WHO: Roberto Perez and Armando Tegria Rincunada, leaders of the U’wa People
of Colombia
WHAT: Visit Washington DC this week to speak out against Plan Colombia and
military aid to OXY’s Colombia operations.
WHEN & WHERE:
Wed. 4/17 at 1:30 pm
Press Conference, Colombia Mobilization at the National Press Club
Fri 4/19, 2-4 pm
Colombia Mobilization Congressional Briefing sponsored by Rep. George Miller
Sat 4/20, 10-4 pm
Colombia Mobilization Teach-In, at First Congregational Church, 925 G St NW
Sun 4/21 – time t.b.a.
Mobilization for Global Justice March to OXY’s DC Office (call for
details-PHOTO OP- Puppets & Pipelines street theater)
Sun 4/21, 12:45 pm
Colombia Mobilization Rally, Sylvan Theatre, National Mall
WHY: Leaders of the 5,000 member U’wa indigenous community from Colombia
arrive in Washington DC tomorrow to denounce the Bush Administration’s
proposed $98 million supplemental aid package to protect US-based Occidental
Petroleum’s pipeline project in the war torn region of Arauca. OXY’s
controversial operations in the province have been a magnet for violence and
a root cause of conflict in the country’s bloody 40-year civil war.
In their week long stay, the U’wa will meet with Congressional
representatives and join dozens of Colombian delegates as part of the
Colombia Mobilization-events organized by a grassroots network of rights,
labor, faith, and environmental organizations gathering to call for an end
to US military aid to Colombia and a negotiated peaceful resolution to the
conflict. They will also share their struggle with activists gathered for
the Mobilization for Global Justice, and other peace rallies throughout the
weekend.
Preventing oil exploitation on their ancestral homelands and stopping U.S.
military aid is a matter of life and death for the U’wa tribe and all the
people of Colombia. The pipeline aid proposal calls for US training and
equipment for the notorious 18th Brigade of the Colombian military. Human
Rights experts agree that militarization of the region will only aggravate
the already violent atmosphere and risks making the U’wa the next collateral
damage in the country’s conflict.
The U’wa have made headlines around the world for their peaceful resistance
of OXY’s exploratory drilling in the Siriri block which falls entirely on
their sacred homelands. The U’wa have long warned that OXY’s project will
bring Colombia’s bloody four decade long war to their homeland-a prediction
that is rapidly becoming a reality.
Occidental lobbied aggressively for increased military aid to protect their
war zone operations since they formed the Colombia Business Partnership in
1996. Critics of the plan say that it will not only exacerbate conflict in
the region, but amounts to a massive corporate subsidy to protect a morally
bankrupt oil company and their bad business decisions.
