MEPs visited areas allegedly contaminated by Chevron in Ecuador

MEPs of the European United Left Helmuth Scholz and Lola Sánchez visited (July 18, 2017) several contaminated areas in the Ecuadorian Amazon by US oil company Chevron, according to indigenous plaintiffs and local settlers.

The MEPs were invited by the Chevron plaintiffs, who won a multimillion-dollar environmental suit against the US oil company in Ecuadorian courts in 2011, but the company refuses to pay on the grounds that the conviction was the result of a fraud plot against it.

For Scholz, Chevron should accept its responsibility and the pecuniary sentence of USD 9.5 billion imposed by the Ecuadorian justice system.

Moreover, Sánchez recalled that the European Parliament is currently discussing a Binding Treaty on Human Rights and Corporations which precisely aims at combating the abuse of large companies. (I)