By Camila Fróis / MAB, Carolina Scorce / MAB]

Delegations from 45 countries create an international unified movement of affected people. Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB

On Tuesday (November 11), in Belém do Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, popular organizations from five continents launched an international movement of affected people during the IV International Meeting of People Affected by Dams and the Climate Crisis. Moving forward, activists from dozens of countries will form a single organization of populations affected by dams, the climate crisis and socio-environmental crimes. The proposal is to collectively build a global front, with its own unified organization, capable of confronting companies, institutions and capital, and that unifies the struggles of populations from different nations.

The movement, which had previously brought together countries from Latin America, is now expanding its reach to five continents. Its purpose is to strengthen political articulation and international solidarity between communities from different countries, joining forces in the face of the socio-environmental and economic impacts caused by large-scale projects – many of them with a global reach – and by environmental crises that affect, above all, traditional peoples.

The movement also seeks to denounce human rights violations, defend fair access to water and energy as common goods, and promote public policies that prioritize energy sovereignty and the empowerment of affected populations.

The International Movement will strengthen solidarity between people and provide unity across  shared struggles. Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB

Marilin Peña Pérez, from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center in Cuba, spoke about the historical importance of this day, the birth of the movement, in a context of profound disputes about the future of the planet.

“I believe that the launch of an international movement encompassing five continents – in this historical context that is the COP – which we know is a space that does not generate any kind of social transformation or hope for the people, is the expression, in the context of Belém, of the contradiction between the capital of life and the capital for death,” she emphasized.

She also reinforced that the meeting symbolizes a life project built from the territories, based on popular power and respect for nature and local cultures.

“We are committed to a politics of development that is friendly to nature, respecting common goods, defending territories, and fostering development that originates locally, taking into account the authentic seeds of our land, and respecting our flavors, our colors, and our cultural diversity,” she added.

During the plenary session that consolidated the creation of this international movement, a collective letter of intent for the internationalist struggle was read aloud, outlining 10 points that inform the main political steps that the organization should follow coming out of this IV International Meeting. These are as follows: 

1. We must work for the unity and understanding of the struggle and organization of affected populations in all countries;

2. Our struggle is one against all forms of exploitation and oppression of people who work and produce wealth;

3. The current hegemonic mode of production is our enemy;

4. We work to build a strong International Movement of Affected People;

5. Our Movement will be a strong movement of affected populations in each country and will have an internationalist leadership of activists;

6. The political message of the Movement articulates the horizon of social transformation with the conquest of rights;

7. To follow the Pedagogy of Example as the best way to encourage participation;

8. To persist in the national construction of the Movement in each country;

9. An initial coordination will formulate a systematized program of political training based on popular education; and

10. The movement will strengthen the work in alliance with other forces that have the same objectives.

Luiz Dalla Costa, a member of the national coordination of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), said that “this day is historic because it is the result of many efforts over the last few decades.” He affirmed to the delegates and participants of the meeting that “each of us carries the commitment to return to our people and answer: where do we go from here? What will we do after this meeting? It is with this awareness – and also with joy – that we begin this debate, ready to start building this international coordination together.”

Photo 3: Luiz Dalla Costa (right) led the drafting of the movement’s letter of political intent, which will now receive additions and new agreements. Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB

During the plenary session that launched the movement, delegates debated the initial guidelines and suggested additions to the final text, which outlines the next steps. From now on, with the movement launched, the representatives can create the structure of the international organization, which means, among other things, deciding on a name, concept, coordination structure, and calendar.

“From now on, patiently, without haste and without pause, we will build. With the particularities of each country, of each people, and always seeking points of unity. We must seek the convergences that allow us to have a theoretical and symbolic vision of the organization. But the main decision has been made: this is the historic decision on the direction of the international construction of the movement of those affected. And, for that, we can challenge ourselves to assume some commitments,” affirmed Dalla Costa.

The birth of the international movement of affected peoples marks a historic step in the popular struggle for environmental justice and the sovereignty of peoples. What was once an organized effort among Latin American countries has now transformed – three decades after the first meeting of affected people from various countries – into a global front, without borders, uniting voices, territories, and hopes around a single purpose: to confront the power of large corporations and affirm the right to life.

The decision made in Belém, bathed in the waters of the Amazon, symbolizes more than an organizational milestone; it is the seed of a new stage of international solidarity, built with patience, courage, and the conviction that only the union of peoples can change the course of history.