WHAT: A candlelight march and vigil in the neighborhood of Dr. Ray Irani, CEO of Occidental Petroleum Corporation.
WHERE: Sunset Blvd. at the corner of Bel Air Drive, one block W. of N. Beverly Drive, Bel Air.
WHEN: TONIGHT, Wednesday October 6, from 7.30-9pm
WHY: On September 21st the Colombian government granted Occidental Petroleum a license to drill for oil in the traditional territory of the U’wa indigenous people. The U’wa – a peaceful semi-nomadic tribe of 5,000 – adamantly oppose oil exploration on their land because of the violence that will inevitably accompany it. The U’wa also oppose oil drilling because of their spiritual connection to the land and the ecological destruction that oil exploitation will bring, and have previously threatened mass suicide if oil drilling proceeds.
The Los Angeles vigil, the third at Dr. Irani’s house since the permit was announced two weeks ago, is part of an escalating wave of international protest. The U’wa and their support organizations are also preparing to take legal action to stop the drilling. Meanwhile the Colombian Minister of the Environment who issued the permit, Juan Mayr Maldonado, is due to meet with US NGOs working in support of the U’wa at the Colombian Embassy in Washington DC tomorrow.
Dr. Irani received a $95 million bonus in 1997, despite Occidental’s consistently lackluster performance, making him the highest paid US executive of the year in terms of guaranteed compensation – and incurring widespread criticism from financial analysts and Occidental’s own shareholders. Now pressure on Irani is mounting to cancel the controversial oil project.
“We hold Occidental, and Dr. Irani in particular, directly responsible for the lives of the U’wa people,” warned Lucy Braham, of Amazon Watch. “If Oxy drills at this site it will only escalate the cycle of violence and the armed conflict in the region, and will lead to the death of many U’wa and other local peoples.”
Vigils and protests in Los Angeles and around the world are expected to continue and escalate until Occidental cancels the oil project.
For a copy of a print ready map of the U’wa territory and the drill site, please see www.amazonwatch.org/uwamap.pdf . For background information, see www.ran.org.
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