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Colombia's U'wa Tribe and Supporters Celebrate Oxy's Failure to Find Oil "Cultures With Principles Cannot Be Bought!" The U'wa Communique follows: ASSOCIATION OF U'WA TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES DECREE No. 1088 of 1993 January 7, 1997 Resolution
of Registry No. 003 COMMUNIQUE TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY GIBRALTAR 1, CULTURAL
TRIUMPH Recently, the U.S multinational company Occidental of Colombia (OXY) publicly recognized the negative results regarding the expected petroleum bonanza of Gibraltar 1. For the U'wa, after doing a meticulous study of our origin, our history and of the flagrant violations of our great laws committed by the Colombian state and OXY, we knew this news months before. For our highest traditional authorities WERJAYAS, defenders of the landmarks of the world, it's a battle that has been won, but the war continues because the U'wa territory is not only Gibraltar 1. Our territory is more extensive, covering five Colombian states and part of the Venezuelan territory, today known as the state of Merida. We say that it is only one battle and more await us, for today, the Sacred U'wa territory remains threatened by the petroleum exploration project LOQUE CAPACHOS I, in the jurisdiction of the Tame - Arauca municipality, carried out by the SPANISH PETROLEUM MULTINATIONAL REPSOL EXPLORACI"N COLOMBIA, S.A. The indigenous reserve of Angostura, which is home to U'wa (with 3,200 hectares), Macarieros (40 hectares) and Payeros (the last of the Sikuani ethnic group with 94 hectares) are all being affected. The National Government's administrative procedures for the BLOQUE CAPACHOS I, headed by the Minister of the Environment and the Ministry of the Interior (under the direction of the General of Indigenous Affairs), secretly moved ahead ignoring the process of consultation and agreement with the U'wa and Sikuani communities, as we are the ones that are directly affected by the project. This is the same obscure and deceptive process that moved ahead in Gibraltar I. In the face of this event, the U'wa will inform our highest authorities to make decisions in how to act materially and spiritually to resist this project. The knowledge inherited from our ancestors and the spiritual communication with the eternal father SIRA that we zealously preserve and practice today, allows us to reaffirm our vision and cultural mission, which we are obligated to defend with dignity. THE RESPECT FOR THE LIFE OF MOTHER EARTH AND ALL THAT EXISTS UPON HER. It is also right to say that in this first defense we were accompanied unrestrictedly by the social sectors from the state of Arauca, Cubar, Boyac, and Toledo (North Santander), the indigenous brothers of Colombia and all Colombians who felt and observed powerlessly the physical and verbal aggressions we were subjected to in search for respect of our sacred rights. The blood spilled of the North Americans indigenous women and activist who were killed, the loss of our U'wa children in the violent evictions, the humiliations of the armed forces, the cries of the U'wa children and elders in the peaceful mobilizations, the challenge to resist the aggressions by the Colombian State and OXY, will not go unpunished. They will be a memory with a bittersweet taste that will remain in the minds of those who participated directly and indirectly in the most difficult moments of this process. The vigilant and zealous spirit of our martyrs strengthens us to reaffirm the process of defense of our Historical Patrimonial Millennial Rights. Moreover, we highlight the international support that we have counted on with their moral, ethical, spiritual and economic solidarity to resist against the invasion of our sacred spaces. We invite all our friends of Colombia and the World to continue their solidarity with the U'wa people in our second phase of resistance against petroleum companies and the Colombian State that continue to ignore our territorial and cultural rights. The U'wa have always respected that which belongs to others, but the government and multinational corporations continue to violate our rights. Finally, we insist that the Colombian Government comply with the recuperation and legalization of the united U'wa Reserve. Cultures with principles cannot be bought. U'WA TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES Roberto Perez Gutierrez Office of Cabildo Mayor U'wa Telefax 0978 892326 WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE EARTH, HELP US DEFEND IT
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End to Oil Drilling on the Tribe's Ancestral Land and Total De-Militarization Urged
Since OXY received drilling rights in 1992 to the Siriri block (formerly known as Samor), the project has been embroiled in controversy and condemned by environmental and human rights groups worldwide. The announcement by OXY comes as thousands of U'wa are taking part in a traditional three month spiritual retreat for fasting, meditation, teaching, singing, and prayer. The U'wa Werjayas (spiritual leaders) and Karekas (medicine people) have been praying for months and using traditional rituals to "hide the oil" from OXY's drill. While the U'wa called this development a "cultural triumph," the tribe pointed out that their ancestral land is still threatened by oil exploration by the Spanish company Repsol, who is just beginning exploratory drilling in the Capachos 1 block. "This is a battle that we have won, but the war continues, because the U'wa territory is not only Gibraltar 1," said Roberto Perez, President of the U'wa Traditional Authority in a communique released today. "The blood spilled from the three North Americans indigenous activists and other supporters who were killed, the loss of our U'wa children in the violent evictions, the humiliations of the armed forces, the cries of the U'wa children and elders in the peaceful mobilizations, the challenge to resist the aggressions by the Colombian State and OXY, will not go unpunished. It will be a bittersweet memory that will remain in the minds of those who participated directly an indirectly in the most difficult moments of this process," said Perez. The U'wa have become a symbol of resistance to oil exploration and corporate led globalization for thousands of supporters around the world. Over the last 5 years, the U'wa resistance has inspired a massive international solidarity movement that has captured headlines with hundreds of peaceful demonstrations. More recently, the U'wa and their supporters been organizing to stop U.S. military aid to Colombia, of which OXY is an influential proponent. Using tactics ranging from blockades at the drill site, lawsuits, shareholder resolutions, letter writing campaigns, banner hangs, and non-violent civil disobedience, the U'wa along with environmental and human rights activists have confronted Occidental and its major shareholders including Fidelity Investments, former Vice-President Al Gore and Alliance Capital/Sanford Bernstein. This is yet another blow to Oxy's operations in Colombia which have suffered significant losses this year. The company's Cano Limon field and pipeline have been paralyzed since February 17 as a result of more than 110 guerrilla bombings on the company's pipeline so far this year. In addition, OXY's private security contractor, AirScan, was recently implicated in one of Colombian Military's worst civilian massacres putting OXY in the center of yet another controversy. AirScan guided Colombian military's attack on the Santo Domingo village that killed 12 civilians including 9 children. See Also |