Moving towards a ‘post-extractive model’ and living well?

By César Padilla*

The increase in mining activities in Latin America has not slowed since the middle of the 90s. The region attracts around 27% of all investment in this sector and there are many projects which are yet to start. Some countries base their exports on mining and others are trying to join the list.

Chile and Perú top the ranking of mining countries par excellence, whilst Colombia is trying to start the “mining engine” so as to be part of the club and Argentina is fighting to compete for the investments of the major transnationals. Bolivia, traditionally a mining country, this year has managed to revive the stagnant sector, reaching mineral export figures which are on a par with hydro-fuel exports. An effort to nationalise mining and sectoral law reforms are giving renewed spirit to this activity, which is increasingly in the hands of the State.

The coalition “Banca Cívica sin armas” (Civic banking without arms) was launched last December in front of the central offices of Banca Cívica (Civic Banking) in Pamplona-Iruña, State of Spain.

This coalition is formed by three collectives: SETEM Nafarroa, Iruña Group against the Palestinian War Elkartasuna Ekimena, and Alternativa Antimilitarista KEM-MOC.
The website http://www.bancacivicasinarmas.org/ was launched at the same time laying out the reasons why the three collectives joined together.

By Carlos Pérez Barranco
 
I imagine that the majority of us who participated in last Sunday’s demonstration on May 15th, believed that we were going to repeat the familiar experience of taking to the streets for a just cause, only to then go back home with the feeling of having participated in something necessary but in some way sterile.