AT THE CLIFF'S
EDGE
Demonstrating with the U'wa in
Colombia
Following the 1999 FoEI Annual General
Meeting in Ecuador, FoE Ecuador/Acción
Ecológica arranged for Aart van den Hoek of
FoEI affiliate group A SEED (also
coordinator of Oilwatch Europe) to visit
Colombia. The following is Aart's account
of his visit with the U'wa people, whose
heated struggle to stop the Occidental
Petroleum company from drilling on their
land is heading for a potentially tragic
climax.
Bogotá, 16 November 1999
The University of Bogotá looks like a
place where I would have liked to have
spent my own student years. Spacious, with
elegant buildings spread among green fields
and blossoming trees. Students lying around
or playing soccer, and mules and horses
wandering around freely. The multitude of
graffiti reminds me of a western university
campus from the sixties. Slogans like 'No
to Neoliberalism' are everywhere, and an
enormous mural of Che Guevara overlooks the
largest square on campus.
A small band of people has gathered here
in 'Plaza Che' in the early morning hours.
Unlike the well-dressed students, most of
them are barefoot. Their clothes are ragged
and simple, their faces broad and dark, and
their eyes red from the eighteen-hour bus
ride that has brought them here. They stand
silently, chewing coca leaves with soda.
One man holds a baby. A girl wears a
traditional hat made of banana leaves. An
old man carries a huge shell used as a
trumpet to announce meetings.
These people are the representatives of
ten U'wa villages, and they have come to
Bogotá to attend a public demonstration
about their struggle against the American
oil company Occidental Petroleum and the
Colombian government.
The Story of the U'wa
After a five-year legal battle, the
Colombian government has decided to
overrule several court decisions and permit
oil exploration on the traditional lands of
the U'wa people.
Since the beginning of this struggle,
the U'wa have stated that oil exploration
is incompatible with their world view. They
call the earth "our mother", and the
petroleum that courses beneath its surface
is considered to be her blood. But apart
from these spiritual motives, the U'wa also
oppose exploration for practical reasons.
The oil industry, in Colombia as in many
other southern countries, is synonymous
with a host of problems including
environmental degradation, relocation,
economic inflation, crime, prostitution and
various other social ills. The U'wa are
convinced that the coming of the oil
industry will mean the end of their
culture, which they managed to preserve
even during the occupation of the Spanish
conquistadors.
Furthermore, the U'wa want to keep their
distance from the ongoing war between
Marxist FARC guerillas and the infamous
Colombian paramilitary. The oil industry,
vital to the Colombian economy, has been
the number one target for guerillas over
recent years. One of the main pipelines
running through the country has been
attacked over 500 times since 1995.
To emphasis their determination to
resist the oil industry and the destruction
that will follow in its wake, the U'wa have
repeatedly threatened to commit mass
suicide if exploration goes ahead. This
threat builds upon a U'wa myth in which
members of their nation threw themselves
from a high cliff in order to avoid being
enslaved by the Spanish.
Resistance to the End
Later in the day, when the U'wa and some
250 sympathizers have gathered in the
university auditorium, U'wa spokesman
Roberto Perez explains that rather than
killing themselves, the tribe has decided
to resist until they are killed. To this
end, 200 U'wa have gone to the site where
drilling is supposed to begin in order to
establish a new settlement. The Colombian
newspaper
Tiempo
later confirms that
many U'wa men, women and children have
moved to the project area and that another
group has blockaded the main road in the
region.
The following day, a procession is held
from the university to the Ministry of
Environment. Beforehand, the U'wa and their
supporters walk around campus, encouraging
students to participate. Few do. I later
learn that the graffiti on the university
walls does not completely reflect the
spirit of the students, who are polarized
between left and right. The murder two
months earlier of a left-wing professor on
campus by the paramilitary has further
solidified the convictions of many students
about the dangers of being openly connected
with environmental and human rights
groups.
Despite the lack of student mass, the
demonstration is extremely powerful. Some
300 people carry large, colourful banners
and continuously chant slogans. A group of
costumed men and women on stilts give the
procession a festive atmosphere. Even the
presence of a full battalion of police
equipped with teargas and two tank-like
vehicles cannot dampen the spirit of the
crowd.
The gates are closed at the Ministry of
Environment, but the U'wa once again
proclaim their statement of resistance to
oil exploration through the bars.
Eventually, one of the U'wa is invited to
enter the building. He refuses, instead
inviting the minister to visit U'wa
territory so that he can see with his own
eyes what is being jeopardized. The
demonstration ends peacefully, the banners
that have been hung over the fence are
taken away, and the crowd disperses.
Aart van den Hoek, A SEED
Europe/Oilwatch Europe
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Campaign for the U'wa in
Europe
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Following the November 17th
demonstration, European members of
Oilwatch met with the U'wa, the NGOs
participating in the Colombian
solidarity campaign including Censat
Agua Viva (the new FoE group in
Colombia), the Colombian indigenous
peoples federation, and representatives
from FoEI affiliate Rainforest Action
Network. The groups strategized about
how the U'wa can be supported in
Europe.
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Since Occidental Petroleum is
US-based and has no offices or pump
stations in Europe, it was decided that
the focus would be Colombian embassies.
The idea is to show the Colombian
government that European groups are
closely following the U'wa case, and
that any violent action by the military
or paramilitary could affect official
relations with the European Union. The
proposed visit of the Colombian
Minister of Environment to Brussels
next year to discuss EU financial
assistance was also identified as a
major opportunity for lobbying and
action. Finally, a European speakers'
tour featuring U'wa representatives was
planned for 2000.
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Please send your protest and support
letters to FoE Colombia. For more
information about the European U'wa
campaign, contact Aart van den Hoek
(aart@aseed.antenna.nl).
