March 9th is the day the new President of the Republic takes office, whose term runs until 2031 in Portugal. Faced with the destruction of the “Kristin” bomb, the most recent demonstration that the climate crisis is here, now, and devastating, this president has no plan to guarantee our survival. So, on this day, March 9th, let’s make it clear that we will not be governed by those who want to sell our lives!
After more than 5 years of demonstrations, protests, and actions by students of all ages to prevent politicians from destroying the conditions for life to exist, the political powers at all levels – municipalities, government, and now the presidency – have made their choice clear: to sell our lives to the fossil fuel industry. Faced with a government that is condemning everyone’s lives – destroying all basic services and the conditions for the existence of life – the President has a duty and an obligation to act and not allow a government that is selling the lives of all of us to enrich its friends to remain in office. To fail in this duty is to lack the legitimacy to govern.
We witness, not only on our phones but all around us in flesh and blood, the climate catastrophes that leave schools and hospitals destroyed and hundreds of families displaced; the rise of fascism, fossil fuel imperialism, and politics of hate; the destruction of basic healthcare, education, and access to food services. Those who govern us have blood on their hands, no shame, and continue to make plans to worsen the climate emergency in which we live and in which we already see thousands of people dying every year. At this moment, the demand for “an end to fossil fuels by 2030” is an existential measure – only in this way can we guarantee that living conditions are not destroyed. This is still technically and socially possible, and it is possible to do it fairly and with people at the centre. Their plan, however, is to destroy everything: increase fossil fuel emissions, extract more minerals, sell more territories, displace more people, dismantle more hospitals, and guarantee more catastrophes. If we don’t stop them, we are letting them condemn us to a world of catastrophes, famines, and droughts, condemned to watch everything we love burn.
What happened in Leiria and in central Portugal is not normal. We will not let this become normal. Therefore, on March 9th, students will strike from classes and join young people, workers, and retirees in a demonstration in front of Belém Palace at 6:30 pm, in a popular assembly. We will raise our voices through signs and chants, ensuring that we are not ignored, and that all those holding political power in Portugal, and especially the incoming president, know that it is not only the students, but the whole society that does not consent to them continuing to sell our lives to the fossil fuel industry. While they are celebrating the inauguration of yet another politician who ignores, tramples on, and destroys, we will organise and build power to guarantee a just future for all people!
Right now, everyone has a choice to make: will you stand by and watch everything you love be destroyed, or will you join us in building the power to stop them?
Organised by the Greve Climática Estudantil and Climáximo