Threat to Nahua and Kugapakori Peoples in Peru
5/6/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Threat to Nahua and Kugapakori Peoples in Peru
Source: Bioregional Citizen Action Network
Date: 5/6/97
Author: John Calvert
Shell Oil plans to begin drilling in an indigenous reserve in Peru, home
to the Nahua and Kugapakori peoples. Following the murder of people in
Africa following protests there, Shell's policy towards indigenous peoples
must be understood.
Subject: ACTION ALERT - PROTEST SHELL MAY 14th
*** ACTION ALERT - INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF SHELL OIL ***
Wednesday, May 14th, is a day of protest against Shell Oil Company's
devastation of the environment in Ogoni, Nigeria, on the Niger Delta,
and for the detainment of the Ogoni 20 and others who have resisted
Shell and the murderous Nigerian military regime. (May 14th is the
date of Shell's annual general meeting in London.)
Why the Shell boycott?
* Shell has devastated the environment of the Niger delta
* Shell has imported arms for the Nigerian military
* Shell has paid the Nigerian military to conduct operations in Ogoni
* Shell helicopters have been used to ferry Nigerian military troops
* Shell bribed witnesses at Ken Saro-Wiwa's trial (he has since been
executed)
A May 6 press release from the Sierra Club, Vancouver, BC, states:
"...It was Royal Dutch Shell's subsidiary, Shell Nigeria, that recently
admitted it provided arms and supplies for military dictator General
Sani Abacha's security forces to quell civil unrest in Ogoniland.
During a peaceful protest against Shell in 1990, 80 Ogoni were shot dead
and 495 homes destroyed. Since 1958, it is estimated over 2,000 Ogoni
have been killed by the Nigerian government to remove opposition to oil
operations in the Niger Delta. In the same time period, Sierra Club data
shows Shell has taken $30 billion worth of oil and gas out of the delta,
leaving the land, water and air polluted while most of its indigenous
people live in poverty."
Message from the detainees (mid April, '97, courtesy of
Project Underground, Berkeley):
"Today we are on the fringes of life, xxxxxxxxx (deleted to protect
identity), we are not allowed to go out. We use the same cell for toilet.
We are only allowed to go out to throw away our feces under military
escort. We are not fed. Our health condition is deteriorating as we are
being denied medical treatment. This is not helped by the overcrowded
nature of the cell.
In the name of God Almighty we are appealing to you to prevail on Shell to
end our agony by telling the Nigerian military government to release us
(Ogoni detainees) and other natives of Niger Delta oil producing areas
detained along with us here because of their opposition to Shell
operations in their communities."
"...Shell will be drilling for gas this July in an indigenous reserve
in Peru, unless we can act quickly to stop them. This $2.7-billion
project will be one of the largest gas operations in South American
history. The proposed site is home to the Nahua and Kugapakori peoples,
and Shell's presence threatens to displace them from the land, expose
them to disease and possibly wipe them out completely."
John Calvert
Bioregional Citizen Action Network