Occidental Oil Pressures Secoya in Ecuador
10/21/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Support Secoya People
Source: email from Sonya Mustad Bjorn-Hansen
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 21, 1999
Byline: Sonya Mustad and Bjorn-Hansen
If you believe the Indigenous people(s) have the right to have the
dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and
aspirations, appropriately reflected in all forms, and if you foster
the appreciation for, and an understanding of, the value of
indigenous traditions, cultures, and institutions and their right to
preserve and develop their identity and culture, please read on.
The following is an update on the latest situation occurring with
Occidental (Oxy) Oil Company, based in Los Angeles, California, and
the Secoya People of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Occidental has
effectively managed to divide the Secoya community. The Secoya People
urgently need support from the international community.
Please sign the letter at the end of this message and send it to the
addresses provided.
Your letters will be most effective if sent as soon as possible
because reports say that Oxy is anxious to start drilling on Secoya
lands because its contract with Petroecuador says it must drill three
new test wells in Block 15 by December 31, 2000. A decision might
take place any day now.
The Secoyas and Oxy are negotiating a Code of Conduct. Oxy resisted
this at first, but is now willing to compromise on the issue although
basically the Secoya delegation achieved many of its points
concerning the code of conduct. Negotiations concerning the three
test wells will probably commence after October 31 after a written
agreement on the Code of Conduct is supposed to go into effect. If it
is ratified by the various Secoya villages - the voting will be-
maybe - in October. Therefore, will you please write your letters and
send them as soon as you can?
The Secoyas in Ecuador are an ethnic minority living in 100,000 acres
of the northern Ecuadorian Amazon, in the province of Sucumbios,
along the Aguarico River. They live in two communities, San Pablo and
Sehuaya. They are represented by OISE, the Secoya Indigenous Peoples'
Organization of Ecuador. The leaders of OISE are democratically
elected by the entire tribe.
However, the community is divided over Occidental's presence. The
elders and women are totally opposed to any and all petrol
activities. Even with these Secoya voices expressed, Occidental has
completed its seismic operations. Whether oil is really there can
only be determined by drilling, which hasn't occurred yet. If oil is
found in Secoya land, it will, without a doubt, leave the Aguarico
River - a tributary of the Amazon River - polluted, affect the
uniqueness of the forest and leave the Secoya spirit troubled. Your
letters of concern are important before irreversible consequences
occur, locally and globally.
OISE has stood strong against Occidental to insure proper
compensation to the Secoya People. In September 1998, Oxy negotiated
a contract with the Sehuaya community for one test well. The
contract with Sehuaya divided the two communities, San Pablo and
Sehuaya, mainly between September-December 1998, undermining the
democratically elected OISE Secoya Peoples' representatives. The
contract Occidental signed with the Sehuaya community was for
US$85,000.
OISE protested and sought to annul the contract, saying the company
had to negotiate with OISE,and not a single "centro". In December
1998 Oxy issued a letter acknowledging that the contract with Sehuaya
was annulled. More recently, Oxy has accepted the OISE argument that
it must negotiate with OISE.
Currently the Secoya negotiating commission includes representatives
of all of the Secoya "centros", including Sehuaya, and they are
acting in a 'unified' manner as they dialogue with Oxy. Negotiations
on the three test wells probably won't occur until after the Code of
Conduct takes effect - if it is ratified by the Secoya "centros"
[villages]).
These negotiations could start in November. If an agreement on the
three test wells is reached, Oxy says it would use helicopters to the
three proposed well-sites and extract the oil over a 20 year period
all for a mere 14 days supply of oil. Yet without a doubt, serious
damage, spiritually, culturally and environmentally, will occur.
Just fifteen days after Occidental constructed its first base camp in
the Secoya communal center of Sehuaya in 1977, a Secoya woman was
raped by an Occidental employee. There was no criminal investigation.
Occidental simply dismissed the man. In 1997, in exchange for
petroleum-related activities on the last 45,000 acres of pristine
Rainforest on Secoya land, the president of OISE was promised:1
outboard motor, 1300 sheets of tin roofing, 44 sets of aluminum pots,
5 rolls of plastic, 50 rolls of chicken wire, 200 pounds of nails,
and 200 plastic tubes, to be distributed evenly among all his people.
The agreement also stated that the Secoyas would receive 1,000
Ecuadorian sucres - about US30 cents per meter of seismic test
tracks cut - or about US$36,000. Despite tremendous pressure from
Occidental -including bribes, trickery and lies - the President of
the Sehuaya community realized his error in signing the contract with
Occidental.
At the end of 1998, at a community council, it was agreed that the
Secoyas would stand strong against Occidental to protect and respect
their culture, human rights and communal lands.
OISE, the Secoya People's Organization, rejected a contract allowing
Occidental to drill on Secoya land, but Occidental has refused to
honor this decision. However, if signing equal rights of access is
agreed between OISE and Oxy, and if a future agreement is reached
between the two, Oxy would have limited rights of access for certain
petroleum-related activities on Secoya lands.
But still Occidental isn't listening.
Occidental is one of the world's largest oil companies, with
corporate assets totalling nearly $18 billion and annual revenues of
over $9 billion. It produces oil and gas in twelve countries, and it
is exploring for oil in twenty-three others. It is Occidental
Petroleum's plan to drill for oil on the traditional land of the U'wa
People(s) in Columbia whose opposition to oil exploration is so
strong that they have vowed to commit collective suicide if
Occidental and the Columbian government proceed to drill on their
land. They prefer death by their own hand than the slow death to
their environment and culture that oil will bring.
Oxy has racked up a notoriously poor record on environmental and
indigenous rights issues, particularly in the Upper Amazon River
Basin. Their incursions into Block 15 have begun to impact Ecuador's
Secoya and Siona peoples, who live on the banks of the Aguarico River
in the northeastern province of Sucumbios. There are only about 350
Secoyas and 250 Sionas remaining in Ecuador.
The Secoyas ask the global community to please support them against
Occidental Oil Company because they cannot do this alone as they
interface with the pressure from the cash economy, and encroaching,
powerful modern technologies. This is a very confusing time for the
Secoyas. They need and want international support as oil exploration
on Indian Lands in the Amazon has proven to be a disaster.
Sustainable use of local resources is simple self-preservation for
people whose way of life is tied to the fertility and natural
abundance of the land. Indigenous peoples frequently aim to preserve
not just a standard of living but a way of life rooted in the
uniqueness of a local place. Indians often say that the difference
between a colonist (a non-Indian settler) and an Indian is that the
colonist wants to leave money for his children and that the Indians
want to leave forests for their children.
Since World War 2, the culture of petroleum and its petro-dollars
have devastated the Amazon Rainforest. The world's Indigenous
people(s) expend much of their energy simply trying to secure their
resource rights. At the end of the 20th century, the Secoya people
are resisting the pressure from the cash economy and the encroaching
powerful modern technologies as they struggle to preserve a precious
global resource. They have the fundamental rights of indigenous
people(s) to be acknowledged and respected, the right to preserve and
develop their identity and culture, and to stress the importance of
the right to self-determination. We all do.
We, the people of the world want to act upon our social and moral
obligations towards all of life. Without a doubt, the travesty
resulting with Occidental's activities affects all of us. Without our
support, Occidental oil company will devastate the spirit of an
ethnic minority of at least 350 people and yet another rainforest.
The Secoyas are an authentic Amazon nation with a precious cultural
heritage and invaluable wisdom and guidance for the world.
Please Note:
Occidental's plan will ravage the Rainforest over 20 years all for a
mere 14 days supply of USA oil.
For half a century of criminal violations against Humanity rather
than in relief of it, can we really settle for petrol companies to
continue to act as lords of our earth and people(s)?
We trust this report will ignite your passion to write a letter or
send the sample letter below so that the Secoya People, represented
by OISE, will receive a strong response of solidarity from the
international community.
The power of your pen is essential in this struggle. The Secoya
People must not be pressured. Please sign and send a copy of the
following letter.
Thank you very much,
From a concerned global citizen.
Enclosed is a sample letter in English and Spanish.
Please send a Spanish letter to Ecuador.
Dear
Every day unconscionable destruction of the Amazon Rainforest moves
forward. If we understand ourselves as human species, stewards of the
Earth, we must do whatever we can to protect the life of our planet
and all its peoples.
I am writing to demand a nondisputed moratorium for 5 years on all
Occidental Petroleum Corporation's activities in Block 15 in the
Ecuadorian Rainforest, imposed on the Secoya homelands. The Secoyas
cannot be pressured. It is not the Indigenous way. In most native
cosmologies, nature is more than a store-house of resources. Amid the
endless variety of Indigenous belief, there is striking unity on the
sacredness of ecological systems.
What is happening to the Secoya People in Block 15 of the Ecuadorian
Amazon profoundly affects the Indigenous people living there and
ultimately all people everywhere. We must safeguard the cultural
heritage of the Amazon to keep our world diverse. To lose the
Indigenous knowledge is to have lost forever something precious and
irreplaceable in our human family. To harm the Rainforest itself, we
endanger all life on our planet. Petrol activities in the Amazon
Rainforest, undoubtedly, continue to destroy a priceless human
resource.
I stand next to the Secoya voices, especially those of the elders and
women, to support the safeguarding of the cultural heritage of the
Secoya people. I want to insure the survival of this unique and
fragile tropical ecosystem to keep our world diverse because I
respect the wisdom of our ancestors 7 generations past and I respect
our children and grandchildren.
I want our children to know, 7 generations into the future, that my
signature in this letter stands for a command to halt activities that
will endanger life on our planet - in this case - the social,
cultural and environmental tragedy, revering petrol above human
spirit, caused by Occidental's refusal to listen and obey the wishes
of the Secoya People, especially those of the elders and women. It is
they who know that petro-dollars can never supersede nor replace the
sacred Amazon forest or their culture or their ancestral inheritance.
Please join me in this commitment to safeguard the Secoya Amazon
forest and culture. I urge you to do everything possible to stop
Occidental's activities in Block 15 for 5 years.
Thank you very much. Muchas gracias.
(Your signature)
(Date signed)
__________________
Estimado
Cada dia la destruccion desmesurada de la selva amazonica avanza mas.
Si nos entendemos como seres humanos cuidadores- administradores de
la Tierra debemos hacer todo lo posible para protejer la vida de
nuestro planeta y su gente.
Escribo para exijir una moratoria sin disputa de 5 anos de todas las
actividades de la compania Occidental de Petroleos (Occidental
Petroleum Corporation) en el Bloque 15 en la selva Ecuatoriana
impuesta en las tierras de los Secoyas. Los Secoyas no pueden ser
presionados, esa no es la costumbre Indigena. En la mayoria de las
cosmologias nativas, la naturaleza es mas que una casa-almacen de
recursos. Entre la infinita variedad de creencias indigenas hay una
gran unidad en lo sagrado de los sistemas ecologicos.
Lo que esta ocurriendo a la gente Secoya en el Boque 15 de la
Amazonia Ecuatoriana afecta profundamente a la gente indigena que
vive alli y fundamentalmente a toda la gente en todas partes. Debemos
resguardar la herencia cultural del Amazonas para conservar nuestra
diversidad del mundo. Perder la sabiduria indigena es perder para
siempre algo precioso e irreparable de nuestra familia humana. Al
danar la selva estamos poniendo en peligro toda la vida en nuestro
planeta. Las actividades petroleras en la selva Amazonica
indudablemente continuan destruyendo los invalorables recursos
humanos.
Yo paro alado las voces de los Secoyas, especialmente lo de los
mayores y de las mujeres, para apoyar la resguardar de la herencia
cultural y el bosque tropical de la gente Secoya.
Yo quiero asegurar la subsistencia de este fragil y unico ecosistema
tropical para mantener nuestro diverso mundo porque yo respeto la
sabiduria de las siete generaciones pasadas de nuestro ancestros y
respeto nuestros hijos y nietos.
Yo quiero que nuestros hijos conozcan siete generaciones futuras, que
mi firma en esta carta apoya un comando de parar a los actividades
que causaran peligro a la vida de nuestro planeta - en este caso - la
tragedia social, cultural y ambiental, reverando petrol sobre el
espiritu humano, causada por el rechazamiento de la Compania
Occidental de Petroleos de escuchar y obedecer los deseos de la gente
Secoya, especialmente los de las mujeres y ancianos.
Ellos son que saben que el dinero petroleo nunca jamas pueda reponer
o devolver o reemplazar el sagrado bosque Amazonico o su cultura o su
herencia ancestral.
Por favor, unase a mi compromiso de resguardar la cultura y la selva
amazonica de los Secoyas. Les insito a hacer todo lo posible para
detener las actividades de la Compania Occidental de Petroleos por 5
anos en el bloque 15.
Muchas gracias.
(firma y fecha)
______________________________________________________
Letters of concern may be sent to:
Personas interesadas pueden enviar su carta a:
PRESIDENTE JAMIL MAHUAD de la REPUBLICA DEL ECUADOR Palacio
Presidencial
Garcia Moreno 1043 y Chile
Quito, Ecuador
Fax: (011-593-2) 580-736
E-mail: seprensa@uio.satnet.net,
OISE
Casilla 17-15-246C
Lerida 407 y Ponteverdra
Quito, Ecuador
Telephone/Fax (593-2)547-516
OISE@fda.ecuanex.net.ec,
PERIODICO "EL COMERCIO"
Fax: (011-593-2) 670-866
Tel: (011-593-2) 670-999
E-mail: elcomercio@elcomercio.com,
PERIODICO "HOY"
Fax: (011-593-2) 491-410
Tel: (011-593-2) 490-888
E-mail: mhidalgo@hoy.com.ec,
MINISTERIO DE ENERGIA Y MINAS
Ren, Ortiz, Director
Santa Prisca 223 y Manuel Larrea
Tel: (011-593-2) 572-011
Fax: (011-593-2) 570-359
E-mail: infomem@access.net.ec,
MINISTRA DEL MEDIO AMBIENTE
Yolanda Kakabadse, Director
Eloy Alfaro y Amazonas, Edif. Mag, Piso 7 Quito, Ecuador
Tel: (011-593-2) 563 - 430 or 563-423 o 563 -429 Fax: (011-593-2)
500-041
E-mail: yolandak@ambiente.gov.ec,
UTEPA
Luis Ortiz, Director
Ave. Eloy Alfaro No. 4070 y Gaspar de Villaroel Tel: (593 - 2) 445
535 or 461457
Fax: (593 -2) 443-062
PROJECT UNDERGROUND
1916 A Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
Fax: (510) 705-8983
Tel: (510) 705-8981
E-mail: cbaldi@moles.org,
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK
Shannon Wright, Director, Beyond Oil Campaign 221 Pine Street, 5th.
floor
San Francisco, California, 94104
Tel: (415) 398-4404 - Fax: (415) 398-2732 beyondoil@igc.org,
OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION
Attention: Dr. Ray I. Irani, President
10889 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, California, 90024 - 4201
Tel: (212) 603-8111
Dr. Irani's home address: 388 St. Pierre Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90077