Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) plans to drill for oil and lay an oil pipeline in the Samore block of the Arauca state of Colombia, an area that, according to the indigenous U╣wa tradition, has been the sacred homeland of their people since the beginning of time. The U╣wa have vowed to walk off a 1,400-foot cliff in a mass suicide if their ancestral home is violated. There is good reason to take the threat seriously. Once before, when the Spanish conquistadors came, a large number of U╣wa walked over the same cliff. Nonetheless, the Los Angeles-based Oxy corporation continues making plans to drill.

Guerrilla warfare always follows oil development in Colombia. Because of guerrilla sabotage, another Occidental oil project, the Canon Limon pipeline, has spilled 1.7-million barrels of crude oil over the last 11 years, the equivalent of over five Exxon Valdez-size spills. Either by poisoning their land, destroying their self-sufficient culture or provoking guerilla crossfire or direct attack, the U╣wa are certain to be killed by Oxy if this oil project goes ahead. For over a year now, Oxy has held this death sentence, this unthinkable choice between genocide and suicide, over this semi-nomadic forest tribefor merely enough oil to fuel the US for a mere three months.

Recently, activists from the southern California area came together with Amazon Watch and Action Resource Center (ARC) to send a clear message to Oxy that what it is doing will not be tolerated. On Earth Day, a 23-foot mock oil pipeline was delivered to Occidental╣s headquarters by flatbed and carried into the front lobby. Occidental is conveniently located on the busiest intersection in the US, the crossing of Wilshire and Westwood Avenues in Los Angeles. Three activists climbed inside the carpeted, lit and double-ventilated pipeline (with battery operated intake and exhaust fans on either end). They locked down with steel lock boxes and Kryptonite U-locks around their necks and waited. Stunned security guards looked on with gaping mouths and furrowed brows. When asked by police, the guards claimed the activists had been delivered inside the pipelineï which shows how well they were paying attention when the activists deployed the pipe and scrambled inside. The outside of the pipeline was decorated with multiple warnings to Oxy such as, │Oxy Oil = U╣wa Blood.▓ Realistic stage blood (corn syrup, red food coloring and soap), was splattered all over the pipeline and ran down the front stairs of the building. The first officer kept asking if this was an animal rights protest and, │Who locked îem in there anywayï they couldn╣t have fastened themselves in now could they?,▓ while looking accusingly at our faithful support crew.

Simultaneously, across the street, several climbers and support people took elevator and stairwell up to the 26th-story roof of the unsuspecting Oppenheimer tower. One climber cleverly concealed her harness and butt-bag as a pregnancy, while the other stashed his backpack-full-of-banner inside of three bottomless cardboard file boxes stacked on top of each other. When the pipeline was delivered across the street, the two activists began rappelling down the front of the building. They stopped directly opposite the upper floors of Occidental Petroleum to unfurl a 1,500-square-foot bright orange banner that read, │Warning to Oxy: Your Colombian Oil Project = Death of U╣wa Indians.▓

Twenty-five police cars, 15 fire department units, a couple ambulances and two bicycle cops appeared on the scene. The firefighters used the jaws of life, as well as a few other tools, to extricate the activists from the pipeline, a process that lasted about two hours. Meanwhile, a public demonstration informed the gridlock-bound drivers about the issue (the police shut the street down for convenient parking of their emergency vehicles). The pipeline project kept everyone busy for awhile, and it took law enforcement a bit of time to switch their focus to the banner hangers. Firefighters set up rescue mats on the ground, and rope lines on the roof, allegedly preparing to cut windows out in attempts to bring the climbers in. Unfortunately, dead radio batteries prevented us from informing the climbers of the police and fire fighters threats to cut down the trees below to better maneuver the air mats. In the end, they waited about four hours for the climbers to voluntarily ascend back up to the roof and arrested eight of us. Four people from the pipe, three from the banner and one on the ground with a radio were carted off to jail to catch up on some much needed sleep.

This action is a strong warning to Occidental Petroleum to immediately stop all plans to drill on U╣wa land. The notorious Shell Oil has already said it wants out of the project, although Chevron is said to be considering joining. A full page ad in the New York Times recently asked shareholders to divest of their stock in Oxy if it does not stop this genocidal project. A joint study by Harvard and the Organization of American States has recommended the immediate and unconditional suspension of all Occidental╣s drilling plans.

For more information or addresses to write the corporations or governments involved, please contact either: Amazon Watch at 20110 Rockport Way, Malibu CA 90265; (310) 456-1340; www.amazonwatch.org or Action Resource Center at POB 2104 Venice, CA 90294; (310) 396-3254.