Orinoco Natives Confront Big Oil, Venezuela

The government recently awarded concessions to British Petroleum to reactivate the abandoned Pedernales oil field, located on the Orinoco a short distance before it enters the Atlantic, and to the US Amoco company and a US-Canadian consortium to work two other fields in the region.

At a conference in late March, the Waraos demanded the immediate cessation of oil-related acivities and called for an investigation into environmental damage already caused.

Oil company representatives, who attended the opening of the conference, quit after the first day without making any comment -- a move which further outraged 200 Warao representatives, many of whom had spent days travelling to the conference site at Tucupita, the capital of Delta Amacuro state, 450 miles from Caracas.

Catalina Herrera, a member of the Directorate for Assistance to Indigenous People in Delta Amacuro, said that the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela had not consulted with the Warao concerning the effect of planned activity on the fragile ecosystem.

She said that exploration must cease to allow oil industry officials the opportunity to collaborate with environmentalists to determine to what extent petroleum-related activity could damage Warao culture and habitat.

The congress also decided to form a Union of Native Warao People in order to speak -- in their own voice -- in defense of the Delta and their way of life. Herrera commented: "Only recently have we started learning to defend ourselves."

She condemned a separate move by government authorities to replace her as Director of the Office of Indigenous Affairs of the Delta Amacuro Governing Council. She said the Warao considered the appointment illlegal and refused to accept it.

She quoted an old Warao axiom that "you cannot mix a 'guabina' (a very aggressive fish) with a sardine since the sardine will always die." Herrera believes this is what has happened to native peoples whenever they are thrown together with powerful non- indigenous interests -- such as oil companies.

A spokesman for Petroleos de Venezuela, meanwhile, declared exploration in the Delta could not be stopped since Venezuela had an obligation to meet the rising demand for crude oil. And, Jose Antonio Rodriguez of British Petroleum says it is necessary to exploit oil, or to return to the Stone Age.

The Petroleum Alert Network, a Venezuelan affiliate of Oilwatch, issued a statement lat weekend endorsing Warao determination to expel Delta oil interests.

Support for the Waraos also came from Orinoco Oilwatch which promised to ensure that the Warao position "gets the political, social and legal attention it deserves." Oilwatch also criticized the ease with which the Venezuelan national oil company -- and other transnational interests -- could foist their projects on local communities as if they were already "done deals."

The Petroleum Alert Network said that it believed several of the accords signed by Petroleos de Venezuala and the transnational enterprises did not comply with environmental requirements.

In this regard, there have been unconfirmed reports circulating in political circles that a former Environment Minister lost his job in February for raising objections that delayed ratification of the agreement with British Petroleum.