ELL: Latest news of the US Media View of the Gore-U'wa connexion
Nicholas Ostler
nostler at CHIBCHA.DEMON.CO.UK
Tue Mar 7 12:50:54 UTC 2000
From: Patrick Reinsborough <rags at igc.org>
Subject: U'WA : Great press on Al Gore Oxy links!
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 02:03:51 -0800
U.S NATIONAL TV NEWS BROADCAST SLAMS GORE FOR INACTION ON THE U'WA
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE WHO HAS HOUNDED GORE OVER THE LAST MONTH!
In this post :
1. press release for NY Times ad targeting Gore
2. Transcript of ABC National news broadcast on U'wa
3. ACTION ALERT : U.S. Congress to vote on military aid!
MARCH 9TH INTERNATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY FOR THE U'WA!
Protest Fidelity Investments! Protest Al Gore! Call your
representatives and urge them to vote against Clinton's Colombia war
package!
Let Rainforest Action Network know if you are organizing something :
Contact Patrick 1-800-989-RAIN, organize at ran.org
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#1
AMAZON WATCH RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK PROJECT UNDERGROUND
For Immediate Release March 6th, 2000
Contact: Stephen Kretzmann, 510-551-7953 or Atossa Soltani, 310-317-7045
Lauren Sullivan, 415-398-4404 or Danny Kennedy, 510-705-8981
Enviros Question Gore's Commitment in a N.Y. Times Ad
Expose V.P.'s "Deep Ties" to Occidental Petroleum
Gore Urged to Act in Defense of the U'wa People of Colombia
Escalating a campaign questioning Vice President Al Gore's environmental
commitment, environmental organizations today placed a full-page ad in
the west coast edition of the New York Times. The ad, whose headline
reads "Who is Al Gore? Environmental Champion or Petroleum Politician?
The U'wa people need to know" substantiates Gore's connections to
Occidental Petroleum and argues that the Vice President has a specific
responsibility to act on behalf of the U'wa people.
The U'wa, a remote Colombian tribe, are engaged in a tense standoff with
Los-Angeles based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) over the drilling of the
Gibraltar 1 oil well. The U'wa, a deeply spiritual people who believe
that oil is the "blood of Mother Earth", have repeatedly stated that
they "are willing to die" to keep oil drilling off of their ancestral
lands. More than 2,500 local farmers, union members, and students have
joined thousands of U'wa and other indigenous peoples in non-violent
blockades and protests near the well site to stop Oxy's project. The
heavy military presence around the oil project has already led to
violence against peaceful indigenous peoples. In the last month, many
have been injured and at least three have died. The situation remains
very tense.
Gore has enjoyed the corporate sponsorship of Oxy throughout his
political career. He controls up to $500,000 in Oxy stocks and has
received $20,000 a year for almost 30 years from mining rights to his
land that Oxy never mined. Gore's father made a great deal of his wealth
while working for Oxy and its ex-chairman, Armand Hammer. Gore Sr. sat
on the Board of Oxy for twenty-eight years. Since Gore was elected Vice
President, Oxy Chairman Ray Irani has given more than $400,000 to the
Democratic Party. Furthermore, Gore's "reinventing government"
initiative resulted in the sale of the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve
to Occidental in 1998. The unprecedented closed bidding process was the
largest privatization of federal property in U.S. history, one that
tripled Occidental's U.S. oil reserves overnight.
Environmental and human rights leaders have been attempting to direct
the Vice President's attention to this issue for years. In March 1998,
the Amazon Coalition wrote the Vice President on this issue requesting
his assistance. There was no reply. A month later a full-page ad in the
New York Times generated hundreds of letters to Gore. Gore also met
briefly with the spokesman for the U'wa people, Berito Kuwaru'wa, after
the Indian chief received the 1998 Goldman Environmental Prize. Despite
repeated attempts, Gore has consistently ducked the issue by attempting
to both deny his connections to Oxy and claim political impotence.
In January, grassroots environmental activists from around the country
began targeting Gore at his campaign appearances. Eight were arrested at
a sit-in at Gore's campaign headquarters over the U'wa issue in
Manchester, New Hampshire. The Democratic debate at the Apollo Theatre
was briefly interrupted by protesters, and in Olympia Washington, U'wa
supporters reportedly drowned out Gore supporters. Just Saturday,
activists in Boston disrupted yet another campaign rally. In all,
organizers estimate that at least twenty-five campaign appearances over
the last 6 weeks have been marred by protests around the U'wa issue.
Activists continue to demand that Gore take action that results in an
immediate suspension of Oxy's project, and a significant reduction of
tension on the ground.
"Neither we, nor the U'wa, are going to go away", said Steve Kretzmann
of Amazon Watch. "As a professed champion of the environment, Gore has a
general moral obligation to take action in defense of the U'wa and their
homeland. More importantly, as someone with deep ties and access to
Occidental, Gore clearly has a specific duty to take action in this
case. We won't accept the excuse that he's powerless to stop this
situation. As Vice President of the United States, he has the power to
make a difference".
Text of the NY Times ad can be viewed at www.ran.org,
www.amazonwatch.org or www.moles.org
-30-
------------------------------------------------------
#2 ABC NEWS! (National Broadcast)
Questioning Gores Integrity
Vice President Criticized for Betraying Environmental Cause
By Terry Moran
<http://more.abcnews.go.com/onair/worldnewstonight/moran_terry_bio.html>
teaser--
Peter Jennings:
Far from the campaign trail; but very much a story about one of the
candidates is one way to frame our Closer Look segment tonight. The
story
begins in the Colombian rain forest, with one of the region's oldest
indigenous peoples and makes its way back to the vice president of the
United States. We'll spend some time tonight trying to sort it out.
(Commercial break)
L O S A N G E L E S, March 6 - Al Gore says hes the environmental
candidate. He wrote a best-selling book on it, and its a central part
of
his presidential campaign.
I will not let you down, stated Gore when he spoke at the League of
Conservation Voters in New York on Feb. 24. I will fight with
everything
Ive got to protect the environment here in New York, all through our
country,
and around the world.
But all along the campaign trail, Gore is greeted by demonstrators who
say
he has betrayed the environmental cause when it comes to protecting
native
peoples.
The story begins in a remote region of Colombia, where the Uwa people
have
threatened to commit mass suicide if U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum
goes
forward with plans to drill for oil on what the tribe claims are its
traditional lands.
The Uwa oppose the drilling because they fear it will violate the rain
forest, which they consider sacred.
Making It a Personal Issue
Last month, a violent confrontation between villagers and police led to
at
least one death. What has all this got to do with Al Gore? Money.
Theres probably no company in America today, says Charles Lewis of
the
Center for Public Integrity, that is as close personally and
financially to
the vice president as Occidental Petroleum.
After Gore's late father left the U.S. Senate, he was named to the board
of
Occidental Petroleum. Financial records show the vice president is the
executor of his fathers estate, which holds as much as $500,000 worth
of
Occidental stock.
That means Gore could ultimately benefit from the company's operations
in
Colombia. Plus, Occidental is a major Democratic Party donor, giving
nearly
$500,000 in soft money since 1992. To environmental activists, the vice
president's duty is clear.
If he wants to be an environmental champion, says Atossa Soltani of
Amazon
Watch, he needs to make a statement on this issue. And he needs to take
personal responsibility for his family fortune.
Conflicting Political and Legal Pressures
It sounds simple: a multinational oil company, a threatened native
people, a
powerful politician. But there are other factors at work here that have
put
the vice president in a dilemma.
First, as executor of his fathers estate, Gore has legal
responsibilities
that could prevent him from simply dumping the Occidental stock.
And the Clinton administration is supporting the Colombian government in
its
battle with guerillas and drug dealers, who control 40 percent of the
country.
Many foreign policy experts say developing the oil business as an
alternative to drugs is crucial to Colombias survival.
If they would stop oil exploration, says Lowell Fleischer of the
Center
for Strategic and International Studies, which seems to be the goal of
some
of these indigenous leaders, I think that would just lead to more
problems.
Vice President Gore refused several requests to speak with ABCNEWS about
the
Uwa and his familys holdings with Occidental.
But as the demonstrators dog him - and Occidental begins drilling in
Colombia - Gores public silence on the issue leaves him open to the
charge
that for all his speechmaking on the environment, he wont put his money
where his mouth is.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FYI: Visuals included long pan of today's New York Times ad (California
version) placed by RAN, Project Underground and Amazon Watch, video
footage the U'wa shot with the camera we sent them, protests vs. Gore
in NH, LA, NY and Oakland, and Berito Kuwaruwa blowing the sacred conch shell!
#3
_________________________________________________________
ACT NOW MARCH 3, 2000 - MARCH 16, 2000
EYES WIDE SHUT: U.S. AID PACKAGE TO ABUSIVE ARMY
FIRST VOTE ON PACKAGE: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9
_________________________________________________________
In January, President Clinton introduced an emergency supplemental aid
package to Colombia. The Administration's $1.3 billion aid package to
Colombia is a disastrous approach to stemming the drug trade and ending
the South American nation's brutal armed conflict. This new aid, combined
with funds already directed toward Colombia, will amount to $1.6 billion over
the next two years. Over 60% of this package is assistance to the
Colombian army, widely-recognized as the most abusive military in the Western
hemisphere. This aid will make the United States a major actor in
Colombia's counterinsurgency war.
________________________________________________________
T I M E T O A C T
________________________________________________________
The proposed U.S. aid package to Colombia is moving quickly through
Congress. However, grassroots efforts and recent reports linking
Colombian military and paramilitary forces have initiated debate in Congress.
This provides grassroots groups working on Colombia a small window of
opportunity to affect the package.
The Aid package is scheduled to be introduced in an "emergency
supplemental" on MONDAY, MARCH 6 in the House of Representatives. It
will be voted on by the Appropriations Committee probably on THURSDAY, MARCH
9.
It will then go to the floor of the House for a vote on MARCH 16 and
then to the Senate.
_______________________________________________________
A C T I O N A C T I O N A C T I O N
_______________________________________________________
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND ASK THEM TO:
1) Oppose military aid to Colombia
2) Support positive amendments that
A. shift assistance from the military assistance to positive social
investments in Colombia
B. shift funds for military assistance to demand reduction, education
and
treatment programs in the United States
C. include human rights conditionality and monitoring of security
assistance
3) Sign-on to the dear colleague letter that Reps Campbell, Schakowsky,
Baldwin and Nadler are circulating. The letter asks Appropriations
Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young not to appropriate additional funding
for the Colombian military as proposed in Clinton's supplemental
request.
__________________________________________________
H O W T O C O N T A C T
Y O U R R E P R E S E N T A T I V E
__________________________________________________
U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121
Web address for email addresses and phone #'s:
http://www.house.gov
_________________________________________________
TALKING POINTS
_________________________________________________
+ This aid package will not only pour hundreds of millions of dollars
into the most abusive military in the Western Hemisphere, but it will almost
certainly destabilize fragile peace negotiations and undermine support
of a negotiated settlement.
+To avoid getting the United States more deeply involved with
Colombia's infamous armed forces, I ask you to oppose aid to the
Colombian army due to human rights concerns, especially army links at a
regional
and local level to brutal paramilitary forces.
+Instead, I urge you to support a substantial positive aid package for
Colombia, including: humanitarian relief for people displaced by
violence; crop substitution programs for small farmers to switch from coca to
legal crops; economic assistance; programs to strengthen Colombian government
investigations into human rights violations and drug trafficking; aid
for civil society efforts for human rights and peace.
+Finally, because the United States "War on Drugs" is one that must be
fought at home, I ask you to increase funding for drug treatment and
prevention programs here in our own country.
__________________________________________________
alert produced by:
U.S./Colombia Coordinating Office
agiffen at pop2.igc.org
Phone: 202-232-8090
http://www.igc.org/colhrnet/
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----------------------------------------------------------------
Nicholas Ostler
President
Foundation for Endangered Languages
Registered Charity 1070616
Batheaston Villa, 172 Bailbrook Lane
Bath BA1 7AA England
+44-1225-85-2865 fax +44-1225-85-9258
nostler at chibcha.demon.co.uk
http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Philosophy/CTLL/FEL/
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