Occidental in South America
California-based Occidental Petroleum has a checkered environmental legacy in South America. In Columbia, a tribe of Indians have threatened to commit mass suicide if the company goes ahead with plans for oil in their land. In Peru, native people living alongside a former Occidental oil field can’t drink water or eat fish caught in the river. At the same time, a tribe in Ecuador has signed an agreement with the company, allowing Occidental to drill for oil in exchange for a promise to use environmental safeguards. Meanwhile, on the U.S. presidential campaign trial, Al Gore is being pressured to divest his family’s holdings in Occidental stock. Ingrid Lobet reports.
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