Washington, DC – Halloween trickery by the Democratic National Committee backfired today when a lawyer who had claimed to represent the U’wa people, and who used that platform to endorse Al Gore, was forced to admit that indeed, he did not represent the Colombian tribe. The misleading personal opinion letter by Spencer Adler circulated yesterday with a false subject line by the Democratic National Committee was quickly amended by Mr. Adler with a second letter and sweetened with a $5000 check for the U’wa. The Vice President’s continued refusal to take a stand to protect the U’wa people has generated more than thirty protests in the last month alone.
“The Democratic National Committee, by widely circulating this false and misleading statement, has deliberately used the U’wa people for their own political gain” said Steve Kretzmann of Amazon Watch. Members of the DNC were immediately contacted about the misstatements in Mr. Adler’s letter, but refused to retract the statement.
The UDWG is nonpartisan and does not endorse any political candidate. Several member organizations have been conducting a campaign to bring the urgent plight of the U’wa to the attention of Vice President Al Gore for the last 2 ½ years-and to demand action from him because of his long-standing relationship with Occidental Petroleum, and his professed concern for the environment.
“The Vice President’s continued silence on this issue is shocking” said Shannon Wright of the Rainforest Action Network. “Our organizations believe Al Gore has a specific responsibility to act on this issue because of his personal and political connections to Occidental Petroleum. His failure to respond in any substantive way is a direct threat to the survival of the U’wa people.”
The Vice President’s deep and complex relationship with Occidental Petroleum is well documented and beyond question. Decades of payments from Oxy to Gore for land never mined, current Oxy CEO Irani in the Lincoln bedroom, Gore Sr.’s 28 years as an Occidental employee, the favors from former Oxy CEO Armand Hammer, and the lingering questions regarding Gore’s role in the sale of federal lands to Oxy – all give credible weight to the Center for Public Integrity’s assertion that “there is probably no company in America today that is as close personally and financially to the Vice President as Occidental Petroleum.” (See the Center for Public Integrity)
The Vice President also controls up to a million dollars in Occidental stock, according to his latest personal disclosure form. Rather than respond to citizen concerns on this issue, Al Gore has cynically attempted to evade responsibility by appointing his brother in law Frank Hunger the trustee of his the estate, just days after an ABC News piece on this issue in March of 2000.
The Vice President attempts to argue that his direction to the Secretary of State to raise this issue with Colombian President Pastrana constitutes substantive action. There is no independent evidence that Secretary Albright ever contacted President Pastrana about the U’wa. Even if there was, this does not constitute substantive action, argue members of the UDWG. “Rather than pressure Pastrana to respect human rights, the Clinton/Gore administration has not only lobbied heavily for military aid to Colombia, but has waived the human rights conditions of the law” said Atossa Soltani, Director of Amazon Watch. “We and the U’wa demand that Gore immediately endorse a suspension of this project, pending the resolution of outstanding legal and human rights questions.”
In a recent letter to the Vice President, U’wa Council President Roberto Perez said: “We don’t want to have to hold you responsible for the destruction of our culture. Your silence signifies the death of Planet Earth and consequently of the possibility of life upon her.” Occidental Petroleum, escorted by up to 4,000 members of the Colombian military, has moved drilling equipment into place on U’wa land. Drilling reportedly could begin in the coming week.
NOTE: Copies of Mr. Adler’s statements, the U’wa letter to Gore, and other background available from contacts above.
The U’wa Defense Working Group includes: EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund, Amazon Watch, Action Resource Center
Project Underground- Rainforest Action Network,U’wa Defense Project
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