Colombia’s 60-year-long armed conflict has produced more than 177,000 civilian deaths, 25,000 disappeared people, and 5.7 million refugees. Multinational corporations operating in Colombia are responsible for 12,000 extra-judicial killings, 3,753 disappearances, and 1 million forced displacements. In the Northeast of the country, the Occidental Petroleum Corporation and its affiliate companies are being investigated for dozens of crimes and the forced displacement of farmers and Indigenous communities. Journalist and independent filmmaker Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi reports on the ground from “La Osa,” a rural area where 150 displaced families have returned to reclaim their land and to take on the oil companies that are trying to displace them again.
Produced, Filmed, & Edited by Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi
Transcript
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): Colombia’s 60-year-long armed conflict has produced more than 177,000 civilian deaths, 25,000 disappeared people and 5.7 million refugees. Multinational corporations are responsible for 12,000 extra-judicial killings, 3,753 disappearances and 1 million forced displacements. In the northeast of the country, the Occidental Petroleum Corporation and its affiliate companies are being investigated for dozens of crimes and the forced displacement of farmers and Indigenous communities.
In the area known as La Osa there are 150 families among the displaced. This is where they blocked the road, so that we wouldn’t pass… Today those families have returned to reclaim their land and the oil companies are trying to displace them again.
Jose Ordaz (La Osa farmer): The problem here is that we were displaced from this land 19 years ago. With threats. Now we’re here to take it back, because we were never resettled. We waited for relocation for 19 years but they never gave it to us. So we came back to take our land again. That’s why we are here.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (filmmaker): Who displaced you?
Jose Ordaz (La Osa farmer): The Occidental Corporation in Colombia. It forced us out of the land.
Juan Cruz (La Osa farmer): We cultivated 30 hectares. We have a bit of everything. We’re fighting for our lands… And we’ll stay here. We either stay here… Or we go to heaven. The only way to leave is after death.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): Pressed by the oil company the local government sent a police inspector to deal with the farmers’ claim. The inspector brought the anti-riot police with him.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (filmmaker): How do you feel about them being here?
Maria Sogamoso (La Osa farmer): We feel bad because we just want to work our land here. This land is ours and they come to force us to leave.
Camilo Cruz (La Osa farmer): We’re facing a difficult situation. Look at these guys in uniform. They are supposed to be the heroes of Colombia. They’ve come to beat us up, do you understand? So they first steal what’s ours. Now they want to defeat us using force. The “heroes of Colombia” sent by the big corporations, brother!
Ana Ordaz (La Osa farmer): 30 years ago this was a lake. Look at it now. Before this was a river. Big boats got through. Not only did people live off fishing but big boats carried yucca, plantain and goods. By exploiting our land to extract oil, the company dried out the rivers.
Ana Ordaz (La Osa farmer, speaking before the hearing): That’s the hearing with the police inspector and the anti-riot police. Film it if you want.
Hector Gonzalez Torres (Oxy’s lawyer): The jurisdiction to bring forward this hearing was decided in a previous resolution.
Jesus Mancera (Ombudsman): You aim to enforce the evacuation using the police based on Decree 4-74 of 1992 to implement the eviction due to a ‘de facto’ occupation of the identified areas of the Caño Limon oil field. But that decree aims to protect farms in activity and this area is marked for reforestation, which means that I need to ask the police inspector to declare himself incompetent. Thank you, Mr. Inspector.
Francisco Araya (Farmers’ lawyer): I’d like to denounce that the Secretary assisting the police inspector is an Occidental Petroleum employee.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): The unexpected presence of our film crew seemed to be fundamentally changing the dynamic of the proceedings.
Jose Gregorio Orduz (police inspector): To guarantee fairness, I will proceed to change Secretaries. I appoint as ad-hoc Secretary, Dr. Juliette. Please, take over.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): Off camera the Police Inspector asked us to leave the hearing. But the farmers’ lawyer reminded him that the hearing was of public interest.
Jose Gregorio Orduz (police inspector): I request a 10-minute break to announce my final decision.
Jesus Mancera (Ombudsman): In a shrewed way Occidental Petroleum tried to accelerate the process and invoked the wrong decree. Occidental says that this land is under environmental protection. If it’s environmentally protected then it can’t be exploited. So the case must be dismissed.
Camilo Cruz (La Osa farmer): Occidental Petroleum is damaging the land. We all see it. The only ones that don’t are those making money out of it.
Raul Castro (Police Chief): Journalists shouldn’t be here! So… Left to our own devices… Rest assured that we would have sorted this out… And journalists wouldn’t be here.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): The police chief then sent two officers to make threats to the camera crew. We requested the ombudsman to serve as a witness to the threats and the policemen stepped back. The police inspector had no choice but to make a decision according to the law.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): The Colombian Armed Forces have a longstanding reputation for infringing upon the freedom of speech.The hearing finally resumed.
Jose Gregorio Orduz (police inspector): Taking into account the facts, we can determine that the land that is the object of the request by Oxy does not fulfill the requirements as this is not a land that’s being economically exploited which is an essential impediment to proceed with the claim.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): Despite their defeat, the oil company promised to appeal the police inspector’s decision. But it was a clear victory for the farmers who’d feared being displaced yet again.
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (filmmaker): You’ll remain here then.
Juan Cruz (La Osa farmer): We’ll stay here working the land.
Farmers: Long live the Cuban Revolution! Long-live the farmers!
Rodrigo Vazquez-Salessi (narrator): Justice seems to have prevailed, at least for now.
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