Great documentary. Saw it last night, a well made piece of investigative journalism. The story details the enormous trial between oil giant Chevron and 30,000 indigenous people from the Amazon in Ecuador. Supposedly Chevron is responsible for dumping millions of gallons of toxic sludge into the rivers surrounding their various plants and as a result the native people around the area have been plagued with various illnesses from cancer to leukemia. An independent study determined that Cheveron could owe up to $27 billion reparations. That's not chump change. Both sides are going back and forth in this trail that started in 1993 and has continued on to this day.
One of the amazing stories coming out of the documentary is about Pablo Fajardo. When he was a young child, he worked for Chevron and witnessed the destruction they were causing and decided to do something about it. He saw the importance of law and studied hard to go to law school and is now representing the Ecuatorian population against Chevron. Synonymous with Latin American politics, Fajardo paid a price. His brother was brutally tortured and murdered. Apparently the hired hit men mistook Pablo's brother for him. The injustice in the world is just staggering.
The trial was moved to Ecuador in 2003 and is still being fiercely fought on both sides. One of Cheverons tactics is to bleed Pablo and his legal help from Amazon Watch of all of their resources and give up. I hope the native people get the justice they are asking for and that this story will be one of justice restored instead of corruption triumphing.
Here is the trailer:
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