Oil, Ecuador and The Economist: A volcano erupts

The accusing hand

LAST month we published a story about the decision of Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa, to authorise drilling for oil in the Yasuní National Park in the Amazon rainforest (“It’s hard to be green,” September 28th), an idea he had previously resisted. We explained the reasons why he changed his mind—that Ecuador has no easy alternatives to boost oil production and that Mr Correa needs more money to continue his anti-poverty programmes. Then we added:In a bid to deflect the anger of environmentalists at his U-turn, Mr Correa this month turned his rhetorical fire on Chevron. Two years ago, an Ecuadorean court in Lago Agrio, an Amazon town, imposed a colossal $19 billion fine on the company over pollution allegedly caused in the 1970s and 1980s by Texaco, bought by Chevron in 2001. In fact Ecuador’s government reached a final settlement with Texaco in 1998 (the tar pit into which Mr Correa dipped his hand earlier this month is the responsibility of Petroecuador, a state company).Mr Correa himself blamed...



via The Economist: The Americas http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21587825-rafael-correa-lambasts-us-and-empire-capital-volcano-erupts?fsrc=rss|ame