Following is a letter from U'Wa lawyer Spencer Adler retrieved from a list I share with Rene Voss, Heritage Forest Campaign. Mr. Alder contacted Voss a few days ago according to the post and wanted people to know that he supports Gore. Please forward the letter. "If you live in a state where the race is close, don't even think of voting for Nader to help the U'Wa tribe he so righteously hides behind. You won't be helping them. Instead, you'll be sacrificing the tribe's best interests for Ralph Nader's. And the U'Wa won't owe you their thanks. You'll owe them your apology." The full letter follows: Why I won't vote for Ralph Nader, by Spencer Adler (October 31, 2000) Three years ago, I heard the story of a tribe from the cloud forest of Colombia -- five thousand people threatening to leap off a cliff in mass suicide if oil drilling took place on their land. Their plight moved me, and I got involved. I was the original attorney who took up their case against Occidental Petroleum, of Los Angeles. I wrote the shareholder resolution against the company, and spoke at the annual shareholder meetings on their behalf. Last year, I was horrified when three Americans working on the case were kidnapped in Colombia, and murdered. As it happens, Al Gore's family has long-standing ties to Occidental, for which Ralph Nader has loudly criticized the vice president, pleading with environmentalists to vote for himself, instead. When his campaign began, Nader promised not to be the spoiler -- not to pull away from Gore the critical votes that might tip the balance in any swing state. Unfortunately, that's exactly what he's doing -- targeting the undecided voters in the undecided states in one of the closest races in history. Despite the fact that Nader himself owns Occidental stock through his Fidelity investments, much of his anti-Gore rhetoric focuses on the vice president's Occidental connection. Nader's campaign now has every chance to lose the election for Al Gore. In fact, the republicans recognize this vulnerability, and have hired a Washington public relations firm to place Nader ads in crucial undecided markets. Once this election is behind us, most of the people who today are impassioned over the U'Wa cause will move on. Ralph Nader will move on. The voters will move on. I, on the other hand, will lobby either the Gore team or the Bush team, depending upon who wins. Gore in the past has directed Madeline Albright to pressure the Colombian government for justice for the U'Wa, and I'm convinced that if he wins the election, he will do more. His team is far from perfect. But they'll return my calls and try to come up with a solution. Bush's team won't. Ralph Nader claims there is no difference between the candidates. But from my perspective, this difference is as big as the rainforest itself. If you live in a state where the vote is a foregone conclusion, you may want to vote for Nader to make a point. Or you may want to help the Green Party get the five percent of the vote they'll need to get federal funding four years from now. But if you live in a state where the race is close, don't even think of voting for Nader to help the U'Wa tribe he so righteously hides behind. You won't be helping them. Instead, you'll be sacrificing the tribe's best interests for Ralph Nader's. And the U'Wa won't owe you their thanks. You'll owe them your apology. (Spencer Adler is an attorney in private practice in Washington, DC. His phone number is (202) 463-8600. He is available for comment to the media.) The Law Office of Spencer Adler, P.L.L.C a professional limited liability company 1250 24th Street, NW, Suite 350 Washington, DC 20037 (202) 463-8600
