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| U'WA PRESIDENT ROBERTO PEREZ VISTS
SANFORD BERNSTEIN OFFICES IN SF
DEMANDS LARGEST SHAREHOLDER IN OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM TO DIVEST LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO HOLD BERNSTEIN ACCOUNTABLE the U'wa people now have their own website! Check it out www.uwacolombia.org 1. Update and New organizing tools -
video and factsheets
#1 On December 12th Roberto Perez the president of the U'wa Traditional Authority delivered a letter of protest to the San Francisco offices of Sanford Bernstein the investment company who is the largest shareholder in Occidental Petroleum. (See copy of the letter #3 below) Supported by representatives from Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch as well as a videographer, Senor Perez demanded that Sanford Bernstein stopped profiting from the destruction of U'wa lands and culture and divest from Occidental. Then Roberto came outside the building to address a spirited rally of around 50 U'wa supporters. Other speakers highlighted the connections between US military aid to Colombia and human rights violations, the recent victory against Fidelity Investments (who dumped 60% of their Oxy stock!) and the broader context of how corporate globalization is threatening indigenous peoples and fragile ecosystems around the planet. The rally culminated with a powerful street theater piece which used beautiful puppets and song to depict the U'wa struggle and show how international solidarity will eventually drive Occidental Petroleum out of U'wa land. Many thanks to Art and Revolution and the Freedom Rising Affinity Group for coordinating the puppet making and street theater! The combination of Roberto's powerful words and the beautiful visuals of the theater piece left all who participated and many who watched with a great sense of hope. Grassroots activists united around the world forced Fidelity investments to make a substantial divestment from Oxy we can do the same to Sanford Bernstein and their parent company Alliance Capital. So put the pressure on SB! You can write, call or fax Sanford Bernstein's Vice Chairman Roger Hertog at their US Corporate Headquarters at: Mr. Roger Hertog Vice Chairman Sanford
C. Bernstein & Co.,
Or fax him at : 212-756-4453 Or call him directly at: 212-756-4389 Bernstein Investment Research and Management
has offices in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle,
Washington D.C. West Palm Beach, White Plains, NY, and London To find complete
contact info for these offices go to: Sanford's parent company Alliance
Capital has additional U.S. offices as well as locations around the world
(UK, Germany, Africa, Australia, Japan, India, Canada, etc.)go to:
Organize locally!
We've got to show SB that we will not tolerate them profiting off the destruction of U'wa lands and culture. Amazonwatch has just finished a new updated version of their excellent 10 minute video "Kajka Ika : Defending the Heart of the World". Get a copy from them and show it in your community. It's a great way to educate people and raise funds for the U'wa. To get a copy contact Amazonwatch at amazon@amzonwatch.org or call 310-455-0617. You can also see it on Amazonwatch's website www.amazonwatch.org. There is now a Sanford Bernstein factsheet as well as updated flyers about the U'wa. Both will be available soon in downloadable formats at www.ran.org and www.amazonwatch.org TO DONATE FUNDS TO THE U'WA PEOPLE SEND
CHECK/MONEY ORDER TO :
write in the memo section : U'wa Defense For more information on this issue, or to let us know about a demonstration planned in your area call Patrick at 415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN or e-mail him at organize@ran.org . For background info on the U'wa struggle
and the international solidarity campaign check out :
#2 AMAZON WATCH * PROJECT UNDERGROUND
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK *
Campaign Launched Against SANFORD BERNSTEIN for 'Unethical' Investments in Oil Project on U'wa People's Sacred Land Groups Call on Company to Divest from Occidental Petroleum San Francisco, CA-U'wa Indian chief Roberto Perez joined activists from environmental and human rights organizations today to launch a grassroots campaign against the largest investor in Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Sanford Bernstein & Co. for its involvement in an oil project on the U'wa's land in Colombia. Over the last ten months, OXY's previous top investor, Fidelity Investments, has divested half of its stock in the company following a public campaign against their mutual funds over the U'wa controversy. Building on the success of the campaign against Fidelity, the U'wa and U.S. supporters are now turning their attention to Sanford Bernstein as the central target for activist pressure in the United States. This morning U'wa leader Roberto Perez delivered a letter to Sanford Bernstein requesting that the company pull its 53 million shares (valued at $1.19 billion) from Occidental Petroleum. (Letter available at http://www.ran.org/info_center/press_release/001212.html). Representatives from organizations that have been at the forefront of the recent, non-violent mobilizations in the US, beginning with the protests against the WTO in Seattle last year, joined the U'wa leader today in launching the campaign. In the letter addressed to Mr. Hertog, Sanford Bernstein CEO, the U'wa leader stated, 'Occidental's drilling in our ancestral territory runs the risk of destroying the ancient culture of our ancestors that we have carried on from generation to generation. The drilling creates social, economic, and cultural deterioration that has and continues to lead to violence in our territory. For that reason, we demand 'that you divest entirely from Occidental.' The Uwa are adamantly opposed to the oil project. They have repeatedly denounced the escalating violence the project has already brought to the war-torn region as well as the imminent environmental destruction which will result from oil spills from pipeline bombings and deforestation from new oil roads. "We are urging Sanford Bernstein and other major Occidental Petroleum shareholders to follow Fidelity's example and divest from this morally bankrupt company and unethical oil project. Fidelity learned the hard way that being Oxy's business partner is hazardous to your company's image," said Atossa Soltani of Amazon Watch. Sanford Bernstein became the largest investor in Occidental after Fidelity Investments dropped more than half of its investments in the oil company-some 18 million shares representing over $400 million-following a campaign blitz earlier this year. That campaign included more than 75 protests at their offices worldwide and on-going demonstrations at the corporate headquarters in Boston. Last April Sanford Bernstein President Roger Hertog committed to the U'wa that he would seriously investigate the matter and his company's investments in Occidental, and then let the U'wa know his position. Since then, his company has acquired an additional 10 million shares of Occidental stock without ever communicating again with the U'wa as promised. For high resolution, digital photos of
the protest available for newspaper use please visit: http://www.ran.org/info_center/press_release/001212_photos.html.
#3 December 11, 2000
Dear Mr. Hertog, On behalf of the U'wa indigenous people of Colombia and the U'wa Traditional Authority, I bring a message for you and for Sanford Bernstein. Occidental's project in the Samore block of Colombia is threatening the cultural principles of our communities and has violated our most fundamental rights. The project threatens the environment,
the flora and fauna, and the biodiversity of the region. Occidental's drilling
in our ancestral territory runs the risk of destroying various ancient
cultures of our ancestors that we have carried on from generation to generation.
The drilling creates social, economic, and cultural deterioration that
has and continues to lead to violence in our territory. For that reason,
we demand the following:
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