The Kichwa community of Sarayacu located in the Pastaza province in the Amazonian region of Ecuador has a population of about a thousand people. Its name means “River of Corn”. The Sarayacu maintain their traditional lifestyles and culture, but the threats to that continuity have never been greater. The community has had to struggle to remain intact in recent years, having been in almost constant conflict with oil giant CGC/ChevronTexaco since 1996, when company executives and the government of Ecuador signed a contract for oil exploration in an area comprising 200,000 hectares of land in Sarayacu territory. The Sarayacu were never consulted on the project and have always maintained their opposition to oil exploration on their lands.
In 1999, the U.S.-based oil company Chevron obtained from the government a 50 percent claim on this parcel of land, known as “block 23”. The Sarayacu territory is currently in a State of Emergency due to recent escalations in this conflict.
Sarayacu activists claim that CGC/ChevronTexaco has used bribery, disinformation, and social disruption in single-minded pursuit of developing Sarayacu. They have tried to manipulate the Sarayacu’s own governing structures, turning leaders against their communities by offering exclusive contracts for money and development works. According to Sarayacu.com, the company successfully bribed Telmo Gualinga, president of Sarayacu from 1997 to 1999 with a work contract for construction of a system of running water for the community. Despite these activities, the people of Sarayacu continued to rebuff the company’s plans. CGC/ChevronTexaco continues to attempt to erode the confidence of the community in its elected leaders, with radio spots and other propaganda. CGC/ChevronTexaco is now turning its attention to other smaller communities in the area, directly contracting with their leaders and thereby gaining entry to their land.
In the last few weeks, CGC/ChevronTexaco has resumed its activities in block 23, backed by armed guards, despite company pledges in the past that it would not go forward with its project until it had complete support from the residents of Kichwa. CGC/ChevronTexaco declared before Christmas that all seismic works would be halted until the new government of Ecuador could resolve the conflict, and yet the company resumed activity on January 2, and contracted armed groups to enter the Sarayacu territory to intimidate the people. The people of Sarayacu have since established “Camps for Peace and Life” at sites where oil crews have set up, in order to peacefully expel the workers. On January 13, armed employees of CGC/ChevronTexaco, essentially constituting an illegal paramilitary group, shot at a group of Sarayacu who were demarcating the traditional limits of their territory. It appears that the presence of these armed units in the forest are a core part of the corporation’s strategy to “break” the Sarayacu resolve by creating panic and terror in the community.
On January 15, a new oil company camp was found on Sarayacu territory. Twenty-five CGC/ChevronTexaco workers were expelled, and five members of the armed security crew were detained. These five paramilitaries said that the camp was protected with land mines, but this is unconfirmed. On January 20, in an act of intimidation, 12 hunting shotguns, 25 cartridges and two kitchen knives were confiscated from Sarayacu individuals by military troops, even though they depend on hunting for subsistence. January 25, military troops attacked a Sarayacu camp abducted four people, who were blindfolded, tied by the hands and feet, and left in the sun without water. Military troops also attacked the Camp for Peace and Life in Panduro, and Kichwa people were forced to disperse into the forest. Ten people are still missing. That night an agreement was made with CGC/ChevronTexaco to liberate the four captives, allow Sarayacu people to freely travel the Bobonaza River, and to immediately withdraw the two hundred person military from the territory.
As the men and women of Sarayacu continue to defend their land against the oil companies, much of the community suffers from malnourishment. Although lawsuits are underway against CGC/ChevronTexaco, the Sarayacu communities are expressing doubts about the government’s ability to take action. If you want to learn more about ways to help the people of Sarayacu in their struggle, you can find more information at http://www.sarayacu.com/, and sign the online petition for Sarayacu.
