Val di Susa, three decades in the fight against VAT
- Like last year, some members of the movement against the TAV of Euskal Herria have been in Val di Susa this summer. This valley, located in the Italian Alps, has been fighting the TAV line for over three decades, which they intend to build to unite the cities of Turin and Lyon. At present, the budget for this project amounts to EUR 25 billion, a length of 270 kilometres is foreseen and would pass through the Alps through a tunnel of 57.5 kilometres.
During the days we have been in the valley, we have had the opportunity to chat with several people of the movement, we have participated in several initiatives and we have known the space “presidio dei mulini”. This post of “presidio” or surveillance has been occupied by militants opposed to the TAV with the approval of the owner since June 11, when the works began after the confinement. To protect the entrance of an auxiliary tunnel to the railway network, it is located within the red area occupied by the State, “presidio dei mulini”. After so many years and as a result of the struggle of the inhabitants of the area, this tunnel is, as far as Italy is concerned, the only area in works. Being a red zone means that entry is prohibited. Only those who have some property inside the enclosure have permission to enter, and yet they have to pass the controls of the Police and the Army. The State's expenditure on personal and economic resources for this purpose is around 90,000 euros a day. “Presidio dei mulini” are former privately owned mills, so for the time being, the police have not evicted people.
The project to build a high-speed line in the valley began in the 1990s. Since then, the inhabitants of the valley and the nearby city of Turin have organized themselves around the NO TAV movement to protest the damage that this project would bring. If the project were carried out, the damage would be substantial. These are set out in an extensive document produced by the Pro Natura Torino Association, with 150 reasons for opposing this infrastructure. This report lists the impacts on the environment, on people’s health, economic and social, and dismantles the idea of the progress they sell us with the TAV. It should also be borne in mind that a rail network for the transport of persons and goods between Turin and Lyon is already in operation.
The NO TAV movement is heterogeneous, consisting of thousands of people from the Susa valley and near Turin. In addition, it has the support and participation of most municipalities in the valley. When organizing activities and initiatives, they are divided into groups of ideological affinities: Catholics, Anarchists and Self-Employed; the latter have communist ideology and have as their reference center the Gaztetxe of Turin Askatasuna. This plurality, the ability to organize important mobilizations and the agreements on the actions they carry out, give strength to the movement and has allowed it to remain for so many years.
"Sabotages are actions of peaceful resistance"
As for the activities they perform, they have an agreement between all the groups: not to harm the physical integrity of people. In this context, several militants have stressed that for the NO TAV movement "sabotages against works are actions of peaceful resistance". A member of the movement told us that manifestations mean a feeling that is contrary to works and that they are necessary, but that physical confrontation is also necessary to stop works. In the same vein, Emilio Scaldo, 65 years old and detained at his home, reminded us of the statements of an Italian minister: "You continue to manifest, for we will follow the works."
Although this summer Alta Felicita has not been celebrated for the measures taken as a result of COVID-19, it has been one of the most agitated in recent years, with mobilizations, acts, initiatives and activities practically every day. The occupation of “Presidio dei mulini” and the actions that have been carried out around it have attracted new generations in the fight against the TAV. In addition, Emilio Scalzo and Nicoletta Dosato, a historical militant of the 73-year-old movement who respects and knows personalities of the movement, have been the impetus for mobilizations against home incarceration.
The struggle is more lively than ever and we look at it with respect and admiration from the movement against the TAV in Euskal Herria. We hope to be able to return next year and continue to learn from an exemplary struggle that is succeeding in stopping a project with companies and interests so powerful in the past.
* Iñigo Leza is a member of the AHTrik ez Lautada group
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