(Espanol sigue al ingles)
1- Communique to the International and National Public
"Oxy Invades U'wa Territory
The Army of Colombia with 5000 Men at the Service of the Oxy"
2- Gore: Principles or Petroleum
========================================================
URGENT URGENT URGENT
COMMUNIQUE TO THE INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL PUBLIC
"OXY INVADES UWA TERRITORY
THE ARMY OF COLOMBIA WITH 5000 MEN AT THE SERVICE OF THE OXY"
On the 19th of January 2000, more than 5000 heavily armed soldiers
of the
Colombian Army, invaded our traditional territory, exactly in
Cedeno, where
there is the oil drilling well - Gibraltar 1, of the Occidental,
Oxy.
Facing the opposition of the Uwa people, headed by our representative
the
indigenous leader Roberto Cobaria Berito, the Armed forces stated
that
"Over and above the indigenous U'was, they had to exploit
oil". At the
same time Police forces move to the zone with the aim to "protect"
the
safety of the Occidental engineers.
Since the 15th of November 1999, more than 250 of our community
stand in
peaceful protest in the area of Cedeno, which is part of our ancestral
territory, claiming resistance against oil exploitation by the
OXY. Today
we are being cordoned off by the Colombian Army and Police, putting
at risk
our physical integrity.
With this action, the Oxy and the Colombian army insist on
ignoring our
territorial rights, sacred for thousands of year and as the real
owners of
the land where the oil exploitation is going to take place. This
series of
events ignores our constitutional and legal rights, which state
that the
communal ethnic territories are inalienable, cannot be seized
and are
imprescriptible, and that they are protected by the title deed
of colective
territory.
Likewise, the Colombian government, headed by the Minister
of Mining and
Energy with the complicity of INCORA (National institute for
Agrarian
Reform), pretend to declare the U'wa territory as an oil reserve,
with the
false argument that the national oil industry acquires by law
a special
status of public interest, with the true and only purpose of facilitating
and allowing the oil exploitation on behalf of the Multinational
Oxy.
We are urgently calling the attention of the national and international
community and the NGO support groups to take action, speak up
and move
against this latest violation against the Uwa people, which is
threatening
our existence and culture.
THE UWAS WILL NOT GIVE UP OUR CULTURAL, HISTORICAL AND MILLENARY RIGHTS.
WE RATHER PREFER A GENOCIDE SPONSORED BY THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT
BEFORE
OUR MOTHER LAND IS DESTROYED BY THE OIL COMPANIES.
Your letters can be sent to:
JUAN MAYR, Ministro del Medio Ambiente, Juan_Mayr_M@Hotmail.Com
y
Jmayr@minamb.gov.co 3361166, 2886877, 2840363
Dr. ANDRES PASTRANA, Presidente de la República de Colombia,
Palacio de
Narino, Fax 2867434. Bogotá. pastrana@presidencia.gov.co
Dr. GUSTAVO BELL LEMUS, Consejero Presidencial para los Derechos
Humanos,
Fax 571 3418364. Bogotá.
Dr. JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR, Procurador General de la Nación,
Fax 571 2840472,
3429723. Bogotá.
Dr. ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ, Fiscal General de la Nación,
Fax 571 5702000.
Bogota.
Dr. FERNANDO CASTRO CAICEDO, Defensor del Pueblo, Fax 571 3461225. Bogota.
Dr. NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ NEIRA, Ministro del Interior, Fax 571 2515884.
Cubara, 20 de enero del 2000
CABILDO MAYOR U´WA
Cubara, Boyaca, Colombia
INFORMATION: Tel: 091 2812071;
091 3376950; 091 2456860;
091 2458906
---------------------------------------------------------
URGENTE, URGENTE, URGENTE
COMUNICADO A LA OPINION PUBLICA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL
LA OXY INVADE TERRITORIO U´WA EL EJERCITO DE COLOMBIA CON
5000 EFECTIVOS AL
SERVICIO DE LA OCCIDENTAL
El dia 19 de enero del 2000, mas de 5000 efectivos de las Fuerzas
militares
del ejercito colombiano, fuertemente armados, invadieron nuestro
territorio
tradicional, exactamente en el sitio Cedeno, donde se encuentra
ubicado el
punto de perforacion petrolera Pozo Gibraltar 1, de la empresa
Occidental,
OXY.
Frente a la oposicion presentada por el pueblo U´wa,
en cabeza de nuestro
representante y lider indigena Roberto Cobaria Berito, las Fuerzas
Militares manifestaron que "por encima del pueblo U´wa
se tenia que sacar
el petroleo"; tambien fuerzas policiales se desplazaron a
la zona a fin de
prestarle seguridad a los ingenieros de la Occidental.
Desde el dia 15 de noviembre de 1999, mas de 250 personas de
la comunidad
U´wa permanecemos en el sitio Cedeno, que hace parte de
nuestro territorio
ancestral, haciendo resistencia a la explotacion petrolera por
parte de la
OXY. Hoy estamos siendo acordonados por los 5000 efectivos de
las fuerzas
militares y policiales colombianas poniendo en riesgo nuestra
integridad
fisica.
Con esta accion de hecho, la Occidental y el gobierno colombiano
insisten
en ignorar los derechos territoriales de quienes hemos habitado
milenariamente este territorio y somos propietarios de los dos
predios a
donde se pretende adelantar la explotacion petrolera, desconociendo
los
principios constitucionales y legales que establecen que los territorios
comunales de
los grupos etnicos son inalienables, inembargables e imprescriptibles,
y
que los mismos, estan amparados en escrituras publicas de propiedad
colectiva.
Asi mismo, el gobierno colombiano en cabeza del Ministerio
de Minas y
Energia y la complicidad del INCORA, mediante un proceso oscuro
pretende
declarar el territorio U´wa, zona de reserva especial petrolera,
con el
falso argumento de que la industria petrolera nacional esta revestida
por
la ley como de utilidad publica e interes social, con el unico
proposito de
permitir y facilitar la explotacion petrolera por parte de la
multinacional
Occidental
Hacemos un llamado urgente a la comunidad nacional e internacional
y a los
grupos de apoyo, para que se pronuncien y movilicen frente a este
ultimo
atropello contra el pueblo U´wa, que amenaza nuestra existencia
y cultura.
LOS U´WAS NO CEDEREMOS NUESTROS DERECHOS CULTURALES,
HISTORICOS Y
MILENARIOS.
PREFERIMOS UN GENOCIDIO PATROCINADO POR EL GOBIERNO COLOMBIANO
A ENTREGAR
NUESTRA MADRE TIERRA A LAS PETROLERAS
Cubara, 20 de enero del 2000
CABILDO MAYOR U´WA
Cubara, Boyaca, Colombia
INFORMES: Tel: 091 2812071 -
091 3376950 -
091 2456860 -
091 2458906
E-mail: cobacata@colnodo.apc.org
censat@colnodo.apc.org
Sus comunicaciones deben ser dirigidas a:
JUAN MAYR, Ministro del Medio Ambiente, Juan_Mayr_M@Hotmail.Com
y
Jmayr@minamb.gov.co 3361166, 2886877, 2840363
Dr. ANDRES PASTRANA, Presidente de la Republica de Colombia,
Palacio de
Narino, Fax 2867434. Bogota. pastrana@presidencia.gov.co
Dr. GUSTAVO BELL LEMUS, Consejero Presidencial para los Derechos
Humanos,
Fax 571 3418364. Bogota.
Dr. JAIME BERNAL CUELLAR, Procurador General de la Nacion,
Fax 571 2840472,
3429723. Bogota.
Dr. ALFONSO GOMEZ MENDEZ, Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fax
571 5702000.
Bogota.
Dr. FERNANDO CASTRO CAICEDO, Defensor del Pueblo, Fax 571 3461225. Bogota.
Dr. NESTOR HUMBERTO MARTINEZ NEIRA, Ministro del Interior,
Fax 571 2515884.
============================================================
GORE: PRINCIPLES OR PETROLEUM?
STOP MAKING A KILLING ON OIL IN COLOMBIA
SAVE THE UWA NOW!
In the remote Colombian Andes, a peaceful indigenous tribe
of 5,000
peoplethe Uwalive on their traditional
land. The Uwa and their way of life are now at risk because
of an oil
company with deep ties to US Vice President Al Gore Jr.
Occidental
Petroleum (Oxy). If Oxy proceeds with their plan to drill for
oil in the
first half of 2000 on Uwa land, it will initiate an unprecedented
environmental and human disaster. The Uwa have repeatedly
stated that they
"are willing to die" to keep oil drilling off of their
ancestral lands.
US Vice-President Gore owns up to $500,000 in Occidental stock
and takes
major contributions from the company. He and his family have earned
much of
their wealth through their connections with Oxy. Gore wants the
environmental and human rights vote: let's challenge him to tell
Occidental
to abandon oil fields on all U'wa land.
LIFE & DEATH IN COLOMBIA
"The continuing standoff with the U'wa has escalated to
a critical mass, to
the point where the next step by either
side could put the white-hot spotlight of the world on a single
well
tantamount to another Brent Spar or Exxon Valdez."
Oil & Gas
Journal, November 29,1999
The U'wa grabbed international headlines in 1996 when they
vowed to commit
collective suicide if the Samoré Block project is not halted.
Their message
is clear: In their words: "We would rather die, protecting
everything that
we hold sacred, than lose everything that makes us U'wa."
In November 1999, hundreds of U'wa Indians marched on the site
of
Occidental's first planned drill site, establishing a permanent
settlement
to block the drilling slated to begin in the coming months. Over
four
hundred are gathered there today. The drill site is located less
than six
hundred yards from the legally recognized U'wa Unified Reserve
and clearly
falls within the U'wa's larger traditional ancestral territory.
The U'wa
community of Santa Marta inhabits the area adjacent to the well
site,
putting them at clear risk from the environmental and social impacts
of the
oil project. In January 2000, Oxy began constructing an access
road to the
drill site.
In Colombia, oil brings violence. The northeast region of Colombia
is a
quagmire of warring armed factions, and oil infrastructure is
the strategic
target of choice. Innocent bystanders, both native and foreign,
are caught
in the crossfire. In 1997, Roberto KuwarUwa, President of
the Traditional
U'wa Authority, was beaten and threatened. In March of last year,
three
American humanitarians working with the U'wa were kidnapped and
executed by
left wing guerrillas. This cycle of violence inflicts economic
and
environmental damage as well. In the past twelve years, Oxys
pipeline has
been attacked more than 600 times. As a result of this sabotage,
approximately 2.1 million barrels of crude oil have spilled into
the soil
and rivers - eight times the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Ominously,
within the first few weeks of 2000, observers have noted a significant
increase in militarization of the Uwa region.
GORE & OXY
"We ask people around the world who value the Earth and
indigenous peoples
to speak out against the multinational oil company Oxy through
protests,
letters and other actions of solidarity." Statement
from the Uwa People,
November 17, 1999
The history of the Gore family and Occidental Petroleum have
been
intertwined for generations. Al Gore Sr. (the vice presidents
father) "had
never been rich `til he worked for [Occidental Petroleum founder
Armand]
Hammer" as a Vice President and Board Member of Oxy. Money
from Occidental
and its subsidiaries formed the basis of the Gore family fortune,
which has
now driven two of its sons to national prominence.
Gore Jr. directly benefits from this family relationship in
several ways.
He owns up to $500,000 in Oxy stocks, and stands to reap large
financial
rewards if Oxy finds the 1.5 billion barrels of oil that the company
estimates is under Uwa land. Oxy and its employees are also
frequent and
generous funders to both the Gore campaign and to the Democratic
party. In
1996, Oxy Chairman Ray Irani gave the Democratic National Committee
$100,000 just 2 days after sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom of
the White House.
Environmental and human rights leaders have been attempting
to direct the
Vice Presidents attention to this issue for years. The Coalition
for
Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment wrote the Vice President
on this
issue requesting his assistance. No reply. A full-page ad in the
New York
Times generated hundreds of letters to Gore. Just 3 months ago,
Sierra Club
Executive Director Carl Pope told the Vice President that "hope
for the
Uwa and other victims of rights abuses in Colombia lies
in your hands."
Meanwhile, the U'wa's efforts to halt the project have been
steadily
gaining momentum. Occidental's original partner in the Samoré
Block, Royal
Dutch/Shell, pulled out of the project citing human rights and
public
relations concerns. At Occidental's Annual General Meeting last
year,
shareholders representing over eight hundred million dollars worth
of stock
voted in favor of a resolution asking Occidental to re-evaluate
the
project. Recently, the Uwa have regained title to 14 percent
of the land
that has been taken from them over the last 400 years. The Uwa
are simply
demanding their right to live a life free of the pollution and
violence
that oil brings.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Gore wants the environmental and human rights vote: let's challenge
him to
ensure that Oxy cancel its planned operations on Uwa lands
in Colombia.
UNTIL FEBRUARY 1st:
Call or fax Al Gore Jr. c/o his campaign staff in New Hampshire.
Ask him if
he wants the Gore legacy to be principles or petroleum. Tell him
we will
not tolerate a candidate who profits from blood for oil. Demand
that he use
his influence with Oxy to stop the oil project on Uwa land.
Gore 2000 Campaign Headquarters
Manchester, New Hampshire
603-622-8303 phone
603-668-7358 fax
OR
Albert Gore Jr.
Vice President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500
FAX: 202/456-7044
Urge Gore to persuade Occidental CEO Ray Irani to withdraw
Occidental
operations from all U'wa traditional lands. If Gore wants the
environmental
and human rights vote, he MUST put his money where his mouth is.
Its Big
Oil, Old Money and Business as Usual vs. Environmental and Human
Rights
lets tell the candidates which we want to win.
Sources: "Occidental and Oriental Connections", Micah
Morrison, Wall St.
Journal, 9/29/99; "Despite Image, Gore has deep roots in
oil industry",
Timothy Gardner, Reuters, 8/9/99; "Potential oil industry
flashpoint
centers on Oxys Colombian rainforest wildcat", Oil
& Gas Journal,
11/29/99; Center for Responsive Politics; Center for Public Integrity.
This briefing has been prepared by Amazon Watch, with the support
of
Rainforest Action Network and Project Underground.
The Uwa Defense Working Group is: Amazon Watch
Action Resource Center
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund EarthWays Foundation International
Law
Project for Human, Environmental & Economic Defense
Project Underground
Rainforest Action Network Sol Communications Uwa
Defense Project
For more information go to
<http://www.amazonwatch.org;/>www.amazonwatch.org;
<http://www.moles.org;/>www.moles.org; <http://www.ran.org/>www.ran.org
OR
<http://www.publicintegrity.org>www.publicintegrity.org
Stephen Kretzmann
Consultant
U'wa Campaign
Amazon Watch
310-456-1340
510-551-7953 - mobile
"Using armored vehicles, tear gas -- which even made the
delegations
staying in hotels queasy -- and, on top of that, pepper gas. Brutal
methods, dragging people through the streets. Six hundred arrested.
What
would happen if such behavior took place in Cuba? What would they
say if
they saw an army, the National Guard, occupying the city? Tons
of masked
men with horrifying outfits to scare people, thousands of police
in all
directions, men being dragged, horses and other animals to attack
people?
They would say that it was a flagrant and massive violation of
human rights
and that, therefore, they had to use the NATO formula to conduct
a
"humanitarian" intervention."
-- Fidel Castro, receiving the Cuban delegation upon its return
from Seattle
************************************************************
Distribuido por: Distributed by:
'AMAZON ALLIANCE' FOR INDIGENOUS AND
TRADITIONAL PEOPLES OF THE AMAZON BASIN
1367 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036-1860
tel (202)785-3334
fax (202)785-3335
amazoncoal@igc.org
http://www.amazoncoalition.org
Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to original publisher.
The Amazon Alliance has not verified the accuracy of the forwarded
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Forwarding this message does not necessarily connote agreement
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Todos los derechos de autor pertenecen al autor originario.
La Alianza Amazonica no ha verificado la veracidad de este
mensaje. Enviar este mensaje no necesariamente significa que
la Alianza Amazonica este de acuerdo con el contenido.
La Alianza Amazónica para los Pueblos Indígenas
y Tradicionales de la
Cuenca Amazónica es una iniciativa nacida de la alianza
entre los pueblos
indígenas y tradicionales de la Amazonía y grupos
e individuos que
comparten sus preocupaciones por el futuro de la Amazonía
y sus pueblos.
Las ochenta organizaciones del norte y del sur activas en la Alianza
Amazónica creen que el futuro de la Amazonía depende
de sus pueblos y el
estado de su medio ambiente.
The Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples
of the Amazon
Basin is an initiative born out of the partnership between indigenous
and
traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and individuals who
share
their concerns for the future of the Amazon and its peoples. The
eighty
non-governmental organizations from the North and South active
in the
Alliance believe that the future of the Amazon depends on its
peoples and
the state of their environment.
_____________________________________________________________
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