Famous Canadian filmmaker James Cameron (Kapuskasing, 68 years old), director of Titanic and Avatar and also known for his environmental activism, traveled to Argentina this week to give a lecture on sustainability. On Thursday he was invited by the Jujuy government to visit the largest solar park in Latin America, Cauchari. Strong winds prevented him from getting there, but he educated himself on local climate change mitigation and traveled through some of the most beautiful scenery in this northern Argentine province. along with his governor Gerardo Morales, who appeared with him on social networks. A day later, in a last-minute interview with a small group of media outlets, including EL PAÍS, he said he was “upset” after being the victim of an “ambush” that attempted to frame him as a supporter of the To represent lithium extraction carried out in this province. The turning point was a letter from local communities informing him of violations of rights – “to water, a healthy environment and self-determination as indigenous communities” – committed by mining companies in collusion with local authorities.
Questions. Do you feel exploited by the authorities after the incident?
Answer. Absolutely. They were very good hosts and gave me their point of view. They even made a film in English to show me all their sustainability work, which is impressive. But they didn’t tell me the whole film, nor did they tell me that there are 35 indigenous communities in two provinces of Argentina that are in direct conflict and are fighting for their rights and for their voices to be heard, things that are really important to me. I look forward to speaking with them directly and will look for ways to help them through my Avatar Alliance Foundation. I want to make it clear that in any conflict between the extractive industry and the indigenous communities, I will always side with the indigenous communities.
P. Because?
R. In my experience dealing with extractive industries versus indigenous and territorial rights, it often happens that the value created by these resources goes elsewhere, usually to the international companies that invest, and does not reach local communities. It does not improve their standard of living or their level of education. We’ve seen it in Brazil with gold mining and oil production, in Canada with oil… The benefits go elsewhere and are usually large amounts of money, but for local people the impact is negative.
P. It seems you have decided to make a serious commitment to the indigenous communities impacted by lithium mining. Will it extend to the entire region, the so-called Lithium Triangle (Argentina, Chile and Bolivia)?
R. It’s on my radar now so we’ll see what can be done. I need to do more research, but I feel a moral obligation to get involved, and that may be true of the entire lithium triangle. I can’t speak for the churches because I haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet, but I’ve been well informed. It seems that one of the big problems is that they have not been properly consulted and their rights are not respected in this regard.
P. When will you speak to the communities?
R. As quickly as possible.
P. Have you heard of the resistance of indigenous communities to the mining of this important mineral for the manufacture of electric cars?
R. No, that’s because of my ignorance. I’ve always thought it was a relatively harmless extraction process since it’s done by evaporation. It never occurred to me that it could cause major water security issues for the people living in this area or affect the biodiversity of an important ecosystem. I have connections with communities fighting for indigenous rights around the world, but I didn’t have any in Argentina because I had never focused there. The irony is that now I will have it. It was foolish not to prepare like I usually do because I feel like I’ve been ambushed. I want to use that word “ambush” to make it seem like I have a point of view without even realizing it.
James Cameron and the Governor of Jujuy Gerardo Morales, on 9 June 2023 JUJUY GOVERNMENT
P. Who do you think attacked him?
R. I don’t know how it was put together, but the goal seems pretty clear. “Avatar” is the highest-grossing film of all time and is about a conflict between the extractive industry and the rights of indigenous peoples. It’s set on another planet, but of course it’s about our planet, because it’s about all the Pandoras that are on Earth at the moment. If they could get the idea that I was in favor of lithium mining, they would green-color lithium to believe that I think lithium’s role in climate change is more important than local people’s rights, which doesn’t mean at all Position is never will be. This is the first time something like this has happened to me and I am upset. I think they made me act like a character without knowing that I have that role and I want to clarify that I didn’t come to participate in a greenwashing campaign. The next logical question would be: And then what is the alternative if lithium cannot be mined?
P. Which is it?
R. First, the biggest problem of global warming is not transport, which accounts for 13% of total emissions, but livestock, which is responsible for at least 15% and causes other problems such as habitat loss, biodiversity loss and violation of indigenous rights , deforestation… So the biggest problem has to do with our diet, something nobody wants to hear about here in Argentina. You can’t say you care about the environment and still eat meat and cheese. In order to mine lithium and make all vehicles electric, we may need to evict some people from their land who are making water sources unsafe and causing other problems, but as long as we continue to eat meat and drive our electric car, is everything okay?
P. After recording “Avatar” do you feel you have a responsibility for what you say in those songs?
R. Absolutely. The first thing I realized when Avatar came out was that if people were interested and excited about the film, they also cared about nature and taking responsibility for it. After that I thought these conflicts belonged to the colonial era and we were already seeing them in the rear view mirror, but I realized that they still exist, just more hidden.
P. How do you plan to help Argentina’s indigenous communities?
R. Because of what has happened in the last 48 hours, we will invest money, energy and money into this issue. The great irony is that if they were silent and didn’t invite me, I wouldn’t have known. Or maybe yes. But it wouldn’t have been in the middle. We can’t solve all of the world’s problems, but when one comes your way, you need to do something about it.
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