Santa Monica, Calif. – Human rights activists heckled and booed Occidental Petroleum executives who defended a plan to drill near Indian lands in Colombia during the company’s annual shareholders meeting Friday.
The company contended that it has enhanced life for the tiny U’wa tribe by spending $24 million on schools, health clinics and other aid. That did little to appease a group of about 20 activists who had purchased small amounts of stock in order to attend the meeting.
Occidental executives attempting to defend the company’s position during the meeting were interrupted with shouts of “Lies!” “Speak the truth!” and “Shame!” The protesters included U’wa leaders and representatives of Amazon Watch and Amnesty International.
“They want to destroy the world,” Roberto Perez, president of the U’wa Traditional Authority, said during a rally that preceded the shareholders meeting. “Right now is the moment to demand respect. … Oxy has entered into private territory of indigenous peoples.”
Most of the estimated 8,000 U’wa members live on a reserve that includes lands claimed by the tribe as ancestral territory. Tribal leaders and activists in the United States contend that oil drilling would desecrate ancestral lands that are not on the reservation.
U’wa leaders have said they’ve asked their people to commit mass suicide if oil wells are developed on ancestral lands.
The reserves on the land at issue are estimated to have 2.5 billion barrels of oil. Occidental has been trying to develop the land since 1992, when the Colombian government granted a license to explore the area.
A Colombian court recently put the Occidental project on hold, saying the U’wa should have been consulted before the government gave the company a license to drill. Occidental is appealing the decision.
“Quite frankly, if you really have a problem, you should go to Colombia and take it up with the Colombian government,” Ray R. Irani, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, told the protesters. “Whether Occidental drills or doesn’t drill, the Colombian government will have the final say.”
