Colombian indigenous leaders from the U’wa people visited friends old and new in San Francisco and Los Angeles in late September of 2010. Berito Cobaría and Gilberto Cobaría, elected leaders with the Association of U’wa Councils and Authorties – ASOU’WA, explained how the peaceful-by-nature U’wa are designated by their creator to serve as guardians of Mother Earth. They also outlined the threats to the environment and their culture that they are fighting off, including oil extraction, a gas pipeline, mining, and the construction of a highway to Venezuela right through the heart of their territory.
