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
______________________________________