David vs. Goliath

Humans love a good story of 'good triumphing over evil' or 'the little man beats the big bully' well such a story happens to be out there and you may not even know about it....

Pablo Fajardo

A self trained lawyer from Ecuador called Pablo Farjado has been battling against oil giant Chevron in a court case began in it's infancy in 1995.  Pablo Farjado has been fighting for the rights of almost 30,000 Ecuadorian people as they try to rebuild their lives after the mining practices of Chevron, which merged with Texaco in 2001, had damaged the environment and led to an increase in cancer amongst the people.

2003 saw the case taken to Ecuador after years of legal to and fro in America, a tactic that large multinational corporations employ to ensure they get the result they want. By dragging a case out they typically force the 'little people' into submission with their endless resources.

Pablo's story is an inspiring one, one of a man who had seen his country ruined by the relentless pursuit for profit over the benefit of the people and say 'No more'. He also featured in Vanity Fair and addressed the millions of people watching during 2005's Live Aid in England, as a guest speaker for Sting and his wife Trudy Styler.

A documentary called 'Crude-The Real Price of Oil' can be found on Top Documentaries, it is a moving one and documented with great balance leaving you the viewer to make a decision based on what you have seen.  The sheer arrogance of Chevron and it's employees is something to behold.
Once you have seen the practices these oil companies put in place to secure a buck, polluting water course etc, I challenge you not to feel anger.

Chevron lost the case and have been ordered to pay out somewehre in the region of $9bn and provide a thorough clean up, but of course they are contesting this and say that ther fine is "unenforceable".  They continued to drag out the process with their appeals costing the plantiffs thousands.  In 2009 it is reported that Chevron made $23.9bn. It is not like they cannot afford it, and a small price to pay for contributing to the plight that the Ecuadorian's find themseleves in. Perhaps they and Texaco should have spent a bit more time and money initially preparing the pits.

Site of a Texaco/Chevron Pit...after cleaning...

As of March 8th 2011 it was reported in the Wall Street Journal that a U.S Judge had issued a 'preliminary injunction' which would prevent the ruling being enforced anywhere outside Ecuador.  This was heralded as 'good news' for Chevron who do not have any assets in Ecuador.  The fact that the Amazon provides the 'lungs' for the entire Earth or provides much needed natural resources for the Humans living there, is neither here nor there for the big club of corporate criminals that run these firms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-latin-america-12460333


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703883504576187112117241784.html


Quotes taken from The Wall Street Journal, BBC News 24 and Crude-The Real Price of Oil