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Big Oil Finds Big Surprise In McKinney Office March 31, 2000
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) organized a historic meeting between Roberto Perez, President of the U'wa Traditional Authority, and Larry Meriage, Vice President of Occidental Petroleum. President Perez and nine leaders of the U'wa Defense Working Group confronted the surprised Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) Vice President. The group demanded that Oxy immediately suspend its oil project on the sacred ancestral land of the U'wa people. During the intense one-hour meeting, McKinney asked Occidental questions about the impacts of the project on the U'wa. Meriage admitted on record that the U'wa had not been consulted on the company's plans to drill the Gibraltar 1 oil well. Occidental Petroleum admission about the lack of consultation gives strong credence to the ongoing legal challenges to Oxy's drilling permit in both international and Colombian courts. "Occidental must immediately suspend their project pending a mediated settlement with the U'wa. If they fail to do so, and there are any more deaths associated with their project, the blood of the U'wa will be on Occidental's hands," concluded McKinney. |
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