NO DAMS, MINING AND WIND POWER... FREE RIVERS - FREE MOUNTAINS! --- Against "green" capitalist development, dams and diversion... Acheloos will win, Mesochora will live! --- "Development was, is and will be, first and foremost, an uprooting. Development is economic war, with its winners and even more so with its losers, the unrestrained plunder of nature, the destruction of local cultures." --- Nowadays, the gigantic aggressive planning of the Greek state for the plunder of the natural environment and society in order to serve the interests of domestic and multinational political and economic elites, and the energy needs of the bankrupt state-capitalist way of organizing society, brings about incalculable destructive consequences on natural ecosystems and on the possibilities of a dignified living for people in their places.
In addition to the pharaonic-sized projects, such as the dams in Acheloos and the open-pit gold mines in Chalkidiki, a series of other projects that are destructive to nature and local communities are constantly being announced or are already being implemented: such as the installation of industrial "wind farms" in almost all mountain ranges and many islands, photovoltaic industrial zone programs, the construction of hundreds of dams on rivers and streams, the surrender of countless natural habitats to the tourism industry, plans for hydrocarbon extraction in marine and terrestrial areas across the country - with broader geopolitical dimensions -, the burning of garbage in Volos as an "alternative" fuel and a way of managing the overaccumulation of waste and waste that the overconsumer system itself produces, the seizure and privatization of water that is already taking place or is being rolled out in a number of areas.These plans are added to a more comprehensive and unprecedented aggression towards nature and society, which has been developing in recent years in the Greek reality, with the deepening of the restructuring of the political and economic system in the name of "development", which in "periods of crisis" appears as a matter of "national" interest and necessity, in order to conceal the immeasurable social and environmental cost it entails. A restructuring with characteristics of a generalized enterprise of selling off social needs (education, health, etc.), public spaces and natural resources to private capital, which is carried out by the Greek state under the tutelage of the EU and is evolving in parallel with the corresponding synchronization of the relevant legal framework. Such as the "FastTrack" law and a host of other laws and ministerial decisions, in order to remove institutional commitments and restrictions on the exploitation and commercialization of the natural environment, such as the protection of forests and Natura areas, the public nature of the coastline, the obligation of environmental studies and controls in large construction projects, etc.
Anti-environmental laws (such as 4685/2020) reflect the elimination of any substantial protection of the natural world and its surrender to the generalized attack of capital, on mountains and forests, on rivers and waters, on coasts and the seabed, in the name of "green" development and attracting investments to address the economic recession. The intended result is the ruthless plunder and destruction of the remaining natural world from the mountaintops to the seabed and the annihilation of the adjacent local communities, at least as we knew them until today.
As for the so-called "green development" it is nothing more than an advertising wrapper to embellish the well-known destructive machine of capitalism, so that it appears supposedly friendlier to the environment, at the same time that it plunders and destroys it mercilessly, sacrificing it on the altar of profit.
Moreover, at a global level, the conditions of wild exploitation of nature and society are further degrading human life and the natural world, exhausting natural resources and reaching the extreme limits of endangering survival itself, as indirectly confessed by state officials themselves, now speaking of an irreversible climate and environmental crisis. From the Amazon to Siberia and from one end of the earth to the other, deforestation and forest fires, the pollution of the seas, the melting of the eternal ice at the poles and in the high mountains, climate change, the greenhouse effect, the shrinking of biodiversity and the extinction of numerous animal species, are just some parts of the overall environmental crisis caused by the state-capitalist onslaught. Thus, both the future that the state-capitalist culture of pollution and development holds and imposes, which passes through the intensity of the attack on the environment and on human societies, and its economic, social, health and environmental impasses that lead to barbarity and war, become apparent.
It is a fact that, in our time, the natural world is receiving an unprecedented destructive and plundering attack with disastrous consequences, in the name of development. This attack is not made on a single point of the natural world or on certain elements of it (the mountains, the forests or the waters) and does not have man as its carrier in general and vaguely. The attack is made on the natural world as a whole and is carried out by a hierarchical and exploitative political and economic system for the benefit of the oligarchy at its top, to the detriment of nature and humanity. Every point where this attack manifests itself and every element that is thrown for its exploitation in the name of development, is part of the wider destruction that the environment is undergoing and must be addressed as such. It does not have only its local dimension so that the reaction concerns only a local community, but a much broader dimension affecting many more social groups, the entire society of oppressed and exploited people.
The defense of the natural world and an organization of social life
harmonized with it, as well as the defense of urban public-free spaces, is an important element of the evolution of social struggles from below, in the direction of freedom, autonomy, collectivization and creativity. Today, the struggles in defense of the natural world as well as public spaces, which break out in many places now where their plunder and destruction are planned and carried out and even the livelihood of local communities is affected, are often trapped within the limits of localism, institutionalism, delegation, representation and mediation. However, in many cases they rally a large number of residents of the affected areas, while several times they go beyond the institutional framework of protest, challenging state and local bodies as much as they can.
In the face of this condition of generalized attack, plunder and destruction, a broad social awakening and a comprehensive social critique of the dead-end and bankrupt system are required, the overcoming of delegation, mediation and inertia, the strengthening of social-class struggles from below, the formation of self-organized, anti-institutional resistance fronts - with consistency, reciprocity and solidarity - and the creation of every possible embankment at the points where state and capitalist aggression manifests itself.
In the face of the dystopian future that the elites of power and wealth have in store for us, there is the choice of struggle, when people collectively take their lives into their own hands in an organized, massive and militant manner against their plans.
LET THE DAM BE BREAKED, LONG LIVE THE VILLAGE - MAY THE WATER RUN FREELY FOREVER!
The imminent and final destruction of the Acheloos River through the operation of the hydroelectric plant dam and the artificial reservoir in the Mesochora area, as well as its planned partial diversion to Thessaly, will cause incalculable damage to both the mountain valleys, its natural ecosystems and its settlements by submerging them in mud, and to the vulnerable delta of its estuary in the Ionian Sea where unique wetlands are formed.
In particular, for the historic village of Mesochora in Trikala, the removal of its residents by forced expropriation by the PPC is planned, as a large part of it, as well as the riverside settlements, will be flooded by the waters of the artificial reservoir, while the rest will be threatened by erosion.
Today, this disastrous prospect for the region is more visible than at any other time since the construction of the giant dams began in the mid-1980s.
The decision of the Council of State, on 31/1/24, legally gave the government the green light for the operation of the Mesochora dam, which means the destruction of the river ecosystem of the Acheloos in Pindos over a length of over 20 km and its conversion into an artificial lake, the destruction of many thousands of acres of riparian and mountain forests, the flooding and destruction of Mesochora. And very recently, a decision was issued by the Larissa Court of Appeal, which obliges the residents of Mesochora to hand over their houses and land to the Public Power Company, as soon as the compensation for the forced expropriation is deposited.
Let us add that in addition to these, other harmful plans are being made for the region, in order to grant permits and grant public lands to private individuals, for the installation of industrial "wind farms" on the mountainous masses of Aspropotamos that surround the Acheloos valley.
As well as that, according to the Regional Development Program of Thessaly, the entire mountainous western Thessaly is marked as a zone for the location of industrial wind installations and as a zone for the location of dams, in addition to those gigantic ones in Mesochora and Sykia of the mega project of the Acheloos diversion.
Referring specifically to the issue of the partial diversion of the Acheloos to Thessaly, a project that is illegal according to European standards where the transfer of water from one hydrological basin to another is prohibited and blocked by a series of decisions of the Council of Europe, continues to be a central target of the Greek state. with the maintenance of the projects that have already been constructed (the diversion tunnel, part of the dam at Sykia, etc.) so that it can proceed in parts.
Here we should emphasize that the non-operation of the Mesochora dam to this day, and therefore the protection of the upper reaches of the Acheloos and its mountain valley in Pindos, is due primarily to the long-term resistance of the Mesochora residents themselves, who do not surrender their homes and do not abandon their village to the state's plans. This resistance of Mesochora, which has been held hostage for 40 years and threatened with extinction, became the epicenter of a broader struggle of solidarity, and the village a meeting point for many struggling people against the plunder and destruction of nature.
And let us note that our belief is that, after the legal decisions of the Council of Europe and the Larissa Court of Appeal, it is absolutely necessary to restart the struggle with the broadest possible rallying of all the struggling Mesochora residents and solidarity groups from all over the country, in one front, so that with their mobilizations they can repel the Political Decision to annihilate the river and the village. Far from any idea of cooperation with self-governing institutions and factors that co-sign and support the condemnation of Acheloos and Mesochora.
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For our part, as an Autonomous Struggle Meeting, not expecting anything substantial and useful from the institutions and their mediators - and being aware of the fact that the logic of delegation and trust in political mediation lead to disarmament, disappointment and defeat - we continue to steadily organize our resistance from below and to raise every possible embankment against the onslaught of the state and capital, with the aim of thickening the bonds of solidarity of the struggling people, coordinating actions and synthesizing their principles and positions in the direction of a more comprehensive choice of rupture with power and its anti-social imperatives.
We support local resistance initiatives which are essential for the dynamics and evolution of the struggle, and we address ourselves more broadly to the entire world of social-class struggles, believing that the struggle against the mega-project of dams and the diversion of the Acheloos does not concern a local social/environmental issue, but a central political issue, the defense of nature and society from the state and capital.
Perceiving the Acheloos River as part of the natural world that is being plundered and destroyed mercilessly, the common belief of those of us who have been in Mesochora since 2007 was to intervene precisely where the destructive activities are taking place, in order to contribute to the continuous resurgence of the struggle both against dams and the diversion of the river, as well as sand extraction and deforestation of the riparian forests, and against the more general attack that the natural world is undergoing.
Many struggling residents of Mesochora from the mid-1980s until today have chosen the dignified path of struggle. And it is up to them to continue it today, against the authorities (central, regional and municipal) that plot against the village, the interests that are played out behind their backs for the sake of the state, the PPC, the construction companies and the future buyers of the dam, but also beyond institutional, partisan and factorial logics that cultivate illusions.
For our part, not trusting the institutions that sooner or later (as the negative decision of the Council of Europe showed) ultimately align with the plans of the state and capital, trusting only the movements of struggling people and seeking the radicalization and coordination of social resistance from below, we stand in solidarity with all those who struggle collectively, with strength and dignity.
And we consider the self-organized presence of the ASA in the place where the crime of the pharaonic dams on the Acheloos is being committed and its diversion is being planned, necessary and useful for the awakening of consciences and the development of both the struggle for the defense of the river and local societies, as well as for the defense of the natural world and society as a whole.
AGAINST NATURE, DESTRUCTION - FIGHT FOR LAND AND FREEDOM!
AUTONOMOUS MEETING OF MATCHES | August 2026
https://landandfreedom.gr/el/agones/2322-politiko-kalesma-tis-aftonomis-synantisis-agona
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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