The spark that travels the world (Romania edition) [View all]

[BelgianMadCow]

Last edited Sun Sep 22, 2013, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Romania's Powder Keg: Mine Project Launches Protest Movement
from Der Spiegel

The Rosia Montana mine in Romania is currently one of Europe's most controversial projects. Plans by Bucharest to push through approval for the large-scale mining that would eliminate an entire town have sparked mass protests.
...
At the end of August, Prime Minister Victor Ponta signed a proposed law that would annul all of the legal barriers standing in the way of the Rosia Montana project and get the mine underway by the beginning of next year. The law, currently waiting on a parliamentary vote, would give the company extraordinary powers. The hundred or so villagers who have refused to sell their homes in Rosia Montana would be forcefully expropriated, escorted by RMGC's private security firm and compensated at a rate set by the company. The government would then be mandated to issue all necessary permits for construction and exploitation on set terms drawn up by the company, allowing the project to begin well before the new law could be challenged in the European Court of Justice. Once passed, the law would also apply to all new mining projects in the country -- which sparks fears that, given the mineral richness of the Transylvania region, extend far beyond Rosia Montana.
...
But the significance of the case extends far beyond Rosia Montana. Ramona Duminicioiu, a constant figure in the Save Rosia Montana movement for over a decade, sees it as part of a process that links movements as diverse as the Occupy protests in America to this year's uprisings across Europe, from Bulgaria to Turkey, Greece and other countries. "This is a case of our elected government putting corporate interests over public priorities and then blocking any democratic process of opposition through legal measures," she says. "It resonates far beyond Romania as this is a crisis of global capitalism and impotent governments."

People are waking up - and finding their voice. We see people trying to take back the power that belongs to them in countries all over the world. The "spark" is different, but the problem is the same.

However, given the opposing forces (the kleptocracy, with corrupted party politics or "friendly" dictators on a tight leash) and their global organisation, there's likely only one solution:

Unity.