Chevron hits out at British documentary on oil pollution in Ecuador

Source: The Guardian

Chevron hits out at British documentary on oil pollution in Ecuador

John Vidal
Wednesday 17 June 2015 16.21 BST

The US oil giant Chevron has attacked the British makers of a short art-house documentary film about oil pollution in the Ecuadorean Amazon featuring the actor Julie Christie reading a Pablo Neruda poem for ignoring the environmental record of the country’s own state oil producer.

The 13-minute film, follows the unresolved, 22-year-long series of legal fights in the US, European and Latin American courts over the dumping by US oil company Texaco of 18bn gallons of toxic wastewater and crude oil in the forest near the town of Lago Agrio between 1964 and 1992.

It has no commentary except for Neruda’s 42-line poem recited by Christie and the words of some “afectados” – people affected by the historic spills.

But Chevron said the film ignored more recent environmental problems. “If those involved in the production of this film truly wanted to help those affected by current social and environmental conditions in Ecuador, they would seek to hold Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and his government accountable,” it said in a statement.

The film uses the Neruda poem to give a historical context to the relationship between foreign corporations and indigenous and other local peoples.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/17/chevron-hits-out-at-british-documentary-on-oil-pollution-in-ecuador