Amazon Indians want Texaco to clean up its mess on sacred lands [View All]

[dArKeR]

AFP , COCA, ECUADOR
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004,Page 12

In the heart of the Ecuadoran Amazon, the shouts of protesting Indians mute the sound of an overhead plane.

"Texaco must pay for polluting our lands," the Indians insist.

But, says an executive with the US oil company: "We won't be spending US$6 billion."

This brief confrontation, peaceful but strained, takes place at the tiny airport in this town of 20,000, 200km east of Quito in Ecuador's oil-producing region.

The country produces 418,000 barrels of crude per day, but is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

"Half a million hectares of sacred indian lands were polluted by Texaco's oil production -- we demand that the firm clean it all up," says Luis Yanza, spokesman for the 50 protesters, who put the price at around US$6 billion.

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