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In July and August, indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon traveled to the US to bring a message to California-based Occidental Petroleum: Clean Up Your Mess and Respect Our Rights!

EarthRights International and Amazon Watch hosted Andres Sandi, the President of the Achuar Federation Corrientes River area, which has been grossly polluted by Oxy, and Jorge Fachin, the President of the Achuar in the pristine rainforests known to the oil industry as Lot 64, where Oxy has just started oil exploration. They were accompanied by Lily La Torre, the leading Peruvian lawyer for indigenous rights.

The trip included a meeting with high level Oxy executives that lasted over four hours, and meetings with Representative Henry Waxman’s staff, Oxy shareholders, potential funders for Achuar advocacy work, legal advisors and journalists as well as public talks and roundtable discussions in Washington, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Achuar’s moving stories gained them many allies in their struggle to clean up the environment and health of the Rio Corrientes communities, and to keep the rest of Achuar territory free from oil development.