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. We are talking about our children s patrimony ,as BP s Manager for Corporate Affairs expressed it.72This team presents its strategy in terms of four levels of activity.Thefirst is the establishment of a baseline of reliable and up-to-date data.Itcommissioned a study by the Colombian think tank Fedesarrollo, onthe evolution of the social and economic development of Casanare,which was published in 2002.The second is the creation and imple-mentation of strategic partnerships; the third is managing the conflict;and the fourth, preparing for the future.The latter refers to explorationin Niscota, which will affect the municipality of Nunchia in Casanare,an even poorer municipality than Aguazul and Tauramena when oilwas discovered, as well as Paya in Boyaca.BP is making a serious effortnot to repeat its errors with Cusiana-Cupiagua, and if oil is discoveredin Nunchia it will be the test for its new approach to working inconflict.73 These four levels reflect also a statement of longer-termcommitment by BP to Casanare, and its recognition that it must play arole in the future of the region from which it has profited through theextraction of oil.Rather than extract the oil and abandon the region, BPhas expressed its commitment to work with the state, community/civilsociety and the private sector to ensure that oil revenues are used forthe development of the region and that it prepares responses to thereduction in those revenues:BP s future is inextricably linked to Casanare s.How theregion manages the challenges of reduced revenues within aconflict zone in the coming years will impact on oil develop-ment, present and future.Given this scenario, it would notseem wise, both from a business and social perspective, to sitback and watch as the neighbourhood deteriorates.(BP Corporate Affairs Management 2002:10)The building of strategic partnerships has been one of the key means bywhich BP has sought to become a key player amongst many others in[ 254 ]COLOMBIAthe region.The oil industry should, in this conception, collaborate withothers in building towards shared goals, rather than act as a  cow to bemilked as it is often seen.That attitude towards the oil industry hasdiverted attention and interest in state building both locally and nation-ally.BP s strategic vision has led it to promote what is known as theGrupo Gestor, a development task force involving key institutionalactors in the region.The group meets to construct a consensus arounda participative and sustainable development plan for Casanare and therecovery of democratic governance.74 To achieve this goal, BP is nowworking with some of the professionals referred to above, those thatremain committed in some form to an integral human developmentapproach and occupy important positions in local governmental andprivate sector institutions.It seeks to build a coalition of local leaderswho could foster social consensus and a regional cultural identity, andcomprehend the multiple challenges at the economic, institutional,environmental, political and social levels.In concrete terms, the GrupoGestor began at the end of 2001 to discuss how a regional developmentplan, or plan de ordenamiento territorial, might be the focus for strategicthinking and cooperation between state, private sector and community,with an emphasis on enhancing the transparency and efficiency ofpublic investment.At the same time, BP is working to strengthen the capacity within soci-ety to monitor institutions and to develop new leadership at other levelsof society.It has supported a school for leadership, worked with womenfrom Casanare through productive projects, women s rights and politi-cal participation, and with youth through music and theatre projects.Ithas placed particular emphasis on the strengthening of the judicialsystem, and has promoted the Justices of Peace programme in Nunchia,Yopal, Aguazul and Tauramena; this programme is working to developlegitimate ways for resolving daily conflicts which would take months inthe formal legal arena.In the same spirit of improving relationships withlocal communities in oil-producing areas, it has promoted a Neighbour-hood for Development programme.BP continues to fund specificproductive, health and infrastructural projects, but it now has a strategicprogramme rather than projects that respond to particular demands ofthe most vociferous communities and individuals.In the process, there is evidence of some shift in the meaning of secu-rity, although the 16th Brigade still defends BP s infrastructure.Follow-ing criticism after the events of the mid 1990s, the company has madeexplicit its concern with human rights protection, and promoted train-ing of the armed forces in International Humanitarian Law under the1998 agreement between Ecopetrol and the Ministry of Defence for theprotection of oil installations.It has taken the auditing of this agree-ment much more seriously and committed itself to greater trans-parency.Nevertheless, although accusations of human rights abuse[ 255 ]OIL WARSagainst the army have declined, most believe that there is still toleranceof, if not active collaboration with, the paramilitaries.Events since the fieldwork for this chapter were completed suggestthat the security dynamics around oil exploration areas in conflictzones remain highly problematic.Mathew Gitsham (2003) describes theway BP opted to work with the army to create a  military ring aroundthe village of Morcote, the chief beneficiary of any potential royaltiesfrom the Niscota exploration [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]