[Espanol sigue al ingles.]

1- 200 U'wa Assemble at Oxy Oil Well Site
2- Communique to the International Public from the Association of U'wa
Traditional Authorities
3- Colombian Indians Seize Area (Reuters)
--------------------------------------

U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP

November 17, 1999
For immediate release

200 U'WA ASSEMBLE AT OXY OIL WELL SITE TO BLOCK DRILLING

TRIBE CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT TO STOP THE OIL PROJECT

Bogota, Colombia -- 200 U'wa Indians, including women, children and tribal
elders marched on the site of Occidental Petroleum's planned oil well
Gibraltar 1, establishing a permanent settlement to block the drilling
slated to begin in the coming weeks. Hundreds of additional U'wa are
expected to continue arriving to the settlement in upcoming days. Tribal
leaders declared that this permanent settlement is a necessary to block the
drilling after legal battles and direct appeals to the company and
government have failed to date.

Oxy's entire oil block falls within the U'wa's ancestral territory. The
U'wa, a traditional tribe of some 5,000 people living in the cloudforests
of northeastern Colombia have repeatedly declared their absolute opposition
to Oxy's oil project. The U'wa cannot allow drilling on their ancestral
lands as they believe that oil is the blood of the Earth. The oil project
is widely expected to escalate conflicts in the region among the armed
factions, resulting in violence against the U'wa, as seen in other oil
areas of Colombia. Despite this, in September the Colombian Minister of the
Environment approved a drilling license for the first exploratory well.

"We are willing to have the government bomb us, but we will not abandon
these ancestral lands because we must stop Oxy from drilling for oil, which
is the blood of our Mother Earth," U'wa international spokesperon Berito
Kuwaru'wa, declared from the U'wa settlement at Gibraltar.

Today, in the Colombian capital of Bogota, 25 U'wa representatives
including Tribal Council president Roberto Perez marched on the Ministry of
the Environment, calling for Colombian and international support at this
critical moment in their campaign. In the communique that follows, the
U'wa make an urgent appeal to their supporters to join them in solidarity
at the settlement during this non-violent stand to defend their culture,
land and lives.

For more information on the U'wa and their campaign please see:
www.ran.org, www.amazonwatch.org, www.moles.org

The U'wa Defense Working Group includes: Action Resource Center, Amazon
Watch, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, EarthWays Foundation, Indigenous
Environmental Network, Project Underground, Rainforest Action Network, Sol
Communications, U'wa Defense Project, International Law Project for Human
Environmental and Economic Defense.

--------------------------------------------
Association of U'wa Traditional Authorities

November 17, 1999
Cubara, Colombia

COMMUNIQUE TO THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC

Approximately 200 members of the U'wa indigenous tribe of northeastern
Colombia assembled in a permanent settlement on part of our ancestral lands
yesterday, November 16. This area, which has been colonized by farmers, is
the site where the multinational company Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) wants
to drill the oil well "Gibraltar 1," an action which threatens life and our
ancient culture.

With this permanent presence and with the support of the local farmers of
Sarare, we are claiming our ancestral and constitutional rights to life and
to our traditional territory. We demand that the Colombian government and
Oxy leave us in peace and that once and for all they cancel the oil project
in this area. We U'wa people are willing to give their lives to defend
Mother Earth from this project which will annihilate our culture, destroy
nature, and upset the world's equilibrium. Caring for the Earth and the
welfare of our children and of future generations is not only the
responsibility of the U'wa people but of the entire national and
international society.

We reject the violence perpetrated by the armed actors in the region. We
also urge indigenous peoples worldwide, national and international
non-governmental organizations, and the general public to work in
solidarity with us, rejecting this project planned by the Colombian
government and Oxy. We urgently request that you support us with your
physical presence in our territory. In addition, 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.

Signed,

Roberto Perez, President of Tribal Council
U'wa Traditional Authorities
------------------------------------------
Wednesday, 17 November 1999 10:47:01
By Karl Penhaul

BOGOTA, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Militant Colombian Indians have seized an area
they claim as ancestral homelands to prevent a U.S. multinational from
drilling for oil and pledged Wednesday to "defend Mother Earth to the death".

Some 200 U'wa Indians occupied late Tuesday the Gibraltar-1 test site in
the Samore block in northeast Colombia.

The 500,000 acre (209,000 hectare) exploration area is tipped to harbor
up to 2.5 billion barrels of crude and could ensure the country's energy
needs well into the next century.

Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N> won approval in late September to
begin drilling for crude there after a seven-year legal wrangle over
indigenous land rights blocked work.

But in a strongly-worded communique issued Wednesday, Roberto Perez,
head of the 5,000-strong U'wa community, called for Occidental and the
government to shelve the plan for good.

"We demand that the government and Occidental leave us in peace and
cancel the project for oil drilling in this zone," Perez said.

"The U'wa people are committed to give their lives to defend Mother
Earth from this project which would destroy our culture, nature and world
balance," he added.

Perez did not spell out what measures the U'wa were prepared to take but
the community has, in the past, threatened to commit mass suicide if the
oil industry encroached on what it considered ancestral lands.

Occidental's planned Gibraltar-1 test site lies just outside the
government-recognized Indian reservation but inside an area that the U'wa
claim as traditional tribal homelands.

In August, the government enlarged the U'was' official reservation
almost fivefold to 543,000 acres (220,000 hectares). But the U'was, whose
semi-nomadic ancestors roamed across the cloud forests and plains of at
least three provinces
in northeast and central Colombia, demand rights to a much larger territory.

Shannon Wright, spokeswoman for the U.S.-based Rainforest
Action Network, said Wednesday that more U'wa Indians could pour into the
area around Gibraltar-1.

International activists, grouped under the banner of the
California-based U'wa Defense Working group, are also planning to join the
protest.

Earlier this year, three American indigenous activisists were brutally
murdered by leftist rebels as they worked with the U'was to help prevent
Occidental encroaching on Indian lands.

"The U'wa are at a critical juncture. Everything is calm right now but
given that oil areas are the center of violent conflict there is
significant concern that the U'wa could be caught in the crossfire (as a
result of their protest),"
Shannon told Reuters.

An Occidental spokesman said the company was still evaluating the impact
of the U'wa land occupation and declined to speculate on the possible
consequences of the protest.

He said the U.S. multinational, which operates the 130,000
barrel-per-day Cano Limon field in northeast Arauca province, planned to
sink the first test drill in Samore "sometime next year".

The first exploration well is expected to be some 14,000 feet deep and
cost some $30 million.
((--Bogota newsroom (571) 634 4090, bogota.newsroom@reuters.com))

-----------------------------------------
LA TRIBU PIDE APOYO INTERNACIONAL PARA DETENER EL PROYECTO PETROLERO A
LOS EDITORES DEL MEDIO AMBIENTE: BOGOTC1,

Colombia, 17 de noviembre /PRNewswire/ -- Ayer, 200 indios U'was,incluidos
mujeres, ninos y ancianos de la tribu, marcharon sobre el sitioGibraltar 1,
el planeado pozo petrolero de Occidental Petroleum, estableciendoun
asentamiento permanente para bloquear la perforacion que se
proyectacomenzar en las proximas semanas. Se espera que cientos de U'was
adicionalessigan llegando al asentamiento en los proximos dias. Los lideres
de la tribudeclararon que este asentamiento permanente es necesario para
bloquear laperforacion despues que, hasta la fecha, han fallado las
batallas legales ylos llamados directos a la compania y al gobierno.

Todo el bloque petrolero de Oxy cae dentro del territorio ancestral
U'wa.La U'wa, una tribu tradicional de unas 5000 personas que viven en los
bosqueselevados de la zona noreste de Colombia, ha declarado en repetidas
ocasionessu oposicion absoluta al proyecto petrolero de Oxy. Los U'was no
puedenpermitir la perforacion en sus tierras ancestrales ya que creen que
elpetroleo es la sangre de la tierra.

Se espera que el proyecto petroleroaumente los conflictos en la region
entre los grupos armados, resultando enviolencia contra los U'was, como ha
sucedido en otras ?reas petroleras deColombia. A pesar de esto, en
septiembre, el Ministro del Medio Ambiente deColombia aprobo una licencia
de perforacion para el primer pozo exploratorio. "Estamos dispuestos a
que el gobierno nos bombardee, pero no abandonaremosestas tierras
ancestrales, ya que debemos hacer que Oxy no perfore en buscade petroleo,
el cual es la sangre de nuestra Madre Tierra", declaro elportavoz
internacional U'wa Berito Kuwaru'wa, desde el asentamiento U'wa
enGibraltar.

En el comunicado que sigue, los U'was hacen un llamado urgente a
suspartidarios para que se les unan en solidaridad en el asentamiento
duranteesta manifestacion no violenta para defender su cultura, sus tierras
y susvidas. Hoy, en la capital colombiana de Bogota, 25 U'was,
incluyendo alpresidente del Concejo Tribal, Roberto Perez, marcharon hacia
el Ministeriodel Medio Ambiente, pidiendo el apoyo colombiano e
internacional en estemomento critico.

El U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP esta endosado por las
siguientesorganizaciones: Action Resource Center, Amazon Watch,
Earthjustice LegalDefense Fund, EarthWays Foundation, Indigenous
Environmental Network, ProjectUnderground, Rainforest Action Network, Sol
Communications, U'wa DefenseProject, International Law Project for Human
Environmental y Economic Defense.

Para mas informacion, pongase en contacto con: Mark Westlund
415-398-4404,Atossa Soltani 310-317-7045, David Rothschild 202-785-3334,
oficina U'wa enColombia + 5778-838-037. Para mas informacion sobre el tema,
visite lossiguientes sitios en el Web: http://www.ran.org ,
http://www.amazonwatch.org , o http://www.moles.org .
------------------------------------
Asociacion del Cabildo Mayor y Autoridades Tradicionales U'wa Cubara 17 de
noviembre de 1999

COMUNICADO A LA OPINION PUBLICA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL

El dia 16 de noviembre acerca de 200 miembros de la comunidad indigena U'wa
de los departamentos de Santander, Norte de Santander y Boyaca nos ubicamos
en una parte de nuestro territorio ancestral colonizado por campesinos, y
donde la compania multinacional Occidental de Colombia quiere entrar a a
perforar el pozo petrolero Gilbraltar 1, accion que atenta contra la vida y
la cultural milenaria de nosotros.

Con esta presencia permanente, y con el apoyo de los campesinos del Sarare,
nosotros reclamos nuestros derechos ancestrales y constitucionales a la
vida y a nuestro territorio tradicional. Exigimos al gobierno y a la Oxy
que nos dejen en paz y que de una vez cancelen el proyecto de explotacion
de petroleo en esta zona. El pueblo U'wa esta decidido a dar la vida por
defender nuestra madre tierra de este proyecto, el cual arrasaria con la
cultura, la naturaleza, y asi con el equilibrio del mundo. La
responsabilidad de cuidar a la tierra para la vida y el bienestar de
nuestros hijos y las futuras generaciones no solo es del pueblo indigena
U'wa sino de toda la sociedad nacional e internacional.

Rechazamos a la violencia propiciada por cualquier actor armado en la zona,
y urgimos a los pueblos indigenas, a las organizaciones no guberamentales
nacionales e internacionales, y a la opinion publica en general,
solidarisarese con nostoros, rechazando al proyecto de la Oxy y del
gobierno colombiano, respaldandonos con su presencia fisica e el
territorio. Igualmente, solicitamos que en todas partes del mundo, las
personas que valoren a la vida de la tierra y de los indigenas se
maniefiesten en contra de la multinacional Oxy con protestas, cartas y
otras acciones solidarias.

Roberto Perez,
Presidente Cabildo Mayor U'wa

******************************************************
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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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 Amazonica' para los Pueblos Indigenas y Tradicionales
de la Cuenca Amazonica es una iniciativa nacida de la alianza entre
las organizaciones ambientales y de derechos humanos de la Coalicion
para los Pueblos Amazonicos y su Medio Ambiente y los pueblos indigenas
y tradicionales de la Amazonia. Las ochenta organizaciones del norte
y del sur activas en la Alianza Amazonica creen que el futuro de la
Amazonia 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
the human rights and environmental organizations of the Coalition
for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment and the indigenous and
traditional peoples of the Amazon. The eighty organizations from the
North and the South active in the Amazon Alliance believe that the
future of the Amazon depends on its peoples and the state of their
environment.

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