America Resists

By Mitzy Violeta Cortés

Land defenders create cumbia, rap and sones to talk about alternatives to the climate crisis in Mexico and Central America.

The effects of the climate crisis are being felt with increasing intensity in Central American countries, despite the fact that this region only emits around 0.3% of carbon dioxide emissions.

This is one of the hottest regions crossed by what is known as the dry corridor. In the last 30 years, there is practically no portion of Central America that has not suffered droughts, and extreme hydro-meteorological events such as the recent Hurricane Julia.

The region also known as Mesoamerica not only suffers from extreme hydrometeorological phenomena, but mainly from a wave of violence and dispossession linked to the control of territory by industries and governments seeking to implement megaprojects and extractive activities. According to the Atlas of Environmental Justice, in this region, there are nearly 245 socio-environmental conflicts related to mining, hydroelectric dams, monoculture, energy, infrastructure, industrial activities, conservation areas, tourism, among others.

In recent years, the implementation of regional projects has been exacerbated, such as the Mesoamerica Project, which under the discourse of development promotes the installation of industrial corridors or the inter-oceanic corridor. It is contradictory that the fight against climate change in the region has focused on reducing emissions but not on stopping extractive projects that pollute water, render land sterile and promote violence and conflict in the territories.

Against this backdrop, indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples of the region organized themselves to name the way in which the climate crisis is being experienced and the alternatives proposed by the peoples. To the rhythm of cumbia, rap and son jarocho, defenders of the territory of Honduras, southern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador created the organization #MilpamericaResiste which published its actions during the week of October 10-15, 2022.

The actions of the campaign denounce that the responsibility for the current climate crisis is proportional to the privileges, since 92% of the historical responsibility falls on the rich countries. They denounce the false solutions to the climate crisis that continue to promote economic growth and accumulation for the rich.

A few weeks before the United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP27, they formed a declaration to call on peoples in resistance, people of all diversities, the climate justice movement and all the territories of Milpamerica to organize themselves in the face of the climate crisis that the region is going through, which implies continuing to resist the war against the peoples and Mother Earth.

@mit_vio

Follow the #MilpaméricaResiste actions at https://futurosindigenas.org/milpamerica/

The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.