Webinar: Las nuevas estrategias del extractivismo, la acción del Estado y la defensa socio-territorial en tiempos del coronavirus
Due to the pandemic we realized that it underlines, among other things, the environmental crisis, as it demonstrates the danger of our capitalist ways of life, dependent on the intensive and extensive overexploitation of the planet, and that the extractive sector is going through an unprecedented situation. The prices of exports (or commodities) have plummeted even to levels lower than those seen since 2014. Everything indicates that the economic crisis is going to last for a certain time, negatively affecting investments, employment and profits of the extractive sector . Therefore, extractive companies pressure governments to support new strategies to reduce costs (layoffs of workers, modification of environmental regulations, special subsidies, etc.) and open new borders to their operations. Although the situation could appear catastrophic, we also see many encouraging signs: cooperation between neighbors, mutual aid initiatives and popular self-organization are spreading, reminding us that solidarity and creativity are always present.
The objectives for the webinar:
- Start a conversation about possible lines of collaboration and mutual support to face current and future challenges with greater capacity.
- Explore how to generate spaces for the construction of critical thinking and collective solutions.
We invited four panelists, each with a rich and extensive experience and different perspectives as researchers and defenders of the rights of the people and the territories:
- Constanza San Juan (Asamblea por el Agua del Guasco Alto-Chile), spokesperson and one of the leaders of the fight against Barrick
- Blanca Chancoso (co-founder of the Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE))
- Pedro Landa (Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación, from Honduras), and
- Thomas Chiasson-LeBel (FLACSO Ecuador)
More than 50 participants from over 7 countries (Honduras, Ecuador, Chile, EEUU, Canada, Argentina, Peru) in the Americas. During the webinar:
- We found similar patterns in the companies and governments actions despite the particularities of each country;
- We discussed how the communities and territories in movement continue resisting and despite the confinement, they practice creative strategies of solidarity, mutual aid, and territorial control;
- We identified a need for weaving alternatives and alternative public policy proposals that support local production and the economy, and not large corporations and transnational banks.
