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Activists Around The Planet Rally In A Show Of Global Solidarity! Greetings friends of the U'wa, A quick update as we go into the final day before the Feb 3 Day of Solidarity and Action for the U'wa people. In December of last year several member groups of the U'wa Defense Working Group (UDWG) requested to meet with senior Fidelity management to discuss what role they could play in stopping Occidental Petroleum's attempt to drill on U'wa land in Colombia. As one of the largest shareholders in Occidental Petroleum, Fidelity has an unparalleled power to intervene on behalf of the U'wa people and their lands. However as of February 1, Fidelity has officially refused to meet with advocates for the U'wa. Well if they won't listen then maybe the world will! On Feb 3 let us speak with one clear voice : Fidelity Investments is willing to profit from the genocide of the U'wa people. They have the power to stop the invasion of the U'wa lands and we will collectively hold them responsible for the safety of the U'wa people! Starting with a Feb 2 rally in San Francisco and spreading world wide on Feb 3, together we will kick off of a massive campaign that will make Fidelity realize that they have no choice but to take action for the U'wa! From Tokyo to Tel Aviv from Flordia to Minneapolis people will be taking action for the U'wa! We need demonstrations, rallies, pickets, teach-ins, and direct actions. We must tell the media, the general public and most importantly Fidelity investors. We need to show the world that we will not tolerate such complicity in crimes against an entire culture. Urge everyone concerned with basic human rights, environmental protection and the rights of sovereign peoples to control their own land to contact Fidelity and register their outrage! Also talk to your friends, co-workers and family, investigate your university or employer's holdings and retirement options. Find the Fidelity investors and tell them that they have the power to help the U'wa by divesting their money!
FIND A FIDELITY INVESTOR CENTER NEAR YOU! CALL THEM! FAX THEM! SHUT
THEM DOWN! CONTACT patrick at Rainforest Action Network (SF, USA 415-398-4404) rags@ran.org for more info FROM THE U’WA PEOPLE OF THE STATES OF BOYACA, SANTANDER, NORTH OF SANTANDER, ARAUCA AND CASANARE, COLOMBIA COMMUNIQUE TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC: 1. We denounce the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the various actions that they have carried out against the U’wa people; such as armed intimidation against indigenous inhabitants of our communities in past months; the machine-gun fire attack on Mr. Carlos Tegra Uncaria’s home; and the detention, kidnapping, and subsequent murder of our North American sisters and brother activists, Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatock, and Larry Gay Lahenae, who defended our cause in a humanitarian way. 2. We condemn all support from Colombians for the multinational oil company OXY. In this way, we energetically reject the collusion mounted by the Colombian government through the armed forces, the FARC, the multinational OXY and the subcontracting company Rocas del Llano to protect and safeguard vehicles, equipment and machinery belonging to OXY, in the area from the municipality of Pamplona to the Samore Block; the tight coordination to achieve their goal, is evident. 3. A strong militarization took place on January 19 in Cedeno on property that belongs to us, where our U’wa brothers were surrounded by soldiers and riot police North of Santander, and were physically and psychologically abused, and their personal goods were destroyed. 4. There have been death threats and intimidation made against civil officials to persuade them to act against our constitutional and legal rights, as in the case of Toledo’s judge, Dr. Yamile Vergel, who has been pressured into causing our forcible removal from our own lands. 5. There are strange circumstances surrounding the murder of Dr. Daniel Jordán Penaranda, notary public of Pamplona, who aided us in the process of gaining legal title to the farms of Santa Rita and Bellavista, as a collective U’wa property. These farms are located in the village of Cedeno, municipality of Toledo. 6. We reiterate our noble purpose to continue our peaceful struggle in defense of our ancestral and traditional rights to our territory, and we don ’t agree with the actions by the National Liberation Army (ELN) to destroy the machinery and equipment of the transnational oil company OXY, since actions like these only make the conflict worse. 7. We invite campesinos, workers, students, teachers, truckers, merchants and indigenous peoples in our region to show solidarity with our struggle, because we are convinced that DEFENDING OUR TERRITORIAL RIGHTS IS THE ONLY GUARANTEE OF OUR EXISTENCE. Today, we publicly and officially inform Colombia and the world that starting Tuesday, February 1, we declare a civilian strike in defense of the social rights of the U’wa people and the people of the Sarare area.
Cubará, January 31, 2000.
ROBERTO PEREZ GUTIERREZ ISMAEL UNCACIA
AsoU’wa Representative CRIA Representative
Translation by Florencia Valle, Rainforest Action Network.
1. A las fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) por las diferentes acciones que ha venido adelantando contra el pueblo indígena U´wa, como son, la intimidación armada realizadas contra indígenas moradores de nuestras comunidades en meses anteriores, como es el ametrallamiento de la vivienda del señor Carlos Tegría Uncaria, la retención, secuestro y posterior asesinato de los tres hermanos indigenistas norteamericanos Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatock y Larry Gay Lahenae, quienes humanitariamente defendían nuestra causa. 2. Condenamos todo apoyo de colombianos a favor de los intereses de la empresa multinacional del petróleo OXY. Es así, que rechazamos enérgicamente la confabulación del Estado Colombiano, a través de sus fuerzas militares, las FARC, la multinacional OXY y la empresa subcontratista Rocas del Llano, para proteger y salvaguardar vehículos, equipos y maquinaria de la transnacional OXY, desde el municipio de Pamplona, hasta el Bloque Samoré, pues es evidente la estrecha coordinación para cumplir tal propósito. 3. La fuerte militarización realizada el día 19 de los corrientes en Cedeño en predios que son de nuestra propiedad donde fueron acordonados hermanos U´was, por efectivos del ejercito y de la policía antimotines Norte de Santander, quienes maltrataron física y sicológicamente a los compañeros indígenas que se encontraban allí, destruyendo bienes y enseres que eran nuestros. 4. La amenaza de muerte e intimidación que vienen adelantando contra funcionarios públicos para actúen en contra de nuestros derechos constitucionales y legales que nos favorecen como es el caso de la juez de Toledo Dra. Yamile Vergel, quien ha sido presionada para que provoque a la fuerza el desalojo de nuestros predios. 5. Los extraños hechos en que fue asesinado el Dr. DANIEL JORDAN PENARANDA notario primero del circuito de Pamplona, quien nos colaboró en la formalización de la Escritura Pública de propiedad colectiva a favor del pueblo U´wa, predios Santa Rita y Bellavista ubicadas en la vereda Cedeño, municipio de Toledo. 6. Reiteramos nuestro noble propósito de seguir luchando pacíficamente por la defensa de nuestros derechos territoriales ancestrales y tradicionales, y no compartimos las acciones realizadas por el ejercito de Liberación Nacional ELN, al destruir maquinaria y equipo de la transnacional de petróleo OXY, pues acciones como estas solo agudizan el conflicto. 7. Invitamos a campesinos, trabajadores, estudiantes, docentes, transportadores, comerciantes e indígenas de la región a solidarizarse con nuestra lucha, pues estamos convencidos que "LA DEFENSA DE NUESTROS DERECHOS TERRITORIALES ES LA UNICA GARANTIA DE NUESTRA EXISTENCIA". Hoy, pública y oficialmente informamos a Colombia y el mundo que ha partir del día martes 01 de febrero declaramos el paro cívico en defensa de los derechos sociales del pueblo U´wa y del Sarare.
8.
Cubará, enero 31 del 2000
PUEBLO INDIGENA U´WA Y GUAHIBO DE LOS DEPARTAMENTOS DE BOYACA, February 1, 2000 Photos will be up on the ACERCA web and the NFN web pages shortly. http://www.acerca.org http://www.nativeforest.org NFN and ACERCA Protest Al Gore & his stock in Occidental Petroleum by Anne Petermann for Native Forest Network's BULLETIN Manchester, NH--Activists from the Native Forest Network, ACERCA (Action for Community and Ecology in the Rainforests of Central America), Rainforest Action Network, and other Free Trade activists were arrested around 1pm Wednesday, January 26 at the campaign headquarters of Al Gore. They demanded to speak to the Presidential candidate about his deep family and financial ties to Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and to use those ties to pressure Oxy into stopping their project to drill for oil on land belonging to the traditional U'Wa people in Columbia. This project, which will reportedly supply only enough oil to fuel the US for three months, will displace 5,000 U'Wa people and forever destroy their traditional homeland, the Columbian cloudforest. The U'Wa people have further stated that if Oxy continues with these plans, they may follow in the footsteps of their ancestors who committed mass suicide, rather than become the slaves of the Conquistadors. "We prefer genocide at the hands of the Colombian government over relinquishing our Mother Earth to the oil companies", stated a U'wa communiqué. U'wa leaders have vowed to continue their nonviolent protests against Oxy' s efforts to drill on their land. The drilling site is currently being guarded by 5,000 Columbian troops against the U'Wa people who had been occupying the site since last November. On March 4, 1999, three US activists working with the U'Wa people to stop the oil drilling project, were murdered by FARC, the leftist guerilla group in Columbia. The murders were the result of US and oil company backed militarization in the region. Al Gore's influence over Oxy includes his father's former seat on Oxy's Board of Directors. It also includes the $500,000 in Occidental stock he inherited from his father in 1997. Occidental is a major contributor to the Clinton and Gore campaigns. Most recently the US pledged $1.6 billion in aid to Columbia's military, leading many to see Columbia as the next potential Vietnam war. The staff at the Gore HQ were callous and belligerent, refusing to respond to the requests of the protesters and quickly bringing in the police. Bail was set high, at $250 for those people who received the charge of criminal trespass, and $500 for those who got the added charge of resisting arrest for allegedly non-complying with the order of the police to walk out. Those who could not make bail were detained overnight in the luxurious facilities of the Manchester jail, enjoying the fine sleeping arrangements of bare metal cots and the concrete floor. The trial for 5 of the arrestees has been set for March 20. Three protesters will be arraigned Feb 11, and will likely also be scheduled for trial on March 20. Call Gore to insist he take action in support of the U'Wa at (615) 340-2000. To get involved or for info, contact Amazon Watch at (310) 456-1340. Additional info http://www.ran.org and http://www.amazonwatch.org |
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January 25, 2000 Urgent, Sign-on Letter Re: Invasion of U'wa Land!Dear folks, A life and death situation is intensifying for the indigenous U'wa in Columbia. I urge you to please sign this letter. To sign on to this letter please email Project Underground's Carwil James carwil@moles.org (not ACERCA). If you live in the northeast and want to get involved in immediate action please contact Kim Foster from Rainforest Action Network in Boston fosterk@gis.net (781-321-8674; cell phone: 781-308-4530). I can also be reached until 3 pm eastern time today (25 Jan) at the ACERCA office 802-863-0571. In solidarity/ For the Earth,
Orin Langelle, Coordinator ACERCA
ACERCA is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice and a member of the Native Forest Network
Recent days have seen a MAJOR escalation of the conflict between Occidental Petroleum and the U'wa. Colombian soldiers are now surrounding the 250 U'wa at the drillsite and have cut them off from communication with the rest of their people. We will be issuing the attached sign-on letter to Colombian President Pastrana in the next few days (he is meeting with Pres. Clinton tomorrow), and would like to gather as many signatures as we can in support from organizations and prominent individuals. Please let me know if you or your organization is willing to sign on. Also, please circulate this letter to whomever you think would be supportive.
Carwil James
"Dance the military guns to silence.
Dear President Pastrana, We, members of international civil society, are seriously concerned about the tense situation that is currently unfolding in the U'wa homeland, where 250 U'wa are surrounded by a large number of heavily armed Colombian military forces at the Gibraltar 1 site. We believe that the U'wa people, like all people, have the right to live in their homeland, safe from the twin threats of war and environmental destruction. Your decisions in the coming days will determine whether the U'wa will have such a life in the future, and indeed whether they will have a future at all. It is of the utmost importance that you act with respect for the U'wa people and their right to a choice regarding the fate of their homeland. We are also writing to impress upon you of the tragic consequences of using violence to enforce a dangerous and destructive proposal against the wishes of a committed people. The U'wa have struggled for eight years to protect their homeland from oil drilling by the Occidental Petroleum Company. Citing the environmental dangers posed by oil extraction, the tendency of oil facilities in Colombia to attract violence in the forms of civil war and repression, and their deeply held spiritual belief that oil is the blood of Mother Earth, the U'wa have steadfastly opposed Occidental's presence on their land, often at considerable risk to themselves. Last September, disregarding constitutional and other legal requirements for consultation with indigenous communities, your government granted a drilling permit to Occidental at Gibraltar 1, less than a kilometer from the recognized Unified Reservation, and well within their traditional homeland. In response, more than 200 U'wa--ranging from children to tribal elders--established a permanent settlement on the drill site. It is a source of grave concern for us to learn that at least hundreds and, according to the U'wa, an estimated 5,000 agents of the Colombian military surrounded this settlement on January 19. Through this action, the Colombian government and military are placing the economic interests of Occidental over the very lives of the U'wa. This course of action will only bring your administration a backlash of criticism from the hundreds of thousands of concerned people from around the world who are closely monitoring this case in Colombia. Too often in recent history, claims of ownership have been chosen over the aspirations and beliefs of a people. Where this choice has been made, a piece of humanity and some of its voices are now missing, with only blood and silence in their place. We you to reconsider the genocidal consequences of your decision to proceed with the Samore oil project. Whether these choices are made actively or passively, as president, you will be morally culpable for any injury to the U'wa or their land. We urge you to withdraw the Colombian military from Gibraltar 1 as a first step in a process to inclusively decide the future of the U'wa homeland based on a recognition of the rights and hopes of the U'wa people themselves.
Emergency Follow-up Action / U'wa People of Colombia Dear "Quick Response Network" Members: Please respond to this urgent situation of the U'wa people in Colombia. Refer to Global Response Action #1/2K which was sent out earlier this week. Thanks. URGENT URGENT URGENT Communique to the International and National Public
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URGENT Life or death for Colombian rainforest tribe! November 2, 1999 From: "Kristin Dawkins" kdawkins@iatp.org PGA Action at WTO Seattle - http://members.aol.com/mwmorrill/pga.htm Please circulate (text also available in Spanish, contact rags@ran.org) COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT APPROVES OIL DRILLING ON U'WA LAND! U'WA THREATEN MASS SUICIDE RATHER THAN SEE MOTHER EARTH DESECRATED OCTOBER 12TH CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY WITH EMERGENCY ACTION FOR THE U'WA "We are seeking an explanation for this 'progress' that goes against life. We are demanding that this kind of progress stop, that oil exploitation in the heart of the Earth is halted, that the deliberate bleeding of the Earth stop...we ask that our brothers and sisters from other races and cultures unite in the struggle that we are undertaking...we believe that this struggle has to become a global crusade to defend life." - Statement of the U'wa people, August, 1998 Contents:
#1. For several years now the U'wa have been an inspiring symbol of ecological sanity and indigenous resistance to the oil industry's relentless invasion of the final remote corners of the planet. The U'wa have maintained their stand despite harassment, intimidation, a brutal assault on their spokesperson and the murder of three of their supporters. A worldwide solidarity movement forced Royal Dutch Shell to withdraw from the project and has stalled the efforts of LA-based Occidental Petroleum to begin drilling. Until now. With approval from the Colombian government drilling on U'wa land is imminent. A global solidarity movement is needed to pressure the Colombian government and Occidental to cancel the project. In Colombia where a 30 year civil war has claimed the lives of 25,000 people this decade alone, oil and violence spread hand in hand. Oil installations are popular targets for the guerillas and as such bring de facto military occupations along with the inevitable ecological devastation from ongoing bombing. For the U'wa oil is the blood of Mother Earth and therefore to drill is the ultimate desecration of their ancient traditions of living in peaceful balance with the Earth. The U'wa remain strong in their determination to protect their culture and sacred homelands but they need your help. October 12 is the anniversary of the European invasion of the Americas. Indigenous people and their supporters across the Western hemisphere will be celebrating 500 years of indigenous resistance. It is our hope that activists around the world will answer this emergency call to resist the new colonialism of multinational corporations by taking action on behalf of the U'wa. HERE ARE WAYS THAT YOU CAN GET INVOLVED : 1)CONTACT OCCIDENTAL AND THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT (See sample letters below)
Occidental Petroleum 10889 Wilshire Blv. LA, CA 90024 fax 310.443.6690 ph. 310.208.8800 email : +Los_Angeles-Communications@oxy.com
Presidente Andres Pastrana We need to show Occidental AND the Colombian government that activists around the world will stand with the U'wa to prevent the destruction of their culture and homeland . The best way to do this is to have a strong presence at Colombian consulates and embassies around the world. If you live near a consulate please call them up and ask for a meeting with the ambassador or consul. Organize a vigil, demonstration or direct action. We are asking that people do something on Oct 12 as a show of emergency support and then organize more substantial events over the next month. Obviously Oct 12 is very soon but the situation is urgent. Even if the demonstration is small do something to show the Colombian government that the U'wa have allies all around the world. Let us know what you are planning. If you are not near a city with a Colombian government office :
Fact sheets and other campaign materials are available on the RAN website http://www.ran.org/ Please call or email for hard copies, additional information and to coordinate your local actions with other supporters. Contact Patrick Reinsborough at rags@ran.org or call us in San Francisco, USA at 415-398-4404. 3) CONNECT THE U'WA WITH YOUR WORK AGAINST THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION OR OTHER FORMS OF CORPORATE DOMINATION The next three months will be the critical time for the U'wa. As many activists around the world are organize around the next World Trade Organization meeting (Nov 29-Dec 3)the U'wa will be fighting for their lives against the same system of uncheck corporate expansion. Even if you can't organize something for Oct 12th plan something for later. Use the U'wa resistance as an example of the emerging global resistance to corporate domination. Connect the U'wa struggle with your ongoing campaigns - whether its environmental justice, anti-militarism, indigenous rights or fighting globalization. Use the U'wa struggle as an example on the November 30th day of action against globalization. See http://go.to/n30 or email N30contacts@angelfire.com for details. Contact rags@ran.org to receive updates about the U'wa over the coming months.
Please take action now.
It is nothing less than a matter of life or death for the U'wa.
"We will in no way sell our Mother Earth, to do so would be to give up our work of collaborating with the spirits to protect the heart of the world, which sustains and gives life to the rest of the universe, it would be to go against our own origins, and those of all existence." - Statement of the U'wa People, August 1998 The U'wa of the Colombian cloud forest are in a life-and-death struggle to protect their traditional culture and sacred homeland from an oil project slated to begin on their land at anytime. The U'wa are adamantly opposed to the drilling and warn that the project will lead to an increase in violence as seen in other oil regions of Colombia. Despite this, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government continue to move forward with plans to drill. The U'wa have made a call for international support; now is the time for us to answer. The U'wa's opposition to the oil project is so strong that they have vowed to commit collective suicide if Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government proceed with the project on their ancestral lands. The U'wa, a traditional people some 5,000 members strong, explain they prefer a death by their own hand than the slow death to their environment and culture that oil production will bring. A core tenet of U'wa culture and spirituality is the belief that the land that has sustained them for centuries is sacred. They strongly believe that to permit oil exploration on these sacred lands would upset the balance of the world. In the words of the U'wa, "Oil is the blood of Mother Earth...to take the oil is, for us, worse than killing your own mother. If you kill the Earth, then no one will live." The U'wa people's struggle exploded into the public arena last March with the tragic murders in Colombia of three indigenous rights activists: Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahe'ane'e Gay. Terence was one of the founders of the U'wa Defense Working Group and had devoted the last two years of his life to supporting the U'wa in their campaign to stop Occidental's oil project, reclaim their ancestral homeland and protect their traditional culture. Ingrid and Lahe'ane'e were coordinating with the U'wa to launch an educational project designed to maintain and promote the U'wa's traditional way-of-life. These murders and the intimidation the U'wa have already persevered are but a harbinger of the wider physical violence the oil project will bring to their people. Throughout Colombia, oil and violence are linked inextricably. Occidental's Caño Limón pipeline, just north of U'wa territory, has been attacked by leftist guerillas more than 600 times in its 13 years of existence, spilling some 1.7 million barrels of crude oil into the soil and rivers. The Colombian government has militarized oil production and pipeline zones, often persecuting local populations the government assumes are helping the guerrillas. Oil projects have already taken their toll on many other indigenous peoples of Colombia, including the Yarique, Kofan and Secoya. The current drilling plans threaten the survival of both the U'wa and their environment. The U'wa's cloud forest homeland in the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy mountains near the Venezuelan border is one of the most delicate, endangered forest ecosystems on the planet. It is an area rich in plant and animal life unique to the region, and the U'wa depend on the balance and bounty of the forest for their survival. Where oil companies have operated in other regions of the Amazon basin, cultural decay, toxic pollution, land invasions and massive deforestation have followed. Occidental first received an exploration license for the 2 billion barrels oil field- the equivalent of three months of U.S. consumption -in 1992. Since then, the U'wa have voiced their consistent opposition to the oil project. They have taken a variety of actions to halt the project including the filing of lawsuits against the government in Colombia, petitioning the Organization of American States to intervene, appealing directly with Occidental's top executives, and reaching out to company shareholders. Last April U'wa representatives came to Los Angeles to directly confront Occidental. Along with several hundred supporters the U'wa marched on Oxy's HQ and demanded a meeting with CEO Ray Irani. When they were refused entry activists occupied the street in front of the building and held an inspirational rally on Oxy's front steps. Two days later on April 30th while the U'wa spoke at Occidental's shareholder meeting there were demonstrations at Colombian consulates and embassies around the world. The U.S has very strong ties with Colombia. Not only does Colombia sell most of its oil to the U.S. market but under the auspices of the "War on Drugs" U.S. military aid to the repressive regime in Colombia continues to grow. This year Colombia received $289 million in aid making them the third largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the world after Israel and Egypt. The U.S already has hundreds of military advisors in Colombia and the Clinton administration is proposing to give Colombia an additional $1.5 billion dollars. In August the Colombian government expanded the U'wa legal reserve. However the expansion includes only a portion of the U'wa traditional territory and most significantly the new borders were drawn in such a way as to place the sight of Occidental's first drill site just outside of the reserve boundaries. The Colombian government is cynically using this bureaucratic slight-of-hand to maintain that drilling will not happen on U'wa land. With drilling imminent and in the face of mounting violence in the region the urgency of the U'wa's struggle has never been so great. The U'wa need all of us to support them in their struggle. Spread the word. Tell their story. Educate. Organize. Contact Occidental and the Colombian government . Demand they cancel the project now! SAMPLE LETTERS Dr Ray Irani, President and CEO Occidental Petroleum Corporation 10889 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024 or Via fax: (310) 443 6922 Dear Dr. Irani, I am writing to express my deep concern with Occidental Petroleum's continued plans to drill for oil in the ancestral territory of the U'wa people in Colombia. The U'wa have threatened to commit collective suicide if Occidental moves forward with drilling. For the sake of the lives and land of the U'wa people and of the peace process in Colombia, please immediately suspend all operations in the U'wa ancestral territory. The U'wa people believe that oil is the blood of mother earth. They have repeatedly and adamantly explained to your company that they are utterly opposed to your plans to drill for oil on their sacred territory. It is time that Oxy accept the full extent of U'wa traditional territory, as defined by the U'wa themselves and withdraw from all efforts to drill in the Samore block. Oxy's continuing failure to suspend operations is in blatant violation of the recommendations of the 1997 OAS/Harvard report. There is ample opportunity to support Colombia in building energy self-sufficiency. We encourage you to do so by canceling your plans to exploit the Samore region and investing instead in renewable energy options. The fate of an entire indigenous civilization is in your hands. The U'wa deserve to live free from the inevitable violence and ecological devastation that oil drilling will bring. I urge you to look to your heart and cancel the project. The world is watching and waiting for you to do the right thing.
LETTER TO PRESIDENT PASTRANA. Presidente Andres Pastrana Casa Presidencial Bogota, Colombia Dear Honorable President : I am deeply troubled to learn that your government has granted Occidental Petroleum an environmental license for oil exploration at the Gibraltar 1 drill site which is in the traditional territory of the U'wa people. As you are aware, the U'wa are adamantly opposed to any oil activities within their homelands as it poses a serious threat to their physical and cultural survival . I strongly urge you to reconsider your government's decision to grant this environmental license since allowing drilling will cause irreparable harm to the U'wa people, culture and territory. Granting a license for drilling on the U'wa's traditional territory - particularly so close to their legally recognized reserve - constitutes a grave disregard for their deep spiritual and cultural ties to their land. Oil drilling will also threaten the U'wa by escalating conflict in the region. Oil facilities are a magnet for militarization and attacks by guerrilla factions, which has catastrophic environmental and social impacts for local communities. Oxy's Caño Limón pipeline has been bombed more than 600 times over the last 13 years, with a new attack occurring on average once a week. You must cancel this project before it leads to a significant increase in violence against the peaceful U'wa and other local peoples. As one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, Colombia has much to gain from reorienting current development plans towards strategies which foster ecological conservation rather than destruction. By letting the U'wa continue to live undisturbed, you are making a priceless investment in cultural and biological diversity for Colombia's future. Now is your opportunity to take a regional leadership role in developing sustainable, renewable energy sources, rather than sacrificing ecologically and culturally sensitive areas to new petroleum exploitation. International civil society is carefully monitoring the U'wa case. Your resolution of this delicate situation will either be a critical step towards promoting indigenous rights and environmental preservation or will be forever seen as enabling one of the worst in a long line of human and ecological tragedies. Your leadership in this important case is anxiously awaited. Thank you for your concern and action on behalf of the U'wa people and their traditional territory. I look forward to your response.
U'wa Defense Working Group Members: Amazon Watch, Action Resource Center, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, EarthWays Foundation, International Law Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense, Project Underground, Rainforest Action Network, Sol Communications If we can't pass on our visions and realities to our children, then what we do is just fashion and ultimately meaningless. |