In this post :
#1. Communique from Civil Society supporting the U'wa (English and espanol)
#2 April 26th Day of Solidarity! Support the U'wa call on Sanford Bernstein to divest from Oxy!
#3 U'wa leader to protest at Oxy shareholder's meeting April 20th
#4 Schedule for NE U'wa speaking tour
#5 Sample Letter to Sanford Bernstein

For background info on the inspiring life or death struggle of Colombia's U'wa people check out :
www.ran.org      www.amazonwatch.org      www.moles.org      www.uwacolombia.org

For organizing materials contact Rainforest Action Network at 415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN or email organize@ran.org

#1  Communiqué to the International and Public Opinion
On March 21 and April 01, 2001, we had a meeting in Saravena (Arauca) with the social organizations of Arauca and of Cubará represented in: the Asociación Departamental de Usuarios Campesinos-ADUC (Departmental Association of User Farmers), the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT (Workers' Unitary Headquarters) - Arauca Sub-directive, U'WA Presidents Association (Asociación de Cabildos Mayores U'wa-ASOUWA), the Communal Action Board Federation and the Youth and Students Regional Association (Asociación Juvenil y Estudiantil Regional-ASOJER), the Workers Trade Union (La Unión Sindical Obrera-USO), and CENSAT AGUA VIVA; at the Energy, Petroleum and Sustainability workshop.

We summon the necessity to:

Debate about the national politics on energy, petroleum development, its environmental, social and cultural impact;

Gain knowledge and share strategies on monitoring, resistance, and following up on petroleum activities;

Define strategies to demand the national government to find a political solution, and not a military one, to solve the social and environmental problem that petroleum exploitation poses; and to OXY, that it must acknowledge its environmental debt to the region and the country;

After sharing experiences, reflecting on the environmental, social, cultural and economic impacts that petroleum activities have historically created in various regions of the country, particularly in Caño Limón - Arauca, and the devastation that OXY started in the so called Samoré Block, U'wa ancestral territory; and planning proposals that will resolve these problems, we decided to:

Reaffirm the validity of the U'wa people's struggle to defend their culture, land and environment;

Support and back the actions that the U'wa people decide upon in defending their cultural and ancestral rights;

Demand Occidental Multinational and the Colombian government to immediately suspend all petroleum activity in the sacred U'wa territory;

Correct/belie the erroneous information that certain regional and national communication mediums are spreading about the supposed abandonment by the U'wa people of its millenial cause, and demand that this information be rectified;

Summon the social, national and international organizations to continue backing the U'wa.

We, the social organizations of Arauca and Boyacá, continue to reaffirm that the U'wa struggle is our struggle, because it represents the struggle for life, sovereignty, culture, and the environment. Asociación Departamental de Usuarios Campesinos ADUC,

Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT - Subdirectiva Arauca,

Asociación de Cabildos Mayores Uwa, ASOUWA,

Federación de Juntas de Acción Comunal

Asociación Juvenil y Estudiantil Regional ASOJER,

Unión Sindical Obrera, USO

CENSAT AGUA VIVA

COMUNICADO A LA OPINIÓN PUBLICA NACIONAL E INTERNACIONAL

Los días 31 de marzo y 01 de abril de 2001 nos reunimos en Saravena (Arauca) las organizaciones sociales de Arauca y de Cubará, Boyacá, representadas en: la Asociación Departamental de Usuarios Campesinos ADUC, la Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT - Subdirectiva Arauca, la Asociación de Cabildos Mayores Uwa, ASOUWA, la Federación de Juntas de Acción Comunal y la Asociación Juvenil y Estudiantil Regional ASOJER, La Unión Sindical Obrera, USO y el CENSAT AGUA VIVA, en el taller Energía Petróleo y Sustentabilidad,

Nos convoco la necesidad de:
Conocer y compartir estrategias de monitoreo, resistencia y seguimiento a la actividad petrolera.

y el definir estrategias para exigir al gobierno nacional que de una salida política y no militar a la problemática social y ambiental de la explotación petrolera y a la OXY, el reconocimiento de la deuda ambiental que ella tiene con la región y el país.

Luego de compartir experiencias, de reflexionar sobre los impactos ambientales, sociales, culturales y económicos que históricamente la actividad petrolera ha ocasionado en varios regiones del pais y particularmente en Caño Limón- Arauca y la devastación que inició Oxy en el llamado bloque Samoré, territorio ancestral Uwa, y de plantear propuestas de solución a dicha problemática, acordamos:

Reafirmar la vigencia de la lucha del pueblo U´wa en la defensa de su cultura, su medio ambiente y territorio.

Apoyar y respaldar las acciones que el pueblo U´wa decida en defensa de sus derechos culturales y ancestrales.

Exigir a la Multinacional Occidental y al gobierno Colombiano la suspensión inmediata de toda actividad petrolera en el territorio sagrado U´wa.

Desmentir las informaciones que algunos medios de comunicación regionales y nacionales están emitiendo sobre el supuesto abandono que el pueblo U´wa ha hecho de su causa milenaria y exigir que esta información sea rectificada.

Convocar a las organizaciones sociales nacionales e internacionales para que continúen respaldando al pueblo U´wa.

Las organizaciones sociales de Arauca y Boyacá, continuamos reafirmando que la lucha de los U´was es nuestra lucha, por que ella representa la lucha por la vida, la soberanía, la cultura y el medio ambiente.

Saravena, 01 de Abril de 2001

Asociación Departamental de Usuarios Campesinos ADUC,

Central Unitaria de Trabajadores CUT - Subdirectiva Arauca,

Asociación de Cabildos Mayores Uwa, ASOUWA,

Federación de Juntas de Acción Comunal

Asociación Juvenil y Estudiantil Regional ASOJER,

Unión Sindical Obrera, USO

CENSAT AGUA VIVA

#2 APRIL 26TH DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE U'WA PEOPLE JOIN U?WA TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY LEADER ROBERTO PEREZ IN DEMANDING THAT SANFORD BERNSTEIN DIVEST FROM OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM AND STOP PROFITING FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF INDIGENOUS LANDS AND CULTURES!

Over the past 8 years the U?wa have put out repeated calls for solidarity in 'the global crusade to defend life'.

April 26th is your chance to join them in standing up for a global society that puts principles ahead of profits by confronting the largest shareholder in Occidental Petroleum - Sanford Bernstein.

Support the U'wa by taking action! Whether its a letter writing table, a vigil, a fundraiser, guerrilla theater of acts of non-violent direct action the U'wa people need you to help them make Sanford Bernstein hear their voice. We must unite to stop US military aid to Colombia. We must reveal the role of oil companies in the phony war on drugs in Colombia.

Find the Sanford Bernstein or Alliance Capital office nearest you. For complete contact info for these offices go to:
www.bernstein.com/>locations.htm

Sanford's parent company Alliance Capital has offices in Cleveland, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Secaucus NJ, as well as locations around the world (UK, Germany, Africa, Australia, Japan, India, Canada, etc.) For more information go to click on "Contact Alliance" then "About Alliance" and then "Locations".

To support the U'wa in your community check out 10 things You can Do for the U'wa :
http://www.ran.org/ran/ran_campaigns/beyond_oil/resources.html

For more information, organizing materials or to coordinate your local action with the broader network contact Rainforest Action Network at 415-398-4404/1-800-989-RAIN or email organize@ran.org or  fern@riseup.net

#3 PROTEST AT OXY SHAREHOLDER MEETING!
4/20 SAVE THE DATE

Protest the Occidental Petroleum Annual Shareholder Meeting

Join the U?wa to Demand Divestment from Oxy! Demonstrate for U?wa Life, Land & Culture

Demonstration, Music, Speakers, Art & Debut of Oxy Walk of Shame 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Fairmont Miramar Hotel
Wilshire & Ocean
Santa Monica,
April 20th 2001

Colombia?s U?wa people have been struggling for 8 years to defend their ancestral homeland against efforts by Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) and the Colombian government to drill for oil on their sacred homeland. The U?wa?s uncompromising resistance -- despite the militarization of their land--has inspired hundreds of solidarity actions around the world.

The U?wa will tour the U.S. with a message of Oxy out of U?wa land. Because of increased threats from corporate globalization, the U?wa will also bring a message of No Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and no oil war in Colombia. The U?wa oppose increases in US military aid and call Plan Colombia a death sentence. Indigenous rights must not be considered a barrier to free trade.

For more info contact :
ACTION RESOURCE CENTER bdoran@enviroweb.org 310-396-3254
www.arcweb.org
AMAZONWATCH kevin@amazonwatch.org 310-455-0617

www.amazonwatch.org

#4 U'WA LEADER TO TOUR THE NORTHEAST!

"Yes, it is true that the earth can be felt trembling. But it is not out of fear?. It is because we, the indigenous, are walking. We who are the color of the earth. And it is law that it trembles so when we walk. Democracy! Liberty! Justice!"

- From Toluca, State of Mexico 2001

FREE TRADE, PLAN COLOMBIA, OIL AND INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE. ROBERTO PEREZ, PRESIDENT OF THE U'WA, ARMANDO VALBUENA, ONIC
APRIL 22 - 28TH

MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, CONNECTICUT, NEWYORK, NEW HAMPSHIRE, VERMONT
For thousands of years, the U?wa - a peaceful indigenous community of 5,000 people - have lived in the cloudforests of northeast Colombia, protecting their land and culture from outside encroachment. Now, an oil project slated for their land by Occidental Petroleum and condemned by environmental and human rights groups around the world, puts the survival of the U'w'wa and their sacred land in jeopardy.

Two days after Plan Colombia was passed by congress, the U?wa homeland became heavily militarized with over 2,000 soldiers. The U'wa warn that unless the project is canceled, it will only bring further violence, environmental and cultural destruction, oil spills from guerrilla bombings and deforestation from new access roads.

The international campaign in support of the U'wa people is now calling on Sanford Bernstein to divest from OXY. This comes on the heels of a major victory against Fidelity Investments, another top shareholder of the company and world?s largest mutual fund.

Plan Colombia, supported largely by the lobbying efforts of Occidental Petroleum and three major weapons manufacturers in the northeast - General Dynamics, Sikorsky Aircraft and Textron are profiting at the expense of Colombians, such as the U'wa. The U'wa have been calling on US citizens to help in ending military intervention in Colombia and to pressure the administration to send humanitarian aid.

Colombia is now preparing itself for inclusion into the Free Trade area of the Americas, an extension of NAFTA to the entire Western Hemisphere. FTAA will accelerate environmental destruction and the loss of indigenous and non indigenous lands. By revoking indigenous communal land structure, Colombia will be able to enter the FTAA and ensure foreign investor rights, not human rights.

JOIN US FOR A TOUR OF THE NORTHEAST PROFITEERS FROM PLAN COLOMBIA AND FTAA!

GENERAL DYNAMICS, SIKORSKY HELICOPTERS, TEXTRON, AND ALLIANCE CAPITAL

SUPPORT THE INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE OF THE UWA PEOPLE OF COLOMBIA!

Sunday, April 22nd
7pm MIT room TBA Noam Chomsky, Roberto Perez, FTAA, Plan Colombia and the effect of indigenous peoples of Colombia sponsored by MIT social justice collaborative, Boston Earth Action Network, Tonantzin

Monday April 23rd
7-9pm bilingual presentation Church of the Holy Redeemer, East Boston 72 Maverick St. 617-567-3227 Blue Line Maverick T-stop. FTAA, Plan Colombia and the effect on indigenous peoples sponsored by Colombia Vive, Tonantzin, Voices in Action

Tuesday, April 24
Providence RI - location TBA contact contact: michael_e_jackson@brown.edu

Wednesday April 25
10 - 12pm Providence, RI Textron Shareholders meeting highlighting corporate backing of Plan Colombia Financial Center, down town - with the Sisters of Mercy contact BEAN 617-623-2453
7 - 9pm Columbia University, NYC location TBA sponsored by the Colombia Media Project, Wetlands and Rainforest Relief 212-966-4831 The U'wa will be joined at the teach-in by representatives of the traditional Dine'h(Navajo) resisters from Big Mountain AZ who have come to NY to confront Lehman Brothers the largest shareholder in corporate giant Peabody Coal.

Thursday April 26
11am - 1pm National Day of Solidarity - Sanford Bernstein, largest shareholder of Occidental Petroleum - Trump building 767 5th ave. Manhattan NY call Wetlands and Rainforest Relief, NYC - 212-966-4831 1 pm solidarity action for the Dine'h Resisters from Big Mt AZ outside Lehman Brothers, World Trade Center
7- 11pm Sounds of Resistance Concert to Benefit the U'wa - Demarest Hall, Rutgers University, on College Ave. NewBrunswick, NJ contact: Katherine Moon mooncat_07012@yahoo.com 973-419-2103

Friday, April 27
6:30am vigil at Sikorsky -stratford ct. contact steven Colombia action coalition 203-777-3849

Friday, April 27
2 - 7pm Boston - Northeast Environmental Justice Conference - contact Alternatives for Community and the Environment contact: Lisa 617-442-3343
Evening fundraiser for the U'wa people Boston based art gallery sponsored by Cultural Survival contact Ken Ramsey 617-441-5400 k1wayx@aol.com

Saturday, April 28
11am - 6pm Earthfest 2001 Boston - sponsored by WBOS - contact Leslie 617-822-9600 lcipolla@greaterbostonradio.com
EF! Rondavue - Shelburne, MA contact Jaon Kotoch - 978-345-1893 takeaction2001@hotmail.com

For general information and details on locations or to get involved or to become a co-sponsor please contact Rainforest Relief AND the Boston Earth Action Network 617-623-2453
Localseed@earthlink.net or cell 617-438-BEAN
For more information check out www.amazonwatch.org

"We are of the color of the earth. The hour and tomorrow are of the color of the earth. It is the hour of dignity, the hour of the bridge which is also window. It is the hour of looking and looking at ourselves, without shame and without fear. It is the hour of struggling for dignity for the color of the earth and hope. Salud indigenous brothers and sisters! Salud Pure'pecha brothers and sisters! Salud Mexican brothers and sisters! Salud brothers and sisters of all colors! Que viva forever the color of the earth which we are! Democracy! Liberty! Justice!"
-From the Pure'pecha community of Nurio, Michoaca'n.

#5 SAMPLE LETTER TO SANFORD BERNSTEIN

Mr. Roger Hertog
Vice Chairman
Alliance Capital Management / Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC 767 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10153-0185

VIA FACSIMILE: 212-756-4453

Dear Mr. Hertog:
In early April 2000, representatives from various organizations and Mr. Roberto Perez, the President of the 5,000-member U'wa tribe from northeast Colombia visited your New York City Headquarters to discuss your investments in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and this company's Samore oil project which is threatening the lives and the sacred land of the U'wa people.

During a brief telephone conversation you expressed that you were "genuinely interested" in the U?wa?s concerns and that you would personally investigate this matter and shortly respond to the U'wa request that Sanford C. Bernstein divest from Occidental Petroleum. Yet still Sanford Bernstein has made no public response about this important issues and have subsequently purchased additional shares in Occidental Petroleum.

I are writing to urge that Sanford Bernstein divest their Occidental Petroleum holdings for a number of reasons:

1. A worldwide divestment campaign has been launched against Occidental Petroleum due to the company's insistence to move ahead with the controversial Samore oil project in violation of internationally recognized human rights laws;

2. The environmental and social impacts of this project represent real financial risks to OXY's investors as the oil company is and will continue to be mired in a public relations debacle over this issue;

3. The U'wa people have stated they are willing to die if necessary to stop the oil drilling;

4. Legal challenges and opposition from the U'wa community and their allies have and will continue to delay this oil project;

5. The U'wa are currently gearing up for additional legal challenges in Colombian and international courts;

6. Occidental Petroleum is attempting to crush local opposition with the assistance of thousands of Colombian soldiers who are escorting and guarding the area - the use of armed forces will only exacerbate the human rights abuses in the region and increase the threat of violent conflict between the military and peaceful demonstrators;

7. The divestment campaign in gaining visibility and momentum. Since February 2000, more than 75 public protests have been held at Fidelity Investments offices around the world due to the company's OXY holdings. During this period, Fidelity Investments has divested more than 18 million shares in OXY, roughly 60 percent of their holdings (at today's share price, divestments represent over $400 million).

We remain eager to hear Sanford C. Bernstein's position on the Occidental Petroleum's drilling project on U'wa land. Now is the time for your company to take a stand and help avert the ongoing human rights and environmental tragedy before it is too late. Furthermore, we would like to know if your company currently has any environmental and social investment screens or policies in place. We would appreciate a response at your earliest convenience. Time is running out for the U'wa. Thank you.

Respectfully,
YOUR NAME(S)HERE

cc: Mr. Bruce W. Calvert, Chief Executive Officer,
Alliance Capital Management