This weekend sees the 5th ‘protest camp against lithium mining’, promoted by the association Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso (UCDB, a group that has been fighting tooth-and-nail against plans for an open-pit lithium mine in their agricultural community).
It is a moment when exhausted villagers who have been battling now for eight years against British based company Savannah Resources get a brief moment to see they are not alone. People from all over the country and abroad come to these camps. As Nélson Gomes, the president of UCDB has said in a statement “there are people in every corner of the country who also think that what is happening to us is an injustice”.
The worst of this struggle is the ‘helplessness’ villagers felt when they realised Europe/ the country’s government is ‘against them’ and of the opinion that ‘the energy transition’ overrides all other concerns.
They have nonetheless been supported by international NGOs fighting this issue at a European level, and they remain, according to Nélson Gomes, “united and willing to fight for what is ours”.
Like all previous years, the camp will include a march through the streets of Covas do Barroso, a protest at the Cruzeiro monument in the village centre, where slogans against mining will be chanted, “moments of sharing with testimonies from residents and performances by locals, focusing on the theme of popular justice”.
The weekend will also involve debates, concerts and shows.
“Covas do Barroso likes to welcome those who come in peace, and so it is a joy for us to welcome those who want to visit us and get to know us a little better. Our dream is that you will continue to visit us in the future, with this fight won,” Lúcia Mó, president of the local parish council and member of the UDCB adds, underscoring the “importance of the camp for the village’s cause”.
The fight against the Barroso mine intensified in the last year when the Ministry for the Environment granted Savannah Resources ‘an administrative easement for six months, allowing the company to ‘invade private land’ for prospecting work.
The company has since requested a second administrative easement to expand its drilling work.
In its statement, UDCB stresses that Savannah “has occupied private and common land without the consent of local residents”.
UDCB has “repeatedly contested the legitimacy of this measure and denounced the continuing climate of surveillance, insecurity and intimidation in the village”.
In this context of “outrage at the company’s abuses and the government’s collusion”, the protest camp in defence of Barroso is, according to the UDCB, a moment to denounce these injustices, to mobilise support and raise funds for the association’s legal actions, which need to take place in order to try and stymy Savannah’s operations. As things stand, however, the company plans to start production in 2027 (10 years after arriving in the territory).
Source material: UDCB/ Lusa
