Indigenous group alleges collusion between ChevronTexaco and Ecuadorian Army officer

A judicial inspection in the trial over environmental damage that pits giant U.S. oil company ChevronTexaco against a group of Ecuadorian indigenous people was prevented last week when the firm’s lawyers submitted a petition along with a report prepared by an Ecuadorian Army intelligence officer, said a press release issued by an indigenous organization. The inspection of Guanta station, an oil installation about 8 hours by road from Quito in the territory of the Cofan nation, was due to take place Oct. 19 but was suspended when, the day before, lawyers for the oil company submitted a petition before a court in Nueva Loja, the capital of Ecuador’s Sucumbios province in the rainforest. Along with the petition was a report prepared by Major Arturo Velasco, the intelligence officer of the 24th Special Forces Group stationed in the same town, said a press release signed by Luis Macas, the leader of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador.

Mr. Macas served in 2003 as minister of agriculture under former president Lucio Gutierrez.

The intelligence report warned of “problems and incidents” with the natives of the area if the inspection was allowed to proceed. Specifically, it mentioned that their intention was to “hold ChevronTexaco officials and others assisting the judicial inspection” by blocking the roads leading to the site, said the press release.

Further, the press release said that Ricardo Reis Veiga, vice president and general counsel for ChevronTexaco Latin America Products, is always surrounded by soldiers when he visits the area.

El Comercio, a Quito newspaper, reported that Coronel Miguel Fuertes, the commander of the parent unit in the area, said that the document was not official and was not proper to send it to the court.

The paper also said that Major Velasco had been disciplined and removed from his unit. However, according to the president of the court no one has yet disputed the legality of the document. The judicial inspection eventually took place Wednesday, the paper said.

The trial proceedings have dragged for 2 years. At issue is the environmental damage done by Texaco before it turned over its assets in the jungle to Petroecuador, Ecuador’s national oil company.

The Cofan are the indigenous inhabitants of an area inside Ecuador’s rainforest east of the Andes. According to a 2004 report by Amazon Watch, the Cofan numbered 15,000 when the first Texaco well was built on their land. Today there are less than 800.