: raised right at the epicenter. 33 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 3: Minore Donald Moncayo, and. 34 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: He was born about two hundred meters from the second 35 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: well Texico drilled in the Amazons in nineteen sixty seven. 36 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: I'm Ammy Westervelt and this is Drilled Season five, La 37 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: Lucha Longa. This is episode three, the Trial. If you 38 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: haven't listened to episodes one and two, go back and 39 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: do that. This is one of those seasons you're going 40 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 1: to have to listen to the episodes in order to 41 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: keep up. 42 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 4: All right. 43 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: American attorney Stephen Donziger would partner up with Ecuadorian attorneys 44 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: who would file the case in the courts there. When 45 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: the case started kicking off in Ecuador in two thousand 46 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: and three, Donald Moncayo was the guy who would lead 47 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: court officials and any visiting press on what the plaintiffs 48 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: called the quote unquote toxic tour, showing them abandoned waste 49 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: pits and pools of oil. People who took that tour 50 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: would have heard him say something like this. 51 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 3: Thing too toxico dosuecos cannot be memento. 52 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: In short, all the toxic waste was released into these 53 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: unlined pits. Also, they put in a curved tube so 54 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: that the pit would not overflow and the oil would 55 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: settle on either side. They called these tubes. 56 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 3: Goose necks yelci and porss estavan dirihidos asia rios law. 57 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: And one of these goose necks were directed towards rivers, lagoons, 58 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: or streams, so all that toxic waste are pumping out 59 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: would disappear into the lagoons, rivers, or streams. 60 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 3: No sotros in la the loriosqui, so those of us 61 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 3: who were at the lower part of the river. 62 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,160 Speaker 1: We had no drinkable water, and still today there's no 63 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:05,600 Speaker 1: drinkable water in the countryside. When Stephen Donzeger had first 64 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: gone to Ecuador in nineteen ninety three to help with 65 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: research for this case, he saw a lot of the 66 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: things that Mancayo talks about, and it was. 67 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 5: Just almost unimaginable the degree of creation the open air 68 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 5: toxic waste pits that have been deliberately galged out of 69 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 5: the jungle. 70 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: Also in nineteen ninety three, the original case was filed 71 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,239 Speaker 1: against Texico in New York. That same year, the US 72 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 1: signed a bilateral investment treaty with Ecuador. These treaties basically 73 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: exist to protect US companies that are doing business in 74 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: other countries and to boost American exports. One important thing 75 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: they provide is access to international arbitration, a separate system 76 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: that allows the parties to circumvent local courts. Marcos Oriana 77 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: is an expert on this system. He teaches law at 78 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: American University and is the EWAN Special Rapporteur on Toxics 79 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: and Human Rights. 80 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 6: The international investment arbitration can be described as a private 81 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 6: system of adjudication that decides on the propriety of governmental measures, 82 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 6: but it lacks the safeguards for accountability and transparency that 83 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 6: characterized constitutional democracies governed by the rule of law. If 84 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,280 Speaker 6: we look back in time. In its origins, and international 85 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 6: investment arbitration came to replace colonial system colonial systems of 86 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 6: extraction of domination. 87 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,480 Speaker 1: In other words, once it was companies rather than countries 88 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: that became the colonizers in the world, they needed a 89 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: new system. 90 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 6: When the former colonies acquired independence in the advent of decolonization, 91 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 6: largely after the Second World War and the advent of 92 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 6: the United Nations, the former imperial power needed a legal 93 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 6: system to protect the economic interests of their corporations, and 94 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 6: international investment arbitration offered such an alternative. Today, in this 95 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 6: current day of age, many in civil society see the 96 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 6: arbitration regime as yet another tool of corporate globalization. And 97 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 6: this is because when governments regulate in the public interest, 98 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 6: they become the targets of corporations that utilize the arbitration 99 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 6: system to challenge those acts of authority. 100 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: The US Ecuador Investment Treaty went into effect in nineteen 101 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,480 Speaker 1: ninety seven, so by the time this case that was 102 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: originally filed against Texaco in New York in nineteen ninety three, 103 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: was refiled against Chevron in Ecuador in two thousand and three. 104 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: The system Oriana describes was very much in effect. On 105 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: top of that, Lucio Gutierrez was president. Jets had been 106 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: elected as something of an anti corporate revolutionary, but within 107 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: the first few months of his presidency he had become 108 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: very protrayed and particularly cozy with the United States. None 109 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: of that voted well for the indigenous plaintiffs seeking compensation 110 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: for the damage that had been done in the Amazon. 111 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: In two thousand and two, the Appellate Court in New 112 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: York had ruled that the case against Texaco, which was 113 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: now Chevron Texico, should be tried in Ecuador. But the 114 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: New York court said any final ruling and financial penalty 115 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: imposed against Chevron Texico would be enforceable in the United States. 116 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 5: We filed and there was a hearing very first day. 117 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 5: You show up and both sides present their case or 118 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 5: their theory of the case the very first day, and 119 00:08:55,960 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 5: on that day I'll never forget Texico. Chevron's lawyer, local lawyer, 120 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 5: his name was A daffel kyehas been with the company 121 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:12,479 Speaker 5: for years and years. Read their response to our lawsuit, 122 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 5: every word of it. It must have taken him hours, 123 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 5: you know. And that told me two things. One is, 124 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 5: their entire strategy was obstruction and delay, Like you don't 125 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 5: need to read every word of a one hundred page document, 126 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,439 Speaker 5: you just could have summarized it. And number two is 127 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 5: a main defense was that they were denying that the 128 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 5: Ecuadorian courts had jurisdiction because they were chevron and even 129 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 5: though they had bought Texico, it was Texico that did it, 130 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 5: not them. So they had agreed in the US as 131 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 5: a condition of getting the case out of US courts 132 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 5: and avoiding a jury trial, they had agreed they would 133 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 5: accept jurisdiction in Ecuador. And the first thing they did 134 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 5: on the first day of the trial is to claim 135 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 5: the case should be dismissed because of a lack of jurisdiction. 136 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 5: And Holy Moses, I mean I just couldn't believe it. 137 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 5: I mean maybe I was naive, but like, how do 138 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 5: you argue one thing in one place and then you 139 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 5: go to that other court where you're bound by your 140 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 5: promise and you just try to switch it. 141 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: On the first day, the request for dismissal was denied 142 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,080 Speaker 1: and the trial got underway in two thousand and three. 143 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,439 Speaker 1: Trials in Ecuador work a lot differently than they do 144 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: in the US. They run according to the civil law system, 145 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: also sometimes called the Roman system, whereas the US got 146 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: its legal system called the common law system from the UK. 147 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: The key difference lies in jury trials. We call up 148 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:50,040 Speaker 1: Alejandro Godo, an expert on Latin American law, to explain well. 149 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 7: One aspect of American exceptionalism, which I think is truly exceptional, 150 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 7: is the jury system in non criminal cases, in civil 151 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 7: cases in the Chevron case. Even England, which is another 152 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 7: country from where the United States copy the Jurish system, 153 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 7: abolished it in the nineteenth century and there are no 154 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 7: more jeurry civil cases juris civil cases in England. 155 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: The initial hearing in the Chevron trial in Ecuador only 156 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: lasted six days. Both sides presented their case directly to 157 00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: a judge. But in Ecuador it's the judge's responsibility to 158 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: figure out the truth. In legal cases, to investigate figure 159 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: things out, and that can take months or years. We 160 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: had Donziger walk us through that first day in court 161 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: in Lago Agrille, so you. 162 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 5: Know, I'll never forget the first day of the trial 163 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 5: in Ecuador, just like I'll never forget my first trip, 164 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 5: you know, in nineteen ninety three. It was the first day. 165 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:50,319 Speaker 5: The trial was in in October, but the first day 166 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 5: was really important because the effected communities, the indigenous groups. 167 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 5: There's five indigenous groups that were part of the lawsuit 168 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 5: and a lot of other non indigenous Amazon community They 169 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 5: organized to come in from all over the surrounding you know, 170 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 5: Amazon rainforest, you know, by canoe and bus and walking, 171 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 5: and you know, however they could get to this town 172 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 5: where the trial was going to be held. The town's 173 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 5: called Lago Agrio, which has so much symbolic importance because 174 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,439 Speaker 5: the only reason Lago Augrio exists is because that's the 175 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,839 Speaker 5: place Texico first found oil in nineteen sixty seven. 176 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: There were very few people in the courtroom initially in 177 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: the morning, which Donziger thought was strange. He thought maybe 178 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: the guards had scared some of the plaintiffs off, or 179 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: maybe they just weren't used to being able to go 180 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: into the courtroom. 181 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 5: It was a very kind of wild West town and 182 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 5: that's where the trial was convening, in a building it 183 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 5: was like a commercial building that was rented out by 184 00:12:55,520 --> 00:13:00,440 Speaker 5: the local court to have a court there. People had 185 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 5: come in from all over the Amazon and they'd organized 186 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 5: this big march and there were pictures and signs, hostsia 187 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 5: and everyone was dressed up in their traditional clothing. I 188 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 5: got to the court and to the building that housed 189 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 5: the court. The courtroom was upstairs, maybe three flights of stairs, 190 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,680 Speaker 5: and the first thing I saw was these arm guards. 191 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 5: They looked like swat teams from the military that were 192 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 5: standing guard outside the court. And as the morning wore 193 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 5: on and the Chevron lawyer Ka has started reading this 194 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 5: really boring opposition that just started to take hours, I 195 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 5: was like, wait a second, you know, I can't wait 196 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 5: for there to be a lunch break, because I'm going 197 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,800 Speaker 5: down to the street and I'm going to bring everyone 198 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 5: up into court and probably around I don't know, eleven 199 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,719 Speaker 5: thirty in the morning, you know, late morning, when we're 200 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 5: soon about to break. I suddenly hear this like right 201 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 5: chant from the street, you know, you know, all sorts 202 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 5: of chants and noise, and it was like the crescendo. 203 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 5: It was like building into a crescendo, but you could 204 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 5: hear the noise rising and rising, and it made me 205 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 5: feel so good because I knew exactly what it was. 206 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 5: I know it was the people affected after decades of abuse, 207 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 5: were coming to assert themselves and kind of let it 208 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 5: all out. And by then, I mean, there had to 209 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 5: be hundreds, maybe a thousand, two thousand people on this 210 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 5: little street, this dirt street, right in front of the courthouse, 211 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 5: and they were standing on trucks and there were microphones. 212 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 5: I started talking to some of the people who had traveled, 213 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 5: you know, from their ancestral lands to this town, and 214 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 5: I'm like, why aren't you guys in the courtroom come 215 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 5: up with you? Come up with me. And many of 216 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 5: them looked at me and they're like, oh, we can 217 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 5: go into court. I'm like, yeah, it's your country, it's 218 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 5: your court, it's your case. Yes you can come. When 219 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 5: we went back in, I marched up the stairs with 220 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 5: you know, who knows how many people behind me, Digenous 221 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 5: women who traditional clothing and all sorts of people, and 222 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 5: we just packed the hell out of that courtroom. And 223 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 5: you know, it was really an emotional day. 224 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: If Chevron had entertained ideas that this case would move 225 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: to Ecuador and be forgotten, Donziger's media savvy took care 226 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: of that. Reporters flew in from all over the world, 227 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: met with Donziger, and the Ecuadorian attorneys took the toxic 228 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: tour with Moncayo and sent reports back home. Here's a 229 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: clip from NPR's All Things Considered as the trial got 230 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: underway in October two thousand and three. 231 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 8: In northern Ecuador, a trial is underway against Chevron Texico. 232 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: The civil suit accuses the. 233 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,360 Speaker 8: Company of contaminating the groundwater of a formerly pristine area 234 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,560 Speaker 8: of the Amazon. The Ecuadorians, who. 235 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: After that initial six day trial ended the court and 236 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: both legal teams brought in various experts to conduct field 237 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: investigations to determine the extent of contamination in the areas 238 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: where the plaintiffs lived, and whether or not the cleanup 239 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: that Texico had done back in the nineties was sufficient. 240 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: The court gathered various other pieces of information, too, including 241 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: historical information on whether or not it really was common 242 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: presscice in the oil industry to dump wastewater in unlined pits. 243 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: Tim Lagonegro, the geologist and longtime oil industry worker we 244 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: heard from last time, was pretty emphatic that it was not. 245 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 4: You would never put wastewater in an unlined pit. Never. 246 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 4: Everyone knows that it's toxic water putting that into a rainforest. 247 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 4: They had tarps in those days, too, impermeable vinyl sheeting. 248 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:34,200 Speaker 4: It's just normal, has been forever. 249 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: But given how long the case had been going on 250 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: by this point, and how much time had passed since 251 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 1: Texico had left the country, the trial dragged on and 252 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: on one year than it was two years, three years. 253 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 1: In December two thousand and six, more than three years 254 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: after the trial had started, in Lago Agrio, Chevron filed 255 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: a complaint against the government of Ecuador for failing to 256 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:00,720 Speaker 1: resolve cases quickly. That complaint was in reference to a 257 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,159 Speaker 1: different set of cases, complaints that Texico had brought up 258 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: back in the nineties, but the message was clear, speed 259 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: it up already, or will see you in arbitration. On 260 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: top of all of the obvious reasons Chevron may have 261 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: wanted to officially complain about the Ecuadorian court system, there 262 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: was a major change around this time in the country's leadership. 263 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 3: Lalo Rodos, Rafael Forrea, ALIANAI. 264 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: In the run up to the election of Rafael Correa 265 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: in November two thousand and six, various business analysts and 266 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: think tanks in the US warned that if he were elected, 267 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: Ecuador would go the way of Venezuela and Bolivia, turning 268 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: against US corporate interests. Among other concerns was the fact 269 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: that Corea was staunchly against extending the bilateral investment treaty 270 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,399 Speaker 1: with the US, which was set to expire at the 271 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: end of two thousand and six. Even fairly mainstream media 272 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: outlets like NPR played into the idea that Korea was 273 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: the scary second coming of Chavez. Yesterday's balloting reduced a 274 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: field of thirteen to two men, one a banana tycoon, 275 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: the other a left wing supporter of Venezuela's president Uga Chavez. 276 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 2: Alva and Noboa, who rested control of his family's banana 277 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 2: business to become one of Ecuador's wealthiest men, held a 278 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,200 Speaker 2: slight lead through the night. Running a close second was 279 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 2: Rafael Coorea, a former economy minister who challenged the political orthodoxy, 280 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 2: advocating cheap credit for the poor and renegotiation of all 281 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 2: foreign oil contracts. 282 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: By this point, Texico had long since pulled out of Ecuador, 283 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: and Chevron wasn't doing business there either. In fact, they 284 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: never had, but still a president that was promising to 285 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: renegotiate foreign oil contracts. That's not really what you want 286 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: when you're a US oil company defending yourself in Ecuador's courts. 287 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:10,119 Speaker 8: It would be. 288 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: Another five years before the judge and Ecuador would rule 289 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: on the case against Chevron, and a lot would happen 290 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:30,120 Speaker 1: in the meantime. Next time on Drilled, we hear from 291 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: the other attorneys in this case. 292 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:34,879 Speaker 2: He's talking about mobilizing to put people in front of 293 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 2: the courthouse, the thousand people in front of the courthouse, 294 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 2: to pressure and he's saying, literally, we have to pressure 295 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 2: the judge. 296 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 4: We have to make him know who's boss. 297 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,719 Speaker 1: Chevron's attorneys get indicted, Accusations of fraud and bribery fly 298 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: on both sides, and an incredible international pr war kicks 299 00:20:59,359 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: into gear. 300 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 5: The Sequoias took us to their community hut, where we 301 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 5: saw the driving force behind the suit, Stephen Donzinger, a 302 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 5: New York lawyer, far from home. These are people who 303 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 5: never believed they had a right to sue an American 304 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 5: company in their own court system. 305 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know what Chevron says. They say that 306 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: this is being driven by a new York plaintiffs lawyer, 307 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:30,639 Speaker 1: and they don't mean that as a compliment. Drilled is 308 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: an original production of the Critical Frequency Podcast Network. The 309 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: show was created by me Amy Westervelt. This season, my 310 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: co reporter is Karen Savage. Our editor is Julia Ritchie. 311 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:47,240 Speaker 1: Sound design and mixing by Mark Busch, original score by 312 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:53,160 Speaker 1: b Beeman, additional production help from Sarah Ventry. Special thanks 313 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: to Larissa Ikeda. Thanks to NPR for some of the 314 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: clips used in this episode. Our artwork for this season 315 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: was drawn by Matt Fleming. You can find corresponding stories, photos, 316 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: and documents for this season on our website at drillednews 317 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: dot com. If you are a Patreon subscriber, thank you. 318 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,959 Speaker 1: Your support is helping to make this season. And as 319 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,320 Speaker 1: a special thank you, if you would like to get 320 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:22,679 Speaker 1: next week's episode early, go check your feed because it's 321 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: there now. If you're listening to this and you're not 322 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 1: a Patreon subscriber and you can't wait for next week's episode, 323 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: go ahead and sign up. It's Patreon dot com slash drilled. 324 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: Thanks for that and thanks for listening, and we'll see 325 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: you next time.