‘Oil-free seas!’- Protesters rally in Mar de Plata against plan for offshore oil drilling

« A wave of protests has swept across more than ten Argentine cities, as citizens vehemently oppose plans for oil exploitation in the Argentine Sea. The demonstrations were sparked by the arrival of Equinor, a Norwegian company’s seismic vessel, to scout potential oil reserves in the area on Wednesday.
The footage shows one of the protests in Mar de Plata, where a performer is in an act advocating against oil exploitation in the sea while other protesters marched through the city streets holding banners and chanting against the act.
The protests coincide with the imminent arrival of the BGP Prospector ship, conducting seismic exploration in the Argentine Sea to determine potential oil reserves over 300 kilometres off the coast of Mar del Plata, where YPF, Shell, and Equinor plan to drill in 2024.
Demonstrators denounce government actions and alleged judiciary complicity in oil extraction. They argue that the deepening of the extractive model aims to generate revenue for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
« We are fighting because the national government and the oil corporations intend to install an offshore oil project 300 km from our coasts and also along the entire Atlantic coast, and we understand that it will impact our sea, our marine system and our communities, » explained Fernanda, member of the Genova assembly for a sea free of oil companies in Mar del Plata.
Civil disobedience movements like ‘Just Stop Oil’ in England, as well as territorial campaigns in countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Argentina, are actively opposing oil exploitation. In Argentina, these protests have emerged in multiple cities, reflecting citizens’ resistance to using communal assets to address the country’s financial debts. »



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