“CGC/ChevronTexaco has no right to violate, intervene, destroy our life and our future. It has to leave immediately, so we may re-establish harmony. We ask for support, solidarity and justice.”

—Declaration of the Kichwa Tayja Saruta Sarayacu Community

Support Sarayacu People / Ecuador - Archived

Imagine an oil spill twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster. Trouble is, it’s not your imagination. It happened in the Amazon region of Ecuador over the two decades between 1971 and 1991, when Texaco routinely dumped toxic wastes from its operations into the pristine rivers, forest streams and wetlands. As a result of the company’s recklessness, 2.5 million acres of rainforest were lost. (See  www.amazonwatch.org/megaprojects/ec_chevtox/.) Indigenous peoples of the region continue to suffer an exploding health crisis, recording cancer rates 30 times higher than in non-oil producing areas of Ecuador. Between 1999 and 2001, the level of petroleum in the rivers, on which local residents depend for daily use, was 200 to 300 times higher than the limits set for human consumption. (Seewww.imagenlatinoamericana.com/salud/salud_en.asp?articleid=225.)

Recently, Texaco merged to become the colossal ChevronTexaco, and today it keeps pushing its oil operations deeper into the Ecuadorian rainforest. Keenly aware of the company’s history of devastation, the Kichwa Sarayacu community has drawn a line at its borders. Numbering about 2,000, the Sarayacu live in Ecuador’s southwestern Amazon, downstream from ChevronTexaco’s devastating path.

“We still maintain our rivers, our forest, our biodiversity and our natural resources free from contamination and take care of this land,” reads a Sarayacu community declaration. “Sarayacu has title to our lands, and the company cannot ignore this.”

At this writing, Sarayacu is building “camps for peace and life” where Sarayacu people and non-violent “witnesses” will stand against further company encroachment. If you would like to serve as an international witness, contact Sarayacu at Sarayacu@sarayacu.com.

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