EcoJustice Radio celebrates the land and water protectors of the Amazon Rainforest in a Four-Part series called Amazon Defenders.
In Part Two, we investigate the story of New York based attorney Steven Donziger [http://donzigerdefense.com] who represented Ecuadorian communities demanding justice from Chevron-Texaco for one of the largest-ever oil disasters, where they deliberately dumped more than 16 billion gallons of toxic wastewater, spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil, and left hazardous waste in hundreds of open pits dug out of the forest floor. In an historic judgement, Chevron was found liable by Ecuadorian courts and ordered to pay $9.5 billion.
Chevron says it will never pay. Instead, they launched an extraordinary racketeering and extortion lawsuit against Mr. Donziger and the Ecuadorian attorneys and various consultants alleging they were all lying about Chevron's pollution and that the entire case was "sham litigation." Chevron has turned our guest Steven Donziger into a corporate political prisoner, placed under house arrest, bankrupt, disbarred.
We look into how Chevron, supported by US federal judges, is using retaliatory attacks against Mr. Donziger and the Ecuadorian Peoples, and how their actions set a dangerous precedent and represent a growing and serious threat to the ability of civil society to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds around the world.
Links:
Donate to Steven Donziger's Defense: http://donzigerdefense.com
Amazon Watch: https://amazonwatch.org/
Chevron Toxico: https://chevrontoxico.com/
Make Chevron Clean Up Their Ecuador Mess: https://www.makechevroncleanup.com/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SDonziger
More info:
Vice Video: https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/amazon-rainforest-oil-disaster-chevron/5f35d23cbfb3245f632e3449
David Sirota on Judicial Corruption in the Case: https://prospect.org/power/chevron-big-oil-power-prosecute-its-biggest-critic/
Chris Hedges on Corporate Tyranny: https://scheerpost.com/2020/08/25/how-corporate-tyranny-works/
Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/
Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/
Support the Podcast: https://socal350.org/contribute-to-socal-350-climate-action/
Hosted by Jessica Aldridge
Engineer: Blake Lampkin
Executive Producer: Jack Eidt
Producer: Emilia Barrosse
Show Created by Mark and JP Morris
Music: Javier Kadry
Episode 84
Photo courtesy Steven Donziger