Social organisations and socio-environmental assemblies from all over the country warn that, despite the government’s repressive threats, they will continue mobilising in defence of the territory and against agribusiness, mining and oil exploitation. They denounce the “Argentine fascism” of the President.
From Tierra del Fuego to Jujuy. From Catamarca to Buenos Aires. Socio-environmental assemblies from all over the country know that Javier Milei’s government will try to move forward with more agribusiness, mega-mining, oil exploitation, and monoculture forestry -among other activities-. And the position is unanimous: the rejection of extractivism and, as the main axis, popular mobilisation to defend the territories.
“Until when?” was the question that united organisations from 43 cities across the country on 4 December. It was a long-awaited coordination of diverse collectives within the framework of the Plurinational Anti-Extractive Campaign to denounce the social, environmental and health impacts of extractivism.
Planned well in advance of the second round of elections, one of the objectives was to remind the new president of rejecting the extractivist political-economic model and, fundamentally, to articulate networks for what is to come. “We expect the extractivist system to deepen. That is why we are on alert and activating more than ever the links that are needed to stop this model of destruction and death. Difficult times are coming, since the government is proposing an iron fist, always remembering that these governments are accountable to the IMF at the cost of the suffering of the people”, said Paula Kaeser, from the Coordinadora Basta de Falsas Soluciones (BFS) and part of the Plurinational Campaign.
There were activities in Tierra del Fuego, Tucumán, Chubut, Entre Ríos, Neuquén, Misiones, Buenos Aires, Chaco, Córdoba, Entre Ríos, La Rioja, Mendoza, Río Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis and Tucumán, among other provinces. The impact of agribusiness and toxic agro-chemical spraying, mega-mining (with the extreme cases of San Juan, Catamarca and lithium exploitation), tree monoculture (with Misiones and Corrientes as references), and oil exploitation in Neuquén, among other provinces, were denounced, oil exploitation in Neuquén and exploration in the Argentinean Sea, and the negative impact of mega-dams, where Misiones, Neuquén, Santa Cruz and Mendoza stand out (the latter province has yet to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling to release water from the Atuel River to La Pampa).
For its part, the Union of Community Assemblies (UAC) is an emblematic space for the articulation of provincial struggles. It has been meeting periodically since 2006 and has always maintained its autonomy from political parties. From 8 to 10 December, they held their 36th meeting in the Buenos Aires town of Jáuregui, a territory that suffers from toxic agro-chemical spraying, polluting tanneries and one of the largest open-air dumps in the country.
Laura Olivares lives in Jáuregui and is a member of the UAC. She defined Milei’s government as “Argentinised fascism”. She pointed out that the reasons for his triumph are as diverse as the sectors that voted for him but with a special focus on the weariness of previous policies that did not solve the most basic problems of the population. “This confirms what we have been saying for a long time, that this model is no longer useful, we need a real democracy, representative of the people”, he summarised.
About extractivism, he does not doubt that they will try to move forward with more mega-mining, oil exploitation, and agribusiness. Amid the election campaign, Milei denied the existence of climate change and stated that “a company can pollute a river as much as it wants”. He affirmed that the value of water is “zero” and proposed the appropriation of this asset by companies.
Another example, now as president, is the appointment of Fernando Vilella, former dean of the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Buenos Aires and former official of Daniel Scioli in Buenos Aires, a staunch ally of the genetically modified-agrotoxic companies and grain exporters, as head of the Secretary for Bioeconomy (the new name for the area of agriculture). The same is true of his work group, which includes representatives of the Association of Direct Sowing Producers (Aapresid), businessmen and lobbyists for local and international agribusiness.
Olivares remarked that the UAC has been aware for years of the persecution and harassment of communities that oppose extractivism, where provincial governments also use repression. There are numerous examples: Andalgalá, Jáchal, and Salinas Grandes, to name but a few. He pointed out that everything indicates that with the new government “it will be worse”, but warns that this will not stop actions in defence of water and the commons: “The assemblies will continue in our territories weaving networks, strengthening our struggles, generating resistance, strengthening autonomy. We have a clear idea of who the current enemies are and we will be in the streets demanding our rights”.
One of the characteristics, and strengths, of the socio-environmental movement is its presence on the streets and direct action. This was demonstrated in Esquel, Andalgalá, Famatina and Chilecito, Jujuy (with mobilisations by indigenous peoples), Mar del Plata and Malvinas Argentinas (Córdoba), against Monsanto, among others. The last massive peaks were Mendoza (2019) and Chubut (December 2021), where they pushed back the provincial governments’ attempts to allow mega-mining. Paula Kaeser left an invitation that, in a way, is also an answer to the extractive corporations and the national government: “See you in the streets, in defence of water and life”.
Protocol versus mobilisation
The “protocol for the maintenance of public order” presented by Patricia Bullrich as a threat to repress social protest was no surprise to the socio-environmental organisations. They have very vivid memories of Santiago Maldonado and Rafael Nahuel, both cases in which the forces commanded by Bullrich (National Gendarmerie and Naval Prefecture) were directly involved. “This protocol is unconstitutional and this is what we saw in Jujuy, with the constitutional reform this year, where since then we have been living with harassment, persecution, violations of human and constitutional rights”, said Paula Kaeser. She recalled that the organisations will continue to demand from the streets another democracy, where the decisions of the people who live in each territory are respected, and where they have already said no to extractivism.
