BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:Indybay-77943 SEQUENCE:77943 CREATED:20051010T053200Z DESCRIPTION:Dear friends and relatives, We are honored to invite you to a series of events with U'wa leaders from Colombia: BERITO COBARIA the president of the U'wa Indigenous community and DARIS CRISTANCHO, a powerful U'wa woman leader. Come hear firsthand accounts of the Uwa Indigenous community's peaceful strategy to defend their lives and culture that include prioritizing the leadership development of women and youth, legal action and grassroots organizing. Thurs. October 13, 2005 7pm: Event at the Center for Political Education 522 Valencia (at 16th street, 3rd floor), San Francisco Co-sponsored by: Amazon Watch, Casa Cultural Colombiana, Fellowship of Reconciliation Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean, Global Exchange, & Rainforest Action Network and others. 12-1pm: Brownbag Lunch Presentation at Presidio Thoreau Center Bldg 1014, Tides Ctr Pacific Room, For directions- http://tides.org/tides-directions.cfm After their visit here, they will be traveling to DC and Chicago to meet with US Policy-makers, and participate in internacional strategy meetings and conferences (see full schedule at end of this email). Hope to see you on October 13th! Ana Maria Murillo Executive Director U'wa Defense Project Presidio POB 29457 San Francisco, CA 94129 Office 415 561 4518 Fax 415 561 4521 Cel 415 640 0203 udp@mindspring.com http://www.uwacolombia.org Providing legal, community development, research & advocacy support to the Indigenous U'wa people in Colombia as they work to defend their life, land & cultural autonomy. * Your tax deductible donations to the U'wa Defense Project may be sent to the address above. The U'wa are an Indigenous community of 5,000 who live in the cloudforest of northeastern Colombia near Venezuela. Despite the brutality of centuries of colonization imposed upon the 84 tribes in Colombia, the U'wa people are among the most traditional communities and take very seriously their historical responsibility to protect these resources and to maintain the balance of the earth. Unfortunately, in a global context where petroleum is valued more than people and the environment, the U'wa communities and their ancestral lands are under attack. Since 1992, the U'wa have led a multi-faceted campaign to defend their land and culture from the violence that always accompanies oil extraction in Colombia. The strength of U'wa organizing in the face of oil greed is challenged even further by a civil conflict supported with US funds, weapons and training. Issues to be Addressed: * Indigenous and human rights * Women's leadership within the Indigenous movement * Environmental issues * Impacts of US military aid in Colombia * U'wa culture and spirituality * Militarization, war and petroleum mining * Impact of the Colombian civil-war on traditional Indigenous communities and specifically women and children Contact U'wa Defense Project: Ana Maria Murillo, Executive Director Office 415 561 4518 udp@mindspring.com To see updated tour schedule, visit: http://www.amazonwatch.org +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Daris Cristancho is one of the few women leaders to serve on the community's tribal council and the first U'wa woman to ever come to the United States, through UDP's Indigenous Woman's Speaking Tour in May of last year. She is a powerful speaker who bears witness not only to the brutality of petroleum extraction and its consequences, but to Colombia's 40 year civil war and the beauty of the political resistance of her U'wa people. Cristancho's community organizing skills were poignantly represented when she led a 6-month peaceful roadblock in response to a violent eviction of U'wa families carried out by the Colombian army, which was favoring the attempts of US-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) to begin drilling on U'wa ancestral land. She speaks first-hand on how the U'wa struggles are grounded in the spiritual strength which comes from their land, Kajka Ika, the heart of the world. Grounded in the heritage of a long line of medicine women, Cristancho speaks about the interrelations between putting her life on the line for her community and her daily struggles and joys of being a woman, a grassroots leader and a mother of five. Berito Cobaría (aka Roberto Kubaru'wa) is the president and legal representative of the U'wa community, and has traveled numerous times to the US and Europe gaining support for the U'wa struggle aginst the deadly affects of Petroleum extraction. Cobaría is a very tradional Uwa leader and was designated as a spokesperson by the U'wa in their international campaign against proposed drilling in the U'wa homeland, first by Oxy and now by the Colombian company Ecopetrol. During his two terms as president of the U'wa tribal council, Cobaría has garnered the support of environmental and human rights groups and in 1995 successfully appealed to the Colombian courts to change the decision allowing Oxy to explore for oil. In 1998, Cobaría was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in recognition of his tireless work on behalf of his community despite numerous threats to his life. The U'wa Defense Project (UDP) is a San Francisco, Presidio-based organization that has worked with the U'wa Indigenous people in Colombia since 1997. UDP was founded by Terrence Freitas, who was kidnapped and assassinated by the FARC guerrilla group in Colombia in 1999, along with colleagues Ingrid Washinawatok, and Lahe'ena'e Gay. We all still feel the loss of these amazing individuals. Despite the intensity of the work, we celebrate the beauty of the U'wa struggle and strength of the U'wa people. Today, it is UDP's mission to provide legal, community development, advocacy, and research support to the Indigenous U'wa people as they work to defend their life, land and cultural autonomy. In the face of multiple challenges that include increasing militarization, violence and oil drilling, UDP supports the U'wa politically and economically in their community capacity building strategy that includes (1) prioritizing international alliance building, (2) building women's leadership, (3) pursuing legal action, and (4) investing in youth leadership and education. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Speaking Tour Schedule October 10-16: San Francisco October 17-19: Washington DC, NYC October 20-25: Chicago To see updated event schedule, visit Amazon Watch's website: http://www.amazonwatch.org Speaking Tour Highlights: o Co-sponsoring "Partnering for Peace: Colombian & North American Communities in Solidarity", an international conference on Colombia in Chicago. (http://www.chicagoans.net/conference2005/) o Participating in a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill to educate congressional representatives on the human impacts of US military aid in Colombia with USOC o Strategy meetings with NGOs and oil experts, public education events, and meetings with donors and funders +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ U'wa Defense Project presents: U'wa Grassroots Leaders Speaking Tour Indigenous Resistance to Petroleum and Militarization in Colombia with Daris Cristancho and Berito Cobaria ~ October 10-25, 2005 Event Schedule Last updated 9/21/2005 2:39 PM Wednesday October 11, SF 7pm fundraising House party, SF Contact UDP for more info (udp@mindspring.com) Thursday October 13, SF 12-1 Brownbag Lunchtime Presentation: Presidio. Thoreau Center, Tides Center's Pacific Room 7-9pm Community Event at Center for Political Education, 522 Valencia (at 16th street, 3rd floor) Saturday October 15, SF or Sunday October 16 12-1:30 Informal fundraising lunch at Bioneers, Marin Exact day, time and meeting place TBA Contact UDP for more info (udp@mindspring.com) Tuesday October 18, DC Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill Or Strategy session w US NGOs Wednesday October 19, DC Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill Or Strategy session w US NGOs 6:30pm Public Education Community Event at local church with Berito, Daris y Zulia Mena (contact Cristina Espinel at colhr@igc.org) Friday October 21 to Sun, October 23, Chicago Conference: "Partnering for Peace: Colombian and US Communities in Solidarity" http://www.chicagoans.net/conference2005/ Monday October 24, Chicago Possible event at Northwestern University To contact U'wa Defense Project: Ana Maria Murillo, Executive Director Presidio POB 29457, SF CA 94112-0457 Office 415 561 4518 Fax 415 561 4521 udp@mindspring.com * Your tax deductible donations to the U'wa Defense Project may be sent to the address above. U'wa community's website: http://www.uwacolombia.org To see updated Speaking Tour event schedule, visit: http://www.amazonwatch.org \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/10/09/77943.php SUMMARY:U'wa Leaders Speak Out LOCATION:522 Valencia (at 16th St., 3rd floor) URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/10/09/77943.php DTSTART:20051014T020000Z DTEND:20051014T040000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR