"Ecuadorans end Chevron pollution lawsuit in Canada", 9 Jul 2019

Indigenous Ecuadoran villagers hoping to make oil giant Chevron pay for pollution in the country's rainforest have formally withdrawn a lawsuit in Canada.

Patricio Salazar, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs, said in a statement on Tuesday his clients made the decision after "much soul searching" and were considering their options.

The move comes three months after Canada's Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Amazon villagers, effectively bringing their legal action in that country to the end of the road.

The villagers were seeking to enforce an Ecuadoran court ruling in 2011 ruling, which awarded them $9.5 billion in compensation for pollution of native lands by American oil company Texaco between 1964 and 1992. Chevron later acquired Texaco making it the target.

But courts in the United States and The Hague have said the Ecuadoran court decision was obtained through bribery and corruption...