 For Immediate Release:
July 18, 2002
Contacts:
Lucy Braham,
Amazon Watch, (510) 419-0617
(310) 420- 8245 (cell)
Alexandra Almeida,
Acción
Ecologíca in Ecuador, 011 593 2-254-7516
Julia Butterfly brings the
struggle against oil destruction from Quito to LA: Press Conference at
Occidental Petroleum's LA Headquarters
Julia to hold press
conference 10.30am July 19 outside Occidental’s LA offices
Los Angeles, California—Vowing her continued
commitment to the struggle against Ecuador's OCP oil pipeline, Julia Butterfly
Hill will speak to the press today at 10.30 am outside the LA offices of Occidental
Petroleum located at Wilshire and Westwood Blvds. Julia was arrested and jailed
along with seven Ecuadorians outside Occidental Petroleum (OXY)'s Quito offices
on Tuesday, during a peaceful protest against Ecuador's new OCP pipeline.
Julia Butterfly arrived in Los Angeles last night after being forcibly deported
from Ecuador presumably so that the government could avoid the international
attention her scheduled court appearance would have generated on the controversial
OCP project. The other seven protesters were all released yesterday following
their court appearance. All charges were dropped. WHAT: Press conference WHEN: Friday, July 19, 10.30 am WHERE:
Outside Occidental Petroleum's headquarters, 10889 Wilshire Boulevard, at
Westwood
At the Tuesday protest in Quito where Ms.
Hill was arrested, 50 community members from Mindo, Lago Agrio, Esmeraldas
and Shushufindi, who are adversely affected by the new pipeline or by Oxy's
operations, rallied outside the offices of Oxy to demand an end to the escalating
destruction of their lands. Five representatives from the affected communities
asked for a meeting with Oxy. Oxy refused only agreeing to meet with Julia
Butterfly. Oxy's offices were shut down for over two hours by the rally,
and demonstrators disrupted traffic on a nearby Quito thoroughfare, clamoring
for their case to be heard. Eventually, Oxy met with Amazon Watch and five
representatives from affected communities.
As she was brutally dragged by
six immigration police officers through the Quito airport yesterday morning,
peacefully resisting
deportation until the end, Julia called out to bystanders:
"I'm being deported against my
will. I'm being deported is because I've lent my solidarity to the forests
of Ecuador and the communities defending their lands and their basic
human rights."
Ms. Hill, best known for her 738 day tree-sit
200 feet atop a 1000-year old threatened California old-growth redwood tree
arrived in Ecuador July 9, joining the national struggle to resist the OCP
pipeline. On Monday she accompanied Mindo community members to bear witness
to OCPÕs construction site in the Mindo Nambillo Cloudforest Reserve. Construction
has now trespassed 200 meters inside Mindo community-owned property. The OCP pipeline has been mired in controversy
since its inception, with hundreds of protests over the last few months along
its route, which crosses fragile ecosystems and affects 11 protected areas.
Los Angeles-based Oxy is a key member of the OCP consortium, and is planning
significant expansion of its Ecuador operations in pristine Amazon ecosystems,
in expectation of the pipeline's completion. The majority of Amazon crude that will flow
through the pipeline is destined for US West Coast markets. The OCP Consortium
includes: Alberta Energy (Canada), Occidental Petroleum (OXY- USA), AGIP (Italy),
Repsol-YPF (Spain), Perez Companc (Argentina), and Techint (Argentina). German
bank WestLB is lead financer of the project and JP Morgan Chase is the project's
financial advisor.
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