The U'wa remain adamantly opposed to drilling. To emphasize the seriousness of their opposition, tribal elders have raised the possibility of mass suicide if the tribe loses out in its struggle against big oil. U'wa history offers a precedent. In the late 17th century, several hundred U'wa jumped off a 1,200-foot cliff rather than submit to forced colonization by Spanish missionaries and tax collectors. From the land we were born.
Petroleum is like blood, running everywhere throughout the body of the earth.
We demand that the government respect our culture and our sacred land. The U'wa people have a culture that goes far back, and land was always what produced life for us. Without land, there is no life. Without land, there is no life for us. Cobaria has traveled through the United States and Europe talking with politicians and activists, explaining the politics of oil.