Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 12:49:51 -0400 From: Louis Proyect <lnp3-AT-columbia.edu> Subject: M-I: U'Wa Indians, Occidental Oil, Colombian guerrillas There's a very important full-page ad in today's NY Times sponsored by the Amazon Coalition. It calls attention to the plight of the U'Wa people in Colombia, who are being faced with the slow death of their environment and culture by Occidental Petroleum's infringement on their ancestral homeland. The U'Wa people rightfully fear toxic pollution, land invasion and massive deforestation of the kind that took place in Ogoniland, Nigeria, Ecuador and Burma. A complicating factor is the presence of guerrilla armies in the area, who have attacked the pipelines near the U'Wa homeland over 500 times in the past 11 years, causing over 1.7 million barrels of oil to be spilled into the soil and river. A new project proposed by Occidental will be even closer to U'Wa territory and risk greater bloodshed and environmental ruin. This threat has caused the U'wa people--who number around 5000--to pledge to leap to their death from a 1,400 foot cliff if the project goes forward. The chief demand of the U'Wa people is that Occidental cease exploration in the area immediately. It is important to note that the U'Wa do not make any sort of demands on the revolutionaries. One might expect that right-wing greens would try to drive a wedge between the indigenous peoples and the guerrillas. The presence of militant groups like the Rainforest Action Network and Project Underground in the coalition has lessened the possibility of such a division. The coalition also includes the Colombian Human Rights Committee, which has fought against military repression of the left-wing groups. It is a hopeful sign that such a coalition can be built because Colombia appears to be the scene of an impending showdown between the guerrillas, the government and its US imperialist backers. Project Underground has an excellent web page on the U'Wa struggle: http://uwa.moles.org/uwa/index1.html The ad recommends that fax's be sent to the following parties to demand that Occidental get out of U'Wa territory: Al Gore, 202-456-2461 Ray Irani, CEO of Occidental, 310-443-6922 President Ernesto Samper-Pizano of Colombia, 011-571-2893377 Finally, I recommend tracking down the latest issue of NACLA (March, April 1998), which is devoted to "The Wars Within: Counterinsurgency in Chiapas and Colombia." It includes an article on "Oil in a Time of War," that goes into this subject in depth. Louis Proyect --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005