August, 2001
Coalition of 60 Local Groups Leading Campaign to Stop Oil Development
 

By Margaret Thompson & María Suárez Toro
 

"Oil Always Contaminates" ...one of many protest signs erected by  local residents and organizations in Talamanca.

Opposition to the Costa Rican government's concessions of land blocks to US oil companies for oil exploitation has been growing steadily since late 1999 when local residents in the Atlantic coastal region heard about the concessions through media.  This fact illustrates one of the main complaints of the opponents, that the government failed to consult or inform the local population whose lives and livelihoods would be directly impacted by the oil exploitation.  Likewise, they fear that any scientific or technical environmental assessments conducted by the oil companies so far have been poorly conducted and completely inadequate.

ADELA (Accion de Lucha Antipetrolera--Action of Anti-Petroleum Struggle) is the coalition of more than 60 local organizations who have united to oppose the oil development project.  Comprised of local development organizations, fishermen/women, tourism associations, indigenous and environmental groups and other grassroots organizations, ADELA is leading a national and more recently international campaign.  The organization was named after an indigenous BriBri woman Adela, who in 1980 was the only one to resist oil explorations that were attempted on BriBri lands at that time, and who predicted the serious environmental and social damages that were the result.

Adela, an indigenous BriBri woman, who was an early resister to oil exploration in Talamanca.

Emily Yozell, an attorney and activist involved with ADELA describes how this opposition campaign and ADELA evolved:
 

Emily Yozell, a 12-year resident of the  Gandoca-Manzanillo region  on the Atlantic Coast

Click to listen

Government Grants Oil Concessions to Relatively Unknown U.S. Transnational Corporations

In 1997, the Costa Rican government granted the first concessions for oil exploration to MKJ Xplorations, a small privately held family business from Louisiana USA, which later sold these rights to Harken Energy Company, a publicly held oil corporation with longtime ties to both MKJ Xplorations and US President George W. Bush.  Another concession was granted to Mallon Oil Company of Denver, Colorado USA.   Listen to Emily explain the concessions to these US oil companies: Click to listen

A map of Costa Rica shows that the country has been divided into 26 blocks for oil concessions

Grassroots Campaign and Legal Strategies Used to Fight Oil Development
ADELA has used both grassroots campaign strategies as well as legal means to fight the oil development.  As a first step, the group filed a lawsuit in the Costa Rican Supreme Court in January, 2000, claiming that the oil concessions violated numerous international accords and agreements, including the UN Declaration of Rio de Janeiro and Agenda 21 Program of Action from the  Rio de Janeiro UN Conference on Environment and Development, as well as the Convention on Biodiversity, the Convention on Climate Change, the CITES (Endangered Species) Pact on Conservation and Protected Zones, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Covenant 169 of the ILO (International Labor Organization) on Indigenous Populations, and Laws of the Seas, among others. 

Local organizations also filed an injunction to stop the oil development project based on irregularities in the bidding process and approval of the concessions.  They also cited the lack of meaningful participation and consultation wth the local people and communities in areas affected by oil exploration and exploitation, which violates both national and international law.
 

A public hearing before the Municipality of Limón with presentations by ADELA

Emily explains the legal strategies used by ADELA related to both national and international law.  She notes how Costa Rica has been a leader in signing or ratifying many international agreements, and is required under its constitution to follow them as law.  She also notes that the Municipality of Talamanca issued a statement declaring that the whole canton or county of Talamanca which is the largest in the country, to be an oil-free zone:

Click to listen

In September, 2000, the Supreme Court declared null and void the oil concessions, based on the fact that the government had violated the local population's right to be involved in the process, as required under national and international law.  However, after appeals from the government and oil companies, the Court changed its decision two months later, and annulled only the inland oil concessions on indigenous lands but let stand the concessions located offshore on the northern Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica.  Emily explains what happened:
 

Click to listen

The sea platform for oil drilling that Harken Energy Corporation wants to build off the northern Atlantic coast (as depicted on the cover of the environmental impact study).  The structure is the size of a small town and houses 100 permanent employees plus many temporary workers.

The grassroots campaign to stop oil development has involved a variety of groups and individuals who are strongly committed to a sustainable model of development, and see this project as a great threat to that model.  Women have played a vital role in sustainable development activities and also in the opposition movement against the oil exploitation, according to Emily:

Click to listen

 

The community board of Gandoca-Manzinillo  meets to discuss the oil controversy in their area

Oil Struggle Shifts to Municipality of Limón
Plans are now underway to drill for oil off the northern Atlantic coast, near Moin and the municipality of Limón.  Recently public hearings were held by the city council to hear from both Harken Energy Company and ADELA, the opposition group.  But as Emily explains, the historical, political and economic situation is far different in Limon, which has a very high unemployment rate, so officials there are more inclined to listen to the oil company's optimistic promises of great economic benefits of oil development for their area.  However, the reality may be far different:

Emily explained to FIRE that the Costa Rican economy was based for many decades on the export production of coffee and bananas, but this has been shifting drastically as a result of globalization of markets, leading to a loss of jobs, rising poverty levels, and considerable economic problems in Limón in particular.  Within this context the prospect of oil development takes on a much more important role:

Harken Announces Sale of Oil Holdings 
Following the public hearing in Limon at which ADELA presented strong arguments against the oil development project by Harken Energy Company, the transnational oil company announced that it was going to sell back to MKJ Xplorations of Louisiana 40% of its concession holdings, making MKJ the majority holders with 60%.  Thus opponents say they plan to shift some of their pressure toward MKJ.
 

OilWatch/Costa Rica Helps Lead Local Campaign as Part of Global Resistance Movement
In addition to ADELA, the local opposition coalition, OilWatch/Costa Rica is also an integral part of the campaign to stop oil development in Costa Rica.  Alicia Casas explains what OilWatch is and how it fits into a larger global campaign working to curb expansion of the oil industry:

What YOU can do to support opposition to oil development in Costa Rica As part of an international campaign, Global Response has issued an action alert asking that people write to the President of Costa Rica and also the CEO of Harken Energy Corporation, expressing their opposition to offshore oil drilling along the Atlantic Coast of Costa Rica, as well as other oil development projects in this  country.  For more information, contact ADELA (Accion de Lucha Antipetrolera--Action of Anti-Petroleum Struggle) through their web page at:  www.cosmovisiones.com/adela. For more information on OilWatch/Costa Rica, see their website at:  www.cosmovisiones.com/oilwatch, or write: oilwatch@sol.racsa.co.cr.   Or for information on the international OilWatch campaign, contact Project Underground at: www.moles.org. The legal work is being promoted through the Environmental Lawyers Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), who may be contacted through Emily Yozell at:  eyozell@sol.racsa.co.cr.

Return to main feature, "Costa Rica:  From Banana Republic to Oil Republic?"