Oil, Courts, and Death: Interview with "Crude" Director Joe Berlinger

DEVELOPMENTS

In 1993, thirty thousand indigenous and non-indigenous rain-forest dwellers sued the U.S. oil giant Texaco alleging decades of systemic pollution of water, land and air. Texaco subsequently merged with the oil company Chevron in

2001. The case was initially brought to court in the United States but was  dismissed and relocated to an Ecuadorean court.

Acclaimed Hollywood director Joe Berlinger made a documentary about the ongoing case, which was released on September 9, 2009. The case continues to attract the interest of the environmental movement, politicians and diplomats, human rights advocates, the media, multinational corporate power-brokers, and the global indigenous rights movement.

Foreign Policy Digest sat down with Mr. Berlinger to discuss the legal, humanitarian, and environmental issues

underlying his new documentary "Crude", which since its release, has received widespread praise from critics and audiences alike.

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