Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: ChevronTexaco Supports School in Indigenous Area

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

CARACAS, Mar 20 2004 (IPS) - An agricultural technical school attended by 400 children and adolescents in the Orinoco Delta, in eastern Venezuela, received 75,000 dollars from the U.S.-based oil giant ChevronTexaco for building repairs and equipment The delta is one of the poorest areas of the country and its ecosystem is considered very fragile. A quarter of its 100,000 residents are Warao Indians. ChevronTexaco has been granted two natural gas exploration concessions 150 km off the coast, in the Atlantic.

The Venezuelan government is requiring the beneficiaries of such concessions to set aside funds for social and environmental projects.

“Our operations will produce revenues in 2010, when exploration is complete. But we don't want to postpone these social investment initiatives,” said oil company spokesman Carlos Aguilera.

ChevronTexaco faces legal battles as Ecuadorian indigenous communities accuse it of damaging the environment with its oil operations dating from 1967 to 1990, when Texaco had not yet merged with Chevron.