1 June 2010 | News | Climate Justice and Energy
Another energy is possible
Experts and activists debate on the energy future of Latin America
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The round table “Natural resources, energy and extractivism. How do transnational corporations operate?” was held last week in Montevideo, Uruguay. Activists from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay participated in the event. They talked about the problems faced by their countries and proposed alternatives to build a sustainable future.
The event began with the documentary called “Xingu. Why we don’t want Belo Monte”, showing the resistance of the native and peasant communities against the hydroelectric dam of Belo Monte in Brazil. One of the filmmakers, Julianna Malerba, from the Network of Environmental Justice of Brazil, described how this project is part of a logic of inequalities where the worst affected where the ones with less political means and little information.
The round table also had presentations by Sebastián Ainzúa, from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Sebastián Valdomir, coordinator of the Economic Justice Resisting Neoliberalism Program of Friends of the Earth International. While Ainzua’s presentation focused on the mining chain in Chile and its impacts on the country’s economy, by demythifying the theories of its positive impact on economic growth, Valdomir focused on the strategy of transnational corporations in Latin America. He talked about the experience of the Permanent Peoples Tribunal, held in May in Madrid, where the corporation’s activities were condemned by the social movements.
The activity took place as part of a forum where activists and experts on energy issues from Latin America debated about common proposals to confront the unsustainable development in the region.
In an interview with Real World Radio, Pablo Bertinat, member of Taller Ecologista de Rosario, spoke about the main issues discussed at the meeting, putting on the table the main work themes that will be carried out in the coming years as regards to energy.
“We have reviewed the conceptual framework, where we worked on a critical approach to the developmentalism of the region imposed by the current governments, as a worsening of a situation of overexploitation of natural resources”, said Bertinat. He added that they also discussed the policies of energy access and the need to move forward towards its decommodification. They also talked about the resistance to the so called “false solutions” - such as nuclear energy or big dams – and about the need to move towards renewable energies.
