Cubará, Colombia
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
