(Adds Chevron and plaintiffs' lawyer comments) QUITO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Saturday he plans to meet with Chevron Corp <CVX.N> officials and lawyers for 30,000 jungle residents who are suing the U.S. oil giant for up to $16 billion over environmental damages. Peasants and Indians are suing the U.S. company in an Ecuadorean court over charges its Texaco unit polluted the jungle and damaged their health by dumping 18 billion gallons (68 billion litres) of oil-laden water from 1972 to 1992. "We will meet with the representatives of Chevron-Texaco who are asking for a meeting, but with our colleagues of the Amazon Defense Front (the plaintiffs' lawyers) present," Correa said during his weekly radio address. Chevron, which calls the case a "judicial farce" plagued by government interference, said on Friday it was open to reaching an amicable solution to resolve the suit after Ecuador said it was willing to mediate an out-of-court settlement. The left-leaning Correa, who denies the government has meddled in the case, said last week he met with the plaintiffs' lawyers, who were worried that the government was already in talks with the company. "Be confident that you have a patriotic and sovereign government that will never again bow to the interests of the big transnational (companies)," said Correa, who did not give a date when a meeting with Chevron would take place. Texaco, bought by Chevron in 2001, denies its operations affected the health of Amazon communities. The company has said it was released from liability because it paid $40 million for an environmental cleanup in the 1990s. Chevron blames state oil company Petroecuador for much of the pollution. "Our position hasn't changed; we are open to a meeting that could provide a solution," said Kent Robertson, a spokesman for Chevron in California. "But if we sit down the government needs to discuss its unfulfilled contractual obligations," he said, referring to the liability release the company said was part of the earlier deal. The plaintiffs' lawyers, who have not ruled out an out-of-court settlement, accuse Chevron of pressuring the Ecuadorean government to get involved in the case by asking Washington not to renew trade preference tariffs on the Andean country's products. Steven Donziger, U.S.-based lawyer advising the plaintiffs, said, "We are committed to a resolution that includes a comprehensive remediation of the environmental harm caused by Texaco and for that to happen the Ecuadorean court needs to be allowed to finish the case." Correa, who often scorns foreign oil companies and accuses them of cheating his poor nation out of billions of dollars in revenue, has said Chevron has done irreversible damage to the Amazon. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; editing by Patricia Zengerle and Cynthia Osterman)
