The Global Aware Cooperative

Quotations in and around "Oil, the Amazon and the OCP."
"The native peoples of the world are indeed the modern world's equivalent of the miner's canary. When these birds died from breathing the poisonous gases in underground mines, it was a warning that the miners would be next if they didn't leave the area immediately. Those native peoples who inhabit the world's sensitive ecosystems have been providing us with a powerful warning that "there is no development that can be constructed with the blood and death of our Peoples and the destruction of Mother Earth." It is time for the rest of the world to heed this warning." Mining and Indigenous Peoples Declaration, 1996, p.23. Taken from "Resource Rebels" by Al Gedicks. See GA Further Research - Books section.
"In the Development racket, the rules are pretty simple. If you get invited ... to write an Environmental Impact Assessment ... and you point out a problem (say you quibble about the amount of water available in a river, or, God forbid, you suggest that the human costs are perhaps too high) then you´re history. You´re an OOWC. An Out of Work Consultant. And Oops! There goes your Range Rover. There goes your holiday in Tuscany. There goes your children´s private boarding school. There´s good money in poverty. Plus Perks." Arundhati Roy in The Greater Common Good, Page.21
Raymond Kohut, Director of Community Relations for OCP, commenting on the question of conflict of interest between OCP and their environment auditor, Entrix (March, 2002): "You have a situation in this world - let me give you an example - accounting auditors. Enron hires Arthur Andersen to do its study. Arthur Andersen then has to do an audit, thoroughly independent, and give it then to the company who shares with the shareholders and with the board. That's true everywhere in the world - auditors are paid by somebody." A rather unfortunate choice for comparison…... Recorded interview available!
Postwar development relied on cheap & abundant oil, kept that way largely by threat or use of force. Source: Profit Over People, by Noam Chomsky, p. 30-31 Jul 2, 1996 .
"The poor got only the crumbs from the table at the Petrobanquet." Alberto Acosta referring to the social effects of the first oil boom in the 1970s, 2002, Unpublished Manuscript "Ecuador: Between the Illusion and Evil of Oil" pages 2-3)
Alberto Acosta, renowned and frequently quoted Ecuadorian economist, sums up the problem well: "Under these circumstances, Ecuador will be what it has always been: a primary product producer. Petroleum appears to be a source of earnings that reduces the tension caused by a chronic trade deficit in the non-petroleum sector. The deal is to produce and transport the greatest quantity of crude possible. But desperation to increase oil earnings is driving Ecuador to 'petrodollarization' which means damage to the environment will increase dramatically alongside political tensions. In the current privatizing wave, whoever gains control over petroleum production gains the power of the state. The state will maintain the appearance of democracy while becoming increasingly authoritarian in practice. … And in this context, the manipulation of information and intolerance spreads in Ecuador. Those who protest are threatened or attacked. 'The OCP is because it is' … and meanwhile Ecuador advances toward the past." (2002, Unpublished Manuscript "Ecuador: Between the Illusion and Evil of Oil" pages 8,10)
Juan Bosco, a member of the Shuar nation, commenting on oil politics in Ecuador, February 2002: We know how oil works. It makes or breaks presidents here and it kills nature and people. We say 'atsaá,' 'no' in our language. We will go to the UN to demand our independence from Ecuador if we have to but the oil companies will not drill here!
Federacion Shuar President Pablo Tsere shortly before a Shuar demonstration in Macas, April 2002 and hundreds of kilometres away from the OCP pipeline; "The increased production that the (soon to be completed) OCP (pipeline) demands, threatens our lands."

We are adding quotes as they come!
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