Documents Reveal Ecuadorian Government Organized Protests on U.S. Soil

BY: Lachlan Markay

The government of Ecuador organized protests that took place outside the building where a legal dispute between the South American nation and oil giant Chevron was being hashed out, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon reveal.

A top official at the South American nation’s foreign ministry recruited expatriates in the United States to join a March rally outside of proceedings of the International Arbitration Tribunal, the documents show.

An after-action report filed by Davila Aveiga Grace Patricia, who is listed as the chief of staff of the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, shows that various Ecuadorian agencies were collaborating to put a public face on the protests.

Patricia flew from Guayaquil, Ecuador, to New York, where she met with Ecuadorian consul Jorge Lopez, the report says. They planned activities during the arbitration “with the participation of Consuls, expatriates, political leaders, Embassy and Foreign Ministry team.”

Patricia then few to Washington for the arbitration session, which took place under the auspices of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between the United States and Ecuador.

Patricia devised a “strategy for action, dissemination, and denunciation that has a bearing on the meetings about Chevron.” She also worked to get “expatriates to join and resume [the]campaign against Chevron.”

Promotional materials criticizing Chevron and handed out during the arbitration proceedings feature the official seal of the foreign ministry. More