In Indonesia, it's time to end green colonialism
In a vitriolic editorial, the Indonesian website "Omong-Omong" denounces the practices of multinationals that plunder the country's resources, with the complicity of its elite. It particularly points to the responsibility of Emmanuel Macron, who arrived in May to satisfy France's appetite for nickel, under the guise of "decarbonization" that will not benefit the country's inhabitants at all.
Typically, this kind of story begins on the benches of a luxurious cafe in a five-star hotel in Jakarta. There, an elected official from a province rich in mineral resources chats with a broker, a member of parliament from the ruling coalition, and a ministry envoy. And it's over a meal paid for by taxpayers, even more expensive than the monthly salary of many Indonesians, that the business begins.
The heart of the discussion? Land. Or, more precisely, land they don't even own—in this case, to drill nickel mines.
They talk about percentages, concession rights, prices. They rarely talk about the people who inhabit these lands, whether they are indigenous, peasants, or fishermen. They never mention their consent or the destruction to come. All they care about is determining how much each person gets.
If they reach an agreement, they plan a second meeting, this time with the real decision-makers, namely the business leaders. Some are Indonesian tycoons, others represent Chinese, American, or European investors. It is at this precise moment that the vicious cycle of predation begins, on the sly.
The resulting expropriation is not only dramatic,
Courrier International
