[Fun story. Two special bits: (1) the quote from the Chevron Lobbyist: "We Can't Let Little Countries Screw Around With Big Companies;" and (2) Obama's prospective role -- finally some news with him on the correct side.]
http://www.newsweek.com/id/149090
or
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/29/10677/
July 29, 2008 Newsweek Magazine
Chevron Hires Lobbyists To Squeeze Ecuador in Toxic-Dumping Case
by Michael Isikoff
WASHINGTON/QUITO, Ecuador - Few legal battles have been more exotic
than the lawsuit tried over the past five years in a steamy jungle
courtroom in Ecuador's Amazon rain forest. Brought by a group of U.S.
trial lawyers on behalf of thousands of indigenous Indian peasants, the
suit accuses Chevron of responsibility for the dumping (allegedly
conducted by Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2001) of billions of
gallons of toxic oil wastes into the region's rivers and streams.
Activists describe the disaster as an Amazon Chernobyl. The
plaintiffs-some suffering from cancer and physical deformities-have
showed up in court in native garb, with painted faces and half naked.
Chevron vigorously contests the charges and has denounced the entire
proceeding as a "shakedown."
But this spring, events for Chevron took an ominous turn when a
court-appointed expert recommended Chevron be required to pay between
$8 billion and $16 billion to clean up the rain forest. Although it was
not the final verdict, the figures sent shock waves through Chevron's
corporate boardroom in San Ramon, Calif., and forced the company for
the first time to disclose the issue to its shareholders. It has also
now spawned an unusually high-powered battle in Washington between an
army of Chevron lobbyists and a group of savvy plaintiff lawyers, one
of whom has tapped a potent old schoolmate-Barack Obama.
Chevron is pushing the Bush administration to take the extraordinary
step of yanking special trade preferences for Ecuador if the country's
leftist government doesn't quash the case. A spokesman for U.S. Trade
Representative Susan Schwab confirmed that her office is considering
the request. Attorney Steven Donziger, who is coordinating the D.C.
opposition to Chevron, says the firm is "trying to get the country to
cry uncle." He adds: "It's the crudest form of power politics."
Chevron's powerhouse team includes former Senate majority leader Trent
Lott, former Democratic senator John Breaux and Wayne Berman, a top
fund-raiser for John McCain-all with access to Washington's top
decision makers. (A senior Chevron exec has met with Deputy Secretary
of State John Negroponte on the matter.) Chevron argues that it has
been victimized by a "corrupt" Ecuadoran court system while the
plaintiffs received active support from Ecuador's leftist president,
Rafael Correa-an ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. The company says a
loss could set a dangerous precedent for other U.S. multinationals.
"The ultimate issue here is Ecuador has mistreated a U.S. company,"
said one Chevron lobbyist who asked not to be identified talking about
the firm's arguments to U.S. officials. "We can't let little countries
screw around with big companies like this-companies that have made big
investments around the world."
But Chevron's foes are not without their own resources. Just recently,
Donziger and other trial lawyers in the case retained their own
high-profile D.C. superlobbyist, Ben Barnes, a major Democratic
fund-raiser. And they have tapped a capital connection that may pay off
even more. Roughly two years ago, when Donziger first got wind that
Chevron might take its case to Washington, he went to see Obama. The
two were basketball buddies at Harvard Law School. In several meetings
in Obama's office, Donziger showed his old friend graphic photos of
toxic oil pits and runoffs. He also argued strongly that Chevron was
trying to subvert the "rule of law" by doing an end run on an Ecuadoran
legal case. Obama was "offended by that," said Donziger. Obama vetted
the issue with Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy (who has long worked on Latin
American human-rights issues), and in February 2006 the two wrote a
letter to the then U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman urging the
administration to permit the Ecuadoran peasants to have "their day in
court."
The Obama letter, written before the senator had even announced his run
for president, is now the wild card in the Ecuador-Chevron dispute.
Donziger said he has had no further discussions with Obama on the issue
(although he has co-hosted a New York fund-raiser and, together with
his wife, raised between $40,000 and $50,000 for Obama's campaign). An
Obama spokesman last week said the senator "stands by his position"
that the case is a "matter for the Ecuadoran judicial system." So now
the prospect of an Obama presidency has given additional urgency to
Chevron's plea for help in Washington. Waiting until next year could
leave the oil giant at the mercy of a judge in the Amazon jungle.
With Stephan Küffner in Quito
© 2008 Newsweek