Indigenous representatives and leaders issued a call for an “uprising” to protest the Ecuadorian government’s development policies and press demands for a pluri-national state.
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The powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, or CONAIE, announced on Friday the rupture of the dialogue with the government of President Rafael Correa and said that it will call for protests and demonstrations.
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The Ministry of Non-Renewable Natural Resources revealed that private oil firms operating in Ecuador will invest $417 million in 2010, representing almost double the $212 million spent in the sector last year.
Private oil companies operating in Ecuador plan to invest more than $417 million in 2010, nearly double last year’s outlay, the Non-Renewable Natural Resources Ministry said Wednesday.
Private oil companies are expected to invest $417.7 million in their Ecuadorean operations this year, up sharply from $212.1 million in 2009, the government said on a statement on Wednesday.
Organizations representing Ecuador’s indigenous peoples announced the rupture of the dialogue that they had been maintaining with government representatives and said they will await the decisions of the General Assembly of indigenous peoples set for later this week to call protest demonstrations.
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The provincial court of Sucumbios has picked a new judge, Leonardo Ordonez Pina, to preside over the Court.
The new judge will take up the case involving a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against Chevron Corp. (CVX).
The provincial court in Ecuador’s Amazon region that is hearing a $27 billion environmental damages case against Chevron Corp (CVX.N) has changed the judge in charge of the case, court officials said on Monday.
The change was described as an administrative matter not expected to impact the outcome of the case.
Leonardo Ordonez, the newly named president of Sucumbios provincial court, was named to replace outgoing court president Nicolas Zambrano. Local law says the court’s chief judge must hear environmental damages cases in the northern province.
“I see no problem with Ordonez continuing the process,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Pablo Fajardo told Reuters.
“It is an administrative matter, a routine rotation of the presidency of the Sucumbios provincial court,” said Chevron spokesman James Craig. “On the face of it, it should not have any impact on Chevron’s case.”
Zambrano took over the case last year when the previous judge, Juan Nunez, stepped down after he was secretly taped discussing the suit with two mysterious men who recorded the conversation with secret cameras stuck inside a wristwatch and a pen.
Plaintiffs accuse Texaco, which was bought by Chevron in 2001, of polluting the Amazon with faulting drilling practices in the 1970s and 1980s. Chevron denies the accusations.
Ecuador’s leftist leader Rafael Correa has said publicly that he sides with the plaintiffs, sparking charges by Chevron of government interference in the case. The initial ruling is expected by both sides to go against Chevron.
But the company vows to appeal any decision for the plaintiffs, ensuring the case will probably stretch for years more.
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