by Thiago Alves / MAB

While heads of state discuss empty words, those affected around the world share solutions based on their experiences. Photo: Marcelo Aguilar / MAB

This week marks the start of the Conference of the Parties – COP 30, in Belém do Pará. The city, which was once the capital of the Amazon in the 17th century, welcomes representatives from 170 countries to discuss global commitments that seek to protect the future and survival of the planet. 

Kings, queens, princes, presidents, ministers, diplomats, executives from large corporations, parliamentarians, endless teams of advisors, experts, translators, journalists, and even music and movie stars, all representing interests and proposals. 

The chronicler looks from afar, seeing the “green area” and the “blue area” painted in vibrant colors, ventilated at a comfortable temperature. 

From my unassuming observer’s seat, hidden in places unseen by the “green capitalism summit,” I see other colors. That of the table laden with healthy foods served by workers who carefully bring pumpkin, sweet potatoes, lettuce, beets, beans, rice, fish, meatballs, bananas, and tangerines. The taste of murici, acerola, and passion fruit juice that accompany this sacred meal vibrates, a daily table at the IV International Meeting of Communities Affected by Dams and Climate Crisis, which brings together 45 countries from all continents to build a popular alternative to the challenges of our time. 

There, the princes are black, the queens carry their children in their arms, and artists turn the popular mix into a daily celebration. It is a camp of fighters who transform sports courts into places of learning, classrooms into rest areas identified with the names of rivers from around the world. 

There, clothes are washed communally, cleaning is done collectively, and children and those in need of medicine and special care are looked after with affection and free of charge.

All of these will be at the People’s Summit, in contrast to the organized manifestation of financial capitalism that paints green what it itself destroys. 

“Hope never disappoints,” said the famous letter writer. I would add that hope always organizes, always announces the colors of the new while openly denouncing the old whitewash that insists on denying imperialist aggression, militarism, genocide, and the commodification of nature and all forms of life. 

We are the hope that never sleeps, only rests. It is an arrow prepared in the bow, a sharp spear aimed at the target.

Thiago Alves is a journalist and activist from the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) in Minas Gerais. He is actively involved in popular struggles and, between tasks, observes the people and landscapes around him, seeking to perceive the beauty of everyday life, which he turns into simple prose and unpretentious chronicles.