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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Ecuadorian Citizens Protest Texaco's Amazon Oil Pollution

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

6/22/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Rainforest Action Network reports on protests by some 300 Ecuadorian

citizens agains Ecuadorian Amazon oil exploration, particularly by the

Texaco company. This follows recent oil spills and continued large scale

damage to the Amazonian ecosystem caused by such oil exploration. This

item comes from RAN's list server.

g.b.

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For Immediate Release - June 20, 1996

Press Contact - Mark Westlund: ranmedia@ran.org

Shannon Wright: amazonia@ran.org

ECUADORIAN CITIZENS PROTEST

TEXACO'S AMAZON OIL POLLUTION

(QUITO) Protesting oil pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon over 300 oil

workers, Amazonian citizens, farmers, students, and environmentalists

marched from the Ecuadorian Congress to the Presidential Palace today. They

demanded that Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballen announce his support

for the Amazonian peoples and that he work to hold Texaco accountable for

its destruction of the Amazon. The protesters marched to pressure their

government to support a class action suit in the U.S. Federal Court against

Texaco's pollution of the Amazon.

Chanting "Who destroyed the Amazon and who should clean it up? Texaco! Sue

Texaco!" the protesters demanded that their government support them rather

than the international oil company.

Marchers from the Ecuadorian jungle arrived with photos of the latest

spill, caused by antiquated equipment left by Texaco and currently owned by

Petroecuador. Local communities calculated that nearly 1,000 barrels of

oil spilled several days ago from the same pipeline which they have

demanded Texaco upgrade.

"This latest spill only underscores the ongoing destruction in the Amazon

and the urgent need for just solutions," said Shannon Wright, Rainforest

Action Network's Amazon program director.

In a precedent setting court case, Amazonian peoples filed a $1.5 billion

class action suit in the U.S. Federal Court, calling for Texaco to clean

the Amazon of their pollution and compensate the Ecuadorian people for its

24 years of devastating operations in Ecuador. This case has gained much

more success than legal observers initially predicted.

Before ruling on the U.S. action suit the judge requested clarification of

the Ecuadorian government's position of the case, which is expected within

the next several days.

Last week, the Ecuadorian Congress unanimously passed a resolution in

support of Amazonian plaintiffs. On June 18, however, the President of the

National Congress suddenly withdrew his support for the resolution, in

effect suspending it. Observers close to the Congress suspect that his

reversal is due to severe pressure from Texaco.

Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and

support their inhabitants through education, grassroots organizing, and

non-violent direct action.

________________________________________________________________________

Rainforest Action Network WWW site: http://www.ran.org

450 Sansome, Suite 700 General email: rainforest@ran.org

San Francisco, CA 94111 IGC news: rainfor.general, ran.news

Phone: (415) 398-4404 Gopher: gopher.ran.org:70/11/orgs/ran

Fax: (415) 398-2732 Automatic info return: ran-info@ran.org

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