The fact that communities around the world protest oil exploitation for the damages it produces is nothing new. But through a grotesque misuse of power, the multinational corporation Emerald Energy has successfully dictated the overruling of a Security Council decision that led to the re-incarceration of several peaceful demonstrators. On October 18, 2010 a Security Council was held in Mocoa, Putumayo to determine the fate of six illegally detained and severely injured protestors, and the decision was made to set them free. Upon receiving the verdict, Emerald Energy successfully reversed this decision by ordering the Colombian Police (a branch of the Army) to continue to detain the protestors. In other words, the Colombian Army, funded with the tax dollars of the Colombian people and with money from US taxpayers, is a private entity at the service of a private company. Colombian Sovereignity has been forfeited in the interest of the profits of this foreign oil company. Simón Bolívar, the Liberator of Colombia, must be turning in his grave as these events occur during the 200th anniversary of the independence of Colombia from Spain. If there has been a change in the Colombian Constitution transferring control of the military to multinational corporations, it has not been widely publicized.
Emerald Energy, located in London, is a member of China Sinochem Group Corporation, a Chinese petroleum company.
For more information on Emerald Energy, visit: http://www.emeraldenergy.com/
For more information on China Sinochem Group Corporation, visit: http://www.sinochem.com and choose the "English" option at top right
Please see the following public communiqué received recently from the affected rural communities in Putumayo.