On October 28, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) went to Maxus headquarters in Quito to demand that the company call a moratorium on the exploration of oil and road construction on Huaorani land and to assert their right to autonomous management of Huaorani territory. Maxus officials refused to meet with CONAIE and instead called the police to force the representatives to leave.
A statement released by CONAIE makes a public appeal for support: "We desire that our lives be respected. We desire to stay in our territory the way we have always lived; we are protecting the environment for the good of all Ecuadorians and the world. We hope that our demands will be addressed. We ask for the solidarity of the Ecuadorian people in our just cause, because in demanding our rights, we are demanding the rights of all Ecuadorians."
Linda Covington, manager of public relations at Maxus, responds, "We understand the concerns that have arisen from both an environmental and an Indian rights point of view. Maxus has an environmental plan that has been approved by the Ecuadorian government," she says, adding that the company has "agreed to move the families that live too close to the road."
An October 23 CCR letter to Amoco President H. Laurence Fuller charges that in order to provide protection and "other logistical support" to Amoco's operations, the Burmese military has instituted a "campaign of terror" in which villages have been destroyed and Burmese people have been killed, tortured, raped, kidnapped and forced to work as porters and manual laborers. The letter asserts that "investigators familiar with conditions in the region [in which Amoco operates] state that these human rights abuses are a direct and foreseeable result" of Amoco's commercial activities in Burma.
CCR attorney Beth Stephens explains that the company would be liable whether or not it had "specifically paid for or otherwise ordered the abuses." According to Stephens, if Amoco's "contract with the Burmese military government contributes in a reasonable way to ongoing human rights abuses and those abuses are reasonably foreseeable," then the company is liable to the victims and their families.
Amoco Media Relations Director Jim Fair responds, "The suggestion that Amoco is involved in human rights abuses in Burma is absolutely absurd. We simply don't do that kind of business." Fair claims to have "no knowledge" of repressive practices committed by the military dictatorship.
Despite earning substantial profits, Diamond has demanded far-reaching concessions from its more than 500 employees. The workers, represented by Teamsters Local 601, accepted pay cuts as high as 40 percent when the company's profits were down in 1985. Since then, the Fortune 500 company has returned to profitability, generating over $129 million in sales last year. When the workers' contract expired in 1991, the union tried to negotiate for pay raises and benefits. Instead, the union says that the company demanded cuts in health benefits from workers earning as little as $4.25 an hour.
Since Diamond replaced the experienced workers, walnuts containing worms and contaminated with mold, dirt, oil and debris have been shipped from its processing plant to retail outlets, the AFL-CIO alleges. Sandra McBride, Diamond's communication manager, characterizes the charge as "simply untrue." In August, however, a General Mills plant in Lodi, California had to shut down its brownie production line because of contamination by insect-infected Diamond walnuts.
McBride says that the company "has made every effort to negotiate fairly with the union in order to avoid a situation like this," and claims that the workers were offered a package that included pay increases and a comprehensive health plan.
-Julie Gozan