International resistance emerged in Latin America
It is not an easy path that public and private institutions travel today. But they are not prepared to radically change outdated production systems. Their problem is increased resource consumption and the lack of regeneration of what once existed.
Changing energy production through renewable energy sources is not enough if consumption does not decrease. It is not enough if the countries whose economies have the greatest impact on the climate crisis do not cut corners. It is the economic production that is currently causing the earth's temperature and sea levels to rise, thereby irreversibly changing our way of life.
Mining projects in which lithium, nickel, iron, manganese and copper are extracted primarily serve the energy transition in the global north. These are raw materials for the production of batteries, wind turbines, cables and solar cells. Because of them, Latin American countries are at the center of international pressure for energy transition in the Global North. At the same time, advertising is massively spreading the message of environmental responsibility, electromobility and renewable energies.
The regions of Antofagasta and Magallanes seem far removed from these issues. Antofagasta is located in the Atacama Desert, while Magallanes is in the southernmost part of Chilean Patagonia, on the edge of the sea from which ships sail to Antarctica. The two regions have little in common, except that they have become the center of green hydrogen industrialization in recent years. Large amounts of water are needed to produce the trendy fuel for the energy transition of other continents. Water is particularly scarce, especially in the Chilean areas of lithium exploitation.
In Mexico, Bolivia and Argentina, lithium mining also leads to conflicts with the communities affected by mining. The indigenous communities of Argentina's Jujuy region in the so-called “Lithium Triangle” mobilized last year against the reform of their province's political constitution. The reform changes the traditional use of the Argentine highlands by indigenous communities in favor of the privatization of lithium mining. Lithium is now considered a strategic raw material that is used to put pressure on Latin American countries. Legal, economic and political conditions should arise that override the expansion of industry and the traditional rights of people and the environment. “Our land is drying out and our water is contaminated,” said Nati Machaca, a protester in Purmamarca. In addition to the environmental impacts, there are also political tensions in the countries over control of the resource. National and foreign players are struggling to find a balanced ratio of investments in lithium mining.
Brazil, on the other hand, is building large dams for its hydroelectric power plants and storing raw materials from mining behind high walls of toxic waste. This led to massive dam failures and mudslides in the small town of Mariana in 2015 and in the small town of Brumadinho in 2019. The result was hundreds of deaths, millions of people affected and hundreds of kilometers flooded with mining waste. The impact on agricultural production and health in the state of Minas Gerais is still being felt today.
Today's societies have the communication, information and organizational capabilities to influence the development of large-scale projects in their environment. This can be the first step in the fight against non-participatory and large-scale projects. It requires legal, media, political and social mobilization – which in turn is tied to the resources and organizational capacities of communities. Instead, communities are organized into instruments of political advocacy.
Many grassroots organizations that have survived and improved their capacity for collective action in recent decades are making great strides at the international level. There is no more effective recipe than organization, communication and internationalism combined Education popular (German education from below) and strategic planning. Mobilizations such as the Via Campesina, the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAR) and the upcoming participation in exchange meetings have now become established. These are the keys to resistance and building alternatives from below. The aim is an economically viable, fair and sustainable social model based on solidarity and collective wealth.
Today it looks as if the pressure from industrialized countries on developing countries to sell their strategic resources as cheaply as possible will increase in the coming decades. The large quantities of lithium and minerals destined to be transported to the countries of the Global North leave a footprint in the communities and areas of the South. But the story of sacrifice and plunder does not have to repeat itself endlessly. Rather, we must try to stand up together for the planet and its living beings.
Limiting wealth is key to combating over-exploitation, irrational extractivism and pollution without regeneration. Recommendations and sanctions are not enough, because life in some regions of the planet is at stake in the coming decades. At this time, the search for answers by international organizations and the academic community is crucial.
The 2010 World Conference of Peoples on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia was one such launch, where movements on environmental justice, climate migration and energy transition exchanged views to influence the sluggish discussions at the COPs. Likewise, the Alternative World Water Forum 2018 in Brazil, which took place parallel to the famous World Water Forum in Brasilia. The latter is an annual event organized by industrial companies with high water consumption and the United Nations – without the participation of movements fighting for the right to water. The global water problem is now so fundamental that the UN organized a world water conference in 2023 for the first time in 50 years. This time she invited some non-governmental organizations and movements.
In addition to international networking, what is new is that part of the organizations affected by the commodity model was an electoral process at local, regional and national levels in several Latin American countries involved. Democratic decision-makers and the development of political programs with citizen participation and with a transformative perspective based on solidarity economy should contribute to positive change. The highlights of this development in Chile were the election of our environmental and water movement Modatima in the first constitutional process, the Council of the Mayan People (CPO) in Guatemala, the rural self-organization of the Rondas Campesinas in Peru and the left-wing party Frente Patria Grande in Argentina.
This decade is pivotal for Latin America and the Caribbean. Many newer developments are under scrutiny: the usage rights for projects such as ports, roads and mega-infrastructure. In contrast, many basic services such as drinking water, electricity and public transport ended. Now is the moment to reassess the performance of the private and public sectors.
The challenges faced by communities as a result of the energy transition must be combined with new struggles for the recovery of water and electricity. They must also oppose megaprojects and the creation of a lithium or green hydrogen industry not intended for consumption in Latin America, but in the USA, Europe and China.
The complexity of these struggles is that there is high global pressure to change the energy model. These pressures impact communities. Their protest is being questioned because they oppose the production of renewable energy in their areas. In Chile, in 2023, almost 70 environmental organizations signed a declaration against the National Strategy for Green Hydrogen because it lacked “protection of the areas from negative environmental effects”. The current government ignored their criticism as it opposes the increased demand for the fuel in the Northern Hemisphere.
With this in mind, this will be one of the topics addressed at the 2025 People's Summit in conjunction with COP 30 on climate change in Brazil. The summit is an opportunity to push for rules and controls for the countries that contribute the most to pollution, but also for those with increased demand for renewable energy. The summit is intended to be a space for reflection and strategic planning for the coming decades. Stakeholders from every continent will be present to discuss the need to build a global movement of communities and nations for a new model of popular, equitable and ecological energy transition that protects water, land and oceans.
The question of energy for what and for whom remains. Will it succeed in overcoming the energy poverty of those who currently have no access to heating and electricity? Will it be possible to redesign electricity tariffs to improve quality and distribution, reduce power outages and ultimately contribute to public safety? Because this is the only way it can succeed: Energy must first serve the communities and then the production – in that order. Or will the energy transition become the new holy book in the spirit of Galeano? A Bible that blinds us with its lights so that we do not see that they are once again taking away our resources for the development of others – far from our America and the Caribbean.
Victor Bahamonde is responsible for the international relations of the water and environmental protection movement MODATIMA in Chile and a member of the international coordination of the MAR movement, which brings together those affected by dams from different countries.
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