Ecuador Action Update

Report following the ChevronTexaco Annual Shareholder Meeting April 27, 2005

Amnesty's campaign in support of the Ecuadorian Amazon communities affected by ChevronTexaco's oil drilling ‘legacy' hit a high point on April 27 at the company's annual shareholder meeting in San Ramon, CA.

Outside ChevronTexaco's headquarters, more than 100 protestors gathered at 7am for a demonstration along the sidewalk leading into the meeting. Activists carried enlarged photographs of people suffering in the Amazon, along with handmade signs demanding that ChevronTexaco clean up Ecuador. Others made speeches, carried out street theatre and handed out information to people passing by, drawing attention to the "true cost of oil at home and abroad" and calling the company socially and environmentally irresponsible throughout the world. Amnesty International was there with a coalition of concerned investors, community groups, and non-profit organizations, including AmazonWatch, to demand corporate accountability for human rights in Ecuador.

Tony Cruz, Amnesty's Corporate Action Network Coordinator for California  © AI

We went inside the meeting to discuss the Shareholder Proposal to Report on Ecuador, filed by Trillium Asset Management and co-filed by Amnesty International, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and other socially responsible shareholders. Shelley Alpern from Trillium presented the shareholder resolution, which was seconded by Amnesty's Gabriela Jaramillo. The resolution asks the Board of Director's to prepare a report with new initiatives to address the specific health and environmental concerns of the affected communities. Among the issues raised in the presentation of the resolution was the fact that litigation against the company, representing a potential multi-billion dollar liability, has not been reported in their annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

In the shareholder meeting, addressing CEO David O'Reilly, Amnesty highlighted our campaign on this issue and the swift support we have received from our members so that all shareholders and ChevronTexaco's representatives would know that the problem in Ecuador cannot be ignored.

We said: "In the past month, Amnesty has received over two thousand public letters from all over the country asking ChevronTexaco's Board of Directors to implement the shareholder resolution to report on Ecuador that Amnesty has co-filed. ChevronTexaco's legacy in Ecuador is hurting the people living in the Amazon, it's troubling shareholders, it's worrying Amnesty International, and it's upsetting the public in general. Amnesty International joins these active voices in asking ChevronTexaco to clean up this disgraceful and critical chapter in the company's history."

Among us were two dedicated and passionate leaders from the affected areas in Ecuador: Humberto Piaguaje, an indigenous Secoya, and Carmen Pérez, an Ecuadorian Amazon resident and health care provider for one of the towns suffering from the effects of Texaco's operations. We accompanied the Ecuadorian leaders on the last part of their long and intense journey from the South American rainforest to ChevronTexaco's headquarters, where they would speak to the company's CEO, the Board of Directors and large shareholders to illustrate the problems affecting their people.

Humberto spoke eloquently and invited ChevronTexaco's CEO, David O'Reilly, to visit the affected areas and to pay attention to his people's suffering.

"I may be foreign to you but I am human. The jungle was once a great university, market, and hospital to us. Since ChevronTexaco came our university, market and hospital has been vanishing. I am not here to tarnish your image but to find a solution to this crisis."

O'Reilly did not reply and announced that no more questions or comments relating to Ecuador will be heard, preventing Carmen from speaking. Anyone who wanted to speak about Ecuador was turned away from the microphone.

Tony Cruz, Amnesty's Corporate Action Network Coordinator for California, who was also in line to speak, did not take no for an answer and deftly convinced CEO O'Reilly to listen to his question: "If ChevronTexaco would again gain access to Ecuador's vast oil reserves, would it conduct its operations the same way that the Texaco Petroleum Company conducted them when drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon?"

Although O'Reilly had agreed to let him speak, he did not answer the query. He restated the same comment he had made referring to Ecuador: "Texaco left Ecuador in a responsible manner" and he added that Ecuador is not in sight for ChevronTexaco's operations and that he would absolutely not comment on Ecuador anymore.

When the end of the meeting was approaching, Atossa Soltani, director of AmazonWatch, tried to speak and to introduce Carmen Perez to speak. While Ms. Soltani was speaking, CEO O'Reilly ordered the microphones to be shut down and after realizing that this would not silence her, he adjourned the meeting before it was scheduled to end.

Outside ChevronTexaco (CVX) headquarters, the protest had been ongoing for the duration of the meeting. Carmen and Humberto thanked everyone present for our support and friendship and asked that we not abandon them in this struggle. Amnesty International handed over a box filled with over 2,000 activists' letters and messages from all over the country asking the ChevronTexaco (CVX) Board of Directors to report on Ecuador. Carmen and Humberto expressed the emotional impact of coming to a different country and finding so many people eager to help them and to keep fighting for their right to live.

Amnesty International will now move forward in its campaigning, spreading the word on what has happened in Ecuador and convincing ChevronTexaco's shareholders that they not only have the power and responsibility to make a positive impact on their investments but also on people's lives. To join this campaign, email the Corporate Action Network at corpaction@aiusa.org.

View our photo journal from the April 27 shareholder meeting and demonstration.

Read the official Amnesty press releases:
April 27, 2005
Outrage Over Chevron CEO's Conduct At Shareholder Meeting
Joint Statement by Amazon Watch & Amnesty International USA

April 26, 2005
ChevronTexaco Investors on Eve of Shareholder Meeting: Damage to Ecuadorian Amazon Bad for Business, Environment

Other Events:
In addition to attending the shareholder meeting and demonstration, Amnesty co-sponsored a photo exhibit "Crude Reflections, ChevronTexaco's Rainforest Legacy" by the artists Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak. View the exhibit online at www.amazonwatch.org. If you are interested in hosting this exhibit in your community, contact us at corpaction@aiusa.org.

Amnesty International also held a press conference in April 26 in San Francisco with representatives from Trillium, CalPERS and CalSTRS, New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Ecuadorian leaders. Over 1 billion dollars of ChevronTexaco's investments were represented. The press conference was held in conjunction with Larry Fahn, the Sierra Club president, and representatives from Green Century Funds, and the USPIRG who had submitted a shareholder proposal asking the company to report on potential environmental damages and liabilities from drilling in protected and sensitive areas such as the Artic National Wildlife Refugee.