What is the NoDAPL protest?

At first the DAPL pipeline was made through Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, Bismarck, and mostly it has white population. People were complaining that they didn't want the pipeline to go through there. As a result, the managers of the Dakota Access project changed their trajectory, moving the pipeline to the territorial reserves of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota populations, recognized by the U.S. Government and the countries of origin in the Laramie fortress in 1851. The Standing Rock community needs the Missouri River. An oil spill can contaminate the river's water and destroy the water of 18 million people downstream. The pipeline has endangered the local ecosystem, but in addition, by favouring the exploitation of fossil fuels, climate change is increasing. The movement against the pipeline began by young and women from Standing Rock, who put their bodies in front of the construction machinery; we have used direct nonviolent action.

You have drawn the attention of the media around the world.

The first camp, called Sacred Stone, was in the preserve of the Sioux tribe. The camp grew and spread to the lands of the 1851 Convention. The United States Army engineering agency, Army Corp Engineers, claimed that those lands were theirs, but the United States Constitution guarantees that those lands belong to the countries cited above. At first the fight was not violent because the police did not have the means to answer the questions. They called the National Army Guard and the Police from other regions of the United States. Among them were "anti-terrorist" companies like SpringfieldSwan, one of the mercenary companies that has been at U.S. command in the Middle East. All of them have collaborated in defending the Dakota Access pipeline and corporate interests.

What kind of direct nonviolent action have you exercised?

Our strategy has been the main one to paralyse the works. We started in August 2016. First of all, we investigated where the pipeline works should begin and organized mobilizations to that place. Putting our bodies in front of the machines, the Dakota Access project lost millions of dollars. Over time, more and more security measures began to be taken and the Police began to respond with violence and repression: rubber balls, confusing grenades, ear-damaging weapons, claws and taser pistols, among others. Many of the weapons mentioned, according to the police, are not deadly, but water cannons have been used outdoors for temperatures below zero, which has put us at risk of hypothermia, because they could have killed someone easily. Police repression had hardened, but there were a lot of people who endured. This situation of tension and violence lasted until the end of the camp.

Why did the US Government use mercenaries?

The North Dakota Government was not prepared to deal with this kind of resistance, but there was direct collaboration between the U.S. Government and the Dakota Access project. The companies behind the project, such as Enbridge and Energy Transfer Partners, have a lot of money, have enough power to hire mercenary companies and the mercenaries are willing to use any form. Groups like SpringfieldSwan infiltrated themselves, and we didn't know until late. Many activists were signed and spied. I don't think the North Dakota Police have the means to do this, they don't know how to deal with a camp as big as this.

The U.S. Government has also started using SpringfieldSwan to suppress the protests against Trump, which he has described as unspeakable. Do you think they are also going to use mercenaries against the rest of the social protests?

Yes, I think the current administration is going to increase. NoDAPL is one of many other struggles. The fight against climate change is also against xenophobia, homophobia and sexism. They continue to give power to rich white men, so many collectives are opposed to the fascism of this administration. More and more people will fight, and more mercenaries will fight movements.

What is the relationship between the transfer of the initial Dacota Access project and the government’s treatment of the countries of origin?

As the pipeline passes through our lands, the government wants to destroy us as a people of origin. It is a clear example of racism, of environmental racism today. The Government and the corporations have exploited these lands for years, an example of which are excavations and uranium mining. The people of origin have been the first to be affected by these activities.

Obama paralyzed the DAPL project in the fall of 2016, but Trump put it back on track.

The Obama administration didn't paralyze the project, it just slowed it down. On December 4, Army Corp Engineers said it will not authorize the Dakota Access project for drilling under the Missouri River under the conditions imposed by the environmental impact report in order to continue the project. However, the Obama administration could have done much more to paralyze the project, but I don't think Obama really intended to protect the people of origin, because Dakota Access continued to drill.

Why did Trump relaunch the project?

Trump is funding the pipeline project and, at the same time, Energy Transfer Partners, because the company that is building Dakota Access funded Trump’s election campaign. The Trump administration and Dakota Access are enriching themselves in coordinated cooperation.

Will this issue have legal effects?

Standing Rock has opened legal proceedings for the illegal construction of a public transport pipeline in Gipuzkoa. Its construction has taken place on the lands agreed in 1851, which is a violation of the American Constitution. Standing Rock has every right to fight in the courts, but I believe that nothing will be achieved in the courts. Assistance to the courts has never served the people of origin. All aspects of the struggle are important, but I think the best strategy is civil disobedience, direct nonviolent action, exposure of our bodies to the pipeline.

They have also put forward a campaign of disversion.

We put pressure on the banks that are funding the pipeline project. We publicly shame them for building a pipeline and financing the genocide of the people of origin. With the funding of these projects, the banks reaffirm the oppression we have suffered over the past 500 years and since the creation of the United States. The United States, which drives environmental racism, is funding the destruction of our sacred lands. We demand that the investment be reversed.

There is one such bank, BBVA, which is “from here”.

BBVA has invested $120 million in the Standing Rock project. That's one of the reasons we're here right now. We denounce that BBVA and the European bank Credit Suisse are investing billions of dollars in the Dakota Access project. These European banks give continuity to the colonization and oppression of indigenous peoples. We're tired and we're not going to endure anymore, we're going to keep fighting and embarrassing ourselves.

What do you mean to the people there?

If at BBVA they have an account that they are driving genocide against our people and against mother earth. The first step is to close the account. Banks like BBVA have dirty hands and we have to warn and wake people up.

Have you said that the fight will continue, how?

We think as a people of origin that it is worth leaving young people a more enjoyable world. We will continue to move around the divestment campaign, signalling and marking the banks. For example, in October we will have another tour of Europe. We are thinking of a resistance approach, there are other fights against pipelines, which can be seen soon, but I cannot talk about it.