Forum Post: Looks like we could learn alot from Brazil.
Posted 12 years ago on March 18, 2012, 11:54 p.m. EST by Demian
(497)
from San Francisco, CA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Executives from Chevron, Transocean Held in Brazil
Brazil has barred 17 executives from Chevron and Transocean from leaving the country while an investigation over charges for an oil spill is underway.
BBC: Brazilian prosecutors say they will bring criminal charges against 17 executives from the US oil company Chevron and drilling contractor Transocean after a new leak of crude. A Brazilian federal judge has required the executives to submit their passports to police within 24 hours.
Chevron is facing a lawsuit over an oil spill in November off Brazil's Atlantic coast. And yesterday Brazil said it spotted oil near same offshore field.
BBC News: Brazil to charge Chevron executives over fresh oil leak
Brazilian prosecutors say they will bring criminal charges against 17 executives from the US oil company Chevron and drilling contractor Transocean after a new leak of crude.
The executives have been barred from leaving the country until the investigation concludes.
Chevron halted production in Brazil after the new oil leak was found on the seabed off Brazil earlier this week.
Reuters: Chevron executives barred from leaving Brazil over spill
SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian court on Saturday barred 17 executives from Chevron and Transocean from leaving Brazil, pending criminal charges related to a high-profile oil spill last November.
A federal judge in Rio de Janeiro state granted a request from prosecutors who are pressing for charges against both firms, a spokesman for prosecutor Eduardo Oliveira said in a phone interview. George Buck, who heads Chevron's Brazil unit, and the other 16 executives must turn in their passports to the police within 24 hours, the spokesman said. [...]
The court decision came a day after the Brazilian navy spotted a thin stain of oil extending for about 0.6 mile in offshore field Frade, which was also the site of last year's spill. U.S.-based Chevron said in a statement it halted production at Frade on Saturday after winning permission from Brazilian oil industry regulator ANP. CNN: Brazil bars Chevron execs from leaving over spill
The oil spill occurred in deep water off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in November.
The next month, Brazilian federal prosecutors filed a suit against Chevron andoil rig operator Transocean for 20 billion reais, about $11 billion.
Its a damn shame but our government would never hold an oil company accountable like this. Case and point the Deep water horizon oil disaster.
Since corporations are NOT people, people must be held accountable for their actions in order to effectuate change.
Brazil is far from a perfect place but a good decision is a good decision.
Demian, Agree. Good post. Best Regards
Too bad the government of Brazil is building a hydroelectric facility in the Amazon, displacing tens of thousands of indigenous peoples. Too bad they still brutalize their underclass. Well, at least they're getting something right (but before we spend too much time patting the Brazilian government on the back, let's not forget how oppressive they are in other areas).
Yeah, Brazil is not perfect and has a long way to go in alot of regards but detaining executives that made the descions that led to a natural disaster would never happen in this country( and to be honest nothing may really come of it in Brazil). Corporations here and in alot of places enjoy all the rights of people but face none of the consequences. Take for instance where I live in San Francisco and the neighborhood that PG&E blew up just south of here killing nine people I think. No one will ever go to jail for that. PG&E will will pay a small fine(probably in the millions but small for them) and that will be the end of it. Now lets say that I through recklessness or neglect where to be resposible for the same thing. I would be locked up for the rest of my life. If corporations are going to be considered people now then they should face the same consequenses that normal people face as well.
I guess I would just say that corporations are legal fictions created by law, so they shouldn't (and cannot logically) be treated as natural persons in all circumstances. Maybe it makes sense in the context of contract law, but in the context of election law, it's simply absurd (and unfortunately, neither our legislative or judicial system has done a good job of drawing these distinctions). But, at least technically speaking, executives cannot hide behind the corporate veil and hope to get away with criminal activity, it's generally only in cases of "negligence" that corporate executives are afforded a type of quasi/qualified immunity (even though there's a lot of technical nuance to how these legal terms are applied).
Nevertheless, in cases where there was criminal negligence, people should be charged with criminal negligence, and it's too often the case that corporations are able to avoid this degree of liability by agreeing to pay fines (a privilege rarely afforded to private citizens).
All I can say is that this is what we should have done after the mess in the Gulf. You break it, you're paying the repair bill and your freedom is collateral until you're done.
Good job Brazil! Your government has the balls that I wish ours had!