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Uwa

These Nine Indigenous Voices Are Inspiring Us Right Now

We are deeply appreciative for the honor of collaborating with indigenous peoples, organizations, and activists, from around the Amazon rainforest and elsewhere. It is extraordinary to find common cause in high-stakes human dramas that, we believe, will help shape the future of the entire planet.

Bad Faith: Colombian Government Disrespects U'wa People

On one side of the table a group embodying integrity, legitimacy, humility. Across from them on the other? The personification of cynicism, obfuscation and arrogance. That was the scene in Bogotá yesterday where the U’wa people took their fight into a meeting with the Colombian government, calling on it to live up to previously negotiated...

In Pictures: U'wa Majestic Territory

The U'wa are an extraordinary people, paralleled by the amazing territory they call home. With this photo gallery – featuring images taken by the U'wa themselves – we hope to take you on a visual journey into the majestic lands they are defending. Not only are these breathtaking landscapes, each of these places holds a profound...

Colombian Tribe Scores "Historic" Victory Versus Big Gas

State company Ecopetrol pulls out of drilling site in territories belonging to the indigenous U’wa people

The Guardian | The indigenous U'wa people living in north-east Colombia have won what observers call an "historic" and "decisive" victory after state oil and gas company Ecopetrol dismantled a gas drilling site in their territories.

Resistance! Facing Down Goliath Oil Companies

The Achuar and U'wa indigenous peoples have me in awe of the immense power of grassroots resistance in the face of multi-billion dollar corporations. Years after graduating from university, I find myself once again a student. Throughout my tenure at Amazon Watch, I have been honored to "informally apprentice" under our wise and humble indigenous...

Amazon Watch is building on more than 25 years of radical and effective solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin.

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What Would Ingrid Do? War and Peace

Indian Country Today | I live in a country which spends a third of my tax dollars on the military, so I do not know actually how peace is found. So say that you wanted peace. How would that work out?

2015 Achievements and Priorities

It costs only $.03 per acre per year to support Amazon Watch's work with indigenous peoples to protect more than 60 million acres of rainforest from oil development and mega-dams. Please join us!

Victory! Gas Project in U'wa Territory Dismantled

"The U'wa people would like to inform national and international public opinion that the Magallanes gas exploration block has been completely dismantled. Ecopetrol has removed all the machinery that had been found there in a demonstration of respect for our rights as an indigenous people."

Amazon in Focus 2014

Plus Our Annual Financial Report for 2013

We stand at a critical moment in history. Amazon Watch is facing this challenge with great resolve and creativity. We are a powerful community and without you and your support, none of our work would be possible.

Will the U'was Be Forced to Threaten to Commit Mass Suicide Again?

Gas company wants to drill on indigenous people's ancestral territory in Colombia

The Guardian | "The U'wa have watched as their oil-rich neighboring territories have become centers of human rights abuses - perpetrated mostly by pro-government paramilitaries. To anyone who is watching, and particularly to the U'wa, the message is clear: Oil equals violence."

Update: Current Situation of the U'wa Process

The U'wa people are advancing in our process of strengthening resistance in defense of culture, the Earth, the environment, rivers, mountains, air, and all of humanity.

Defending Our Lands – the U'wa Thank YOU!

"The U'wa people are thankful for the solidarity from everyone who made possible this trip in favor of our territorial defense. We hope that, with your help, we will be successful in defending Mother Nature."

Issue Brief: Colombia's U'wa People

This brief report details recent threats faced by the U'wa of Colombia and their renewed call for international support to protect their territory and way of life.

"The U’wa Nation Will Continue our Peaceful Protest"

The situation for Colombia's U'wa people is both more hopeful and also more precarious than it has been in years. This could be a watershed moment – either allowing them to achieve several key demands or ending in tragedy.

Colombia's U'wa Indians Continue Oil Protests After Talks Fail

Shutdown of Pipeline Has Cost the Government Over $130 Million

Wall Street Journal | "The proposals they offered weren't close to what we were demanding," said Ms. Tegria, who said the tribe is preparing a formal statement for later Friday. "We will continue to not authorize the repair of the oil pipe."

Colombia Aims to End Standoff Between Oil Companies, Indians

U'wa Refuse to Allow Ecopetrol, Occidential to Repair Pipeline Damaged by Rebels

Wall Street Journal | "The government (Ecopetrol) wanted to do what they always do after the rebels attack, they wanted to fix the pipeline and then maybe later clean up some of the spilled oil," said Aura Tegria, an U'wa spokeswoman. "Well, it's not going to happen that way anymore, and that's why we're not allowing in the repairmen."

Colombian Indigenous Group Sets Conditions for Pipeline Repair

Platts | "We are tired of the explosions on the pipeline that have ruined our ancestral lands, polluted our water and put our people in danger. We want it relocated," said Heber Tegria Uncaria, vice president and spokesman for the U'wa Association.

Amazon in Focus 2013

Plus Our Annual Financial Report for 2012

2013 follows a remarkable year for Amazon Watch and our partners in 2012: Talisman Energy and Conoco Phillips announced they would cease oil operations and leave the Peruvian Amazon; Belo Monte dam construction was significantly delayed in Brazil; and we celebrated the landmark decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in favor...

Amazon in Focus 2012: Celebrating 15 Years

Plus Annual Financial Reports for 2010-2011

This special 15th year anniversary issue of Amazon in Focus celebrates the hard work and accomplishments of our team, our indigenous partners, and you – our growing network of supporters who now number more than 165,000 and span 137 countries.

Colombia's Road to Extinction

Current Threats Facing Colombian Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous groups in Colombia continue to face unjust violence, colonization, dispossession of lands, displacement due to armed conflict and climate change, stunted recovery and development due to ethnic discrimination, forced assimilation, and cultural degradation.

Amazon Watch's 2012 Priorities

Learn more about the biggest issues facing the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoples in 2012 and how Amazon Watch is focusing on them.

Notes from Bogotá: The U'wa Solidarity Campaign

Claudia Cobaría of the U'wa relates the threats of oil and gas extraction to Mount Cocuy, "the lungs of water." "The snowcapped mountain is a source of life, the connection we U'wa have with the ocean and the rest of the planet."

Photos from Our 2011 Annual Luncheon

This year's luncheon was a celebration of fifteen years of achievements for the people and rainforests of the Amazon.

Amazon in Focus 2011: A Year in the Struggle to Defend the Amazon

A Year in the Struggle to Defend the Amazon

Defending the Amazon is a defining battle of our time and has the potential to shift the balance towards justice, ecological balance and the recognition of our interdependence on nature and living systems. In this year's Amazon in Focus, we share stories from this struggle.

Colombia's U'wa Face New Threats

U'wa Indigenous Group Confront New Threats to their Lives and Territory

Known as "the people who speak", the U'wa are a peaceful Indigenous community of roughly 6,200 people who live in the cloud forest of northeastern Colombia, straddling the border with Venezuela. They have fought against oil development on their land for over 15 years.