My job
involves a lot of work online, looking for interesting websites, finding
articles to get more insight in the current situation of Ecuador. Every now and
then I bump into articles that really open my eyes. They give me new insights
on topics I already kind of made my mind up about.

That´s what
happened to me today, surfing the web I found an article written by Kurt
Glaubitz for Chevron, one of the major oil companies in the world. The article
had some interesting paragraphs on the positive impact of Chevron (or actually
its daughter Texaco) in Ecuador. For instance on the economical impact of the
oil industry in Ecuador:

´From 1972 until 1992, the
consortium, of which TexPet (collaboration between Texaco and Petroecuador) was
a minority equity holder, produced more than 1.7 billion barrels of oil from
the Oriente. That production generated significant revenue for the country.
During those two decades, the consortium contributed about $25 billion inside
Ecuador, a figure that represented 50 percent of the country’s gross national
product over that period.´. The economic impact of the oil industry has been
incredible. It has certainly served Ecuador well. Jobs have been created, the
government gets huge funds to support the country and the best thing is; the
rainforest has hardly been damaged, according to Chevron.

´The consortium’s oil-production
activities contributed only minimally to deforestation. The consortium’s area
of operations totalled 6,400 acres (about 2,600 hectares). That represents 0.02
percent of the 32 million acres (13 million hectares) that comprise the
Ecuadorian rain forest, and much of that concession area remained untouched by
oil operations.´

Several organisations have found
themselves in courtrooms all over the world to ensure the safety of the
environment and to preserve the way of living of many indigenous communities.
Chevron is, nevertheless, proud to announce that they have been very active in
supporting small projects in indigenous communities.

´Texaco
Petroleum Co. (TexPet) was actively involved in community activities during its
involvement in the oil-producing consortium in Ecuador, as well as during the
period it was managing the remediation program. The company made financial
contributions to numerous hospitals and clinics and to projects that brought
potable water to economically depressed areas of the Oriente. The company also
provided funding to assist Ecuadorian recipients of Fulbright scholarships to
teach abroad.´

So you
might ask; ´what’s wrong with this picture?´.

Well, there are a few side effects to the
contribution of Texaco in Ecuador. Especially related to small communities in
the rainforest and the rainforest itself. My work has taken me to small
communities in the rainforest. One of these communities is called Sumak Sacha.

Sumak Sacha
is a small indigenous community not too far away from Tena. Sumak Sacha´s
location is absolutely breathtaking. In the middle of the rainforest right next
to the river Rio Napo it is an incredible place to visit. Unfortunately there
was something more than just rainforest in the area. Sumak Sacha is located
right on top of a big oilfield. Texaco found out about this and decided to put
a big oil refinery right next to this small village. Obviously this had great
impact on the lives of the people from Sumak Sacha. Texaco obviously knew that
they had to make some concessions to the community. They agreed to pay a yearly
contribution of $900,00 USD to compensate for the inconvenience.

A promise
was made to the community that jobs would be offered to the members of community
as well.

All of
these promises were lived up to by the multibillion company. The $900,00 USD
was payed yearly and jobs were offered.

Unfortunately
the community was not yet aware of all of the negative impacts of the Texaco
intrusion in their way of life.

At this
moment dozens of trucks are driving through the small town daily to get to the
riverside. Dumping their waste in the Rio Napo has already caused the soil to
be polluted, as well as the river. Pollution of the river goes on for miles
downstream affecting the way of life of several other communities in the area.
The community is unable to grow crops on their land due to the pollution of the
soil. The jobs offered to the community members by Texaco are scarce and the
company pays terrible wages, even for Ecuadorean standards.

The
financial contribution to Ecuador is enormous and deforestation due to the
presence of the oil companies is relatively small. Texaco has certainly
financially contributed a lot to the development of the country, but none of
this justifies the exploitation and deceit of small indigenous communities.
Neither does this justify the pollution of rivers like the Rio Napo and its
surrounding area.

Articles like the one by Kurt Glaubitz for Chevron
open my eyes. Not about what they mention, but about what they fail to mention.