Anyone still believing in the virtues of capitalism must have a blind eye towards the environmental devastation and human rights violations occurring in the Third World. With the unchecked power of business, health and prosperity are no longer inalienable rights, but commodities only the bourgeoisie can afford.

In 1993, a class action lawsuit was filed against Chevron in New York on behalf of roughly 30,000 indigenous Amazon residents for polluting their environment. The oil giant succeeded in having US courts send the case to be heard in Ecuador, where it has been re-filed.

In the event that Chevron should lose the case, it has filled a claim with the American Arbitration Association to have Petroecuador, a state-owned Ecuadorian oil company, take on any clean up costs and legal fees. The Ecuadorian Government has been successful in temporarily suspending those arbitration proceedings with New York’s Supreme Court.