The renowned filmmaker James Cameron denounced that he felt “ambushed” during his visit to Jujuy and blamed the governor of the province directly Gerardo Moralesof having wanted to use his image to promote the extraction of lithium.
“Ironically, the result of all this is that now I am aware of the problem and through my foundation we will help the indigenous rights issue regarding lithium extraction,” Cameron told reporters in Buenos Aires on Friday night. evening.
Cameron had traveled to Argentina to participate in a conference on sustainability in Buenos Aires. “I thought you came here to give some kind of motivational speech about environmental causes”indicated the director of great cinematographic successes such as Avatar and Titanic.
As part of his visit, the filmmaker went to Jujuy to visit a large solar power plant with Governor Morales. As he denounced, no one told him that lithium would be part of the discussion. Given this, Cameron received a letter sent to him by a group of 33 indigenous communities in the area asking him to meet with them to explain his opposition to lithium extraction projects.
“I feel like I fell into an ambush”Cameron said after a meeting with local environmentalists. In addition, he assured that he was unaware of the controversy surrounding the extraction of lithium. “I feel that I was introduced to an optic of whose meaning I was not aware,” he insisted.
The response of the Government of Jujuy
The government of Jujuy clarified through a statement that the invitation made to the filmmaker to visit that province was promoted by a foundation “that opposes the production of Lithium.”
“It was not the responsibility of the Government of the Province, nor of the Governor to bring Cameron to Jujuy. The filmmaker was invited by a foundation, which is the one that took charge of his arrival in Argentina and requested a visit to the province, since the filmmaker came to speak on sustainability,” they explained.
They also added: “The decision of that foundation, and for which it decided to invite him to Jujuy, was based on the fact that Jujuy is the province that is working the most in the fight against Climate Change and the decarbonization of the energy matrix, with the objective to achieve Carbon Neutral 2023”.
“The Government of Jujuy regrets that they have transmitted false information to the filmmaker, in bad faith and with a clear intention of political exploitation”they specified.
In the community of Tres Pozos (Salinas Grandes and Guayatalloc) there is no ongoing lithium project, because their communities oppose it.
Lithium projects in Jujuy are being developed in places where the communities (after a long prior informed consultation process) gave their consent.
“That is why we regret that they have brought false information to the filmmaker and we regret that those who take their positions against lithium production to an extreme generate this type of confusion,” they explained from the Jujuy government.
In addition, they added: “We regret the political use that some sector made of the issue, with absolute bad faith and cynicism, transmitting false information to the acclaimed director.”
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
