Caught in a cauldron of violence
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20/12/1998
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Financial Times (London)
Geologists use the term "compression environment" to describe the complex rock formation in the oil rich Colombian department of Casanare. It could equally be applied to conditions above ground. Increasing social tension and guerrila violence is making BP's experience in the region - site of one of Latin America's biggest oil discoveries in 20 years - a testing ground for social responsibility by companies in parts of the developing world. An unpublished report, prepared by Oxfam, Save the Children Fund and other non-governmental organisations, accuses BP of unwittingly aggravating the problems and says the company should do more to campaign against human rights abuses.