By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

 QUITO, Ecuador – A judge in Ecuador has awarded $8.64 billion to Ecuadorian residents of the Amazon who had sued Chevron for years of crude oil pollution.  The award is set to double if Chevron does not apologize within two weeks.

Both sides have indicated that they will appeal the verdict.

Chevron claims that the court’s verdict is the “product of fraud.”  The plaintiffs assert that the award is too small in relation to the cost of the pollution’s cleanup. In addition, Chevron alleges that “the Ecuadorian court’s judgment is illegitimate and unenforceable.”

The lawsuit charged that the oil company used a variety of substandard production practices in Ecuador that resulted in pollution that “decimated” several indigenous groups in the area.

According to the Amazon Defense Coalition, Chevron has admitted that Texaco, its predecessor, dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into Amazon waterways, abandoned more than 900 waste pits, burned millions of cubic meters of gases with no controls and spilled more than 17 million gallons of oil due to pipeline ruptures.  The coalition claims that cancer and other health problems were reported at higher rates in the area.

Luis Yanza, a spokesperson for the Assembly of those Affected by Chevron, said at a news conference that the ruling was “historic” and a “collective victory.”  Yanza was also quick to proclaim that the award was fairly insignificant in terms of the harm that 30 years of pollution has had on the area.

The judgment against Chevron is the latest skirmish in 18 years of litigation between the Amazon indigenous groups and Chevron, which inherited the lawuit when it purchased Texaco in 2001.

Although both parties will appeal, Humberto Piaguaje, a local leader, called the judgment “a victory for the population that lives in the oil-producing area in northern Ecuador.”  “The judge did justice and has seen reality,” said Piaguaje. “We know that this is only one part of our fight and we will continue until there is justice and the damage is healed. The world should know that what happened in the Amazon and our fight for life, for justice.”

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg – Chevron’s $17 Billion Ecuador Judgment May be Unenforceable, Analysts Say – 15 Febraury 2011

CNN – Appeals Planned after Amazon Residents Win Ruling Against Chevron – 15 February 2011

Reuters – Snap Analysis – Chevron-Ecuador Case Only at Beginning of the End – 14 February 2011

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina—On Monday, Argentina declared that it intends to lodge a formal protest against Washington, D.C.  The protest stems from an incident that occurred last week, wherein Argentine officials say they confiscated undeclared weapons, spy equipment, and drugs from a U.S. military aircraft.  The authorities claim they seized almost 1,000 cubic feet of such cargo.

The aircraft involved is a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane.  The plane was searched by Argentine customs officials last Thursday at the Ezeiza International Airport.  According to Argentine officials, it had landed with experts ready to engage in a routine hostage rescue training exercise—something they consider a ruse to bring the undeclared items.  A U.S. Special Forces team had been invited into the country to give the training course to Argentina’s federal police.

Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner’s administration announced that they would be lodging the protest with Washington, D.C. in order to request that it help investigate what they called the Air Force’s attempt “to violate Argentine laws by bringing in hidden material in an official shipment.”  The South American country has categorized the cargo seized from the plane as “sensitive material,” stating Sunday:  “Among the material seized, which the State Department makes no reference to, are from weapons to different drugs, including various doses of morphine.”

Machine guns, ammunition, and spy equipment were listed as some of the items found on board.  Argentine officials said that these had not been properly declared in a manifest submitted by the U.S. embassy.

After the incident, the assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Arturo Valenzuela, telephoned Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman to complain about the way that Argentine officials handled the search of the plane.  Timerman’s response was:  “Argentine law must be complied with by all, without exception.”

U.S. officials have denied any wrongdoing, and one explained:  “We do respect their laws; we do respect their sovereignty.”  The official said every gun was declared but extra gun barrels were seized because they were not marked with matching serial numbers.

Relations between Argentina and the United States have been strained lately, and President Obama recently decided not to visit Argentina during his first trip to Latin America next month.

For more information, please see:

Washington Post-Argentina, US tangle over military material-14 February 2011

AFP-Argentina seizes illicit cargo on US military plane-14 February 2011

Buenos Aires Herald-US gov’t releases docs detailing bilateral agreement in US plane case-14 February 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA. Brazil – An indigenous rights organization has released what it says are photos of an uncontacted tribe in Brazil that is threatened by the logging across the border. Survival International, the group responsible for the photographs, released them in hopes that it would draw public attention to the illegal logging activities that threaten the tribe’s land.

The photographs show members of an uncontacted Brazilian tribe that is likely to get drawn into conflicts with Peruvian tribes who are fleeing their homes because of the logging. One photo shows five tribe members, some in red tribal paint, standing in front of a hut and looking upward. One man is holding a bow, and another, younger person, holds a machete. Foods including bananas, papayas and cassava can be identified near the tribe members.

In a written statement, Stephen Curry, a Survival International Director, stated that “the illegal loggers will destroy this tribe.”  “It’s vital that the Peruvian government stop them before time runs out. The people in these photos are self-evidently healthy and thriving. What they need from us is their territory protected, so that they can make their own choices about their future.”

Loggers in Peru are forcing indigenous tribes from Peru into Brazil, where, according to Survival International, “the two groups are likely to come into conflict.” Several nongovernmental organizations have urged Peru to act against the logging for years, but those groups have say that not enough had been done yet.

For years, Peruvian officials have denied the existence of these indigenous peoples while they continue to allow exploration of the lands for resources. One advocate for indigenous tribes stated that the publication of these photos “is necessary to reaffirm that these peoples exist, so we support the use of images that prove these facts.”

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Isolated Amazon Tribe Threatened by Logging, Group Says – 13 February 2011

Boston Globe – Uncontacted Tribes in the Amazon – 12 February 2011

CNN – Group Releases Photos on Uncontacted Tribe to Raise Awareness – 1 February 2011

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Argentine Government officials admitted to an increased number of deaths among the country’s poor of indigenous people due to malnutrition and  promised government action to minimize the problem. Reports of malnutrition deaths stemmed from a joint study conducted by London’s Imperial College and the University of Harvard in Boston showing that Argentina, Chile and Venezuela topped the list of overweight people in Latin America.

The Argentine Government has faced criticism for not doing enough to ease poverty among the country’s non-European population. Critics of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner earlier called for more vigorous measures to pursue the government’s poverty reduction programs.

Jose Manuel Urtubey, Governor of the northern province of Salta, said in a television interview that at least five children had died of malnutrition in 2010 and officials recorded another death this year. According to Urtubey, most of these deaths are of indigenous children. The governor warned that more malnutrition cases might be present in isolated indigenous communities that may not have extensive contact with individuals or organizations outside of their group.

Fatalities included an 18-month-old toddler and a 3-year old female child; both of whose deaths were initially attributed to infections. A third case of another 18-month-old toddler, reported to have died due to “septic shock caused by malnutrition,” brought great attention on malnutrition deaths.

The Argentine media was in an uproar after learning of the deaths. The Salta and Buenos Aires media quoted the father of one of the toddlers, who said he lost his child on a day when he returned from work in the woods to find there was nothing at hand that he could feed the children. According to the father, “there are some days when we manage to have a meal to eat and days when we don’t…on that day we had nothing to eat.”

For more information, please see:

Spero News – Argentina: Missionaries Address Malnutrition and Sexual Abuse of Children – 7 February 2011

UPI – Argentina Admits to Malnutrition Deaths Among the Poor – 7 February 2011

Merco Press – Argentine Aborigine Children Die of Malnutrition and Poor Sanitary Conditions – 6 February 2011

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

EASTER ISLAND, Chile—On Sunday, police officers raided a luxury hotel on Easter Island to evict indigenous individuals who had been occupying the building.  The occupants have been protesting the loss of their ancestral lands on Easter Island to tourists and other non-indigenous residents who visit the island to view its famous ancient monolith statues.

Chilean police drove the last of dozens of indigenous Rapa Nui protesters from the Hangaroa Eco Village and Spa hotel, one of the last strongholds captured by them in protest last year.  Members of the Hitorangi clan have remained on the grounds since August of last year and insist that the property was illegally taken from their illiterate grandmother.  They claim that the notoriously cruel dictator General Augusto Pinochet illegitimately sold their grandmother’s land to the Schiess family.  The protesters also argue that there are plans to develop Easter Island to cater to non-indigenous people, and their ancestral lands will be lost.

The police raid on the hotel came just two days before the protesters were scheduled to go to court and discuss ownership of the property.

According to Rodrigo Gomez, the protesters’ lawyer, about 50 armed police officers raided the hotel in order to oust the last 5 inhabitants.  Gomez called the incident “utterly irregular and illegal.”  The Save Rapa Nui website has reported that a Chilean judge had previously refused to allow police to evict the hotel’s occupants.

Last December, over 20 people were wounded by pellet guns shot by police as they tried to scatter Rapa Nui protesters.  Last month, James Anaya of the United Nations spoke out in defense of the Rapa Nui, asking Chile’s government to “make every effort to conduct a dialogue in good faith with representatives of the Rapa Nui people to solve, as soon as possible, the real underlying problems that explain the current situation.”

The Rapa Nui protesters who were squatting in the hotel were arrested by police and then let go to await a court hearing.

Easter Island (officially called Rapa Nui) is a Unesco World Heritage Site and was annexed by Chile in 1888.  It has a population of approximately 4,000.

For more information, please see:

Today Online-Police evict last of Easter Island protesters-7 February 2011

BBC-Police evict Rapa Nui clan from Easter Island hotel-6 February 2011

Herald Sun-Easter Island squatters evicted-6 February 2011