Protest outside Occidental Petroleum’s Annual Shareholder Meeting
– Friday, April 25, 8:30 am
– The St. Regis Hotel, 2055 Avenue of the Stars; Los Angeles, CA 90067
With eyes focused on Iraq, Congress recently approved over $100 million to arm and train Colombian troops to protect Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum’s oil pipeline in war torn Colombia. Occidental gained infamy for their relentless attempts to drill for oil on the lands of the U’wa indigenous people, who inhabit the pristine cloud forests that form the headwaters of the Amazon Basin and their role in the 1998 Santo Domingo massacre, which left 18 civilians dead.
Join us in exposing OXY’s role in fueling violence, and help put a stop to US funded corporate terror in Colombia.
BACKGROUND
This demonstration will a send a strong message to the Bush administration that we demand an end to spending U.S. tax dollars to fund U.S.-initiated oil drilling operations that cause death, violence, and environmental destruction in Colombia and other countries.
From Iraq to Colombia, conflict over oil is forcing civilians into the crossfire. American corporations like Haliburton and Occidental directly or indirectly profit from war in oil rich regions such as Colombia and Iraq. At the protest, demonstrators, speakers, and a survivor of one of Colombia’s most tragic civilian massacres will expose U.S. support of oil companies like Occidental Petroleum, who continue to drill for oil in Colombia despite resistance from the U’wa indigenous people and the international community.
Why protest against Occidental Petroleum? Occidental, a company that gained infamy for its attempts to drill for oil on sacred U’wa land seems determined to maintain its wretched reputation due to its close association with the 18th battalion of the Colombian Armed Forces – notorious for its human rights violations. The company abandoned a direct role in that drilling effort after intense international criticism and local resistance, but the firm continues to operate in Colombia under heavy military protection.
This oil giant acquired oil exploration rights in 1992 in Colombia where the U’wa, an indigenous people, have lived in the cloud forests for thousands of years. Occidental constructed a pipeline that crosses their sacred land. Occidental’s pipeline has been bombed more than 1,000 times, spilling nearly 11 times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
In 1998 Occidental used its base of operations as a staging post for a military attack on unarmed civilians in Santo Domingo.
Occidental aggressively lobbied the U.S. government for more military aid, helping the Colombian military to obtain funds to protect the company’s oil pipeline and other installations. Some $88 million was granted in February for protecting the pipeline as part of more than $500 million in a military aid package for Colombia. In April, an extra $104 million in military aid for Colombia was included in the Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Some of this money will also be used to protect Occidental Oil’s pipeline. For 2004 the Bush administration has earmarked an additional $110 million for the protection of Occidental’s oil pipeline. Human rights groups denounce this direct subsidy that amounts to $3 a barrel for oil from the pipeline.
Occidental Petroleum has succeeded in hijacking U.S. policy on Colombia and asking U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill, while innocent Colombians pay with their lives. Oil continues to be a magnet for violence in Colombia and around the world, and U.S. policy is fueling the fire.
