Discuss the causes of conflict and cooperation at the local, national, transnational, and global levels surrounding the issues discussed in the film.

The cause of conflict that is surrounding the issues discussed in the film, is ultimately contamination. Texaco and Ecuador are in a legal battle or trial as to who is to blame for the contamination in Ecuador. Texaco the defendants, claim it is not their fault and puts the blame on a local company in Ecuador named PetroEcuador as Ecuador the plaintiffs and their community is claiming it is their fault completely. According to a local, both of his children died due to the contamination. One child stopped developing six months after birth as the other child bathed and drank in the contaminated water which caused his untimely death. Along with this information the Ecuadorian people also believe the contaminated water is the cause of their skin issues and cancer. In the arguments there is simply one side in the conflict that is claiming it is poor sanitation resources available as well and another side claiming the blame game.

◦Discuss the effects of conflict and cooperation at the local, national, transnational, and global levels surrounding the issues discussed in the film.

After hearing testimonies from both Chevron and Ecuador, the judge ordered an end to the judicial inspections and appoints an independent expert to assess the validity of the plaintiff’s claims. The procedure was called “Global Assessment”. The purpose of this is to quantify the damage and establish the cost of what it would take to repair the damages. The independent expert’s damage assessment report that was 4,000 pages long recommended that Chevron pay up to $27 billion in damages. The report recommended compensation or environmental remediation on excess cancer deaths, impacts on indigenous culture, and Texaco’s “unjust enrichment” from its operations. Two weeks after being interviewed for the film Chevron attorney Ricardo Veiga was indicted for fraud by the Ecuadorean government over the remediation process. Seven former government officials were also charged. Along with this, Trudie Styler and the famous band Sting’s Rainforest Foundation teamed up with UNICEF and the Amazon Defense Front to provide filtered drinking water to the affected region.

◦Describe the political behavior, human rights, and environmental justice issues revealed in the film.

Unable to see any evidence of hydrocarbons on the ground’s surface, why? Because it has been buried in the ground. It is said to be migrated into a stream ten meters away which affects the human population with diseases like cancer and skin issues. The human rights issue that were revealed in the film were the people of Ecuador not knowing what legal actions they were able to take in the situation of contaminated water.

REFERENCES

Berlinger, J. (Director & Producer). (2009). Crude (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://fod.infobase.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?