Quito, January 11, (RHC), -- The Secretary of Legal Affairs of the Presidency of Ecuador, Alexis Mera, denounced on Friday that the U.S. oil conglomerate Chevron hacked private e-mails of the president of that South American nation, Rafael Correa.

During an interview with local media, Mera said that Chevron tried to deliver the hacked emails as evidence to a court of justice in the United States, which currently handles the ongoing dispute with the oil giant over pollution of large chunks of Ecuadorian jungle by one of its units.

The illegaly intercepted correspondance, includes more than 20 emails of President Correa , the state attorney general, Diego García Carrión, and of Mera himself, but the U.S. Court rejected the correspondance as evidence, Mera said.

The official explained that the revelations confirm the allegations made by President Rafael Correa, who last January 2nd blamed opposition lawmaker Cléver Jimenez and his advisor Fernando Villavicencio of having intercepted his private communications for months, as well as emails of other government bodies.

According to preliminary reports by the government the emails intercepted by oppostion lawmaker Jimenez contained detailed information regarding the legal strategy of the Chevron case.