Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa sinks to new levels after being linked to a bribe scandal

BY CHRONICLE EDITORS

Rafael Correa, the angry leftist who runs Ecuador, has sunk to a new low. Over the weekend, he threatened to close the leading independent TV station in the country, Teleamazonas, because it recently revealed damaging information about changes to the constitution.

Then today Chevron reveals that Correa is not only pressuring an Ecuadorian judge to rule against the U.S. oil firm in an environmental lawsuit, but also plans to reap personal monetary benefits from the verdict.

These developments come after years of outrageous economic policies that have hurt local and foreign investors and neighboring countries like Colombia.

EXPLOSIVE VIDEO

According to explosive information from Chevron, a video shows that an individual who claims to be a representative of Correa’s party, Alianza PAIS, is seeking $3 million in bribes in return for handing out environmental remediation contracts to two businessmen after the verdict is handed down. Of that sum, he said $1 million would go to Judge Juan Núñez, $1 million would go to “the presidency” and $1 million to the plaintiffs, according to a statement from Chevron.

“Chevron has consistently asserted that the case has involved improper complicity between the plaintiffs and Ecuador’s executive branch and other legal irregularities,” Chevron Executive Vice President Charles James said in the statement. “These video recordings raise additional serious questions about corruption, executive branch interference and prejudgment of the case that demand a full investigation. No judge who has participated in meetings of the type shown on these tapes could possibly deliver a legitimate decision.”

LAWSUIT OUT, INVESTIGATE CORREA

As Chevron has rightly criticized, the lawsuit is full of outright falsehoods that blame the U.S. oil giant for environmental damage 17 years after it left the country while ignoring the real culprit, state oil company Petroecuador.

The latest scandal shows that not only should the lawsuit against Chevron be thrown out immediately, but that Ecuador also needs to investigate in a serious manner who the real culprit is.

Meanwhile, if there are any remnants of an independent judiciary in Ecuador left, it needs to look into the explosive corruption charges against Correa and his aides and – if merited – charge the country’s leader for wrongdoing.

http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=3638

By tasco66 on Sep 10, 2009, 04:58 in Ecuador forum.

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