Bloggers paid by Chevron are thrilled that Ecuador's Prosecutor General Washington Pesantez recently commented that:
“Although I don’t have the exact figures, 10% would go to the plaintiffs if Chevron is found guilty; 90% would be delivered to the State for remediation or bio-remediation activities that would serve to correct biologic and chemical mechanisms, as from what we have found out in a parallel criminal process, there are still environmental problems.”
They're falling over each other to blog that this "proves" the state of Ecuador is involved in prosecuting the case against poor old innocent Chevron.
The assumption that the Ecuadorian government is a party to the lawsuit, since even if it isn't named it will receive the proceeds from it, is incorrect. The Pesantez statement must be understood within the context of Ecuador's law.
What the prosecutor general was alluding to was that, under Ecuadorian law, 10% of the award would go to the Amazon Defense Coalition and 90% would be administered directly for remediation costs under a public trust mandated by government legislation.
The government would not be entitled to any of the actual award.
