Oil Companies Drilling on U'wa Lands in Colombia
10/20/97
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Headline: Oil Companies Drilling on U'wa Lands in Colombia
Source: U'WA DEFENSE PROJECT
C/O Earth Trust Foundation 20110 Rockport Way Malibu, California 90265
phone/fax (818) 505-8353 email: uwaproject@aol.com
Date: 10/20/97
Contact: Terence Freitas, U'wa Defense Project, 310/516 3026 (pager)
Shannon Wright, Rainforest Action Network, 415/398-4404
U'WA INDIGENOUS LEADER BEATEN AND THREATENED
U'wa Chief Roberto Cobara speaks of death threat at protest outside
Occidental Petroleum's offices, appeals to company executives
Los Angeles-The U'wa people of Colombia who have threatened to commit
collective suicide if oil is drilled on their ancestral lands, now face an
additional peril: violence and death threats for opposing oil development.
This is the announcement U'wa Chief Roberto Cobara made at a press
conference today outside of Occidental Petroleum's headquarters in Los
Angeles.
Cobara is on his second journey to the U.S. this year in order to appeal
directly to Occidental and its investment partner Shell International to
halt the project. Despite the fact that it may place him in additional
danger, Cobara decided to go public about the recent death threat and
beating he received in his cloud forest village. The U'wa say that they
are already suffering the consequences of the oil project and are asking
the companies to cancel their plans immediately.
During the press conference Chief Cobara revealed the details of the
recent death threat. Cobara was pulled from his bed in the middle of the
night by a group of hooded men with rifles. The assailants held the U'wa
leader to the ground, demanding that he sign an authorization agreement, or
he would lose his life. After refusing to sign, Cobara was threatened
with hanging, then beaten and pushed off an embankment into a river where
he nearly drowned. Cobara recounted the violent attach: "They said if you
don't sign the agreement you will lose your life. And I said I guess I
will lose my life then, kill me right now, because I can't make this
agreement. I can't sign anything away from my tribe." Cobara is the U'wa
people's elected representative and as such serves as the tribal
spokesperson, refusing to authorize Occidental's and Shell's plans to drill
for oil on U'wa territory.
Joining Cobara were some 50 protesters from the U'wa Defense Project, an
international coalition of environmental and human rights organizations
including the Action Resource Center, Amazon Watch, Project Underground,
and Rainforest Action Network who are working in solidarity with the U'wa
people.
"We want Occidental and Shell to know that we hold them accountable for the
U'wa's welfare. It is up to these companies to avert another tragedy like
what is happening in Nigeria where 2,000 Ogoni, including leader Ken
Saro-Wiwa, have been killed for organizing against Shell," said Terence
Freitas, Coordinator of the U'wa Defense Project.
The U'wa-a traditional indigenous people some 5,000 strong who live in the
cloud forests of the Colombian Andes-are adamantly opposed to the oil
project slated for their sacred homeland. If the oil project proceeds, the
U'wa threaten to walk en-mass off a 1,400-foot cliff in the Andes in order
to avoid "a death without dignity" they fear will follow if oil is
exploited on their land.
In an open letter Cobara delivered to Occidental and Shell today, the U'wa
chief appeals to the companies: "For us Mother Earth is sacred. It is not
for negotiation, so please do not try to confuse us and others with offers.
Please hear our request, a request that comes from our ancestral right by
virtue of being born on our territory: Halt your oil project on U'wa
ancestral land."
Despite U'wa appeals and the escalation of violence in the region due to
guerrilla and military clashes centering around oil regions, Occidental and
Shell are moving forward with the project. While the companies have
temporarily suspended oil exploration activities on a small portion of the
U'wa traditional homeland, the companies have refused to recognize the
U'wa's full territorial claim or cancel drilling plans. Occidental's and
Shell's position also conflicts with the recommendation of a recent report
issued by Organization of American States (OAS) in September which calls
for the "immediate and unconditional" commitment of the oil companies to
suspend plans for oil exploration and exploitation in the entire "Samor,"
oil block.
"The U'wa, the OAS and the international human rights and environmental
community all have the same message for Occidental and Shell: cancel the
oil project. It is past time for the companies to do what is right over
what is profitable," explained Terence Freitas.
About half of Colombia's oil is exported to the U.S. The Samor, block,
estimated to hold some 1.5 billion barrels of oil, is enough to supply U.S.
consumption for only three months. Occidental cites the unacceptable loss
of its $16 million in the project to date as important reason for
continuing with the project. Occidental CEO Dr. Ray Irani, the highest
paid executive in the U.S., is expected to earn a $95 million bonus this
year. For its part, Shell currently has more than a $12 billion cash
surplus.
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U'wa Defense Project is working to publicize the U'wa struggle and mobilize
international support by organizing institutions and people in defense of
the U'wa. Formed in July of 1997, the U'wa Defense Project is supported by
a coalition of environmental and human rights groups including: Amazon
Watch, Center for Justice and International Law, Coalition for Amazonian
Peoples and their Environment, Colombian Human Rights Watch, Earthjustice
Legal Defense Fund, FIAN-Germany, Project Underground, Rainforest Action
Network, and SOL Communications.
______________________________________________________
Shannon Wright NEW ADDRESS:
Amazon Campaign Director 221 Pine Street, Suite 500
Rainforest Action Network San Francisco, CA 94104 USA
E-mail: amazonia@ran.org tel: (415) 398-4404
URL: http://www.ran.org fax: (415) 398-2732
Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and
support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots
organizing, and non-violent direct action.