Los Angeles, CA – Roberto Perez, President of the U’wa Traditional Authorities of Colombia once again took center stage at a demonstration today at Occidental Petroleum’s Annual Meeting in Santa Monica and delivered his people’s message to supporters outside and shareholders inside the meeting. “We will continue resisting oil drilling, we will continue defending our sacred ancestral territory, we will continue to defend our culture and our sacred sites,” said the U’wa chief.
The U’wa have captured headlines around the world for their crusade to halt Occidental’s oil project in the Siriri block (formerly known as Samore) and have stated they are willing to die to stop it. Surrounded by scores of supporters from labor, human rights, and environmental organizations, Perez called on shareholders to divest. Actor Cary Elwes (Princess Bride, Shadow of a Vampire) made a passionate plea inside the meeting to the company to stop the Gibraltar 1 exploratory well located on the peaceful U’wa tribe’s sacred lands and reminded shareholders that the money they stand to make from their Occidental Petroleum (OXY) stock is tainted with the blood and suffering of indigenous peoples.
The tribal chief was also joined by Michelle Weber from Witness for Peace-Southwest, and Dave Campbell from PACE International Union, and Dee Dominguez, a leader of the Kitanemuk Tribe of Tejon Indians from Elk Hills – outside Bakersfield, California – whose tribe is fighting OXY to stop the desecration of 91 burial and cultural sites threatened by the company’s operations.
Sister Laura Goedken, from the Sinsinawa Dominicans accompanied the U’wa chief inside the meeting to speak on behalf of a shareholder resolution calling for a report on the risks and liabilities associated with OXY’s Colombia operations. The U’wa leader, then, attempted to present a prepared statment from his people to the board of directors but was cut short after 2 minutes by an impatient and disrespectful CEO Ray Irani who did not wait for a full translation of the statement. Irani instead interrupted the Chief saying that “we can’t understand you speaking Spanish.”
Other U’wa supporters asked management about the security costs of Oxy’s operations in Northeast Colombia including the financial risks and liabilities of guerrilla bombings, resulting oil spill clean up costs as well as the effect of bad publicity on the company’s image. OXY’s management dodged these questions merely saying that they are a contractor for the Colombian Government and thus not responsible.
In retaliation to the U.S. government’s $1.3 billion military aid to Colombia, attacks on Oxy’s installations including bombings of its Caño Limon pipeline have dramatically escalated in recent months – over sixty attacks so far in 2001 – forcing the company to declare “force majeure” twice in the past six months. Since 1986, the pipeline has been bombed more than 800 times, spilling more than 2.3 million barrels of crude oil into rivers, ecosystems, and farmlands. These spills are equivalent to 8 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill. Believing that such violence and ecological disaster will spread to the heart of their territory, the U’wa say that they will continue their uncompromising resistance.
Following the meeting, U’wa supporters vowed to step up the divestment campaign against Oxy and its top shareholders. Activists claimed partial victory that after being hit with 75 protests across the US and Europe last year, Fidelity Investments, one of Oxy’s largest shareholders and the world’s largest mutual fund, dropped over $420 million or 60 percent of its Oxy holdings. The campaign will now be targeting Oxy’s largest shareholder, Berstein / Alliance Capital, which is in the process of being acquired by AXA Financial. Groups are planning demonstrations on April 26 at the company’s New York Headquarters as well as other Bernstein / Alliance Capital offices nationwide to urge divestment from Oxy. Robert Perez will be traveling to Boston, New York, Stratford, and Providence on a U.S. speaking tour through April 28.
