EarthCulture UPDATE from: Sunday, March 23, 1997 Greensboro, NCEarthCulture's Brendan Gannon led a troop of bicyclists to protest Shell Oil's horrible environmental & human rights track record, and their recent proposal to drill in Peru. 70-75 activsits descended upon the Greensboro Shell station on March 23, chanting, holding banners, & blocking one of the entrances. The group of bicyclists circled the gas pumps for five minutes while the media had a field day! Afterward, 20 activists shut Shell down by linking arms around the pumps and politely refused to leave when the seven police cars showed up. No arrests took place.
Shell will be drilling for gas this July in an indigenous reserve, unless we can act quickly to stop it. This $2.7 billion project will be one of the largest gas operations in South American history. The proposed site is home to the Nahua andKugapakori peoples, and Shell's presence threatens to displace them, expose them to disease, and possibly wipe them out completely.
Shell's disregard for the earth & its peoples is nothing new.
International outrage erupted when nine members of the Ogoni tribe were
hanged for opposing Shell's operations in Nigeria in November, 1995. One of those hanged was Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Ken Saro-Wiwa. Eighty anti-Shell demonstrators were shot in a 1990 massacre by Shell-supported guards. Shell also spilled 40% more oil than the Exxon Valdez in Nigeria from 1982-1992.
"We want people to know Shell is one of the worst corporate killers in the world," says Rick Spencer, EarthCulture's Programs Director. "We plan to stop Shell from destroying the rainforests and killing the people of Peru like they did in Nigeria."
If you would like to do a demonstration or get the word out in another way in your area, your help is certainly needed. Contact us & we can send you materials & offer other assistance in setting up something.
You can write Shell's Peruvian headquarters telling them you are opposed to their flagrant disregard for indigenous rights, and the rainforests: Alan Hunt, Av. Nicolas Arriola No. 740, Lima 13, Peru; or fax: 011-5112-242-037.
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