17 October 2005: The U'wa people of northeast Colombia have again rejected the extraction of oil from their cloudforest home and refused to participate further in a "Prior Consultation" process to legitimize the process. The project in question is the Siriri oil block, abandoned by California multinational Occidental Petroleum under sustained pressure from the U'wa, campesinos and international supporters. The block is now being explored by the Colombian state firm Ecopetrol, with the assistance of Spanish multinational Repsol. When government representatives helicoptered in to U'wa territory on September 28, they were met by a clear rejection from the U'wa traditional government, which vowed never to allow oil drilling.

As part of a speaking tour across the United States, two representatives of the U'wa people visited the Bay Area October 10-16 to speak out against renewed oil drilling attempts in their territory. U'wa international representative and community organizer Daris Cristancho expressed her communities defiance against government threats to cut off social spending if the U'was do not permit drilling: "The laws of the U'wa do not change as the laws of the government do... We would rather live dignified lives deep in the mountains than be bribed [in exchange for drilling]."

[U'wa Website (es) | Amazon Watch: U’wa Grassroots Leaders Speaking Tour and Background on Siriri Oil Project | Colombia Indymedia U'was rompen silencio y dicen No]