Pablo Fajardo

Pablo Fajardo Mendoza (or Pablo Fajardo) is an Ecuadorian lawyer and activist. He is the lawyer that has been leading the historical process against Chevron Corporation related to the environmental disaster he alleged was caused by the oil operations of Texaco (acquired by Chevron Corporation in 2001) in the Lago Agrio oil field between 1964 and 1990. In such process, Fajardo represented the over 30, 000 local inhabitants affected by the spill of crude oil and toxic waste. [1] However, In courtrooms and arbitration held outside of Ecuador, it was repeatedly determined that the allegations against Chevron were based on fraud and deceit.[2]

Biography

Fajardo was raised in the province of Esmeraldas, from where his parents migrated to the Sucumbios province when he was 14. He worked first in an African palm plantation and later on for an oil company, witnessing first hand, in both places, social injustice and environmental degradation. When working in these companies, Fajardo (not even 18 years old at the time) mobilized colleagues and friends to take action against the injustices committed by the companies, which caused him to be fired. These experiences led Fajardo to the decision to become a professional lawyer defending human rights.[3]

With the help of the Roman Catholic Church, he put himself through law school in the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja and graduated in 2004. He has been leading ever since the legal battle of the 75 plaintiffs that started a class-action lawsuit against Texaco in 1993 on behalf of the 30.000 local inhabitants and indigenous communities. Fajardo tried to argue that the inhabitants were affected by the company’s oil operations. In courtrooms and arbitrations held outside Ecuador, it was found that those allegations were supported by fraudulent actions including bribery of Ecuadorian officials.[4]

On February 14, 2011, the local court of Sucumbios ordered Chevron Corporation (formerly Texaco) to pay $18.1 billion to remediate the extensive pollution of waters, soils and ecosystems, in one of the largest environmental judgements ever made.[5] The verdict was later confirmed by the Ecuador Supreme Court in 2013, though the amount was reduced to $9.5 billion. Despite having previously insisted to move the process from the New York Court to Ecuadorian tribunals and having accepted jurisdiction there, Chevron Corporation has refused to pay the judgement claiming that the decision was “illegitimate and inapplicable”.[6]

On July 2016, the Amazon Defense Coalition (ADC), which backed the original lawsuit responsible for Fajardo's recognition, suspended its relationship with Fajardo, complaining that he was complicit in the Ecuadorian government's decision to pay $112 million to Chevron and not to the ADC. The payment to Chevron Corporation came as a result of an arbitration ordered by an international court.[7] Fajardo rejected the accusation on the base that the organization he’s representing is the Union of People Affected by Texaco (UDAPT), and not the ADC. The UDAPT is the sole organization representing the indigenous people and farmers who started the lawsuit against Chevron, as affirmed by the at-the-time president of the Amazon Defense Coalition, Luis Yanza, and among others.[8]

Due to its prominent role in the legal case against Chevron, Fajardo has been target of repeated threats and intimidations. For this reason, in 2005 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States issued precautionary measures for Fajardo and Luis Yanza in an effort to protect their lives.[9]

Chevron never caved to the now discredited allegations conceived by the now disbarred New York attorney, Steve Donzinger, with whom Fajardo worked. On September 7, 2018 an international tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague unanimously issued an award in favor of Chevron and its indirect subsidiary, Texaco Petroleum Company (TexPet). The award found that Ecuador violated international law, and that the $9.5 billion judgment rendered against Chevron in Lago Agrio, Ecuador in 2011 was procured through fraud, bribery and corruption. The tribunal concluded that the fraudulent judgment “should not be recognised (sic) or enforced by the courts of other States.” It reserved for a future date the calculation of the amounts Ecuador must pay to Chevron to compensate for the damages.[10]

Recognitions

Fajardo won a CNN "Hero's award" in 2007,[11] and along with his former associate Luis Yanza, a Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008[12]

He is featured in the 2009 documentary film Crude.

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References
  1. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/who-will-pay-for-amazons-chernobyl-1863284.html
  2. https://www.wsj.com/articles/tribunal-condemns-ecuadors-9-5-billion-ruling-against-chevron-1536337680
  3. https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/interview-pablo-fajardo/
  4. https://www.law360.com/articles/1080621/ecuador-s-9-5b-fine-on-chevron-was-fraudulent-tribunal
  5. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/world/americas/15ecuador.html
  6. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-ecuador/ecuador-high-court-upholds-chevron-verdict-halves-fine-idUSBRE9AC0YY20131113
  7. http://fortune.com/2016/07/31/adf-suspends-pablo-fajardo-attorney-who-took-chevron-to-court-for-18-billion/
  8. http://www.inredh.org/archivos/pdf/las_voces_de_las_victimas.pdf
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-12-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkrauss/2018/09/16/justice-delayed-but-not-denied-corrupt-ecuadorean-process-fails-in-international-arbitration/#37dd3a5b1698
  11. http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive07/
  12. https://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/13/world/fg-amazon13
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