Willow's Pagan Place Pg 18

GORE:
STOP MAKING A KILLING ON OIL IN COLOMBIA
SAVE THE U’WA NOW

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 on 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.

"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 Kuwar
U’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.

"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 $100,00
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.

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.

Call or fax Al Gore Jr. c/o his campaign staff in New Hampshire. Ask him if he wants his
legacy to be 3 weeks worth of oil, lost lives, and a culture destroyed, or if he wants to be
seen as a leader in the global struggle for environmental justice. Tell him we will not tolerate
a candidate who profits from blood for oil. Demand that he use his influence with Oxy to
stop the oil project on U’WA land.

Urge Gore to persuade Occidental CEO Ray Irani to withdraw Occidental operations
from all U'wa traditional lands. If Gore wants the environmental and human rights vote,
he MUST put his money where his mouth is. Its Big Oil, Old Money and Business as
Usual vs. Environmental and Human Rights – lets tell the candidates which we want to win.

Sources: "Occidental and Oriental Connections", Micah Morrison, Wall St. 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.

Gore 2000 Campaign Headquarters
Manchester, New Hampshire
PHONE: 603-6222-8303 
FAX: 603-668-7358
OR
Albert Gore Jr.
Vice President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington DC 20500
FAX: 202-456-2685
Email: vicepresident@whitehouse.gov

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

On June 24, approximately four hundred Colombian anti-riot police and soldiers 
attacked two hundred peaceful U'wa people blockading a road near the town of
 Cubara in northeastern Colombia. The police and soldiers removed the U'wa
 from the blockade through the use of tear gas and physical blows. The next
 day, some sixty soldiers and police again physically attacked agroup ofU'wa
 peacefully assembled in the town of Cubara. U'wa spokespeople reported that
 at least twenty-eight people were injured, some requiring medical attention,
 and that up to seventy people had been detained
.
The attacks followed a May 15 ruling by the Superior Court of Colombia
 that revoked an injunction temporarily banning Occidental Petroleum
 from drilling for oil on the U'wa's ancestral territory. Following the 
ruling, USbased Occidental said that it would immediately resume work
 on building a road to the project's lirst well site, Gibraltar 1.

In a public statement, the U'wa called the Superior Court's ruling "a clear 
demonstration of the violation of fundamental constitutional rights as
 well as ofthe individual and collective rights of the U'wa." The U'wa
 also reaffirmed their commitment to defend their land, stating:

        "Our one purpose is to go on defending our culture and our rerfltory In 
response to the ruling handed down by the Superior Tribunal, which rules
 against our peaceful community, we will continue with the second stage
 of mobilizations. .. We ask that the national and international community 
support our struggle and be ready to continue righting for the good of all that lives
 on this planet earth."

Farlier this year, nearly three thousand local farmers, union members, and
 students joined the U'wa in nonviolent blockades and protests near the 
Gibraltar 1 well site. The military responded violently, and in February 
a confrontation between peaceful protesters and the military resulted in 
the deaths ofthree indigenous children.

In the US, supporters of the U'wa have continued to press Occidental for cancellation
 of the project. In recent months, activists have also ramped up efforts to persuade
 Fidelity Investments, one of Occidental's largest shareholders, and Vice President
 Al Gore, whose family holds up to one million dollars in Occidental stock, to 
take a stand in defense of the U'wa and their territory.

Fidelity Investments controls over thirty million shares of Occidental stock. Environmental
 and human rights activists have asked Fidelity to use its considerable influence with 
Occidental to advocate an end to the oil project on U'wa territory. So far, Fidelity
 has remained silent, refusing to meet with U'wa Traditional Authority president
 Roberto Perez during his trip to the US earlier this year. Over fifty pro-U'wa demonstrations
 have been staged at Fidelity's offices since February.

Activists have also been pressuring Vice President Al Gore to take action in defense
 of the U'wa and their homeland. Gore's father was a member of Occidental's Board
 of Directors for twenty-eight years, and Gore's personal financial statement
 discloses fatnily holdings of up to one million dollars in Occidental stock. Occidental
 and its employees are also frequent and generous funders to both the Gore campaign
 and the Democratic Party.

"As a professed champion of the environment, Vice President Gore needs to demonstrate
 his leadership at this critical juncture," said Lauren Sullivan, RAN's Amazon Oil Campaigner.
 "As the country gears up for the Democratic National Convention, Gore has the
 opportunity to prove that, as a political leader and a person of conscience, he is 
willing to stand up to Occidental on behalf of the human rights and forest home of the U'wa
 people."