Caso Chevron

Letters: Chevron responds

Financial Post 07/10/2015

A recent letter-to-the-editor by Steven Donziger, a proven racketeer and the American lawyer behind the fraudulent lawsuit against Chevron Corporation in Ecuador, contained false information and inaccuracies. This should not surprise your readers as Donziger has never been truthful about this case.

The facts are straightforward: In 2003, Donziger filed a lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador alleging the company was responsible for environmental pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Unable to produce any scientific evidence to support his claims, Donziger resorted to fraud – colluding with judges and court officials, fabricating evidence and even bribing a judge $500,000 to ghostwrite the judgment against Chevron Corporation. Donziger has yet to refute any of the evidence against him.

The fraudulent lawsuit is also supported by the government of Ecuador, who has paid celebrities and activist groups to support and promote misinformation about the case. Ecuador has also repeatedly used images of oil spills caused by the state-owned oil company, Petroecuador, claiming they are attributable to Chevron. Their goal is to deceive the public by drawing attention away from Petroecuador’s disastrous environmental record and to distract from the fact that Petroecuador has been the only operator in the area for the last 25 years.

Last year, in a 500-page opinion, a U.S. federal court found Donziger and his associates to have violated federal racketeering laws, committing bribery, witness tampering, money laundering, obstruction of justice and wire fraud in obtaining the Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron Corporation. The court found that the Ecuadorian judgment was the product of fraud and unenforceable in the U.S., stating that the actions of Donziger were “offensive to the laws of any nation that aspires to the rule of law, including Ecuador.”

As the U.S. federal court summarized in its decision, “Justice is not served by inflicting injustice.” The wrongful actions of Donziger and his associates only undermine the aims of those who use legitimate means to further the rule of law, advance human rights and promote environmental responsibility. It is shameful – but not at all surprising – that Donziger continues to perpetrate this fraud around the globe.

Stephen W. Green, Vice President, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Corporation

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