***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Destruction and Violence in the Ecuadorian Oriente

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

4/21/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

The leading forest activist group Rainforest Action Network

reports on the current crisis situation in Ecuador's forests, the

threat being large scale oil drilling and accompanying forest

change. Maxus oil continues to cause extensive damage to

extremely important virgin rainforests, while bullying local

people to get what they want--oil. This item comes from RAN's

award winning WWW site < http://www.ran.org/ran/ >, with this

specific alert at

< http://www.ran.org/ran/info_center/aa/aa119.html >. You can

send a free protest fax to Maxus oil, the culprit in the area,

from this home page. The fax number and sample letter is provided

at the bottom of the alert.

LIST NOTE

Just back from a week in the Great Smoky Mountains, a National

Park and Biosphere Reserve in Eastern US; inspired and

reinvigorated to continue the quest for forest conservation and

management. And a reminder that any information you are able to

send to be networked is always appreciated.

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Rainforest Action Network

Action Alert 119 - April, 1996

Maxus Oil: Destruction and Violence in the Ecuadorian Oriente

"From our hearts, for our forest, we do not want any more of this

company,its wells and roads in our territory. We don't want to

work with Maxus, we just want to organize ourselves as Huaorani.

The Huaorani don't want Maxus anymore, and we want the whole world

to know."

Moi Enomenga, Huaorani leader, March 1996

Maxus Energy Corporation has been operating a petroleum concession

deep in the Oriente, or Ecuadorian Amazon, since 1992. The company

claims that it runs an "environmental oil operation" that protects

the rainforests and the Indians who live there. However, the

information coming out of the Oriente indicates that Maxus'

operations have resulted in significant deforestation and

pollution of pristine forests and rivers, and that Maxus' practice

of intimidation and control has robbed forest-dwelling communities

of their independence. In one circumstance, locals implicated

Maxus in the violent death of a Huaorani tribesman. Meanwhile, the

company refuses to release any of its potentially damning

environmental reports.

Maxus began its development by bulldozing a 100-mile-long road

through the fragile Huaorani Ethnic Reserve and Yasuni National

Park, a U.N.- recognized World Biosphere Reserve. Environmental

organizations based in Ecuador report that the region has suffered

numerous oil spills since Maxus began pumping crude two years ago.

The Ecuadorian group, Amazon For Life, calculates that Maxus

operations have cleared 52,000 acres of pristine, ancient

rainforest, and polluted or diverted 540 streams and waterways. In

addition, the group reports that Maxus wells are releasing toxic

fluids into Yasuni National Park's rivers, that several oil pits

containing toxic wastes have overflowed into the environment, and

that Maxus has built two landfills inside the park for toxic waste

disposal.

One day in January, in the village of Peneno, Yeti, a Huaorani man

who had been a vocal critic of Maxus, was kidnapped, beaten, and

strangled to death. Villagers reported seeing a Maxus truck dump

Yeti's body in front of his family home. Provincial police claim

that the murder was an inter-Indian affair, and refused to get

involved. Maxus, too, has not investigated the matter, and company

employees have reportedly warned locals not to discuss the case.

Whatever the particulars, many villagers are convinced that oil

was the motive behind the murder.

This tragedy is only the latest instance of violence against

Oriente communities since Maxus opened shop. The company called on

the military to subdue protesters in the community of Primavera,

who were trying to stop Maxus from running a pipeline under their

town. In May 1995, the Huaorani organization ONHAE, which had

earlier signed a "Friendship Agreement" with Maxus, temporarily

took over one of Maxus' wells because the company had failed to

live up to the terms of the contract. Maxus again called on the

military to enforce order, and the company went back to business

as usual.

Biologists and anthropologists, who had worked under contract with

Maxus, have told RAN that the company specifically instructed them

to prevent the Huaorani from building ties with other indigenous

organizations. This keeps the Huaorani isolated from outside

support, and guarantees that the company remains firmly in

control.

Most important of all, the Huaorani fear what the future may

bring. As Moi said, "We do not want any more of this company."

What Can You Do?

Please tell Mr. Nells Leon, president of Maxus' parent company,

YPF, that you expect him to assure that Maxus' lives up to its

social and environmental rhetoric. Write your letter. We have

provided a sample letter which you can send as-is. Please sign

your name, and if you feel so inspired you can edit the text, add

a paragraph, or compose a new work of wonderful prose.

Mr. Nells Leon

President

YPF

Fax: 212 838 9088

Dear Mr. Leon:

I am writing to express my concern about YPF's subsidiary Maxus,

and its oil project in Ecuador. Maxus claims to run a clean

operation, but its refusal to release any environmental reports

makes it look as though Maxus has something to hide. Ecuadorian

organizations report that Maxus has caused several spills inside

the Yasuni National Park and the Huaorani Ethnic Reserve, and that

toxic fluids have been released into streams and rivers. I am

concerned about violence against the Huaorani, and Maxus' use of

military force against local peoples.

Please instruct Maxus to release all environmental records

immediately and submit to a comprehensive, independent and

participatory audit to evaluate the full ecological and cultural

impacts of its operations.

Sincerely,

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal

campaign use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and

forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely

pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Archives at URL= http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises || Phone(608) 233-2194

Email-> gbarry@forests.org