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Published Mon. June 30, 2008 -Colombia, SA -
BACKGROUND: In recent months, the presence of armed groups within U’wa territory has increased dramatically. This includes the Colombian military and illegal groups such as the FARC and the ELN. The U’wa are currently risking their lives in the fight for their territory, both confronting armed groups within their communities, asking them to leave, and recently issuing a public statement asking for the demilitarization of their lands.
At the same time, Colombia’s state-run oil company, Ecopetrol, is making on-going efforts to drill on U’wa territory. Recent information indicates that they are moving forward with production wells in the Gibraltar 1, 2, and 3 platforms, within U’wa territory. U’wa have expressed their concern that increased military presence in their lands is part of a strategy to force them to accept oil exploration, against their most fundamental beliefs.
The intimate connection between oil and violence continues in Colombia. The brutal struggle for control of U’wa territory and neighboring regions, such as Arauca, is in part linked to the economic benefit different armed groups receive from the oil. On one side are military units that protect the pipelines and on the other guerilla groups that extort large sums from the oil companies, including Occidental. (Note: while Oxy pulled out of U’wa territory in 2002, they still operate nearby.).
The U’wa continue to ask for and need national and international solidarity. To that end, Amazon Watch worked closely with other allies to generate a public statement supporting the U’wa, which was signed by some 80 organizations and sent to President Uribe on July 1st.
TAKE ACTION: We are asking individual supporters and allies of the U’wa to also express their support, by sending the following letter (or, better yet, one of your own design) to the Colombian Ambassador to the United States, Maria Carolina Barco Isakson. Copy, paste and/or adapt the following sample text into a letter on your personal letterhead, or into the body of an e-mail message, and send using the addresses below:
Ambassador Maria Carolina Barco Isakson
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Pl. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: +1-202-232-8643
Email: emwas@colombiaemb.org
Ambassador Barco –
I am writing in strong support of the rights of the U’wa indigenous people of Colombia.
During the first half of 2008, the territories of the U’wa, in the departments of Norte de Santander and Boyacá, have been increasingly militarized, both by illegal armed actors such as the FARC and by Colombia’s military.
Responding to this dangerous militarization, which could presage an increase in direct violence and human rights violations committed against U’wa communities, the U’wa themselves have make a public request that all armed actors, whether legal or illegal, immediately leave their territory.
For more than 15 years, the U’wa have been fighting against oil exploration on their lands. This grassroots campaign has garnered international attention and won the U’wa worldwide support. I echo the U’was’ grave concern over the high correlation between oil extraction and political violence in Colombia.
The U’was’ plight is particularly important because it reflects the broader dynamics throughout Colombia, where the conflict and resource extraction are negatively impacting the wellbeing of indigenous and other rural communities.
I support indigenous peoples’ right to determine what happens on their lands. And I call on the Colombian government to grant the U’wa demand that their territories be demilitarized and that no oil exploration or extraction be carried out without their explicit consent.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Mailing address]
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