RAINFOREST TRIBE THREATENS MASS SUICIDE TO DEFEND THEIR SACRED
ANCESTRAL
HOMELANDS FROM OIL DRILLING BY WESTWOOD BASED OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM!
COME LEARN ABOUT THIS AMAZING STORY OF THE U'WA PEOPLE AND
THEIR
RESISTANCE TO THE CORPORATE GLOBAL ECONOMY
VIDEO SHOWING : "Death in the Andes"
NOVEMBER 2nd 7 pm, Public Policy Building Room #2278.
Rainforest Action Network and the UCLA Environmental Coalition
will present
"Death in the Andes" a brief documentary highlighting
the work of Los
Angeles activist Terance Freitas. Freitas worked to support the
U'wa
Indians of
Colombia in their fight against a massive oil drilling project
by Occidental
Petroleum.
Terance was kidnapped from U'wa land and then murdered last
March. The U'wa
Defense Working Group, coalition of environmental and human rights
groups
which Freitas founded continues to work closely with the U'wa
in their life
or
death struggle.
See BACKGROUND INFO and WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP below.
also start spreading the word about :
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 18TH MOBILIZATION AGAINST GLOBALIZATION!
11 am at Occidental Petroleum HQ 10889 Wilshire Blvd (Westwood
and
Wilshire)
RALLY AGAINST THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)AND CORPORATE
DOMINATION!
INTERNATIONAL CARAVAN WITH ACTIVISTS FROM SIX CONTINENTS WILL
ATTEND TO
SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH U'WA
followed by: TEACH-IN AGAINST CORPORATE GLOBALIZATION ON CAMPUS
BACKGROUND INFO : THE U'WA vs. BIG OIL
"We will in no way sell our Mother Earth, to do so would
be to give up our
work of collaborating with the spirits to protect the heart of
the world,
which sustains and gives life to the rest of the universe, it
would be to go
against our own origins, and those of all existence."
- Statement of the U'wa People, August 1998
The U'wa of the Colombian cloud forest are in a life-and-death
struggle to
protect their traditional culture and sacred homeland from an
oil project
slated to begin on their land at anytime. The U'wa are adamantly
opposed to
the drilling and warn that the project will lead to an increase
in violence
as seen in other oil regions of Colombia. Despite this, Los Angeles-based
Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government continue to
move forward
with plans to drill. The U'wa have made a call for international
support;
now is the time for us to answer.
The U'wa's opposition to the oil project is so strong that
they have vowed
to commit collective suicide if Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian
government proceed with the project on their ancestral lands.
The U'wa,
a traditional people some 5,000 members strong, explain they prefer
a death
by their own hand than the slow death to their environment and
culture that
oil production will bring. A core tenet of U'wa culture and spirituality
is
the belief that the land that has sustained them for centuries
is sacred.
They strongly believe that to permit oil exploration on these
sacred lands
would upset the balance of the world. In the words of the U'wa,
"Oil is the
blood of Mother Earth...to take the oil is, for us, worse than
killing your
own mother. If you kill the Earth, then no one will live."
The U'wa people's struggle exploded into the public arena last
March with
the
tragic murders in Colombia of three indigenous rights activists:
Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahe'ane'e Gay. Terence
was one of
the
founders of the U'wa Defense Working Group and had devoted
the last two years of his life to supporting the U'wa in their
campaign to
stop Occidental's oil project, reclaim their ancestral homeland
and protect
their traditional culture. Ingrid and Lahe'ane'e were coordinating
with the
U'wa to launch an educational project designed to maintain and
promote the
U'wa's traditional way-of-life.
These murders and the intimidation the U'wa have already persevered
are but
a harbinger of the wider physical violence the oil project will
bring to
their people. Throughout Colombia, oil and violence are linked
inextricably.
Occidental's Caño Limón pipeline, just north of
U'wa territory, has been
attacked by leftist guerillas more than 600 times in its 13 years
of
existence, spilling some 1.7 million barrels of crude oil into
the soil and
rivers. The Colombian government has militarized oil production
and pipeline
zones, often persecuting local populations the government assumes
are
helping the guerrillas. Oil projects have already taken their
toll on many
other indigenous peoples of Colombia, including the Yarique, Kofan
and
Secoya.
The current drilling plans threaten the survival of both the
U'wa and their
environment. The U'wa's cloud forest homeland in the Sierra Nevada
de Cocuy
mountains near the Venezuelan border is one of the most delicate,
endangered
forest ecosystems on the planet. It is an area rich in plant and
animal life
unique to the region, and the U'wa depend on the balance and bounty
of the
forest for their survival. Where oil companies have operated in
other
regions of the Amazon basin, cultural decay, toxic pollution,
land invasions
and massive deforestation have followed.
Occidental first received an exploration license for the 2
billion barrels
oil field- the equivalent of three months of U.S. consumption
-in 1992.
Since then, the U'wa have voiced their consistent opposition to
the oil
project. They have taken a variety of actions to halt the project
including
the filing of lawsuits against the government in Colombia, petitioning
the
Organization of American States to intervene, appealing directly
with
Occidental's top executives, and reaching out to company shareholders.
Last April U'wa representatives came to Los Angeles to directly
confront
Occidental. Along with several hundred supporters the U'wa marched
on
Oxy's HQ and demanded a meeting with CEO Ray Irani. When they
were refused
entry activists occupied the street in front of the building and
held an
inspirational rally on Oxy's front steps. Two days later on April
30th
while the U'wa spoke at Occidental's shareholder meeting there
were
demonstrations at Colombian consulates and embassies around the
world.
The U.S has very strong ties with Colombia. Not only does Colombia
sell
most of its oil to the U.S. market but under the auspices of the
"War on
Drugs" U.S. military aid to the repressive regime in Colombia
continues to
grow. This year Colombia received $289 million in aid making them
the third
largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the world after Israel
and Egypt.
The U.S already has hundreds of military advisors in Colombia
and the
Clinton administration is proposing to give Colombia an additional
$1.5
billion dollars.
In August the Colombian government expanded the U'wa legal
reserve. However
the expansion includes only a portion of the U'wa traditional
territory and
most significantly the new borders were drawn in such a way as
to place the
sight of Occidental's first drill site just outside of the reserve
boundaries. The Colombian government is cynically using this bureaucratic
slight-of-hand to maintain that drilling will not happen on U'wa
land.
With drilling imminent and in the face of mounting violence
in the region
the urgency of the U'wa's struggle has never been so great. The
U'wa need
all of us to support them in their struggle. Spread the word.
Tell their
story. Educate. Organize. Contact Occidental and the Colombian
government .
Demand they cancel the project now!
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP!
1. CONTACT OXY CEO RAY IRANI
Dr. Ray R. Irani, President and CEO
Occidental Petroleum
10889 Wilshire Blv.
LA, CA 90024
fax 310.443.6690
ph. 310.208.8800
email : +Los_Angeles-Communications@oxy.com
2. Spread the word! Bring 10 friends to the rally on the 18th!
3. Arrange a screening of "Death in the Andes"
4. Connect the U'wa with other struggles for global justice and
ecological
sanity
5. Reproduce the background article above or publish your own
article.
Write
letters to the editor. Announce the issue at your local activist
gathering.
Do
whatever you can to spread the story of the U'wa's inspiring resistance.
To get involved with the local campaign : contact # (310) 392-7656.
Or
contact the UCLA Environmental Coaltion at (310) 206-4438.
"We ask that our brothers and sisters from other races
and cultures unite in
the struggle that we are undertaking...we believe that this struggle
has to
become a global crusade to defend life."
- Statement of the U'wa people, August, 1998
Fact sheets and other campaign materials are available on
the RAN website WWW.RAN.ORG <http://www.RAN.ORG>
______________________________________
A C T I O N R E S O U R C E C E N T E R
Box 2104, Venice, CA 90294
310.396.3254 (voice) * 310.392.9965 (fax)
arcla@envirolink.org * http://www.arcweb.org
Mission: To spearhead and support campaigns
that protect the environment, human rights and
social justice; and to provide training and
coordination for grassroots organizing, education
and non-violent direct action.
PGP key available
______________________________________