Wednesday, February 08, 2006



Quito, Ecuador - Students and other demonstrators occupied and shut down an oil pump station owned by Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador. The station usually pumps 380,000 barrels of crude per day. There were also clashes between protests and police in the streets around the Carondelet Palace. Protesters are demanding that the government refuse to sign the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) and expel the U.S. based Occidental Petroleum (OXY) for their misconduct in the Amazon Rainforest.