Silent Al, Oxy's Pal

The U'wa people of Colombia want, more than anything else, to be left alone to live their lives in much the same way as their ancestors have for generations. Standing between the U'wa and the existence they insist upon are the oil-mad ambitions of Occidental Petroleum, its proxies in Colombia, including the government and the military, and large, influential American shareholders of Occidental stock, including Al Gore.

Gore, despite his worthless protestations of environmental commitment, has so far refused either to divest himself of Occidental holdings or to speak publicly against what Occidental is doing to the U'wa. Activists around the country have shadowed Gore for months, demanding that he publicly distance himself from Occidental. On Friday, local Dallas activists, including anarchists, Greens, and others, protested Gore's tacit acceptance of Occidental's treatment of the U'wa, while trying to draw local attention to the plight of the U'wa.

Protesters were treated with contempt and hostility by local Democratic Party worker-bees, including one who, having been informed of the U'wa's desperate position -- viz., their threat to commit mass suicide if dispossessed of their land and way of life, and the Colombian military's increased aggression toward them -- responded by saying that "we all die sooner or later; sounds like the U'wa will be dying sooner rather than later."

At least this low-level flunky has the guts to say something about the U'wa (even if it's evil); Gore hasn't even gotten that far yet. Gore's handlers have insisted that since he isn't the only trustee of between $500,000 and $1,000,000 of Oxy stock, (his mother is a trustee too), he bears no responsibility of divestiture, public pressure and humiliation, or, at least, a cessation of lobbying activities on behalf of Oxy with the Colombian government.

This evasion is hardly coherent. If he cannot divest, and it's hard to believe Gore has no influence with his own mother about such an important issue, he could criticize Oxy publicly until they relent. He could also refrain from taking contributions from Oxy. He could simply do nothing at all, and that would be more praiseworthy than his current support of Oxy.

But Al Gore has a long, cozy relationship with Occidental -- it's a family thing: his father was owned by Armand Hammer, founder of Occidental; and Al and Tipper's financial security, according to Alexander Cockburn's Al Gore: A User's Manual, is the result of a sweetheart mineral rights deal with Occidental.

To suggest that, since Gore doesn't alone (or directly) manage the Oxy trust, there's some amelioration of his moral responsibility is morally illiterate. Are there any morally relevant facts which Gore lacks? Is there any doubt that Gore's tacit support for Oxy is blameworthy given the the relevant facts?

He knows the trust contains Occidental stock, and he knows the effect Occidental's Colombian misadventures will likely have on the U'wa. He also knows that if Oxy's U'wa desolation is profitable, he stands to benefit financially. He knows that Oxy contributes heavily to the Democratic and to his campaign coffers. One thing he doesn't know is the exact capital gains tax he'll one day owe from the rape, pillage, and plunder of the U'wa. It can only be greed that prevents Gore from making a big show of divesting his Oxy stock; after all, it would mean huge political capital against Bush.

His unwillingness to do the moral minimum, to refrain from actively supporting Oxy, can only mean that Gore's greed, moral ineptitude, or both exceed his grasping ambition -- an unhappy and foreboding fact about the man who would be President.