Mining Projects in Ecuador Causing “Civil Wars”

UpsideDownWorld
Written by Cyril Mychalejko
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced last week that he would rework mining and oil deals.
"The mining problem is extremely grave, and we have areas where we are on the verge of a civil war," said Correa.
Canada’s Ascendant Copper could see its project in Intag threatened. The company’s operations in the area, which according to human rights lawyers and organizations has been tainted by human rights abuses and paramilitary tactics , could be the first foreign mining casualty under the Correa administration.
"We have not received any benefits from this (mining); neither the State nor the people, and that will have to be taken down," said Correa.

Ecuador leader sides against Chevron

BusinessWeek. 21 March, 2007.
QUITO, Ecuador
Ecuador's new leftist president voiced his support for the plaintiffs in a contamination lawsuit against U.S. oil company Chevron Corp. for allegedly dumping billions of gallons of waste in the country's Amazon jungle.
In a statement Tuesday, President Rafael Correa, who took office Jan. 15, said his government supports the "affected populations" and would help the plaintiffs collect evidence against San Ramon, California-based Chevron.
"We will not allow more pillaging, neither of our environment nor of our people," Correa said in the statement, after meeting with plaintiff's attorneys, the environment minister and other officials.
The lawsuit, representing 30,000 Amazon Indians and settlers, opened in Ecuador in October 2003 after a decade of winding through U.S. courts.
It alleges that Texaco Petroleum Co. -- which merged with Chevron in 2001 -- dumped more than 18 billion gallons of oily wastewater from three decades of drilling, and demands $6 billion in damages.
Chevron has denied the allegations, saying Texaco followed Ecuadorean environmental laws and then spent $40 million on a cleanup.
Chevron's lawyer in Quito, Rodrigo Perez, said the president should not get involved in the case.
Last month, Chevron representative Jaime Varela told a news conference that the company will "at no point" settle out of court.
The case is the first time that a foreign oil company has been subjected to Ecuadorean jurisdiction for allegedly damaging the environment.

Ecuador Congress replaces lawmakers, convenes

By Alexandra Valencia
QUITO, March 20 (Reuters) - Ecuador's Congress replaced fired lawmakers and convened on Tuesday in an apparent victory for President Rafael Correa over opposition legislators resisting his plans to curb their influence.
Correa, a left-winger elected in November, has been locked in a power struggle with lawmakers since March 7, when a court sacked 57 of them from the 100-member chamber for obstructing his plans for a referendum on rewriting the constitution.
The fired lawmakers had said they would seek to take their seats in the building, which was ringed by hundreds of police wielding batons to prevent a repeat of last week's clashes when opposition members tried to force their way inside.
But Congress President Jorge Cevallos on Tuesday swore in 21 substitutes and allowed the legislature to hold a session without the fired lawmakers.
"We will obey the will of the people," substitute lawmaker Cesar Alonso said. Congress needs at least 51 lawmakers to hold a session and 55 were present.
Correa was monitoring developments and "hopes that Congress will start working in line with the people's demands," a government spokeswoman said.
Elected in November, Correa is popular for promising to sweep away the influence of traditional political parties whom many Ecuadoreans blame for the instability that has ousted three presidents in the last decade. He wants an April 15 vote on holding a popular assembly to rewrite the constitution.
With his strongest opponents now out of Congress, Correa should be able to push ahead with his political proposals and key economic reforms, experts said.
"This is an evident victory for Correa... the opposition has lost a lot of power," said Simon Pachano, analyst with Ecuador's branch of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. "The government also probably has struck a deal with the substitutes."
Correas opponents fear the U.S.-trained economist and former finance minister will seek to rewrite the constitution to strengthen presidential powers as his left-wing ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, did after his 1998 election.
Wall Street has been monitoring Ecuador's political developments closely after Correa promised to use his mandate to restructure bonds and rewrite foreign oil contracts in South America's fifth-largest crude producer.

Ecuador lawmakers vow to reclaim seats in Congress

QUITO, March 19 (Reuters AlertNet) - Ecuador's fired opposition lawmakers on Monday vowed to break a police cordon and reclaim their parliamentary seats, keeping up the pressure on President Rafael Correa in the volatile Andean state.

Fifty-seven lawmakers have been fired for trying to block a referendum the populist president is proposing. The vote would set up a body to reduce the influence of congressmen in the judiciary and state companies.

The lawmakers refuse to accept their dismissal and last week barged through a police cordon to get into Congress. They promised to do the same on Tuesday.

"Either we all enter Congress or no one will," said Washington Vallejo, one of the 57 fired lawmakers. "We will defend Congress."

Correa, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, since taking office in January has vowed to break the power of political elites, largely seen as corrupt, in the world's top banana exporting nation.

The fight with the lawmakers is the first major challenge for a president who has vowed to restructure the national debt and renegotiate oil deals. Congress has been instrumental in ousting three presidents in a decade.

OPEC president: Ecuador welcome back

VIENNA, March 15 (UPI) -- OPEC's president said at a Vienna news conference Ecuador can re-establish its membership at any time, saying Quito suspended but didn't sever ties in 1992.
Mohamed bin Dhaen al-Hamli, president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said Ecuador is welcome back "at any time," the global energy information firm Platts reports.
Hamli is also the energy minister of the United Arab Emirates.
According to a Nov. 27, 1992, OPEC release: "The conference regretfully accepted the wish of Ecuador to suspend its full membership in the organization. However, recognizing the current economic constraints facing that country, the conference hopes that Ecuador will be able to overcome these difficulties and rejoin the organization in the not too distant future."
Rafael Correa, Ecuador's president, said Wednesday he wants to join OPEC again but didn't set a timeline.
Current members of the oil cartel include Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Hamli, responding to rumors Sudan would join, said "There is no official communication (from Sudan) about joining OPEC."

Ecuadorean Opposition Plans Parallel Congress After Shooting

By Alex Kennedy and Bill Faries

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's suspended lawmakers, in a challenge to President Rafael Correa, plan to hold a parallel session outside Quito after police blocked their entry to the capitol and two supporters were wounded in a drive-by shooting.

Congresswoman Gloria Gallardo said opposition leaders now have backing from more than two-thirds of the 100-member congress to meet as an alternative assembly next week. Riot police used tear gas yesterday to stop the lawmakers from reaching their offices after the electoral court suspended the ``political rights'' of 57 opposition members last week.

``We're seeing a regime that's an authentic dictatorship,'' former President Lucio Gutierrez, a leader of the opposition Patriotic Society party, said in a telephone interview from Quito. ``Violence has been rising in a dangerous way, and it could at some point turn into a civil war in Ecuador.''

The shooting, which occurred outside the Marriott Hotel, where the lawmakers retreated, deepens a clash over Correa's plans to remake the country along what he calls socialist economic and political lines. Correa's proposal for a new constitution -- the trigger for the current showdown -- echoes steps taken by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales to consolidate their control over the congress, courts and election authorities.

``They abused their power, they thought they were immune,'' Correa said in comments broadcast on the Cablenoticias television station after the legislators were shut out of their offices. ``Now they're getting a taste of their own medicine,'' he said.

`Quiet For Now'

Ecuador's congress voted March 6 to replace Supreme Electoral Tribunal President Jorge Acosta after the court backed Correa's plan for a national referendum on re-writing the constitution. The next day, the court suspended the lawmakers who sought to remove the judge, ruling their votes violated the constitution. Correa supported the court's decision and said the lawmakers would be replaced.

The top constitutional court yesterday rejected a request by the president of congress to rule on the legality of the suspension.

``With this situation, Correa's ability to govern will be reduced,'' said Claudio Loser, former director of Western Hemisphere affairs at the International Monetary Fund and a political analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.

The U.S. Ambassador in Ecuador, Linda Jewell, said on Cablenoticias that the conflict among Correa, the congress and the courts is a domestic situation.

``We're going to be quiet for now,'' she said.

Correa, 43, a U.S.-trained economist who served a five- month stint as finance minister in 2005, won 57 percent of votes in a Nov. 26 run-off election in which he ran without the formal backing of any political party.

`Government Crisis'

During and after the campaign, Correa aligned himself with Chavez's socialist vision, vowing to boost spending on the poor, renegotiate foreign oil contracts and review Ecuador's approximately $10 billion in foreign debt obligations. Venezuela on Feb. 22 offered Ecuador as much as $500 million of ``financial cooperation.''

Correa took office in January as Ecuador's eighth president in about a decade. On Jan. 30, about 5,000 of his supporters tried to storm congress to demand lawmakers approve plans for a referendum on the constitution.

``Correa is forcing a government crisis,'' Loser said. ``This is going to get investors even more nervous.''

Ecuador has twice backed away from threats to default on debt payments since Correa took power. Finance Minister Ricardo Patino said March 8 that the country wouldn't ignore foreign debt obligations.

``Our creditors should know that we're very responsible,'' Patino said.

Congresswoman Sylka Sanchez said in an interview that the shots were fired from a passing motorcycle carrying two people. One of the opposition lawmakers' supporters outside the hotel was hit in the back, the other in the leg.

Violence in Ecuador heats up Congress-Correa feud

By Alonso Soto, March 14, 2007.

QUITO (Reuters) - Ousted Ecuadorean lawmakers scuffled with police and a shooting wounded two of their supporters on Tuesday, worsening discord between Congress and President Rafael Correa in the volatile Andean nation.

About 20 lawmakers barged through a cordon of police, who used riot shields to try to stop them from entering Congress, as tear gas billowed in the air. One legislator was carried away on a stretcher after he was knocked to the ground and injured.

Two congressional aides were lightly wounded by gunshots. Lawmakers said their supporters were targeted by unknown gunmen on motorcycles, but police said the two men had been hit by stray bullets from an unrelated robbery.

Dozens of Correa supporters had earlier traded kicks and punches with protesters backing the dismissed lawmakers.

"We are in a state of emergency and we are being hunted," fired legislator Gloria Gallardo told a television station from inside Congress. "Police are willing to kill lawmakers."

In a radio interview before the shooting, Correa urged his supporters to avoid violence. "Do not let yourselves be provoked by these people who are trying to cause chaos," he said.

The leftist economist, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has demanded that the fired lawmakers be replaced by substitutes from the same parties, in a move that could boost his clout over an unruly and widely unpopular Congress.

Fifty-seven legislators have refused to accept an electoral court decision that fired them last week. They had sought to reverse an earlier ruling that would allow the highly popular Correa to hold a referendum to weaken Congress' powers.

Changes proposed by the referendum are meant to lessen political influence in the judiciary and force lawmakers to live in the small constituencies they represent.

Tuesday's violence forced Congress to suspend sessions for a week.

The dispute has become the biggest challenge to the leftist's presidency since he took office in January in a country where Congress played a pivotal role in ousting three presidents in the last decade.

Investors, already spooked because Correa has threatened to skip some foreign debt payments, worry that the president will struggle to govern despite his high popularity.

"The escalating political confrontation carries the risk of further erosion of the institutional backbone of the country, which could exacerbate perennial weak governability conditions," senior Goldman Sachs economist Alberto Ramos said in a research note.

Ecuador is the world's top banana exporter and South America's No. 5 oil producer.

(Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Guillermo Granja)

Ecuador president demands lawmakers accept firing

By Alonso Soto

QUITO (Reuters), Fri March 9, 2007 - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa ordered 57 lawmakers on Friday to accept a court ruling that fired them, intensifying a power struggle with Congress in the politically unstable Andean country.

Ecuador's electoral court ruled this week that the 57 must step down for trying to oust the court's president in legal wrangling over proposed changes to the constitution that could weaken Congress.

The popular leftist president stepped into the fight with a speech from a balcony of the presidential palace to student supporters, who like many Ecuadoreans back his efforts to use reforms to cut the power of traditional political elites.

"Those 57 lawmakers should comply with the law for their actions and they should be replaced by their substitutes. That is the way it should be," Correa told the cheering crowd.

If the lawmakers step down, they will be replaced by members of their own parties, ensuring Congress remains an opposition body.

But the removal of more than half of the elected legislature would strip power from influential Correa opponents in a Congress which has been pivotal in ousting three presidents in the last decade.

Despite lacking support from a traditional party, Correa won power last November with a pledge to rewrite the constitution to strip Congress of much of its power.

He is a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose supporters rewrote the constitution to boost his powers soon after he was first elected.

Congress has at times accepted Correa's moves against it. But in recent weeks lawmakers have increased their opposition to a referendum on the constitution scheduled for April 15.

Congress suspended its session on Thursday after police surrounded it to enforce the court ruling.

The feud highlights the charismatic Correa's troubles governing a nation which has had eight presidents in a decade.

Still, the U.S.-educated economist is highly popular as many blame lawmakers for chronic instability in the world's top banana exporter and South America's No. 5 oil producer.

LEGAL BATTLE

Congress had approved Correa's plan for a referendum, but opposition legislators say he then changed its text and they now want the vote halted.

They voted this week to fire the election court's president in a move to delay the referendum and secure an opposition majority in the court.

The electoral body hit back, ruling congressmen broke the law and would lose their political rights for a year.

The proposed constitutional changes are meant to reduce the influence of politicians in the judiciary and could force legislators to live in the constituencies they represent.

Correa has no official representatives in Congress, and opponents say he is pushing reform to extend his powers.

A former economy minister, Correa has rattled Wall Street and Washington with plans to restructure foreign debt, rewrite oil contracts and end an agreement giving the U.S. military use of an air base for counter-narcotics operations.

Still, foreign investors also worry the power struggle could weaken Correa's ability to rule and kill off another Ecuadorean government in its infancy.

Ecuador's Correa and Congress in power struggle

By Alonso Soto

QUITO (Reuters) , Mar 9, 2007 - Ecuador's Congress suspended its session on Thursday after police surrounded it to enforce a court ruling to fire 57 lawmakers in a power struggle between President Rafael Correa and the opposition.

Correa hopes to limit his rivals' influence with an April 15 referendum aimed at drafting constitutional reforms, but he faces growing resistance inside Congress.

The feud highlights Correa's troubles governing a country where three presidents have been ousted in a decade, but the left-winger is highly popular after promising to take on lawmakers who many blame for Ecuador's chronic instability.

"My countrymen, you have a true government that will not fail you," Correa told a cheering crowd inside the presidential palace. "There is no going back on the referendum."

Police carrying riot shields and batons greeted the 28 lawmakers who showed up before Congress' president cancelled the morning session because not enough of the total 100 members were present.

Local television showed protesters beating a lawmaker in a hotel car park, and another sped away as demonstrators kicked and banged his car. Neither was seriously hurt.

In a conciliatory tone, Congress president Jorge Cevallos later said he was open to talks with Correa to find a solution to the political deadlock.

"We want to restore peace and stability," Cevallos said.

Congress initially approved Correa's plan for a reform referendum, but opposition legislators say he then changed its text. They now want the vote halted and their demand is before Ecuador's constitutional court.

On Tuesday, 52 lawmakers voted to fire the election court's president, Jorge Acosta, in a move to delay the referendum and secure an opposition majority in the court.

The election court hit back on Wednesday, ruling the 52 and five others had violated the constitution and would be stripped of their political rights for one year.

'TOTALITARIAN'

"We will call local mayors and local officials to support our front against this totalitarian government," opposition lawmaker Carlos Larreategui said.

He said the fired members will appeal to the Organisation of American States for help to invalidate the court ruling.

Correa, a political outsider elected in November, has no official representatives in Congress. His foes say he wants to bypass the legislature and consolidate presidential authority with a special assembly on constitutional reforms as his ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, did after his 1998 election.

"For the first time we are seeing a weak Congress and a government that has the upper hand," said Adrian Bonilla, director of Ecuador's branch of the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. "I believe the government will probably win this time."

Correa, a former economy minister, has rattled Wall Street and Washington with plans to reform foreign debt, rewrite oil contracts and end an agreement allowing the U.S. military to use an air base in Ecuador for counter-narcotics operations.

Political parties often fight for appointments that will allow them to control the key electoral and constitutional courts in Ecuador, South America's No. 5 oil producer.

Ecuador's Congress fires election court chief

QUITO, March 6 (Reuters) - Ecuador's opposition-dominated Congress fired the head of the election court on Tuesday, which could delay President Rafael Correa's referendum in April aimed at cutting the influence of traditional political parties.

The move by Congress was sure to fuel tension between left-winger Correa and lawmakers trying to secure an opposition majority in the seven-member election court as they question the legality of the referendum, experts said.

Correa, a political outsider elected in November, plans to hold a public vote on April 15 on whether to call a special assembly to rewrite the constitution.

He says the overhaul is needed to curb political parties that many Ecuadoreans blame for instability in South America's No. 5 oil producer.

Opposition lawmakers fear Correa will use the assembly to weaken the legislature and bolster presidential powers, as his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did after his election.

"This was a political move to further delay the referendum and therefor weaken the government's popularity," said Simon Pachano, an analyst with the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences.

"But this could turn into another scandal because the legality of the vote is not yet clear."

The dismissed Electoral Court president, Jorge Acosta, could try to challenge the ruling to remove him without an impeachment, analysts said.

After weeks of street protests by Correa supporters demanding a referendum, lawmakers in February approved the president's initial proposal.

But opposition lawmakers now say Correa made changes to the referendum text without their approval before handing it to election officials. They say the changed version grants the proposed assembly the power to dissolve Congress and they want the Constitutional Court to declare the referendum invalid.

Fifty-two of the 73 lawmakers at Tuesday's session voted to remove Acosta on the grounds he failed to fulfill his Patriotic Society party's political mandate. Court members are picked by the seven political parties with the most votes.

Acosta, a lawyer close to toppled president Lucio Gutierrez, was one of four court members who voted to approve the referendum last week. Congress said his replacement must be named by Gutierrez's party.

Congress seeks to block Correa referendum

The Peninsular On-line, 3-4-07.

QUITO • Ecuador’s Congress voted on Friday to ask a top court to declare invalid President Rafael Correa’s proposal for a referendum on constitutional reforms.

The decision is likely to strain ties between lawmakers and Correa, a leftist elected in November after he promised to curb the influence of traditional parties whom many blame for instability and poverty in South America’s No. 5 oil producer.

After weeks of haggling, lawmakers in February agreed to Correa’s proposal for an April 15 vote to decide whether to call a special assembly to rewrite the constitution. They agreed after seeking limits on the powers of the assembly.

But lawmakers on Friday said Correa had since introduced a rewritten version of the guidelines for the referendum giving the proposed assembly broader powers, without first consulting the congress on the revisions.

The electoral court this week confirmed April 15 for the referendum, but lawmakers say they now want the constitutional court to declare it invalid because of unauthorized rewrites.

“They have betrayed constitutional principles by taking the step of convoking it in an unconstitutional way,” said Luis Almeida, a lawmaker with the Patriotic Society Party, or PSP, the second largest.

Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, says he wants to overhaul the political system and rewrite the constitution to reduce the influence of corrupt elites on key institutions such as the courts.

But his critics fear Correa will use a popular assembly to bypass the congress and secure broader presidential powers as Chavez did in Venezuela by eliminating limits on immediate re-election and extending the presidential term in office from five to six years.

Correa is popular and many Ecuadoreans are fed up with their traditional political class, but his political movement has no representatives in the congress. Correa’s supporters in January stormed the congress to demand lawmakers accept the president’s proposal for a referendum.

Ecuador says Congress vote prompts debt reform

QUITO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Ecuador's economy minister said on Wednesday that Congress's vote this week to reduce debt service assignments in the budget plan had given the government more reason to push ahead with its debt restructuring plans.
Economy Minister Ricardo Patino, a leftist economist, also said a commission to audit the country's public debt would be named soon to determine "illegitimate debt" that the government says it will not pay.
President Rafael Correa, a political outsider elected last year, has rattled Wall Street by promising to overhaul the country's foreign debt, triggering concerns that Ecuador might default on its obligations.
"Congress has put at my disposal the option of a debt restructuring to reduce debt payments, and we will certainly consider it," Patino told reporters in Quito. "This is one more reason to talk about debt restructuring."
Congress's vote on Tuesday to divert $283.4 million earmarked for debt payments in the government's $9.8 billion budget plan this year worried investors who are already fretting over the government plans to reform bonds.
"This is an example of the contentious nature in which external debt is viewed in Ecuador, where there is a weak credit culture," said Lisa Schineller, of Standard and Poor's in New York.
"But I don't think that would impact the government's decision to move ahead with a restructuring if that is what they choose to do," she added.
Correa, a former economy minister and ally of U.S. foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has vowed to slash debt payments to spend more on the country's poor majority.
Even at a time when Ecuador is flush with oil cash from high oil prices, Correa has said some debt issued by past governments is hurting the country's development.
However, the 43-year-old economist has said debt restructuring could be delayed by his political plans to rewrite the Andean country's constitution.
The foreign debt of Ecuador, South America's fifth-largest oil producer, totaled $10.21 billion in December, according to government figures.

Ecuadorean president hopes new regional lending institution created in 4 months

IHT, Feb 24, 2007.

QUITO, Ecuador: Ecuador's new leftist president said Saturday that he hopes a new regional lending institution will be established within four months.

The Banco del Sur, or Bank of the South, will help combat the "international bureaucracy" of high-cost loans offered by financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Rafael Correa said in a nationwide radio address.

"We hope (the bank) is created within 120 days so we can finance ourselves with the region's own funds," he said.

Correa said that even the IMF's low-interest loans are unacceptable because the institution imposes "unacceptable conditions" such as fines that make them more expensive than commercial loans.

The new bank was approved at a summit of the Southern Common Market, or Mercosur, last July.

Correa, who took office Jan. 15, said this new regional institution would "drastically lower" loan costs.

Correa has vowed to cut ties with the IMF, and has promised to renegotiate the country's US$16.4 billion (€12.5 billion) foreign debt and direct resources to programs that help the poor.

Earlier this month, the economy minister said Ecuador would not sign an agreement allowing the IMF to monitor the country's economic plan.

Venezuela already has set aside US$500 million (€382 million) in financing for Ecuador. On Thursday, Venezuelan Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas said it was still not decided how the financing would be extended to Ecuador, although he favors the purchase of Ecuadorean government bonds.

Ecuador, Venez Sever Oil Transnats

Esmeraldas, Ecuador, Feb 24 (Prensa Latina) With the beginning of direct exchange of crude oil for by-products, Ecuador and Venezuela did away Saturday with transnational mediators that drain Latin American economies.

"We are taking a first step by eliminating intermediation. We have learned of some mafias in our country that were capable of threatening the government of President Hugo Chavez," stated Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez.

Interviewed by press at Balao sea port in this city, northeast Ecuador, the official highlighted Caracas will to seal direct accords among state regional companies to avoid economic damages.

"We are convinced that state oil companies have lot more in common than intermediation and transnational interests," said Ramirez.

After the arrival here of the first shipment of 220,000 barrels of diesel, the Venezuelan minister noted that this operation is part of a series of projects and agreements signed with this country, including other sectors.

Accompanied by his Ecuadorian counterpart Alberto Acosta, Ramirez expressed his will of "using energy as a tool to join our peoples and build new economic and cultural opportunities."

With the arrival Friday of the ship with diesel, one of the eight agreements inked in January between these two nations was implemented.

The accord includes the delivery of 36,000 barrels of Napo crude oil daily to Venezuela and the purchase of 660,000 barrels of diesel in three shipments through Ecuador.

Ecuador Returns to OPEC

Quito, Feb 22 (Prensa Latina) Ecuadorian Energy Minister, Alberto Acosta, reported the return of his country to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In addition to the many benefits acquired by being a member of the group, Quito will obtain an aggressive policy in foreign trade, Acosta told foreign press.

Only the approval of the president, Rafael Correa, is needed for reintegration to that organization that had been abandoned in 1992.

Details are still pending with the president, as well as negotiating payment of the debt to that organization that amounts to four million euros, he explained.

"Withdrawal from OPEC was a mistake that we intend to correct," the minister further emphasized, reiterating the support of several member nations of the group, Venezuela included.

Acosta explained that since the nation has marginal production, being part of the group offers political support and access to technical advice and possibilities of technical training.

OPEC controls almost a third of all oil sold in the world and it would be beneficial to receive support in a series of projects to develop extraction.

"The most important point for us is that we will need an aggressive foreign trade policy with the Arab countries and other member nations," he pointed out.

He concluded saying that extraction capacity only reaches 530,000 barrels a day between private and state companies combined.

The Health Emergency in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region

From UpsideDownWorld

Written by Hanna Dahlström Thursday, 15 February 2007

Maria del Carmen Villota had a farm with her husband in the community of San Carlos. Every day at lunch time she walked on a road that was covered with crude oil dumped by Texaco. She would leave food for her husband who was working on the farm. She also washed clothes with the water from a nearby stream that was polluted with oil from recent spills.

“When the water rose it brought all the crude in the stream with it to the stream where I got my water, so as I saw the crude I washed and continued on the same,” said Maria.

Maria testified on March 8, 2006 during the judicial inspection carried out in the separation station Sacha Sur, located in the community of San Carlos. Her testimony was part of Aguinda vs. ChevronTexaco, the class-action law suit in which 30,000 farmer and indigenous inhabitants of the Ecuadorian Amazon have sued the multinational for contamination.

Eight months after Maria testified she died of cancer.

Fight and Resist

María del Carmen Villota is another victim of the contamination caused by Texaco (today Chevron) between 1964 and 1992 in the provinces of Orellana and Sucumbíos, where the company initiated the oil exploitation in the country. While Aguinda vs. ChevronTexaco continues in the court of Lago Agrio, more victims die due to the contaminating practices of a U.S. oil company that only cared about maximizing profits, while ignoring the well-being and health of the Ecuadorian people.

The purpose of this report is not only to present health statistics and the existing proof of contamination, but also to encourage people to use this information to fight and resist the injustices that the people in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, who are living in a state of health emergency, suffer.

This report focuses on three rights: the right to clean water, the right to health, and the right to medical assistance.

The Right to Clean Water

Access to water is a fundamental right assured by the state according to articles 20 and 42 of the Ecuadorian Constitution. Water is needed to survive and to carry out various daily and vital activities.[i]

In spite of the fact that access to this resource has been recognized nationally and internationally as an indispensable human right, Texaco systematically dumped 18.5 billion gallons of carcinogenic and toxic waste to an infinite number of marshes, streams, and rivers in the provinces of Orellana and Sucumbios. An analysis of 412 water samples from the region and inspected by the Court found that 99 percent of the samples taken contain levels of toxins which exceed the standards permitted by law and represent a risk to human health.[ii]

In 1992, when Texaco left its operations in Ecuador, it abandoned more than 1,000 pools which held such toxic substances as chromium 6, lead, barium, and cadmium. The known carcinogen chromium 6, which is used to prevent corrosion during perforation of wells, can, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “cause stomach upsets and ulcers, convulsions, kidney and liver damage, and even death.”[iii] Texaco itself admits that the pools lacked lining [iv], which is used to protect the pools from leaching toxins. Instead, throughout the years the toxic contents of the pools filtered into the ground water, streams, and rivers, slowly killing an already diminished farmer and indigenous population.

Due to economic reasons, and with complete disregard to the human costs, the company decided not to eliminate the waste in an adequate way. 100 percent of the 42 sites inspected by the Court, show levels of toxins that surpass those permitted by the law, and of the 29 inspected sites that were supposedly “remediated”, 100 percent show contamination. Environmental remediation deals with the removal of contaminants from soil, sediment, groundwater, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment and is subject to an array of regulatory requirements according to the contract Texaco signed with the Ecuadorian government.

Since 1993, Petroecuador is now responsible for oil exploitation in the region. According to a report by the Office of the Comptroller General of the State, between June 1, 2000 and August 30, 2004, petro-production let out 83 million barrels of drilling water due to the lack of re-injection technology.[v] The technology that Petroecuador inherited from Texaco is a threat to the lives of Ecuadorians as well as to humanity for its destruction of the ecosystem. The company continues to use the same contaminating practices.

The Right to Health

The impacts of oil exploitation on health have been proven through various scientific studies carried out all over the world. Much of this information, based on peer-reviewed research, was compiled in a report by the prestigious Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment. The report concludes that oil exploitation exposes workers and communities to health risks, due to the exposure to chemicals, metals, drilling mud and accidental explosions.[vi]

Meanwhile, despite the abundance of existing research on the link between cancer cases and other diseases and with the permanent exposure to the toxins of the oil activities,[vii] Texaco continues to arrogantly allege that diseases from which the population in the region suffers are due to the lack of hygiene.[viii] The compounds used in the exploitation phases such as organic volatile hydrocarbons like benzene, metals such as barium, chromium, and zinc, water with high levels of salt, and the radioactive materials are highly toxic both to human health and the environment.[ix] The National Tumor Registry show that the rates of diagnosed cancer cases, based on medical histories registered in the capital Quito, has risen exponentially since the creation of this registry in 1984.[x]

The State should guarantee, promote, and protect the right to health through prevention of environmental contamination and recuperation of degraded spaces of nature as mandated in articles 42 and 86, number two in the Political Constitution of Ecuador.

Without a doubt, children are the most affected by the contamination and the most vulnerable. The leukemia rate in children 0 to 4 years of age who live in regions with oil exploitation is three times higher than in other parts of the country. The scientists who carried out the comparative study, Dr. San Sebastian and Dr. Anna-Karin Hurtig, investigated in regions with oil exploitation and in areas free from exploitation.[xi]

The women, who in many instances are heads of the household,[xii] are permanently exposed to the water contaminated with hydrocarbons, [xiii] because of their responsibilities to provide the basic necessities such as clean water and to wash.[xiv] The Yana Curi study resumes that women who live in the proximity of oil wells and separation stations in the Ecuadorian Amazon presented a higher frequency of symptoms related to the exposure to oil.[xv] Another study published in the International Journal of Occupation and Environmental Health found the rate of miscarriages to be 2.5 times higher in the communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon exposed to oil contamination than that in similar communities which are not. Other factors were taken account for, such as age of pregnancy, state of the pregnancy and socio-economic status, but none of these could explain the high incidence of the association between miscarriages and living in the proximity of oil fields. [xvi]

The Right to Medical Assistance

“The doctors told us to go to Quito to bring my three children to be cured, because it was due to contamination. But without money we couldn’t bring them and they died. One was 3 years old, the other 2 and the third 5 months.”[xvii]

Amnesty International affirms that women and children in marginalized communities in Ecuador often lack access to medical assistance.[xviii] On the local level, the Board of Health of the Bi-provincial Assembly of Orellana and Sucumbios also report the lack of medical assistance, since private medical assistance is not an alternative for the poorest population of the country.[xix]

In 2004, the Pan-American Journal of Public Health of the OPS (a regional organization of the World Health organization) concluded that the region suffers a “health emergency,” referring to the study by the same journal and titled “Oil Exploitation in the Ecuadorian Amazon: a Public Health Emergency” of Drs. Sebastian and Hurtig, which indicates that in communities close to oil wells, the most common health problems are skin fungus, head ache, eye irritation, ear pain, as well as “an excess in cancer.” [xx]

Ecuador’s newly elected president Rafael President Correa visited the Ecuadorian Amazon close to the Day of the Amazon, February 12, which is a day in homage to Francisco de Orellana’s “discovery” of the Amazon river in 1542. But it also marks 465 years of Amazonian resistance to colonization.

Correa is following in the footsteps of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and announced his position to increase oil exploitation in order to fund the health services, thereby offering the disease as the cure and stripping an already suffering population of their last dignity.[xxi]

It is necessary to not only research the imminent health emergency and the impacts of oil exploitation in human health from the studies mentioned in this report, but also take action to prevent further deterioration of the health of a population which is paying the price of Texaco’s toxic legacy. Any action adopted by the national government should focus on the prevention of the diseases that the population in the north of the Ecuadorian Amazon region has been exposed to.

This can be accomplished by averting further contamination from oil exploitation, and taking into account those populations which are most affected and most distant from the urban centers where the medical services usually are located. Such measures will not only lead to the recognition of the interdependence of human health and the environment, but will also contribute to the recuperation of the cultural values of the farmer and indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Contact Hanna Dahlström at hannagoanna@hotmail.com

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[i] Constitución Política de la República del Ecuador, art. 20 y 42. [Constitution].

[ii] Estos y todos los resultados de laboratorio del muestreo de suelos y aguas en las inspecciones judiciales

reposan en los archivos de los demandantes y de la corte de Lago Agrio, donde son parte de la evidencia.

[iii] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services www.atsdr.cdc.gov.

[iv] Glaubitz, Kurt. “Trial in Ecuador.” Second Quarter 2004: 5.

[v] Auditoria ambiental a la gestión de Petroproduccion en los procesos de explotación y producción de crudo, relacionados con fluidos y lodos de perforación y aguas de formación en las provincias de Orellana y Sucumbios. Abril 2005: 18.

[vi] Epstein, Paul R. y Jesse Selber, eds. “Oil: A Life Cycle Analysis of its Health and Environmental Impacts.” The Center for Health and the Global Environment. 2002.

[vii] Clapp, Richard W., Howe, Genevieve K., y Shevaun Aysa Mizrahi, “Oil Extractions and Its Human Health Impacts in the Amazon Region of Ecuador”. Julio 2006.

[viii] “Texaco en Ecuador.”

y ver a David O’Reilly, CEO de Texaco, entrevista con la British Broadcasting Corporation disponible en

http://www.pbs.org/previews/extreme_oil/

[ix] Dutton, A., Smyth, R., Nance, H., Mulligan, J., Gu, Y. “History, Regulation, and Closure of Abandoned Centralized and Commercial Drilling-Fluid Disposal Sites in Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.” Bureau of Economic Geology, the University of Texas at Austin, Reprinted from Proceedings of the 2000 Ground Water Protection Council Annual Forum, September 24-27, 2000, Ft. Walton Beach, FL.

[x] Auditoria ambiental a la gestión de Petroproduccion en los procesos de explotación y producción de crudo, relacionados con fluidos y lodos de perforación y aguas de formación en las provincias de Orellana y Sucumbios. Abril 2005.

[xi] Hurtig AK. and San Sebastian M., “Incidence of Childhood Leukemia and Oil Exploitation in the

Amazon Basin of Ecuador”, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 10(3):245-50 (2004).

[xii] El estado de los derechos de niñez y la adolescencia en Ecuador 2005.” Observatorio de los Derechos de la Niñez y la Adolescencia, UNICEF, Fundación Observatorio Social del Ecuador. Quito, 2006: 194.

[xiii] San Sebastián M., Armstrong B y Stephens C. “La Salud de mujeres que viven cerca de pozos y estaciones de petróleo en la Amazonía ecuatoriana.” Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica, 9(6): 375-384 (2001), (comunidades dependientes de arroyos altos en TPH’s demostraron la prevalecía significativamente mayor de hongos de la piel, irritación nasal, irritación de garganta, fatiga, dolores de cabeza, irritación de ojos, dolores de oído, diarrea y gastritis).

[xiv] Camacho Zambrano, Gloria. “Mujeres al borde: Refugiadas colombianas en el Ecuador.” Quito, Ecuador: UNIFEM, 19.

[xv] “Informe Yana Curi: Impactos de la actividad petrolera en poblaciones rurales de la Amazonia Ecuatoriana” Instituto de Epidemiología y salud comunitaria “Manuel Amunarriz”. Coca, 2000.

[xvi] San Sebastian M., Armstrong B. y Stephens C., “Outcomes of pregnancy among women living in the proximity of oil fields in the Amazon basin of Ecuador.” International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Health, 8(4):312-9 (2002).

[xvii] Maldonado, Adolfo y Alberto Narváez. Ecuador ni es, ni será ya, país amazónico. Quito: Acción Ecológica, 2003.

[xviii] Amnistía Internacional. “Informe 2006”.

[xix] “Gobierno y petroleros incumplen los acuerdos firmados con la Asamblea de Orellana-Sucumbios” Comision de Prensa de Orellana. Boletín de prensa. 15 de diciembre de 2006.

[xx] San Sebastián M y AK Hurtig. “Oil exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador: a public health emergency.” Revista Panamericana de Salud Publica, 2004; 15(3): 205-211.

[xxi] “Gobierno está revisando los contratos petroleros en busca de ilegalidades; no descarta declarar caducidad.” El Comercio. 3 feb 2007

Ecuador's 'citizens' revolution'

Duroyan Fertl,
Green Left Weekly, 8 February 2007

Since his January 15 inauguration, President Rafael Correa has set about implementing his plan for changing Ecuadorian society, centred on a “citizens’ revolution” to refound the country and begin the construction of a “socialism of the 21st century” by investing economic wealth in social spending on health, education, housing and the environment.

In an effort to curb pollution, on February 3 Correa declared that Ecuador would suspend the contracts of oil companies who needlessly damage the environment. The decision follows the recent announcement that the Ecuadorian government had made US$1 billion from the oilfields of Oxy Petroleum, whose concessions were revoked a year ago for breach of contract. Correa has announced his intention to renegotiate contracts with other oil companies to give the government a larger share of the profits, to use for social spending.

Already under investigation is Brazil’s Petrobras, which holds the right to explore Oil Block 31, located in one of the world’s most biologically diverse regions. Another target of the government’s ire is a mine planned by Ascendant Copper in Junin. Ascendant’s environmental impact statement was rejected in late 2006, and the company is also accused of using paramilitary groups to intimidate and assault local opponents of the mine.

On February 5, Ecuador announced that it will take Colombia to the International Court of Justice over the spraying of glyphosate near the border and over parts of Ecuador. In December last year, Ecuador temporarily withdrew its ambassador from Colombia over the issue. The spraying is part of the US-funded “war on drugs” and is designed to kill coca plants, the source of the raw material for cocaine. However, it also leads to massive environmental damage, birth defects and the poisoning of the watertable.

The government’s new budget, delivered on January 31, promised a $1 billion reduction in foreign debt payments and repeated the government’s intention to renegotiate much of the debt. The government also outlined a plan to reform the tax system, lowering the value-added tax from 12% to 10% while increasing company taxes. On February 1, Correa announced the doubling of social benefits to more than a million of the poorest and most vulnerable, including the sick and single mothers.

Correa has already suffered some setbacks, however. Banana-growers have protested his choice of agriculture minister, Carlos Vallejo — a former associate of Correa’s rival in last year’s presidential election, Alvaro Noboa. Noboa is Ecuador’s richest man and owns numerous banana plantations. He is accused of using child labour and violently breaking strikes. Another associate of Noboa’s, Francisco Cucalon, recently appointed attorney-general, resigned on January 31 amid protests by Correa and others that his appointment was unconstitutional.

Another setback for Correa was the death on January 24, after only nine days in office, of Guadalupe Larriva, Ecuador’s first ever female defence minister. Larriva died in a collision of two military helicopters near Manta air base. She was a former president of the Socialist Party of Ecuador and head of the teachers’ union, and had been planning to renovate the armed forces, including increasing wages for low-ranking soldiers.

An independent investigation initiated by the government found nothing suspicious about the death. Nevertheless, Correa has replaced the head of the army. He has appointed another woman, Lorena Escudero, as defence minister. Since coming to power, Correa has also replaced three police chiefs, the latest on January 27, as he attempts to reform an institution rife with corruption.

The most important part of Correa’s reform program, the convoking of an assembly to rewrite the constitution, similar to efforts in Venezuela and Bolivia, has set the scene for a major showdown with the political forces traditionally dominant in Ecuador. The Constituent Assembly, which is supported by upwards of 75% of Ecuadorians, has been hindered by the traditional parties that dominate the Congress and Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), which fear it will reduce their power.

The TSE deliberately dragged its heels on declaring the legality of a planned March 18 referendum on the Constituent Assembly, before handballing the decision to the Congress after hundreds of pro-assembly protesters broke into the courtroom on January 23. Congress, also hostile to Correa, has since been stalling on the bill, as the parties debate the exact powers that the assembly will have and attempt to water it down to ensure their continuing control.

On January 30, thousands of protesters stormed the Congress, demanding it pass the bill, chanting “Death to the rats!” and “Down with the Congress, yes to the assembly!” Authorities evacuated the building and dispersed protesters with tear-gas. Protesters were also incensed that members of Congress, regarded by most Ecuadorians as corrupt, had also just voted to increase their salaries.

On February 6, the Congress blocked a vote on the assembly. The Patriotic Society Party of former president Lucio Gutierrez, who was overthrown in a popular uprising in 2005, had previously promised to support the bill but refused to vote for it. The PSP is the second largest party in Congress with 24 out of 100 seats, giving it the balance of power. It is widely believed that the PSP’s support for the bill will be conditional on them gaining key positions in the assembly and in the government.

Correa, who described Gutierrez as a “viper”, has threatened that if the Congress continues to stall or doesn’t pass the bill, it will be bypassed. Vice-President Lenin Moreno has suggested that an “ad hoc” committee could be convoked to set the parameters for the Constituent Assembly. Correa has also threatened to call further mass demonstrations to force the Congress to pass the bill, saying “The fight here is between the Congress and 13 million Ecuadorians”.

The social movements are feeling similarly frustrated. Humberto Cholango, of the indigenous organisation ECUARUNARI, has threatened that an indigenous uprising could be organised to force the issue. Similar uprisings have led to the overthrow of three presidents in the last decade. ECUARUNARI, the main indigenous federation CONAIE and dozens of other social movements and organisations have united to form the National Front for the Plurinational Constituent Assembly. A massive march on Quito is planned for March 13 to demand the Congress obey the popular mandate.

Correa's challenge

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has promised radical change but faces heavy opposition in Congress that will test the patience of his constituency.

Commentary by Sam Logan for ISN Security Watch (06/02/07)

Even though he has only been in office since 15 January, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa - the country's ninth president in a decade - is feeling the pressure to make good on his election promises as his supporters and others clash with police.

Correa's supporters expect him to deliver results after listening to a number of promises made during his presidential campaign. At the top of the list is a popular referendum, which by his second day in office, Correa had announced his intention to call for 18 March. Ecuadorians would vote on a number of Correa's proposed reforms, including a Constitutional Assembly.

Defying Correa's order to move forward with the referendum, Ecuador's electoral court ruled that the request for a popular referendum must be passed by the Congress, where it will surely face crippling opposition.

On 30 January, students, workers and a mass of Correa's supporters forced their way in to Ecuador's congressional building, with sticks, rocks and bottles, chanting "death to the rats" and "down with Congress, yes to the popular assembly." Congressional leader Jorge Ceballos closed the legislature and accused the Correa administration of inciting the protesters. But such endorsement for the new president may be short-lived if he fails in his pledges.

Correa ran as an independent, standing on a platform that would rally the support of a number of smaller groups, from students and workers to indigenous rights groups. His political party, Alianza Pais (AP), has no representation in Congress, where his opponent, Alvaro Noboa, controls the largest block with 28 of 100 seats. The second largest block, with 24 seats, falls under the influence of former Ecuadorian president Lucio Gutierrez, who has presidential ambitions. Correa does not appear to have focused on building an alliance within Congress.

Instead, the president will likely circumvent congressional oversight through a Constituent Assembly. According to a 20 January Cedatos/Gallup poll, Correa's approval rating is currently above 70 percent, while that of Congress hovers just under 15 percent. With these numbers, Correa will have for a limited time the political capital necessary to push through a popular referendum. However, Congress is likely to dig in, knowing a Constitutional Assembly will likely call for early elections.

If Correa forces congressional elections by decision of an assembly, his popularity may hold long enough to gain backing in Congress. The rewards are great, but the risks are greater. Betting on popular support to outlast the legislatures' efforts to defend its position may result in a stalemate that would test Ecuadorians' patience. Correa knows how quickly popular support can turn into calls for his removal. Some of his predecessors lasted only three days.

But as Congress debates the popular referendum, Correa is already at work making good on smaller promises. He has begun cleaning out the top ranks of the national police, fulfilling his promise to root out corruption there.

In the aftermath of a helicopter crash on 24 January that killed Ecuadorian Defense Minister Guadalupe Larriva, investigations revealed sloppy planning and Correa quickly dismissed Army Chief Pedro Machado.

By signing oil deals with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to improve Ecuador's refining process, Correa has sealed a geopolitical relationship between the two countries that for now will help Ecuador manage its oil assets. Deals with Venezuela will boost technical expertise and refining necessary to keep Ecuador's oil revenue flowing. Correa has taken the first steps toward the larger goal of placing more of Ecuador's oil assets under state control, and he will likely spend windfall oil revenue on social programs that will buoy approval ratings.

Correa has also said he would not sign a Free Trade Agreement with the US. He is also not likely to renew a US military lease to use the Ecuadorian airbase in Manta. Both are popular moves among his constituents.

Appeasing Ecuador's indigenous community, Correa announced on 5 February that his government would suspend contracts with any oil company that needlessly damaged the environment. His administration's first probe will be into the operations of a Brazilian company inside of one of Ecuador's natural preserves.

This list of measures and others scheduled to come in the next few weeks will keep Correa's approval ratings high for the foreseeable future. But the outcome of plans for a popular referendum will determine the end result of Correa's presidential term.

As Ecuador's Congress digs in, Correa is likely to stoke popular sentiment. But he must be careful. Correa's election shows that Ecuadorians demand radical change. And it is unclear how much time they are willing to give him to make good on his promises.

Ecuador probes oil companies over pollution

QUITO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said on Saturday the government would suspend contracts with any foreign oil company found to have needlessly damaged the environment.

"Any company ... state-run or private, that unnecessarily (damages) Ecuador's environment, or does not fulfill its contract, will face sanctions," Correa said in his weekly radio address.

Correa, a 43-year-old former economy minister, has made investors nervous by pledging to limit debt payments and rework foreign oil contracts to raise the government's share of booming oil revenues.

He said the government is investigating suspected irregularities committed by companies involving pollution in the country's Amazon jungle region.

The probe could be focused on Brazil's Petrobras, which is developing oil block 31, located at the heart of one of the world's biggest protected natural reserves.

"But of course, if we find out that Petrobras or any other company has committed irregularities we will terminate their contracts," said Correa.

In 2004, Petrobras won a license to explore block 31, part of which is located in a reserve considered one of the world's most bio-diverse areas and home to tribes who have maintained the same way of life for thousands of years.

Petroecuador urgently requires US$1bn, eyes refinery - Ecuador

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Business News Americas

Ecuador's state oil company Pteroecuador urgently requires US$1bn to stabilize and improve production levels, Petroecuador's new executive president Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli said in a company statement.

Although US$1bn is needed immediately, the company requires a total US$10bn for investments, including refinery developments, Pareja said.

The country aims to increase its 170,000b/d refining capacity in order to diminish reliance on imports of derivatives and Pareja expressed his belief a new refinery will be built in Manabí.

Petroecuador could develop a new refinery with its Venezuelan counterpart PDVSA under the cooperation agreement signed just after Ecuador's President Rafael Correa assumed power this month.

The new refinery would require four years to develop, according to the statement.

Ecuador imported 24Mb for US$2bn of derivatives in 2006. The country is due to spend US$2.3bn in 2007 on derivatives.

Petroecuador also must recover its financial and administrative autonomy from the economy ministry this year as oil resources go directly to the ministry, Pareja added.