Cover
story Q
& A with Occidental
Following are excerpts from an Aug. 23 telephone interview
conducted by Paul Jeffrey with Larry Meriage, Occidental vice president for
communications and public affairs, based in Los Angeles:
NCR: When will you be able to begin drilling, and is
this just an exploratory well?
Meriage: Certainly before the end of this year. There has
been no well exploration or development in this part of Colombia before this
time. This is what we call in our industry a wildcat well. You heard that
terminology? Despite all the seismic work and analysis, the only way you
ultimately determine whether theres a commercial deposit of hydrocarbons
is you have to drill the well. The track record in the industry in these cases
on what we talk about a fully risk basis is somewhere between one in 10 and one
in 12. Your chances of success ... if we were baseball players wed be out
of a job.
A couple of weeks ago you declared force majeur at Caño
Limón. What does this mean and what are the implications?
There has been a rash
of guerrilla attacks against the
pipeline that transports oil from the Caño Limón field that we
operate for the Colombian government. What the force majeur declaration does is
basically allow the contractors to suspend their contractual obligations when
they are no longer able to fulfill their delivery commitments because of
circumstances beyond their control. So its basically a legal term that
allows for the temporary suspension of contractual obligations.
Is oil flowing through the pipeline today?
No, the pipeline is down. The pipeline has been a target for
attacks, since it went into operation in the late 80s, by Colombias
two largest guerrilla groups. Most of the attacks in the early days were at the
hands of the ELN. Over the last three years the FARC has become increasingly
active, and really both of these groups are vying with one another for
territorial control. The most recent round of attacks has been attributed to
the ELN, and the experts tell us that this is related to maneuverings going on
in the peace process in Colombia. The ELN began negotiations for the first time
with the government and civil society in Geneva approximately a month ago. The
negotiations did not go well. The talks were suspended. And these attacks have
been interpreted as an effort by the ELN to improve its bargaining position
with the government. The issue with the oil flow at Caño Limón is
that out of every dollar of revenue that is generated, 85 cents goes to the
Colombian government in various forms. All the natural resources belong to the
Colombian government, and companies like us really act as contractors for the
government, and we are paid essentially for our work with a percentage of the
oil production. The attacks against the pipeline and the oil infrastructure
over the years are really designed to weaken the government from an economic
standpoint, since approximately 25 percent of the revenue generated by the
government comes from oil exports.
Why so many problems with the Uwa?
The biggest issue there is that the area where the Uwa live
is controlled largely by the ELN and to a lesser degree by the FARC. The ELN
have made it part of their policy over the years to attack the oil
infrastructure within the country. Some of the activists whove been
involved in this have conveniently ignored this fundamental reality of that
part of Colombia, and that you have guys with guns running around. We deal with
indigenous communities in other areas of Latin America, but Colombia is unique
because of the armed insurgency thats right in the middle. [It] puts us
right in the middle of the conflict. And its significant that there are
other constituents, other stakeholders in the region who are not members of the
Uwa community who have no problem with the project. These are mayors,
communities, other elected representatives. We had no problems, for example,
when we were doing work on the project in preparation of the well site, in
hiring local people. We hired some 250 local people to work on the project. And
despite the fact that the guerrillas attempted to intimidate people with all
sorts of dire threats if they worked on this project, [that] there would be
consequences for them, this is a very poverty-stricken region, and you know
people are looking for economic alternatives. The other problem with the region
in general is that there has been an explosive growth of both coca and heroin
poppy production over the last two years, and since there is very little
government control in this region, in the area near the well site, the town of
Cubará, where the Uwa maintain their offices, in December of
99 the ELN attacked and obliterated the local police barracks, killed a
number of police officers, and that was basically the only vestige of civil
authority you had in the area.
So are you claiming that the Uwa have been manipulated in
this process?
Its not a question that the influence of the bad guys in the
region is very, very strong. We hear this from the people that we have on the
ground in the region, the intimidation, and no one in that part of Colombia can
move about with impunity, do what they want without taking into consideration
what the policies are of the guerrillas in the region. Lets say that
there has certainly been evidence, there have been barricades go up on the
highways, people walking around participating in these work stoppages and road
blocks that have occurred, where youve had Uwa there and also
people wearing the insignias and armbands of the ELN, this was very apparent.
These things have been reported by other reporters, you know, in Colombia, in
the Colombian media.
Do you think the press in the United States has given you fair
treatment?
The press has been extremely unfair and really biased. It really
deals with stereotypical images, the sort of big oil company running roughshod
over the rights of small indigenous people. Its sort of David and
Goliath. But the reality on the ground is quite different. The reality in
Colombia is different. Its a very different perception thats been
created in the U.S. press from whats been covered in the Colombian media.
Very different perspective that you see here versus there.
What about the mass suicide threat?
There were some representations made to that effect. If anything,
it was a magnificent public relations ploy, because it certainly got the
attention of some segments of public opinion and the international activist
community. But you know they keep repeating this, but the Uwa have long
since backed away from that, even making reference to this.
Most observers say companies cant operate in the
Colombian countryside without paying war tax. ... Whats the situation
between Oxy and the FARC in order for you to work in the region?
I made a statement in Congressional testimony that employees of
the company had gotten shaken down routinely by the guerrillas. The activists
have characterized this as evidence that Oxy is paying off the guerrillas. What
I had said, and I have said this publicly in many parts, is that you have
individual workers who live in the area, the guerrillas know who works where,
and they come up to these people and put a gun to their head and essentially
say we want 10 percent of your wages or there will be consequences for you and
your family. Would you say that thats tantamount to Occidental paying off
the guerrillas? Which is what the activists have maintained. Theres a
word for this, and its called extortion.
The Roman Catholic
archbishop of Bogotá was saying the same thing about individual priests
and parishes in his jurisdiction who were repeatedly and regularly approached
by the guys with guns and forced to pay a war tax. Or the church would be blown
up or the parishioners or priests hurt or kidnapped. This is unfortunately what
life has become like in Colombia. ... We cant operate in the areas where
our operations are located without the protection of the Colombian armed forces
and the Colombian police. Our Cano Limón operation is literally like an
island surrounded by these guerrillas.
We have no internal security
forces of our own. We have to rely on the authorities there to provide
protection for our personnel and for the assets. Since the government basically
owns the resource, they own the oil reserves. They get 50 percent of the tax
base. They certainly have a vested interest in maintaining the operations.
Beyond local workers being shaken down, has Oxy made payments
...?
No. Once you start down that road there is no coming back. And the
ripple effect would be for any private company to engage in the payment of
extortion simply opens you up to crackpots no matter where youre
operating.
National Catholic Reporter, September 8,
2000
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