Gore: Principles or Petroleum?
In the remote Colombian Andes, a peaceful
indigenous tribe of 5,000 people--the U'wa--live
on their traditional land. The U'wa and their way
of life are now at risk because of an oil company
with deep ties to US Vice President Al Gore Jr.
-- Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). If Oxy proceeds
with their plan to drill for oil in the first half of
2000 in U'wa land, it will initiate an
unprecedented environmental and human
disaster. The U'wa have repeatedly stated that
they "are willing to die" to keep oil drilling off of
their ancestral lands.
US Vice-President Gore owns up to $500,000 in
Occidental stock and takes major contributions
from the company. He and his family have
earned much of their wealth through their
connections with Oxy. Gore wants the
environmental and human rights vote: let's
challenge him to tell Occidental to abandon oil
fields on all U'wa land.
Life & Death in Colombia
"The continuing standoff with the U'wa has escalated to a critical mass, to the point
where the next step by either side could put the white-hot spotlight of the world on a
single well . . . tantamount to another Brent Spar or Exxon Valdez."
- Oil & Gas Journal, November 29,1999
The U'wa grabbed international headlines in 1996 when they vowed to commit collective
suicide if the Samoré Block project is not halted. Their message is clear: In their words:
"We would rather die, protecting everything that we hold sacred, than lose everything
that makes us U'wa."
In November 1999, hundreds of U'wa Indians marched on the site of Occidental's first
planned drill site, establishing a permanent settlement to block the drilling slated to begin
in the coming months. The drill site is located less than six hundred yards from the legally
recognized U'wa Unified Reserve and clearly falls within the U'wa's larger traditional
ancestral territory. The U'wa community of Santa Marta inhabits the area adjacent to the
well site, putting them at clear risk from the environmental and social impacts of the oil
project.
In Colombia, oil brings violence. The northeast region of Colombia is a quagmire of warring
armed factions, and oil infrastructure is the strategic target of choice. Innocent
bystanders, both native and foreign, are caught in the crossfire. In 1997, Roberto
KuwarU'wa, President of the Traditional U'wa Authority, was beaten and threatened. In
March of last year, three American humanitarians working with the U'wa were kidnapped
and executed by left wing guerrillas. This cycle of violence inflicts economic and
environmental damage as well. In the past twelve years, Oxy's pipeline has been attacked
more than 600 times. As a result of this sabotage, approximately 2.1 million barrels of
crude oil have spilled into the soil and rivers - eight times the amount spilled by the Exxon
Valdez. Ominously, within the first few weeks of 2000, observers have noted a significant
increase in militarization of the U'wa region.
Gore & Oxy
"We ask people around the world who value the Earth and indigenous peoples to speak
out against the multinational oil company Oxy through protests, letters and other actions
of solidarity."
- Statement from the U'wa People, November 17, 1999
The history of the Gore family and Occidental Petroleum have been intertwined for
generations. Al Gore Sr. (the vice president's father) "had never been rich 'till he worked
for [Occidental Petroleum founder] Hammer" as a Vice President and Board Member of
Oxy. Money from Occidental and its subsidiaries formed the basis of the Gore family
fortune, which has now driven two of its sons to national prominence.
Gore Jr. directly benefits from this family relationship in several ways. He owns up to
$500,000 in Oxy stocks, and stands to reap large financial rewards if Oxy finds the 1.5
billion barrels of oil that the company estimates is under U'wa land. Oxy and its employees
are also frequent and generous funders to both the Gore campaign and to the Democratic
party. In 1996, Oxy Chairman Ray Irani gave the Democratic National Committee $100,000
just 2 days after sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House.
Environmental and human rights leaders have been attempting to direct the Vice
President's attention to this issue for years. The Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and
Their Environment wrote the Vice President on this issue requesting his assistance. No
reply. A full-page ad in the New York Times generated hundreds of letters to Gore. Just 3
months ago, Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope told the Vice President that "hope
for the U'wa and other victims of rights abuses in Colombia lies in your hands".
Meanwhile, the U'wa's efforts to halt the project have been steadily gaining momentum.
Occidental's original partner in the Samoré Block, Royal Dutch/Shell, pulled out of the
project citing human rights and public relations concerns. At Occidental's Annual General
Meeting last year, shareholders representing over eight hundred million dollars worth of
stock voted in favor of a resolution asking Occidental to re-evaluate the project.
Recently, the U'wa have regained title to 14 percent of the land that has been taken from
them over the last 400 years. The U'wa are simply demanding their right to live a life free
of the pollution and violence that oil brings.
What You Can Do!
Gore wants the environmental and human rights vote: let's challenge him to ensure that
Oxy cancel its planned operations on U'wa lands in Colombia.
Please send the following message to Vice President Al Gore from our site!
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Recipient: Vice President Al Gore
Subject: Stop Occidental's Samore Block project!
Dear Vice President Gore,
I recently learned that you own stock in, and accept major
campaign contributions from, Occidental Petroleum. As you must
know, Occidental is moving forward with a project that jeopardizes
the U'wa people's culture and forest homeland in Colombia. In your
book "Earth In Balance," you wrote that car exhaust is "a mortal
threat to the security of every nation, that is more deadly than
that of any military enemy we are ever again likely to confront," -
and yet you support Occidental, a company whose quest for oil
clearly threatens the well-being of an indigenous culture and a
critical ecosystem.
As the purported environmental candidate for the presidency, you
must consider this: Do you want your legacy to be three weeks of
oil, lost lives, and an environment destroyed, or do you want to be
seen as a heroic leader in the global struggle for environmental
justice? It is imperative that you exert pressure on Occidental
Petroleum and convince CEO Ray Irani to stop the project on U'wa
traditional territory.
The American people are looking for a candidate that lives up to his
words and stands for what is just. Please let me know what steps
you plan to take to resolve this issue.
Sincerely,
Sources:
"Occidental and Oriental Connections", Micah Morrison, Wall Street Journal, 9/29/99;
"Despite Image, Gore has deep roots in oil industry", Timothy Gardner, Reuters,
8/9/99;
"Potential oil industry flashpoint centers on Oxy's Colombian rainforest wildcat", Oil &
Gas Journal, 11/29/99;
Center for Responsive Politics
This briefing has been prepared by Amazon Watch, with the support of the U'wa
Defense Working Group.
ran.org
The U'wa Defense Working Group is: Amazon Watch * Action Resource Center *
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund * EarthWays Foundation *International Law Project
for Human, Environmental & Economic Defense * Project Underground * Rainforest
Action Network * Sol Communications * U'wa Defense Project |
