(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 U’WA NOW!

In the remote Colombian Andes, a peaceful indigenous tribe of 5,000
people—the U’wa—live on their traditional

land. The U’wa 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 U’wa land, it will initiate an unprecedented
environmental and human disaster. The U’wa 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 KuwarU’wa, 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, Oxy’s 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 U’wa 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 U’wa People,
November 17, 1999

The history of the Gore family and Occidental Petroleum have been
intertwined for generations. Al Gore Sr. (the vice president’s 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 U’wa 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 President’s 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
U’wa 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 U’wa have regained title to 14 percent of the land
that has been taken from them over the last 400 years. The U’wa 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 U’wa 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 U’wa 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 Oxy’s 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 U’wa 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 • U’wa 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 message.
Forwarding this message does not necessarily connote agreement with the
positions stated there-in.

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.

 

_____________________________________________________________
Check out the new and improved Topica site!
http://www.topica.com/t/13

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------