Pablo Fajardo

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Pablo Fajardo in conversation with Silver Donald Cameron about his work.

Pablo Fajardo Mendoza (or Pablo Fajardo) is an Ecuadorian lawyer and activist. He led the litigation against Chevron Corporation related to the environmental disaster he alleged was caused by the oil operations of Texaco (acquired by Chevron Corporation in 2001) in the Lago Agrio oil field between 1964 and 1990. In this process, Fajardo represented the over 30,000 local inhabitants affected by the spill of crude oil and toxic waste. [1] Chevron, which instead blames Petroecuador and has not paid the judgement, has had repeated success in arguing against it. The judgement has been validated by further Ecuadorian courts and the Supreme Court of Canada but it has been declared fraudulently obtained by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and an arbitration court in The Hague. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Fajardo was raised in the province of Esmeraldas, from where his parents migrated to the Sucumbios province when he was 14. He worked first in an African palm plantation and later on for an oil company, an experience which he says led him to witness social injustice and environmental degradation first hand. When working for these companies as a teenager, Fajardo mobilized colleagues and friends to protest against them, which caused him to be fired. These experiences led Fajardo to the decision to become a professional lawyer defending human rights. [4]

With the help of the Roman Catholic Church, he put himself through law school in the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja and graduated in 2004.

Chevron litigation

Oil was discovered near the town of Lago Agrio near the Ecuadorian rainforest in the Sucumbíos province and the oil company Texaco, was given rights to retrieve it between 1964-199. Texaco, now owned by Chevron, was accused of not using proper methods to drill the oil. Various studies have shown that the people in the town have cancer rates 3 times higher than other localities in the country, and Fajardo claimed that this was due to the 1,000 unlined toxic waste pits were built throughout the region. [1]

In 1993, American lawyer Stephen Donzinger filed a class-action lawsuit against Texaco for the Union of People Affected by Chevron-Texaco (UDAPT), which represented 6 indigenous nations (Waorani, Siekopai, Siona, A’I Kofan, Shuar y Kichwa) and over 30,000 people. The case, Aguinda v. Texaco, was filed in New York, where the company was headquartered at that time.

In 2002, the case was transferred from New York to Ecuador, and in 2003, Fajardo’s legal team filed a new lawsuit against Chevron for the environmental damage to the Amazon. He was made lead lawyer on the case in 2005, and on February 14, 2011, the local court of Sucumbíos ruled that Chevron was to pay $18.1 billion to remediate the extensive pollution of waters, soils and ecosystems, in one of the largest environmental judgements ever made. In 2013, the verdict was confirmed by the Ecuador Supreme Court, though the amount was reduced to $9.5 billion. [5]

Controversy

Chevron ended up liquidating all of its assets in Ecuador over the 20-yearlong litigation, but the corporation has refused to pay the judgement claiming that the decision was “illegitimate and inapplicable”. [6] Chevron continued to operate in Argentina, Brazil, and Canada, where Fajardo’s team sued to enforce the Ecuadorian court judgement.

In March 2014, a federal judge in the US concluded that Fajardo’s co-counsel, Steven Donzinger, and his team had submitted false evidence in Ecuador. Courtrooms and arbitrations outside Ecuador subsequently made rulings on the case, generally finding in Chevron's favour. [7] However, this was called into question when a key witness for Chevron admitted that his testimony, about the Ecuadorian verdict being coerced, was itself coerced. [8]

In July 2016, the Amazon Defense Coalition (ADC), which backed the original lawsuit responsible for Fajardo's recognition, suspended its relationship with Fajardo, complaining that he was complicit in the Ecuadorian government's decision to pay $112 million to Chevron and not to the ADC. The payment to Chevron Corporation came as a result of an arbitration ordered by an international court. [9] Fajardo rejected the accusation on the basis that the organization he represents is the Union of People Affected by Texaco (UDAPT) and not the ADC. The UDAPT is the sole organization representing the indigenous people and farmers who started the lawsuit against Chevron, as affirmed by the at-the-time president of the Amazon Defense Coalition, Luis Yanza, and among others. [10]

In 2019, Fajardo estimated that Chevron was spending up to $250 million in some years to fight the $9.5 billion fine. [11] On September 7, 2018, an international tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague unanimously ruled that the judgement "should not be recognised or enforced by the courts of other States". This refers to collection efforts in countries such as Canada where Chevron has subsidiaries. Canadian courts recently decided against piercing the corporate veil to intervene. [12] To describe this situation, Fajardo said "the legal structure that these companies have been building through auxiliary enterprises and holding companies is simply a structure to evade their responsibility and, in this case, to evade justice." [11] He also criticized the Permanent Court of Arbitration for applying a 1993 investment treaty retroactively.

Fajardo is a supporter of the Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations, proposed by an inter-governmental working group at the United Nations. He has criticized the government of Lenin Moreno for enabling what he sees as a renewed corporate capture of Ecuador. [13] [14]

Death threats

Due to his prominent role in the legal case against Chevron, Fajardo has been target of repeated threats and intimidations. His brother was tortured and killed in the middle of the trial, and Fajardo was later told that he was the true target of this crime. For this reason, in 2005, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States issued precautionary measures for Fajardo and Luis Yanza in an effort to protect their lives. [15]

Recognitions

Fajardo won a CNN "Hero's award" in 2007 and, along with his former associate Luis Yanza, a Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008. [16] [17]

He is featured in the 2009 documentary film Crude .

Related Research Articles

Texaco, Inc. is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company until its refining operations merged into Chevron in 2001, at which time most of its station franchises were divested to Shell plc through its American division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforest Action Network</span> Environmental organization

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, United States. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, and first gained national prominence with a grassroots organizing campaign that in 1987 succeeded in convincing Burger King to cancel $31 million worth of destructive Central American rainforest beef contracts. Protecting forests and challenging corporate power has remained a key focus of RAN’s campaigns since, and has led RAN into campaigns that have led to transformative policy changes across home building, wood purchasing and supplying, automobile, fashion, paper and banking industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador</span> Indigenous peoples organization in Ecuador

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or, more commonly, CONAIE, is Ecuador's largest indigenous rights organization. The Ecuadorian Indian movement under the leadership of CONAIE is often cited as the best-organized and most influential Indigenous movement in Latin America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nueva Loja</span> City in Sucumbíos, Ecuador

Nueva Loja, also known as Lago Agrio, is the capital of the province of Sucumbíos in Ecuador. It was founded in the 1960s as a base camp of Texaco. The official population as of the 2022 census is 55,627.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cofán people</span> Indigenous people native to Ecuador and Colombia

The Cofán people are an indigenous people native to Sucumbíos Province northeast Ecuador and to southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River. Their total population is now only about 1,500 to 2,100 people, down from approximately 15,000 in the mid-16th century, when the Spanish crushed their ancient civilization, of which there are still some archeological remains. They speak the Cofán language or A'ingae. The ancestral land, community health and social cohesion of Cofan communities in Ecuador has been severely damaged by several decades of oil drilling. However, reorganization, campaigning for land rights, and direct action against encroaching oil installations have provided a modicum of stability. Major settlements include Sinangué, Dovuno, Dureno and Zábalo, the latter of which has retained a much more extensive land base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petroecuador</span> National petroleum company of Ecuador

EP Petroecuador is the national oil company of Ecuador. Ecuador who is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and, although it is the smallest member, the country produced 531,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2019. The oil corporation is a significant part of the Ecuadorian economy. The petroleum industry has expanded to the production of refined commodities such as gasoline, liquefied petroleum, and jet fuel. The government of Ecuador is highly dependent on the revenues from the energy sector to support its budget and finance state projects.

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area near the city of Nueva Loja in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador. It is located in the Western Oriente Basin. The site's hydrocarbon-bearing formations are the Cretaceous Napo and Hollin formations. Oil was discovered in the area in 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and cultural upheaval. Located in Cofan territory near the Colombian border, it is one of twelve production areas that developed when Ecuador began to export petroleum.

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Mining in Ecuador was slow to develop in comparison to other Latin American countries, in spite of large mineral reserves. As late as 2012, according to the United Nations, Ecuador received less foreign direct investment per person than any other country in Latin America. During the 1980s, mining contributed only 0.7 percent to the Ecuadorian economy and employed around 7,000 people. Minerals were located in regions with little to no access, hindering exploration. Ecuador has reserves of gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium, lead, sulfur, kaolin and limestone. The latter practically dominated the early industry as it was used in local cement plants.

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Crude is a 2009 American documentary film directed and produced by Joe Berlinger. It follows a two-year portion of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Chevron Corporation in Ecuador.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Donziger</span> American lawyer, human rights activist (born 1961)

Steven Robert Donziger is an American attorney known for his legal battles with Chevron, particularly Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. and other cases in which he represented over 30,000 farmers and indigenous people who suffered environmental damage and health problems caused by oil drilling in the Lago Agrio oil field of Ecuador. The Ecuadorian court awarded the plaintiffs $9.5 billion in damages, which led Chevron to withdraw its assets from Ecuador and launch legal action against Donziger in the US. In 2011, Chevron filed a RICO (anti-corruption) suit against Donziger in New York City. The case was heard by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who determined that the ruling of the Ecuadorian court could not be enforced in the US because it was procured by fraud, bribery, and racketeering activities. As a result of this case, Donziger was disbarred from practicing law in New York in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Cawiya</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoë Tryon</span>

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Nemonte Nenquimo is an Indigenous activist, author and member of the Waorani Nation from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador. She is the first female president of the Waorani of Pastaza (CONCONAWEP) and co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization Ceibo Alliance. In 2020, she was named in the Time 100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, the only Indigenous woman on the list and the second Ecuadorian to ever be named in its history. In recognition of her work, in 2020 the United Nations Environment Programme gave her the "Champions of the Earth" award in the category Inspiration and Action.

Aguinda v. Texaco, Inc. was a class-action lawsuit against Texaco Petroleum. It was filed in 1993 by American human rights lawyer Steven Donziger on behalf of indigenous collectives in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The lawsuit sought compensation for "alleged environmental and personal injuries arising out of Texaco's oil exploration and extraction operations in the Oriente region between 1964 and 1992." Legal proceedings followed in courts in Ecuador and the United States for about a decade. The case was dismissed on May 30, 2001, on grounds of forum non conveniens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Chevron</span> Overview of controversies involving Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation has been one of the most widely-criticized companies in the world, mostly stemming from its activities and involving climate change. Chevron's most widely-known scandal involves Texaco's activities in the Lago Agrio oil field, which Chevron is deemed responsible for due to its acquisition of Texaco in 2001. Chevron has been most widely criticized for its handling of litigation against it filed by residents of the Lago Agrio region, which included what activists see as the "jailing" of Lago Agrio lawyer Steven Donziger.

References

  1. 1 2 McAvoy, Esme (2010-10-01). "Who will pay for Amazon's 'Chernobyl'?" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  2. ↑ Austen, Ian; Krauss, Clifford (2015-09-04). "Court says Chevron can be pursued in Canada over Ecuadorian damage". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  3. ↑ Randazzo, Sara (2018-09-07). "Tribunal Condemns Ecuador's $9.5 Billion Ruling Against Chevron". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  4. ↑ "Interview: Pablo Fajardo". Oxfam. 2004-09-28. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  5. ↑ "The Green Interview - Waiting for Justice in the Amazon Rain Forest". YouTube. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  6. ↑ "Ecuador high court upholds Chevron verdict, halves fine". Reuters. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  7. ↑ "Ecuador's $9.5B Fine On Chevron Was Fraudulent: Tribunal". Law 360. 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  8. ↑ Hershaw, Eva (2015-10-26). "Chevron's Star Witness Admits to Lying in the Amazon Pollution Case". Vice. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  9. ↑ Parloff, Roger (2016-07-31). "Attorney who took Chevron to court for $18 billion suspended by Amazon Defence Front". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  10. ↑ "UDAPT vs Chevron-Texaco - Las Voces de las Victimas" (PDF). Fundacion Regional de Asesoria en Derechos Humanos. 2014. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  11. 1 2 Aldo Orellana Lopez (2019-03-27). "Chevron vs Ecuador: International arbitration and corporate impunity". Open Democracy. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  12. ↑ "USA: Allegations of judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of lawyer Steven Donziger". Lawyers Rights Watch Canada. 2020-07-29. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  13. ↑ Ramakant, Bobby (2019-10-18). "Corporations that abuse human rights are a threat". Scoop News. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  14. ↑ "Historic process continues at the UN: This week states enter substantive negotiations of the text of a binding treaty on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights". Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt. 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  15. ↑ "Pablo Fajardo Mendoza & Luis Yanza | Goldman Prize". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
  16. ↑ "Past Heroes 2007". CNN. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  17. ↑ Kraul, Chris (2008-04-13). "Amazon activists win environmental prize". LA Times. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
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