Chevron is at odds with indigenous communities in southwest Argentina

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Chevron is at odds with indigenous communities in southwest Argentina

The second world´s biggest shale gas reserve better known as “Vaca Muerta” is located about 1200 KM southwest Buenos Aires and has been drawing the attention of key global energy market players since it was discovered in 2011. After a very controversial agreement back in 2013, the government granted the exploitation rights to the US oil giant Chevron and since then around 160 wells were drilled by the multinational corporation displacing tens of local indigenous communities, the so-called Mapuches, which are now protesting against the invasion and seizure of their ancestral lands.

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The Mapuche communities denounced that the harm to the environment is notorious and its impact can already be perceived in plain sight, due to the intense noise and dust produced by the drillings. Socialist lawmaker Nicolás del Caño recently visited the region and affirms the aboriginals are facing a critical situation.

The deal signed by the government and Chevron has been under hard scrutiny in the Argentinean Parliament specially after local investigations revealed the existence of secret and hidden clauses in the contract . Besides the environment threats, lawmakers and social movements criticize the terms of the deal, which grants Chevron rights to exploit the area with hardly any responsibilities.

Chevron was already sentenced by a court in Ecuador for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic wastewater and crude oil into rivers, which resulted in great damage to the ecosystem and the local communities. Activists and aboriginals say the company’s operations in Southern Argentina will lead to even more serious consequences for the environment.

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Chevron is at odds with indigenous communities in southwest Argentina