I condemn all policies, whether from the Argentine national government or provincial governments, that promote the advancement of mining activity

Just a few days ago, the people of Mendoza faced a new attack by transnational mega-mining capital and by both the provincial and national governments, which facilitated the modification of Law 7722. This law, which regulates mining activity by prohibiting the use of toxic chemicals in metal mining in the province of Mendoza, had been enacted in 2007 after the people of that Argentine province mobilized, forcing the political powers to pass it. For this reason, a large part of the population considers that law their own.

Barely having taken office on December 10, the new governor of Mendoza, Rodolfo Suarez, presented a bill to amend Law 7722. Ten days later, in brief sessions and disregarding public opinion and scientific and academic reports from state agencies that warned about the critical state of the headwaters in the Andes Mountains due to the pronounced loss of snow and glaciers, provincial deputies and senators, with the support of the national government of Fernández, amended and replaced the historic Law 7702 with Law 9209. This new law, which was in effect for only ten days, sought to eliminate fundamental points of the old law that protected Mendoza's water resources.

Thousands of Mendoza residents mobilized in diverse and creative ways, demanding the reinstatement of Law 7722 and calling on politicians and business leaders to hear that "Mendoza's water is not for sale." In these Mendoza demonstrations, as in all those that emerged in different regions in solidarity and in response to the potential expansion of large-scale mining in other provinces, water was reaffirmed as a common good.

Alongside the failed attempts to modify Mendoza's historic law, efforts were also made to reform Provincial Law XVII No. 68 (formerly Law 5001), which prohibits metallic mining throughout the province of Chubut. This legislation was also the result of a major social mobilization that began in 2002 and a plebiscite in the Chubut city of Esquel, in which 80 percent of the population, despite high unemployment rates, voted "No to mining." The latest attempt in Chubut was thwarted by the massive social mobilization that occurred simultaneously in various locations across the province, from the Andes Mountains to the plateau and the coast, expanding the reach of the socio-environmental struggle beyond Esquel. Thanks also to the success of the Mendoza people's struggle, the extraordinary session in which this amendment was to be discussed has been suspended for the time being. In Chubut, voices were also heard saying "Water is for the people, water is not negotiable," and the population is in a state of alert and permanent mobilization.

These initiatives to advance mining projects in various parts of Argentina originate from provincial governments, which could collect a maximum of 3 percent in royalties (due to the restrictions imposed by the national mining investment law since the Carlos Menem administration). These governments, whether from the ruling party, as in the case of Chubut, or the opposition, as in the case of Mendoza, also contribute to the movement. Furthermore, the national government of Alberto Fernández, in a speech to business leaders just days before the reform of Mendoza's Law 7722 was approved, stated—anticipating the failed reform attempts—that "Mining is a fundamental activity" and that "In Mendoza, we managed to pass a law to involve the province in mining operations, and in Chubut, we have managed to allow gold and silver mining in the plateau region." In response, members of local assemblies have sent formal letters to the president requesting that he either retract or reaffirm his statements, given that he has encouraged an activity that is currently illegal.

The negative impact of transnational mining megaprojects on the way of life of the communities where they are located is already widely known: contamination of waterways, displacement of populations, dynamited mountains and destroyed territories, increased real estate prices, privatization or destruction of roads, among others. To give an example of the water and energy consumption of these megaprojects, one need only look at the reports of the Alumbreras Mining Company, located in Catamarca, and the energy reports of official agencies. In just one year of good production, that company's project used 85 million cubic meters of water and consumed energy equivalent to twice the residential consumption of the entire province of Catamarca. There is no way to dynamite mountains, use such quantities of water and electricity, and be sustainable, as the national and provincial governments and the companies themselves claim.

These conflicts are therefore a result of the defense of water as a common good against the onslaught of transnational mining companies, which, by the very nature of this type of production, constantly seek to subject the livelihoods of entire populations (river tributaries, the land they live on, among other things) to the logic of capital profitability. The evident lack of social license also leads to the reinforcement and increased frequency of instances of institutional violence. To cite just one recent example, in early December 2019, six members of the Chubut Assembly were arrested and beaten. But these emerging resistance movements in various territories against the advance of large-scale mining face not only the mining lobby and political power, but also the complicity of the mainstream media. From our critical perspective, committed to society and nature, we urgently call for active condemnation of all policies, whether from the Argentine national government or provincial governments, that promote the expansion of mining activity. We stand in solidarity with the socio-environmental assemblies and their alliance of community assemblies fighting against the destruction of nature, whether to enrich corporations or under the pretext of generating foreign exchange.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRUGGLES OF THE PEOPLE IN ARGENTINA AGAINST THE ADVANCE OF MEGAMINING

 January 2020
CLACSO Working Group
Political ecology(ies) from the South/Abya-Yala