In Part 3 of "Chevron vs. the Amazon," The Empire Files continues its investigation into the 22-year legal battle between Chevron Texaco and the state of Ecuador, where the oil company continues to damage the environment and the habitat of tens of thousands of Indigenous Amazonians.
ANALYSIS: Correa: 'Corruption' Lets Chevron off Hook for Amazon Pollution
The progressive government of President Rafael Correa has been waging a legal battle against the oil giant for crimes against people and nature, but the company has been accusing the government of corruption.
“It’s unbelievable, it is cynicism in its most crude form… Chevron accuses ecuador of being corrupt and Chevron is an extremely corrupt entity, it has strived all these years to get his way through its financial power,” Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said.
Ecuador’s Supreme Court has upheld the US$9.5 billion judgment against the oil giant, but Chevron refuses to pay, arguing the agreement released it from any liability.