Ecuador: US denies visas to plaintiffs in Chevron case

Ecuador’s foreign ministry announced on September 20 that the US has seemingly denied visas to a delegation set to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, RT.com said the next day. The Ecuadorians were planning to present their case in an ongoing dispute against Chevron-Texaco.

The ministry said the visas for the five Ecuadorian nationals were returned by the US Embassy in Quito “without any explanation”.

RT.com said: “That group was to present testimony during a special event at the UN regarding the ecological impact caused by Chevron-Texaco’s oil operations in the Amazon rainforest region of Ecuador — which contaminated two million hectares, according to the country’s government.
“At stake in the case is a US$19 billion judgement awarded by an Ecuadorean court against Chevron for clean-up and ecological damage, which is currently being fought at The Hague.”

Before the visa denial, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa had launched a campaign dubbed “Chevron’s Dirty Hand”. It seeks a global boycott of Chevron based on its refusal to pay billions in damages.

RT.com reported Correa said: “We will expoEcuador’s foreign ministry announced on September 20 that the US has seemingly denied visas to a delegation set to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, RT.com said the next day. The Ecuadorians were planning to present their case in an ongoing dispute against Chevron-Texaco.

The ministry said the visas for the five Ecuadorian nationals were returned by the US  Embassy in Quito  “without any explanation”.

RT.com said: “That group was to present testimony during a special event at the UN regarding the ecological impact caused by Chevron-Texaco’s oil operations in the Amazon rainforest region of Ecuador — which contaminated two million hectares, according to the country’s government.
“At stake in the case is a US$19 billion judgment awarded by an Ecuadorean court against Chevron for cleanup and ecological damage, which is currently being fought at The Hague.”

Before the visa denial, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa had launched a campaign dubbed “Chevron’s Dirty Hand”. It seeks a global boycott of Chevron based on its refusal to pay billions in damages.

RT.com reported Correa said: “We will expose to the world Chevron's multimillion dose to the world Chevron's multimillion dollar campaign to discredit this country. It is a campaign that involves taking away preferential tariffs, boycotting international trade with the United States.”

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