James Cameron feels he ‘walked into an ambush’ in Argentine lithium mining dispute

By Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES: Movie director James Cameron says he feels he “walked into an ambush” this week throughout a go to to Argentina by which he believes there was an try to make use of his picture as an environmentalist to offer a constructive spin to lithium mining operations regardless of Indigenous opposition.

Cameron, the director of “Avatar” and “Titanic,” mentioned Friday he would now commit consideration and cash from his Avatar Alliance Foundation to assist Indigenous communities opposing lithium operations in South America.

“Ironically, the outcome of this is that I am now aware of the problem and we will now assist through my foundation with the issue of Indigenous rights with respect to lithium extraction,” Cameron advised a gaggle of journalists gathered in his lodge room within the capital of Buenos Aires Friday night.

Cameron got here to Argentina this week to talk at a sustainability convention in Buenos Aires on Friday.
“I believed that I was coming here to make a kind of motivational speech about environmental causes,” Cameron mentioned.

As a part of the go to, Cameron travelled to northern Jujuy province Thursday to go to a big solar energy plant with Gov. Gerardo Morales and says he was by no means advised lithium could be a part of the dialogue.

After Cameron’s go to, Morales wrote a message on social media thanking Cameron for the go to, writing that the province was seeking to “transform the energy matrix” by initiatives such because the solar energy plant and “lithium extraction.”

The director acquired a letter {that a} group of 33 Indigenous communities from the world had written to him just a few days earlier asking him to both cancel his journey or meet with them so they may clarify their long-held opposition to lithium mining initiatives they are saying have an effect on their land rights and negatively influence the atmosphere.

“I feel like I walked into an ambush,” Cameron advised journalists after assembly with native environmentalists, saying he was unaware of controversy involving lithium initiatives. “I feel like I was put into an optic that had meaning that I wasn’t aware of.”

Although Cameron says he “doesn’t know the exact architecture” of how the “ambush” occurred, he feels there was an effort to make use of his picture not simply due to his assist for environmental causes but additionally due to the overarching message of “Avatar.”

“‘Avatar’ is the highest grossing film in history. It is about the conflict between an extraction industry and the rights of Indigenous people,” Cameron mentioned. “If you could generate an optic where I appear to be approving of lithium mining, then you have a mandate of some sort or an approval of some sort.”

In their letter to Cameron, representatives of the Indigenous communities made a direct reference to “Avatar” to enchantment for the director’s assist.

“Jujuy is Pandora, and it is under the threat of the greed of the mining industry, and we are the Na’vi,” reads the letter, referring to the fictional world the place “Avatar” takes place and its inhabitants who battle in opposition to colonizing miners.

Before leaving Argentina, Cameron met with Verónica Chávez, the consultant of one of many Indigenous communities from Jujuy.

Argentina is the fourth-largest producer of lithium and is a component of what’s referred to as the “lithium triangle,” an space that comprises a big share of the world’s confirmed reserves of the steel and in addition contains neighboring Chile and Bolivia. Demand for lithium is hovering amid the transition to renewable power all over the world and the expansion in electrical automobiles which are powered by lithium batteries.
 

BUENOS AIRES: Movie director James Cameron says he feels he “walked into an ambush” this week throughout a go to to Argentina by which he believes there was an try to make use of his picture as an environmentalist to offer a constructive spin to lithium mining operations regardless of Indigenous opposition.

Cameron, the director of “Avatar” and “Titanic,” mentioned Friday he would now commit consideration and cash from his Avatar Alliance Foundation to assist Indigenous communities opposing lithium operations in South America.

“Ironically, the outcome of this is that I am now aware of the problem and we will now assist through my foundation with the issue of Indigenous rights with respect to lithium extraction,” Cameron advised a gaggle of journalists gathered in his lodge room within the capital of Buenos Aires Friday night.googletag.cmd.push(operate() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

Cameron got here to Argentina this week to talk at a sustainability convention in Buenos Aires on Friday.
“I believed that I was coming here to make a kind of motivational speech about environmental causes,” Cameron mentioned.

As a part of the go to, Cameron travelled to northern Jujuy province Thursday to go to a big solar energy plant with Gov. Gerardo Morales and says he was by no means advised lithium could be a part of the dialogue.

After Cameron’s go to, Morales wrote a message on social media thanking Cameron for the go to, writing that the province was seeking to “transform the energy matrix” by initiatives such because the solar energy plant and “lithium extraction.”

The director acquired a letter {that a} group of 33 Indigenous communities from the world had written to him just a few days earlier asking him to both cancel his journey or meet with them so they may clarify their long-held opposition to lithium mining initiatives they are saying have an effect on their land rights and negatively influence the atmosphere.

“I feel like I walked into an ambush,” Cameron advised journalists after assembly with native environmentalists, saying he was unaware of controversy involving lithium initiatives. “I feel like I was put into an optic that had meaning that I wasn’t aware of.”

Although Cameron says he “doesn’t know the exact architecture” of how the “ambush” occurred, he feels there was an effort to make use of his picture not simply due to his assist for environmental causes but additionally due to the overarching message of “Avatar.”

“‘Avatar’ is the highest grossing film in history. It is about the conflict between an extraction industry and the rights of Indigenous people,” Cameron mentioned. “If you could generate an optic where I appear to be approving of lithium mining, then you have a mandate of some sort or an approval of some sort.”

In their letter to Cameron, representatives of the Indigenous communities made a direct reference to “Avatar” to enchantment for the director’s assist.

“Jujuy is Pandora, and it is under the threat of the greed of the mining industry, and we are the Na’vi,” reads the letter, referring to the fictional world the place “Avatar” takes place and its inhabitants who battle in opposition to colonizing miners.

Before leaving Argentina, Cameron met with Verónica Chávez, the consultant of one of many Indigenous communities from Jujuy.

Argentina is the fourth-largest producer of lithium and is a component of what’s referred to as the “lithium triangle,” an space that comprises a big share of the world’s confirmed reserves of the steel and in addition contains neighboring Chile and Bolivia. Demand for lithium is hovering amid the transition to renewable power all over the world and the expansion in electrical automobiles which are powered by lithium batteries.