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Correa slams report on CIA role in Ecuador strike
by Staff Writers
Quito (AFP) Dec 24, 2013


Chevron tries to reverse Ecuador pollution fine
Quito (AFP) Dec 23, 2013 - Chevron filed a motion with a court in Ecuador Monday seeking to reverse a ruling requiring it to pay $9.5 billion for pollution in the country's Amazon basin region.

The US oil giant, which claims it was the victim of a trial riddled with fraud, in September was ordered to cover the fine for pollution caused by its predecessor Texaco for the 26 years it was in the Ecuadoran region.

The appeal request was filed with the Constitutional Court in Quito. The court will decide if it will accept the appeal. If it does, there is not set time frame for a finding, court sources said.

The US company has also challenged the massive penalty in a US court.

In November, Chevron claimed in New York that corrupt Ecuadoran plaintiffs mounted an elaborate fraud to win a multi-billion-dollar case.

Chevron asked US Judge Lewis Kaplan to block Ecuador from enforcing a $9.51 billion Ecuadoran court award against the company, alleging widespread corruption in the case.

Under the 2011 ruling, Chevron was ordered to pay a $9 billion fine for polluting the Amazon when the US oil company Texaco operated in Ecuador between 1964 and 1990.

Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001. The fine, later increased to $19 billion, was reduced by Ecuador's Supreme Court to $9.51 billion on November 12.

Attorneys representing Ecuadoran plaintiffs say Chevron is trying to evade payment with endless legal challenges.

The case has become a cause celebre for many environmental activists. The rock star Sting, who has supported the litigation against Chevron, attended one of the earlier days of testimony in New York.

Thousands of villagers in the polluted area say they were sickened and many have cancer from the contamination of their water supply from oil spillage.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa warned Monday that reports US intelligence played a role in a 2008 Colombian attack on FARC rebels in his country could threaten regional peace efforts.

Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that a secret Central Intelligence Agency program had helped Colombia kill at least two dozen leftist guerrilla leaders.

And, according to the report, it was thanks to US intelligence that the FARC number two, Raul Reyes, was found and killed in a cross-border attack on Ecuador in 2008 that left 24 dead.

Ecuador temporarily broke diplomatic relations with its Andean neighbor following the incident.

On his Twitter account, Correa wondered if these "very serious" revelations and other recent disagreements between his government and Washington were simply coincidence.

He speculated that the report was an attempt to affect Ecuador's relations with the United States and Colombia and "above all, the peace process" under way between Colombia and the FARC.

"At this point, I don't believe in 'coincidences.' Colombia and the international extreme right are capable of anything!" he wrote.

In Bogota, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon sought to downplay the significance of the report.

"The fact is, and everyone knows, there is nothing new here: we have very close cooperation with the United States," Pinzon told a briefing, when asked about the report.

"That cooperation has been on intelligence, and in special operations, ... we have cooperation with other nations, all of which has helped make Colombia stronger," he stressed.

According to the Post, a secret CIA program in Colombia was initially authorized by president George W. Bush around 2000 and has been continued under his successor Barack Obama.

The covert operation provided intelligence to help locate the FARC leaders and supplied a special GPS guidance kit that helped Colombia convert standard bombs into precise smart munitions.

The 2008 incident triggered a diplomatic crisis between Bogota and Quito, with Ecuador suspecting the attack was orchestrated with the help of the United States, despite denial from Colombian authorities.

The governments fully restored relations in 2011.

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