Amazon Watch an earlier court's dismissal on the basis of "forum non conveniens." Thus, legal proceedings were started in Ecuador in 2003. Amazon Watch supports the Ecuadorian plaintiffs by publishing a press kit alleging that Chevron (corporate successor to Texaco) should be held accountable for the dumping of of toxic waste water into a region of Ecuador's Amazon rainforest inhabited by more than 30,000 people – purported to be one of the largest oil related contaminations ever, far exceeding that of the Exxon Valdez disaster. A 2011 decision in Ecuador ordered Chevron to pay $9.5 billion. Ecuador's Supreme Court in 2013 affirmed
Health in Ecuador Health in Ecuador Ecuador contains three distinct climatic regions: Tropical, Highland or Sierra and Amazon rain forest. The health conditions of this country vary according to these regions. In the sierras, in cities such as Quito or Cuenca where most Ecuadorians live, health conditions most commonly associated with the tropics do not exist. For example, the types of mosquitoes which carry malaria and dengue fever cannot live at altitudes above 2300 meters (according to the US Centers for Disease Control) as is the case in virtually all of the sierras. While there does not seem to be general agreement in