Nobel Prize Laureate Rigooberta Menchu became the latest international figure to show her hands muddied by oil in the Amazon basin on a visit to the toxic pits left behind by oil giant Texaco. The company operated in the area between 1964 and 1990 and is accused of being responsible for the deaths of over a thousand people. As the oil seeps into their water sources, tens of thousands of people are now suing Chevron, demanding justice for the crimes committed. Cevron-Texaco dumped almost 20 billion gallons into the forest. Ecuadorean courts have ordered the company to pay over US$19 billion in reparations, but to date the only response had been a media smear campaign against Ecuador’s government. Liz Scherffius reports from Quito for teleSUR.
