ELL: U'wa president confronts Oxy VP!

[Nicholas Ostler]

From: Patrick Reinsborough <rags at igc.org>
Subject: U'wa president confronts Oxy VP!
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:56:08 -0800

From: Uwa Defense Working Group

1-President of U'wa Tribe of Colombia Confronts
Occidental Petroleum VP in Congresswoman McKinney's Office

2-Response to Occidental's Public Relations Campaign

3-Reuters story house approves military aid package to Colombia


	U'wa Traditional Authority president Roberto Perez will be directly
confronting Fidelity Investments (one of Oxy's largest shareholders)at
their corporate HQ in Boston on April 3.  Hundreds of activists will be
joining Roberto in marching on Fidelity. If you are in the  Boston area
call 781-321-2627 for more info.
	 Let's make Fidelity feel the pressure all around the planet!
Organize
a solidarity vigil, demonstration or direct action at your local
Fidelity investor center!  Contact RAN for more information
1-800-989-RAIN  organize at ran.org

================================
#1

March 30, 2000

President of U'wa Tribe of Colombia Confronts
Occidental Petroleum VP in Congresswoman McKinney's Office

Washington, DC (March 30) -- Roberto Perez, President of the U'wa
Traditional Authority in the first days of his US visit, confronted a
surprised Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) Vice President, Larry Meriage, in
the
Congressional office of Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney, ranking
member on the House International Relations Subcommittee on
International
Operations and Human Rights.

According to McKinney, Meriage had requested a meeting with her in
apparent
response to her remarks on Oxy's controversial oil project yesterday
during
the house floor debate on the US Military aid package to Colombia. When
Oxy
officials arrived at her office this morning, they were surprised to
also
be greeted by U'wa President and eight leaders of the U'wa Defense
Working
Group ready to discuss their demand that Oxy immediately suspend its oil
project on the sacred ancestral land of the U'wa people.

During the intense one-hour meeting, McKinney asked Oxy pointed
questions
about the impacts of the project on the U'wa and asked the U'wa
President
to respond. When pressed, Meriage admitted on record that the U'wa had
not
been
consulted on the company's plans to drill the Gibraltar 1 oil well.

Oxy's admission about the lack of consultation gives strong credence to
the
ongoing legal challenges to Oxy's drilling permit in international and
Colombian courts.  Consultation with indigenous communities is a legal
requirement both under the Colombian Constitution and under
international
conventions such as Convention 169 of the International Labor
Organization
(ILO).

Oxy began construction of the drill site in early February. In defense
of
their land and culture, currently some 2700 U'wa people, local farmers,
students and union members are attempting to stop Oxy's construction
works
on the Gibraltar 1 drill site in Northeast Colombia through peaceful
protest.

The U'wa continue to stress their strong opposition to the oil project
have
repeatedly stated their willingness to die defending their land and
culture.

"Oxy must immediately suspend their project pending a mediated
settlement
with the U'wa,"  said Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia's 4th
District.  "If any deaths occur in association with this project, the
blood
will be on Occidental's hands."

"Oil maintains the balance of the world and is the blood of our mother.
In
accordance with our natural laws which don't permit the exploitation or
destruction of nature, we demand that you respect our rights, our
culture,
and our lives,"  declared U'wa President Roberto Perez.

The U'wa President will travel to Washington, New York and Boston during
the next week for meetings with the US Government and Oxy investors in
order to urge for a suspension of the oil project.  For interviews,
contact
Atossa Soltani 202-256-9795 or Lauren Sullivan at 415-595-7246.

# # #

#2


Uwa Defense Working Group
RESPONSE TO OCCIDENTAL'S PUBLIC RELATIONS CAMPAIGN

In Congressional testimony before the Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and
Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee,
and
in various lobbying documents and conversations, Occidentals spokesmen
have made several disingenuous and misleading points.  They are
presented
and rebutted below:

* Oxy implies that the Uwa are but pawns of guerrillas and
international NGOs
This implication is both patronizing and dangerous to the Uwa.  In
September of 1997 a joint mission of the Organization of American States
and Harvard Universitys Center for Non-Violent Solutions issued their
report on solutions to the ongoing conflict between the Uwa and
Colombia
and Oxy.  One of the top recommendations of that report was for a
"moderation of public rhetoric", which in Oxys case, referred to
ongoing
unsubstantiated statements dangerously linking the Uwa to guerrilla
groups.  Continued statements in this vein not only disregard this
important recommendation designed to deescalate tension in the region,
but
also substantially place the Uwa at risk by publicly accusing them of
being linked to guerrilla forces.

Most recently, Occidental Vice President Lawrence Meriage testified
before
the US Congress that "the [Uwa] community has been under intense
pressure
by the guerrillas to oppose oil development anywhere in the region.
These
uncontested facts are well known in Colombia. Rather than acknowledge
the
truth, namely that the U'wa are in no position to speak openly about
what
is really happening, the NGOs continue to attack Occidental."   The
facts,
are indeed, very contested.

In fact, both the Uwa and NGOs have issued multiple condemnations of
the
guerrillas.  Most recently, in January of this year, the Uwa stated "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."   See below for
a
discussion of NGO condemnation of the guerrillas.

Occidental signed their contract for exploration in April of 1992.
Public
Uwa opposition to oil development dates to March of 1993,  which the
Uwa
point out is also when Occidental stopped talking to isolated members of
their community about health and education projects, and started talking
about oil drilling.  Colombian media first reported that the Uwa were
threatening mass suicide in April of 1995 .  International NGOs were not
even aware of the situation prior to 1996.

* Oxy attempts to link US NGOs to Colombian guerrillas
In testimony before the US Congress, Occidental spokesman Meriage
accuses
US NGOs of being "de facto allies of the subversive forces"  a
dangerous
and inflammatory statement given the context of Colombia today.  Meriage
further implies that US NGOs have not addressed the complexity of
violence
in Colombia  a claim that is demonstrably false.

As Occidental knows well, three American NGO representatives were killed
by
the FARC last year on a mission to Uwa territory. US NGOs were vocal in
their condemnation of violence by guerrillas both before and after that
event.

Prior to the murders, Project Underground, with the support of the full
Uwa Defense Working Group, undertook a case study of the Uwa
situation,
which it published under the title Blood Of Our Mother. The report
explicitly documents the complexity of the cycle of violence in
Colombia,
and the role of the guerrillas in particular of attacking oil
installations.  Over 5,000 copies have been printed and distributed, and
it
is available online.

While NGOs, like the Uwa, abhor the use of violence by the guerrillas,
our
analysis is that oil exploration in Colombia today, in the middle of a
country embroiled in civil war, is an inherently violent proposition.
Oil
installations, as Oxy well knows, attract violence throughout Colombia
they are strategic targets in the war.  We do not argue that stopping
oil
development in the Uwa region will ensure peace.  We do maintain that
moving forward with oil development can only harm its prospects.

Finally, we note with some irony that fact that Mr. Meriages oral
testimony to Congress included the admission of direct payments from
Occidental to the guerrillas, and call on Occidental to reveal the full
extent of the payments and their relationship over time.

* Oxy contends that their well is situated outside of Uwa territory
While it is true that Occidentals Gibraltar 1 well lies approximately
500
meters outside the border of the newly legalized Unified Uwa
Reservation,
Occidental neglects to mention that the two farms on which the drillsite
is
actually situated on land that is owned by the Uwa.

On November 18, 1999, on behalf of the entire Uwa people, the
Association
of Uwa Traditional Authorities entered into and officially registered
contracts to purchase two farms near the border of their Unified
Reserve.
These farms  named Bella Vista and Santa Rita  encompass the land
designated for the Gibraltar 1 well.  The registration of these
contracts
constituted a transfer of the property free of any encumbrances.

In addition to the Uwas ownership of the land on which Occidental
intends
to drill the well, the well is approximately 500 meters from the Uwas
legally recognized Unified Reservation.  The "area of direct influence"
identified by Occidental Petroleum essentially follows the boundary of
the
Reservation.  Neither the Government of Colombia nor Occidental
Petroleum
has made available the environmental impact study that defines the area
of
impact -  making it impossible to evaluate the suspicious conclusion
that
any direct impact stops at the border of the Reservation or to ascertain
how serious may be any indirect impact on that land.

The Uwa have therefore had no opportunity to evaluate the assertion
implicit in the Gibraltar 1 license that the wells impact will be
drastically less than that of other wells in Colombia.  Such secrecy
runs
counter to fundamental principles of democracy which, in the area of
environmental assessment, are codified in the United States in our
requirement that the public be permitted to review and comment on
environmental impact statements.

Finally, all of the Samore block lies clearly within traditional Uwa
territory as defined by the University of Javeriana in conjunction with
the
departmental governments of Boyaca, Santander, and North Santander, the
Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform, and the Cabildo Mayor Uwa.

* Oxy contends that the Uwa were consulted prior to the beginning of
construction on Gibraltar 1.

The Uwa were never consulted regarding the construction of Gibraltar 1.
All of the meetings referenced by both the Colombian government and
Occidental were exclusively focused on the expansion of the Uwa reserve

not the construction of an oil well.

The Colombian Constitution establishes particular protections for
indigenous cultures and territories threatened by natural resource
exploitation.  Article 330 provides: "Exploitation of natural resources
in
indigenous territories shall take place without harm to the cultural,
social or economic integrity of the indigenous communities.  In adopting
decisions regarding such exploitation, the Government shall ensure the
participation of representatives of the respective communities."  Law 99
of
1993 implements this constitutional protection by requiring that there
be
"prior consultation with the representatives of the [indigenous]
communities" before making decisions concerning natural resource
exploitation that could harm those communities. 	Even the Colombian
Environment Ministrys own regulations require consultation with
affected
indigenous communities before granting environmental licenses.

The approval of Occidentals license to drill the Gibraltar 1 well
violates
these requirements of prior consultation.

In the words of the Uwa:

"This action once again reveals how the rule of law inscribed in our
Constitution, which is supposed to procure social well being, is
subsumed
by a higher order of decrees and norms which serve local and
transnational
special interests. These interests threaten not only threaten our ways
of
thinking and living, which are an inspiration for future generations of
the
world, but they also restrict our capacity to protect our people.

we would like to make it known that, through a shady process which was
conducted without full consultation, we were called to negotiate the
terms
of our territory, which historical circumstances wrested from our
community. With good faith, we attempted to secure our legitimate right
to
this land, but on a parallel path, the Minister of the Environment and
his
closest aids, deciding that economic interests have the right to pilfer
and
destroy Mother Earth, have taken unprecedented measures that threaten
our
struggle for identity, sovereignty and self-determination."


* Oxy implies that opposition to the Samore Project is restricted to the
guerrillas and NGOs
Nothing could be further from the truth.  In September of 1999, over 100
organizations from 24 countries signed a letter to President Pastrana
urging him not to grant the license to drill to Occidental.  In
Colombia,
the breadth and depth of support for the Uwa is evidenced by the
presence
of over 2,500 local people currently surrounding Oxys well, and the
hundreds of organizations that have supported the campaign in the last
nine
years.


Occidentals license to drill was granted under false pretenses, and
should
be immediately suspended. Despite legal requirements for consultation,
Colombian authorities never held a single meeting with the Uwa
concerning
the decision to grant this license.

Proceeding with this project now virtually ensures a violent
confrontation.
 The responsible course of action at this stage is to enter into a
"cooling
off" period, which will allow for the de-escalation of the significant
tensions in the region.

The only short-term solution to this crisis is to suspend oil operations
on
Gibraltar 1, pending a mediated settlement in which all stakeholders are
full participants.

--------------------------------------
#3

Thursday March 30, 2:33 pm Eastern Time

U.S. House approves Colombia aid, defense boost

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on
Thursday approved $13 billion to help Colombia fight cocaine
trafficking,
replenish military coffers tapped by Kosovo peacekeeping and offer
relief
to victims of last year's hurricanes and floods.

The House passed a bill that had ballooned from President Bill Clinton's
original $5 billion request as lawmakers added nearly $6 billion for the
Pentagon, more than doubled the $1 billion Clinton wanted for weather
relief and tacked on funds for highway repairs and other uses.

The measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Republican
Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi has complained about the ``bloated''
House
bill. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska
Republican, has said he is preparing a $9 billion bill.

House members turned back efforts to cut the $1.7 billion Clinton wanted
to
help train and equip Colombia's military and national police to fight
the
illegal drug trade that has fueled a bloody conflict in the country and
flooded many U.S. cities with cocaine and heroin.

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