SAN FRANCISCO/QUITO (Reuters) – Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has filed an appeal with Ecuador’s National Court of Justice to review a judgment that the U.S. oil company pay $18 billion in damages for polluting the Amazon jungle.

Chevron was ordered by an Ecuadorian judge to pay the damages after a fraught legal battle that has lasted nearly two decades and looks like it will run longer.

The California oil company inherited the case when it bought Texaco a decade ago. Its appeal on Friday argues the lower courts violated Ecuador’s constitution by refusing to take corrective action in response to what Chevron calls “extensive fraud and corruption” committed by the plaintiffs’ lawyers and representatives.

Chevron said the original judgment, delivered last February by a lower Ecuadorian court in Lago Agrio, was based on faulty evidence and retroactive application of a law, while ignoring releases of liability granted to Texaco by Ecuador in the 1990s.

“Today’s appeal gives the National Court of Justice an opportunity to correct the grave injustices that have occurred in this case,” Hewitt Pate, Chevron’s general counsel, said in a statement.

Plaintiffs have responded to the accusations by citing Chevron’s own test data in documenting the pollution and arguing that Ecuador’s release for Texaco did not prevent third parties from suing for damages.

In related litigation in New York, the plaintiffs also accuse the company of mishandling soil and water samples during the Lago Agrio trial by maintaining two different laboratories, based on testimony from a Chevron expert.

QUITO, Dec 2 (Reuters) – The signing of contracts with two mining companies, tensions between the central government and lawmakers and an ongoing row between the media and President Rafael Correa are issues to watch in Ecuador.

CORREA AND THE MINING SECTOR

Ecuador is set to sign contracts with two Canadian miners planning to invest some $3 billion for gold and copper mines in the mineral-rich Andean country. Negotiations for the contracts have taken much longer than expected because Ecuador is trying to reap high benefits from the nascent mining industry, which would allow Correa to boost social spending.

Kinross Gold Corp. plans to develop Ecuador’s largest gold project, Fruta del Norte, and Ecuacorriente – an affiliate of Canada’s Corriente Resources – will work on the Mirador copper mine.

Ecuador has said that the deals will be signed in late December or in early 2012 and that the companies will be paying royalties of between 5 percent and 8 percent, depending on mineral prices.

According to the government, Kinross and Ecuacorriente have agreed to make advance royalty payments before their mines start producing.

Ecuador is also negotiating contracts with International Minerals over its Rio Blanco gold-silver project, with Ecuacorriente over its Panantza-San Carlos copper deposit and with IAMGold , which plans to develop the Quimsacocha gold-copper-silver mine.

QUITO, Nov 24 (Reuters) – Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa said on Thursday his government is “within days” of signing contracts with mining companies set to develop large copper and gold projects in the mineral-rich Andean nation.

Deputy Mining Minister Federico Auquilla told Reuters earlier this week that Canadian-listed Kinross Gold Corp and Ecuacorriente would soon sign contracts for two projects worth $3 billion in total.

The negotiations have been long and difficult, in part because the government was asking companies to pay an 8 percent royalty share, whereas miners were offering 6 percent.

“We’re negotiating the contracts very hard … They will be signed in the next few days,” said leftist leader Correa, who has also renegotiated part of Ecuador’s foreign debt and oil exploration contracts with foreign companies.

The government is demanding advance payments on royalties before the miners start extracting, the president added in comments on local radio.

The extra income from advance royalty payments would be used for social projects, including schools and roads, Correa said. In power since 2007, he has made resource nationalism a centerpiece of his policies and may run for another term in an election due in January 2013.

Kinross plans to develop Ecuador’s largest gold project, Fruta del Norte, while Ecuacorriente – an affiliate of Canada’s Corriente Resources – will work on the Mirador copper mine.

QUITO, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa appointed two long-term allies as political economy minister and head of the Andean country’s central bank as part of a wide-ranging cabinet reshuffle on Thursday.

Jeannette Sanchez was appointed as political economy minister, the government’s top economic job. Until now she was social development minister, and therefore in charge of coordinating government efforts to fight poverty and improve living standards.

New central bank head Pedro Delgado is said to be very close to Correa and has long experience in the banking sector.

The appointments followed the resignation of whole the cabinet in late October.

Correa has asked all his ministers and close advisers to resign several times since he first took office in 2007. He tends to reappoint most of them after assessing their performance and the needs for changes in government policy.

In all, Correa made 15 appointments, including that of Santiago Leon as minister for production to replace Nathalie Cely, who has agreed to become Ecuador’s ambassador to Washington.

Cely’s appointment signals the end of a diplomatic row with the United States that started in April when Correa expelled the U.S. ambassador over U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks that suggested Correa was aware of corrupt police practices.

QUITO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Ecuador President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday the Andean country forecasts its economic growth increasing slightly to 5.35 percent in 2012.

Increased investments helped Ecuador’s economy grow 8.9 percent in the second quarter versus the same period last year, and the oil-producing country is on track to meet its 5.24 percent growth target for 2011. [ID:nS1E78S16R]

“The (economic) growth we forecast for next year is 5.35 percent,” Correa told reporters when asked about the 2012 budget bill.

The finance ministry said in a statement that the bill forecasts annual inflation at 5.14 percent in 2012. Official estimates forecast full-year 2011 inflation at 3.69 percent, slightly higher than the 3.33 percent registered last year.

The budget bill states that public spending will increase to $26.11 billion in 2012, up from $23.95 billion this year, and that $1.46 billion will be used to pay public debt.

The bill will likely be approved by Congress, in which the ruling Alianza Pais coalition and its allies have a majority.

PUBLIC SPENDING

QUITO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Ecuador President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday the Andean country forecasts its economic growth increasing slightly to 5.35 percent in 2012.

Increased investments helped Ecuador’s economy grow 8.9 percent in the second quarter versus the same period last year, and the oil-producing country is on track to meet its 5.24 percent growth target for 2011. [ID:nS1E78S16R]

“The (economic) growth we forecast for next year is 5.35 percent,” Correa told reporters when asked about the 2012 budget bill.

The finance ministry said in a statement that the bill forecasts annual inflation at 5.14 percent in 2012. Official estimates forecast full-year 2011 inflation at 3.69 percent, slightly higher than the 3.33 percent registered last year.

The budget bill states that public spending will increase to $26.11 billion in 2012, up from $23.95 billion this year, and that $1.46 billion will be used to pay public debt.

The bill will likely be approved by Congress, in which the ruling Alianza Pais coalition and its allies have a majority.

PUBLIC SPENDING

QUITO, Nov 1 (Reuters) – The appointment of a new cabinet, tensions between government and media, and contract talks with mining companies are issues to watch in Ecuador.

CABINET RESHUFFLE, REFERENDUM REFORMS

Leftist President Rafael Correa asked his cabinet in full to resign in October, as he often does toward the end of the year. He should unveil a new cabinet in early November.

Correa tends to reappoint most ministers, but this time he will have to name a new political economy minister, the cabinet’s top economic official, after Katiuska King quit in October.

Correa won a May 7 referendum on 10 reforms to overhaul the justice system and limit media ownership, as well as to ban activities such as bullfighting and gambling in casinos.

He argues the judicial overhaul is key to tackling crime, the number one worry of Ecuadoreans. But opposition leaders say the reforms are designed to give Correa more control over judicial appointments.

In early September, Correa declared a 60-day judicial “emergency” to ensure legal services while the justice system is overhauled.A new supreme court should be elected before the end of the year.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – A criminal gang capable of smuggling 10 tonnes of cocaine a month for Mexico’s bloody Sinaloa cartel has been dismantled following the arrest of 36 suspects, Colombian authorities said on Friday.

The arrests have been hailed as a success of cooperation between Colombia and the United States, which has contributed with billions of dollars in aid to help the Andean country fight drug smugglers with links to Marxist guerrillas.

“I want to sincerely congratulate … the public prosecutor’s offices (of Colombia and United States), the police, the army (and) the air force, because this shows that our fight against drug trafficking is delivering accurate blows,” President Juan Manuel Santos told reporters.

He said 36 people had been arrested in the operation, which followed on from the detention of 19 suspects last month that belonged to a gang that built submarines to smuggle cocaine out of Colombia, the world’s top producer of the narcotic. He did not disclose where the arrests took place.

Some 21 aircraft were confiscated in the latest operation, which crushed a smuggling ring that supplied cocaine to Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, the most powerful organized crime gang in the Americas.

“This operation between the United States and Colombia has a direct impact that should relieve violence and drug trafficking in Central America and Mexico,” said General Oscar Naranjo, the head of the Colombian police.

The security forces seized 5 tonnes of cocaine, more than $1.5 million in cash, and arrested some “big shots” who worked for the ringleader, Daniel “Mad” Barrera, who remains at large.

BOGOTA, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Colombia’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Friday after six straight hikes, citing concerns turbulence in global financial markets could hurt economic growth in the Andean country.

As fears mount that the developed world is shifting from slow growth to no growth, emerging markets seem to many economists better placed to weather the storm.

“Right now what we have is a very strong level of uncertainty, but in spite the fact the the global economy has slowed, it is still growing,” Jose Dario Uribe, general manager of the central bank, told reporters.

“The increased uncertainty in international financial markets and its possible effect on the growth of the global economy, that was a key element (to maintain the benchmark interest rate at 4.50 percent),” he said.

Analysts had been divided over whether the bank would hike its key interest rate or hold it at 4.50 percent, a Reuters poll showed earlier this week. [ID:nN1E77G13Y]

Colombia’s central bank was one of the last in Latin America to start upping rates. It has faced pressure from the government to stop tightening monetary policy, as Chile and Peru have done. [ID:nN1E77H0WW] [ID:nN1E77A21B]

Many emerging markets have been grappling with the dilemma of whether to raise rates to combat inflation and risk stoking strong currencies.

BOGOTA, Aug 12 (Reuters) – At least one Colombian central bank board member was against an interest rate hike at last month’s meeting saying additional rate raises could bring in more inflows and push up inflation, minutes showed on Friday.

Colombia’s seven-member central bank board raised its benchmark interest rate for a sixth straight time on July 29 by 25 basis points to 4.50 percent in a move widely expected by markets although the decision was yet-again not unanimous.

Despite dissent on the policy making board, analysts expect Colombia’s central bank to continue its tightening cycle to prevent overheating in Latin America’s fifth largest economy. For July decision story, see [ID:nN1E76R254]

The minutes said “another member” was against the hike although they did not say if there were more than one. At the previous meeting in June, one member voted to keep rates steady while another one said that hike should be the last.

“Further increases would attract greater flows and credit supply, which may further impede the transmission of monetary policy. So we could end up fueling what we want to control: inflation,” the minutes showed the member as reasoning.

“What is now appropriate is the adoption of macroprudential regulation measures in concert with the government.”

Analysts say macroprudential measures could mean tighter banking regulations such as an increase in reserve requirements or placing restrictions on indebtedness abroad or portfolio investment.