GUATEMALA:
Urgent Action: Oil drilling on indigenous land
U.S. Oil Company Threatens Environmental Degradation in Guatemalan Communities; Military Steps Up Presence in surrounding Area
In mid-December 1998, representatives from Basic Petroleum International, Ltd. (a subsidiary of the U.S. company Union Pacific Resources) installed a drilling platform in the community of El Carmelita, Guatemala without prior knowledge or consent of the community.
According to one leader of this community located in the northern part of the Peten region, "The oil workers drove into the community . . . and installed the platform in the soccer field right in the middle of the community." Now, community leaders are concerned that oil drilling-which produces toxic by-products that can seep into local water sources and poison local flora and fauna-in El Carmelita will endanger the surrounding tropical forest from which the town earns its livelihood.
The inhabitants have seen first-hand the environmental damage already caused by oil drilling in other parts of the Peten and do not want to set their community up for similar destruction. "In a few years, the oil company could destroy the forest that we're counting on to feed our families for at least the next twenty-five years," commented one women from the community.
The members of another sustainable forestry community-in Uaxactun, about 40 km north of the famous Mayan ruins of Tikal-face concerns similar to those of El Carmelita. Long concerned with preserving the land, one member of the community council insisted, "what we need to do is to protect the forest here."
Community members in both El Carmelita and Uaxactun were neither informed nor consulted when the Ministry of Energy and Mines offered the land around their towns oil concessions to Basic Petroleum in August 1998.
COMMUNITY RESPONSES
Concerned inhabitants from El Carmelita, Uaxactun, and other affected communities in the Peten have petitioned the Guatemalan environmental regulatory agencies, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, and foreign oil companies operating in the area to attend a meeting on next Tuesday, February 9. Community members want to discuss their rights to information about planned oil exploration in or around their land, and aim to assert their right to have a say in deciding whether or not international oil companies will be permitted to operate within or around their towns like El Carmelita and Uaxactun.
MILITARY BUILD-UP IN AFFECTED COMMUNITIES
According to a report on February 3 by Witness for Peace staff in Guatemala, the Guatemalan military has announced its plans to build two new military bases in the Peten: in El Carmelita and in Uaxactun. The situation is extremely grave given the bloody history of the Guatemalan military and its involvement in crushing popular protest against harmful investment (including oil exploration*).
This move by the military violates the spirit -- and possibly the letter -- of the 1996 Peace Accords, which required the army to reduce its role in the country and to concentrate on protecting Guatemala's external borders. Furthermore, the proposed military expansion casts serious doubts on any possibility that Basic is prepared to negotiate in good faith with the communities of the Peten.
The company has already demonstrated its willingness to play "hard ball." Squadrons of "caibiles," the notorious Guatemalan "elite" unit that used some of the most brutal tactics during the war, are currently stationed at military bases that just so happen to flank many of Basic's refineries and other installations in the Peten.
* For more information about the effects of Basic's operations in the Peten and about the company's financial backing by the World Bank Group, see Witness for Peace's 1998 publication "A Crude Awakening: The World Bank, US Policy, & Oil in Guatemala." Contact the WFP National Office (info. at the end of this message) to order a copy.
What You Can Do
URGENT ACTION REQUESTED Please send a fax to Union Pacific Resources' Chairman & CEO. A sample letter is provided below, along with contact information for the CEO and for a VP to whom we should "cc" our letters.
Jack Messman
Chairman & CEO
Union Pacific Resources
777 Main Street
Ft. Worth, TX 76102
Fax (817) 321-7566Dear Mr. Messman:
As you may know, citizens in the United States have raised many concerns over the last few months about Basic Petroleum's operations in northern Guatemala. In particular, Basic and its benefactor the International Finance Corporation have been criticized for their failure to act in good faith with affected communities in the Peten region, and for their apparent lack of concern for the social and environmental effects of drilling for oil in a fragile and internationally-protected ecosystem.
Given the public scrutiny that now exists around this subsidiary of Union Pacific Resources, I am appalled to learn that Basic has been expanding its oil drilling into the midst of small communities in the Peten, without as much as a warning. I have received reports that the company has gone as far as to erect an oil well in the middle of the community soccer field in El Carmelita. This flagrant act of disrespect for community autonomy also represents disregard for Guatemalan law regarding subsoil rights, as they relate to exploitation of resources by private companies.
As I am sure you know, while the Guatemalan government owns all subsoil rights in the country, companies are still bound by law to get permission from the owner of the land (for example, by renting the land) before they can take advantage of their government-granted concession to use underground resources. Basic has clearly flouted this regulation in El Carmelita and in the nearby town of Uaxactun.
I also want to inform you of my grave concern regarding recent moves by the Guatemalan military in the region where Basic is drilling for oil. You may or may not be aware that the army recently announced plans to build two new military bases: one in El Carmelita and one in Uaxactan. I am deeply troubled by this and call to your attention three facts that I hope will give you cause to reflect upon the image that your company is projecting to Guatemala and the world.
Guatemala is just now emerging from a bloody, 36-year civil war. The country's 1996 Peace Accords require the army to diminish its internal role in the country. There are already military bases situated next to a number of Basic's refineries and other installations. These facts, paired with the latest developments, paint an ugly picture of Basic. If the picture is incorrect, I urge you to take actions and to prove to the public that there is no reason to suggest that Basic is prepared to use the military to threaten - either implicitly or explicitly-impoverished peasant communities in a developing country.
On the question of Basic's recent expansion pf drilling activities in northern Guatemala, I ask that you take two simple steps.
First, I urge you to send a representative of your company to a meeting scheduled for this coming Tuesday, February 9. This meeting will be an opportunity for Basic to meet with government and non-governmental groups with whom it has failed to consult in the past and with whom it must cooperate if it truly aims to extract oil in Guatemala without decimating flora, fauna, and the livelihood of communities in the process.
Second, I ask you to instruct your representative to make Basic accountable to the communities where it wants to drill for oil. There are two ways the company can do this: 1) Basic should provide honest information to the people who stand to be affected by the company's exploitation of concessions. The company should disclose the site of proposed drilling as well as potential effects of that drilling-and its toxic by-products - on the environment and the health of the surrounding areas; 2) Basic should respect any decisions made by the communities as to whether or not they want oil companies to carry out drilling in their vicinity. By law, the communities have the prerogative to make this decision, and Basic must not blatantly subvert their legal authority.
Thank you in advance for your consideration. I hope we will be able to work together, along with the people of Guatemala, to find a sustainable and mutually beneficial resolution to the issue of oil exploration and exploitation by your company in Guatemala.
Sincerely, (Your name)
CC: Tom Blank, VP of State, Regulatory, and Public Affairs fax (817) 820-7999
Source: Sarah DeBolt Grassroots Programs Coordinator Witness for Peace 1229 15th Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 tel. 202.588.1471 fax 202.588.1472. Forwarded by Janet Bonet Nebraskans for Peace-Omaha 4542 South 17th Street Omaha NE 68107 932-3555 NFPState@aol.com