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 Photo of Patricia Gualinga by Boris Andrade in Gatopardo magazineWonderful news for Giving Tuesday! Ecuador‘s 11th Round Oil Auction that threatened millions of acres of rainforest and indigenous territory is over and it ended last Friday as a dismal failure! Because of your support we were able to see a reduction in the initial oil blocks from 21 to 13 and two extensions to the auction – doubling its original duration – because the bidders weren’t bidding. Of the hundreds of international oil companies that were invited to bid, only 4 ultimately did so. In part due to the tremendous pressure generated by Amazon Watch once we accompanied our indigenous allies around the world demonstrating that communities will oppose every effort to drill on their lands. For the past two weeks we have highlighted the work of our partner and friend, Sarayaku-born activist and leader Patricia Gualinga. While she is pleased that the 11th Round is over and failed overall, Patricia remains concerned about the future of her community, the Amazon and our global climate. Upon hearing the results of the 11th Round, she said:
Please continue to stand with us to make more victories possible and keep up this integral fight for the future of the Amazon, for the indigenous peoples there, and for our global climate. Help us to support Patricia Gualinga as she continues to be one of the powerful voices of indigenous leadership and justice in the Amazon. Thank you from all of us at Amazon Watch on this Giving Tuesday and every day.
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Tag Archives: Ecuador
Eye on the Amazon: The truth has no place in Chevron’s sham trial
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 In what is one of the most unlikely and significant victories in environmental and human rights history, 30,000 indigenous people and campesinos won a $9.5 billion judgment in a class action suit after 20 years of ugly legal battles (now upheld by Ecuador‘s highest court). Unlikely because of the unprecedented and overwhelming pressure placed on the plaintiffs, their supporters, Ecuador and the Ecuadorian judicial system. And significant as it sets an encouraging precedent that those victimized by powerful corporate forces have hope for justice and a way to fight back.So how on Earth could this victory be so ridiculously, unethically and illegally turned on its head and evolve into the shocking display that just played out in a US Federal Court? And what repercussions and worrisome precedents could such reckless actions hold for corporate accountability and legal processes around the world?
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“We can’t feed our children oil.”
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 Patricia Gualinga, fearless Kichwa leader”We can’t feed our children oil.” She stops, her eyes turning up toward an electric rainforest sky. She knows there’s another way. Meet Patricia Gualinga, a Kichwa leader from the Ecuadorian Amazon and one of the most courageous women I’ve had the honor of meeting anywhere. Many miles up the winding Bobonaza River deep in rainforest lives Patricia’s community, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku. They call themselves the People of the Zenith, stemming from an ancient prophecy of their ancestors claiming that Sarayaku would be a pillar of territorial, cultural, and spiritual defense – a beacon of light as strong as the sun the moment it reaches the highest point above their forest lands. “When others have surrendered, Sarayaku will not back down!” And then they prove it again and again, continuously beating back oil drilling plans on their lands, winning landmark cases in the highest international courts, and rising to symbolize indigenous resistance in the Amazon and around the world. Their recent history nothing less than tumultuous, starting in 1996 when the Ecuadorian government imposed oil concession blocks in their territory without permission from the 1,200 people who live there. Communities only learned that their land had been opened for oil exploration when strange helicopters arrived, followed by “men with guns.” But instead of becoming another environmental war tragedy, the story of Sarayaku has been one of fierce resistance. For years, Patricia has been on the front lines of Sarayaku’s struggle, a key protagonist in the recent historic indigenous rights victory at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and an incredible leader of a rapidly-growing movement of women defending the Amazon. “We want the Amazon to be valued for what it is, not just an economic resource,” she declares with a confidence and grace that seems contagious to hundreds of Amazonian women rising with her. “We are standing up for our lives, yours, the entire world and for the lives of our future generations!” Patricia’s story is one of hope, fearlessness and determination. That Sarayaku beacon pours bright through glinting eyes, illuminating just one of the many courageous leaders Amazon Watch joins forces with daily in the fight for forests, the climate, future generations…for life. The struggle is not over for the people of Sarayaku, for Patricia, or for the hundreds of women warriors mobilizing in defense of their lands and lives. Sarayaku’s triumphs rest largely on their great success in building unity in their community and a strong network of national and international allies. For the past decade Amazon Watch has joined Sarayaku in efforts to assert their rights and prevent oil development on their ancestral lands, and we’ll continue to support them with your help. In support of fearless women warriors of the Amazon,
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a message from dir. Branden
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 For the past two weeks we have brought you the courageous and heartbreaking story of Servio Curipoma and his ongoing struggle for clean water, a healthy environment and remediation of the toxic wasteland that Chevron left in his rainforest homeland. Speaking with him at his farm in Ecuador just last week, it was clear that he seeks only to be able to work his land and leave something for his children – to afford a peaceful and productive life – something that Chevron continues to deliberately deny him.
Servio’s fight is only going to get tougher as Chevron’s multibillion dollar legal defense continues to pour money into lambasting those seeking justice, those who have already won. The story is an endless circus of lies, vilification and a callousness that defies rationality. We need your support to keep the pressure up. We are doing everything we can to make sure Chevron doesn’t get away with the most blatant environmental crime in history. Amazon Watch will continue to work with the broad coalition of institutional shareholders, NGOs, affected peoples and individuals to pressure Chevron until they accept responsibility for their horrendous crime and do the right thing. After a 20-year legal battle, this is a case that is simply too big to fail. With your help we’ll continue to pressure Chevron, demand enforcement of the judgment and bear witness to its ridiculous countersuit alleging that the plaintiffs sued Chevron in an attempt to defraud them (Really?!). Please support Amazon Watch and our Clean Up Ecuador campaign today. Your contribution will help us continue to stand with Servio and the 30,000 other Ecuadorians who have suffered for too long. We will not allow Chevron to drown out their voices – to drown out the truth about what happened in Ecuador. For justice – for the opportunity to set an international precedent for the rights of indigenous peoples to defend their homes from companies seeking profits over people – please add your support. For the Amazon,
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Eye on the Amazon: Who is the real criminal?
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Smooth Criminal
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Be a Seed for Change 
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