Colombia's U'Wa People: The Real Price of Oil
Reinsborough, Patrick
"We are all children of the Earth, help us to defend her " -Berito KuwarU'wa, spokesperson Traditional U'wa Authority In the remote cloudforests of northeastern Colombia, the brutal history of...
...of State and Sup But the U'wa's global movemer The question is, c all communities lii ing corporate glo roots pressurssure can force investors to take and human rights into account...
...an we act in time...
...For more information or to get involved in supporting the U'wa people, contact the Rainforest Action Network, 221 Pine St., San Francisco, CA 94704...
...government is fueling the violence with the $1.3 billion million mitary aid package-provided under the auspices of the "War on Drugs...
...A small, semi-nomadic and traditional indigenous tribe, the U'Wa, has been struggling for eight years to defend its ancestral homelands from the efforts of Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to drill on their land...
...rs have moved to build upon the victory y's new largest shareholder, Sanford C. o., LLC...
...Gore continues to maintain silence on the issue...
...But after an international pressure campaign involving demonstrations at over 75 Fidelity offices around the world, Fidelity has dumped approximately 60% of their Oxy stock-18 million shares worth over $412 million...
...Over the last year, the U'wa have repeatedly raised blockades at Oxy's proposed Gibraltar 1 drill site...
...best hope for survival is in the growing nt to confront corporate globalization...
...and] deterioration tha our territory...
...wwwran.org An U'Wa elder The U'Wa are using nonviolent resistance and legal action to stop drilling by Occidental Petroleum...
...To remove it would violate their most sacred beliefs as well as bring ecological devastation and violence to their homeland...
...The U'wa resistance has inspired an impressive campaign of international solidarity...
...These statistics are a grim foreshadowing of what Oxy' drilling will bring to U'wa land...
...One of the most promising is yal Land Deed," signed by the King of hich gave the U'wa soil and subsoil rights I territory...
...Oil installations are a central target in Colombia's bloody civil war...
...For the U'wa, and for ving on the frontlines of the ever expand)bal economy, time is running out...
...415-398-40441800-989-RAIN...
...that you m Occidental...
...lso engaging in a number of legal strateproject...
...On December 12, U'wa o Perez, along with representatives of Network and Amazonwatch, delivered t to CEO Roger Hertog...
...They have been joined in nonviolent resistance by thousands of local campesinos, students, other indigenous peoples and striking workers...
...The Colombian government has pushed Oxy's project ahead by militarizing the region and attacking the blockades, leaving three children dead, 11 people missing and dozens of peaceful protesters injured, Despite the U'wa's rejection of the project, Oxy began test drilling on November 3, protected by the military...
...Fidelity's divestment is a huge step towards permanently stopping drilling on U'wa land because it shows that grass the environment U'wa supporte by targeting Ox Bernstein and Cc increased its shar ued at more tha president Robert Rainforest Actior a letter of protes U'wa stated, "0 tory runs the risk ancestors...
...organize@ran.org...
...U'wa means "the thinking people," and to the U'wa the oil is the "blood of mother earth...
...The package was heavily lobbied for by Occidental and other American companies Patrick Reinsborough is Grassroots Coordinator of the Rainforest Action Network...
...We are all children of the Earth, help us to defend her " -Berito KuwarU'wa, spokesperson Traditional U'wa Authority In the remote cloudforests of northeastern Colombia, the brutal history of invasion, ecological devastation and genocide which has shaped the Americas for 500 years is repeating itself...
...Over the past year, the company es by ten million to control Oxy stock valin $1.1 billion...
...The U.S...
...Fo divest entirely frc The U'wa are a gies to stop the based on a "Ro Spain in 1661, w to their ancestra ernment claimed of the state exce Land Deed" law...
...In 1873, the Colombian govall subsurface mineral rights as property pt those previously ceded by the "Royal In the past, both the Colombian Council reme Court have upheld the law...
...In the letter the accidental's drilling in our ancestral terniof destroying the ancient culture of our creates social, economic and cultural t has and continues to lead to violence in "r that reason, we demand...
...Occidental's nearby Cano Lim6n pipeline has been bombed by guerrillas over 700 times in its 13 years of operation...
...with interests in Colombia (63% of Colombia's oil goes to the United States...
...U'wa supporters have confronted Oxy's two most important shareholders-Al Gore (who has longstanding personal ties to the company) and Fidelity Investments...
...These attacks have resulted in about 2.1 million barrels of crude oil being spilled-eight times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez...
Vol. 34 • January 2001 • No. 4
