By Atossa Soltani (Board Member)

Check out this great LA Times editorial published on Saturday March 29, 2008. Way to go LA Times! http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-oil29mar29,0,3008915.story Oil and power in Latin America: Indigenous peoples in South America are taking on Big Oil over decades of environmental abuse. "Call it a reverse incursion -- tribes following corporate giants into their native habitats. For decades, giant multinationals have exploited the wealth of tribal rain forests, often disregarding the welfare of the residents. Now Maynas and other indigenous leaders are bearding business lions in their own cultural dens: at shareholder meetings, in boardrooms and, increasingly, in court. ....The way ahead, of course, is for corporations doing business around the globe to bring their best practices with them."

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By Antonio De La Luz (General public)

Not my testimonial, this is the news article that prompted me to take action.

2008-03-24 BBC News by Dan Collyns / Read Entire Article
It is a familiar story. Big business moves into a pristine wilderness and starts destroying the environment and by turn the livelihoods of the indigenous people who live there.

But in a reversal of plot, there are now cases of people living traditional lifestyles who are now invading the territory of the big companies and taking them on at their own game.

The story of the Achuar tribe living in the Amazon rainforest of north-eastern Peru is one of them.

Last year, they filed a class action lawsuit against oil giant Occidental Petroleum, in Los Angeles.

Now they are awaiting a judge’s decision on whether the case can proceed in the US or will be sent back to Peru, where it stands little chance of coming to court.

"No credible data"

The Achuar people, who have lived for thousands of years in the rainforest, allege that the company contaminated their territory during more than 30 years of oil drilling, making their people sick, even causing some to die, and damaging their land and livelihoods beyond repair.

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