Colombian Government Report Confirms U'WA in Occidental Petroleum's Line of Fire Enviornment Minister Mayr Urged to Revoke License | Amazon Watch
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Colombian Government Report Confirms U’WA in Occidental Petroleum’s Line of Fire Enviornment Minister Mayr Urged to Revoke License

October 8, 1999 | For Immediate Release


U'WA DEFENSE WORKING GROUP

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presslist@amazonwatch.org or +1.510.281.9020

Washington D.C. – A report issued yesterday by the Colombian People’s Ombudsman’s office could seriously challenge the legal validity of the license granted to Occidental Petroleum to drill an exploratory well in the ancestral lands of the U’wa people, an indigenous tribe of 5,000 who live in the cloud forest of northeastern Colombia. The report also confirmed that the site where Occidental Petroleum plans to drill for oil is only 500 meters from the border of the U’wa Unified Reserve – and not five kilometers, as the Colombian government and Occidental have previously claimed. The wellsite is also a mere 300 meters from Loma de Padilla, an U’wa sacred site.

The government report was obtained by the U’wa Defense Working Group, a coalition of U.S.-based non-governmental organizations supporting the U’wa, on the eve of their meeting yesterday morning in Washington D.C. with Colombia’s Minister of the Environment, Juan Mayr, who issued the drilling license September 22. Attending the meeting were Julie Freitas, and Abby Reyes, the mother and girlfriend of Terence Freitas, one of the three U.S. citizens slain by left wing guerrillas in Colombia earlier this year while working in support of the U’wa.

Mayr admitted during the meeting that his office was unaware of the report from the Ombudsman’s office documenting the presence of the Santa Marta community of U’wa living between the proposed wellsite and the community’s legally delimited territory. The presence of the Santa Marta community substantially challenges the validity of the license issued, since issuance of the license was legally justified in part through certification by the Colombian Ministry of the Interior that there were no U’wa living in the immediate area. Presence of the Santa Marta community means that under Colombian law, this community must be consulted before the oil project proceeds.

The U’wa people and the 33 campesinos’ community action committees living in the area reiterated to the People’s Ombudsman’s office that they reject all oil activities in the area. The report states that “the U’wa do not want roads, they do not want money, they just want to continue being U’wa people. They don’t want outsiders coming to damage the water, damage their food supply, their wild game, or to kill their children or their future the way they did in Caño Limón.”

“The well site’s proximity places the U’wa community, reserve and sacred site in the direct line of impact from the oil project. This means toxic spills, land incursions and escalating violence,” said David Rothschild, Director of the Amazon Coalition. He said participants at the meeting with Mayr reiterated international solidarity with the opposition by the U’wa and peasant communities to the license.

During the meeting Abby Reyes, girlfriend of the slain Freitas, and an activist herself for indigenous concerns, appealed to the Minister to remember that his heart “beats in time with something more ancient than the city, more whole than watching your back, more nourishing that the dollar can ever be.” She asked him to revoke the license and uphold the U’wa’s constitutional right to cultural, social and ecological integrity. According to meeting participants, Reyes’ words left Mayr on the verge of tears.

Mayr’s visit to DC coincides with other high ranking Colombian officials lobbying for increased aid – primarily military aid – to the Colombian government. At the same time, members of the U.S. Administration and Congress are looking to give Colombia $1.5 billion dollars, the majority of which will be military hardware and training to Colombia’s police and army. It is widely feared that increased aid will lead to a massive escalation of the violence endemic in Colombia, particularly in oil producing areas where pipelines are the target of armed factions. Colombia is already the third largest recipient of U.S. security assistance, with $240 million of support in 1999 alone.

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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