The demonstration in Saint-Colomban, south of Nantes, on September 28,
called by the Soulèvements de la Terre and the local association "La
tête dans le sable" against the expansion of sand quarries and
industrial market gardeners (1), was smaller than in June 2023, when the
SDLT and other local collectives in Loire-Atlantique brought together
2,000 demonstrators in Nantes (2). This previous demonstration had
triggered the wrath of the FNSEA, shouting about agri-bashing,
threatening to "smash everything", and it had led Macron to demand
repression... ---- This year, fewer than 500 people took part in the
procession and there was no extension of the call to the four other
sites in Loire-Atlantique opposed to projects for new quarries or the
revival of old ones.
It is difficult to explain this "underperformance" and to deduce
something from it. Is it a temporary apathy following a stupor due to
the political soap opera of the summer? Is it the fear of repression of
"impactful" actions, the trademark of the SDLT at each of their
mobilizations? The prefect of the 44 had imposed a ban on the transport
of mortars and fireworks from Friday to Monday. The mobilization of CRS
on site was significant, with state-of-the-art riot control trucks,
water cannons and cameras, and the presence of a drone announced in the
press.
Did the other collectives of quarry sites in the 44 feel that they had
been manipulated and taken a little too far for their liking, a year
earlier, in the "disarmament" of Lafarge and other industrial market
gardeners?
Does the launch of local SDLT committees mobilize on the ground the
activists who previously moved more easily to support an external
struggle? Actions planned in Bordeaux (LGV), in Brittany, etc.
Has the announcement, almost a year ago, by Holcim-Lafarge of the
shelving of an extension project (30 ha) of its current concession in
Saint-Colomban, soon to be exhausted, demobilized the population, hoping
that the other GSM hourglass would also be reasonable? Such
demobilization would be a big mistake since GSM is not giving up on its
extension. Moreover, if the agricultural exploitation currently
threatened by the appetite of the hourglasses represents "only" 80 ha,
it is a local cake of 400 ha all deposits combined that is quietly
waiting to be dug in ten, twenty years or more... Multinationals know
how to wait for opponents to give up.
The demonstration on September 28 was rather symbolic: the action aimed
to bring back in front of the headquarters of one of the quarries sand
collected from a market gardener's field with various waste (plastic
tarpaulins), in the return to sender type. Another attempt to break into
greenhouses was quickly blocked by the police, who locked down the area.
The fight against the expansion of sand quarries to preserve
agricultural land is a long-term one, with information work aimed at the
surrounding populations who will be impacted by these industrial
projects that are multiplying. Keeping the mobilization going until the
start of the construction sites in an indefinite time is a challenge in
itself. Only the knowledge and control of the territory, specific to
local populations (3), can provide a decisive advantage against the
external bureaucracy that parachutes in its harmful projects.
Nantes
Notes
1) For more information on this fight, see Courant Alternatif nos. 312
and 332 on the OCL website. 2) With "disarmament" actions: sealing a
water supply to a Lafarge cement plant, destroying experimental lily of
the valley and lamb's lettuce plants, and finally walling up the Nantes
headquarters of a rural and agricultural areas administration.
3) Reread in particular on this subject the article "Territorial
struggles and class struggle", CA n° 334, November 2023.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4290
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
called by the Soulèvements de la Terre and the local association "La
tête dans le sable" against the expansion of sand quarries and
industrial market gardeners (1), was smaller than in June 2023, when the
SDLT and other local collectives in Loire-Atlantique brought together
2,000 demonstrators in Nantes (2). This previous demonstration had
triggered the wrath of the FNSEA, shouting about agri-bashing,
threatening to "smash everything", and it had led Macron to demand
repression... ---- This year, fewer than 500 people took part in the
procession and there was no extension of the call to the four other
sites in Loire-Atlantique opposed to projects for new quarries or the
revival of old ones.
It is difficult to explain this "underperformance" and to deduce
something from it. Is it a temporary apathy following a stupor due to
the political soap opera of the summer? Is it the fear of repression of
"impactful" actions, the trademark of the SDLT at each of their
mobilizations? The prefect of the 44 had imposed a ban on the transport
of mortars and fireworks from Friday to Monday. The mobilization of CRS
on site was significant, with state-of-the-art riot control trucks,
water cannons and cameras, and the presence of a drone announced in the
press.
Did the other collectives of quarry sites in the 44 feel that they had
been manipulated and taken a little too far for their liking, a year
earlier, in the "disarmament" of Lafarge and other industrial market
gardeners?
Does the launch of local SDLT committees mobilize on the ground the
activists who previously moved more easily to support an external
struggle? Actions planned in Bordeaux (LGV), in Brittany, etc.
Has the announcement, almost a year ago, by Holcim-Lafarge of the
shelving of an extension project (30 ha) of its current concession in
Saint-Colomban, soon to be exhausted, demobilized the population, hoping
that the other GSM hourglass would also be reasonable? Such
demobilization would be a big mistake since GSM is not giving up on its
extension. Moreover, if the agricultural exploitation currently
threatened by the appetite of the hourglasses represents "only" 80 ha,
it is a local cake of 400 ha all deposits combined that is quietly
waiting to be dug in ten, twenty years or more... Multinationals know
how to wait for opponents to give up.
The demonstration on September 28 was rather symbolic: the action aimed
to bring back in front of the headquarters of one of the quarries sand
collected from a market gardener's field with various waste (plastic
tarpaulins), in the return to sender type. Another attempt to break into
greenhouses was quickly blocked by the police, who locked down the area.
The fight against the expansion of sand quarries to preserve
agricultural land is a long-term one, with information work aimed at the
surrounding populations who will be impacted by these industrial
projects that are multiplying. Keeping the mobilization going until the
start of the construction sites in an indefinite time is a challenge in
itself. Only the knowledge and control of the territory, specific to
local populations (3), can provide a decisive advantage against the
external bureaucracy that parachutes in its harmful projects.
Nantes
Notes
1) For more information on this fight, see Courant Alternatif nos. 312
and 332 on the OCL website. 2) With "disarmament" actions: sealing a
water supply to a Lafarge cement plant, destroying experimental lily of
the valley and lamb's lettuce plants, and finally walling up the Nantes
headquarters of a rural and agricultural areas administration.
3) Reread in particular on this subject the article "Territorial
struggles and class struggle", CA n° 334, November 2023.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4290
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten