Environmental activists occupy schools and universities in Lisbon

After more than a week of occupations at schools and universities in Lisbon, dozens of young environmental activists gathered to protest at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy of Portugal. The group claims the resignation of the holder of the portfolio, António Costa e Silva, who made a career as an executive in the oil sector.

On the afternoon of this Tuesday (15), some of the demonstrators glued their hands to the ground and refused to leave the building, in the center of the Portuguese capital. The police were called and managed to remove the students, who were taken to a police station.

The action took place shortly after the students were received by the minister for a meeting, scheduled after occupations in some of the most traditional schools and colleges in Lisbon.

Speaking after the episode, António Costa e Silva said he was in favor of the fight against global warming and dialogue with young people, but said he would not resign.

“I’m certainly not going to resign, who has that say is the prime minister,” he said. According to him, the socialist prime minister, António Costa, is “very calm with the situation”.

The Minister of Economy said that he was prepared to accept the proposals of the demonstrators, but that he only heard requests for his resignation, justified by his connection with the oil company Partex, of which he was president until 2021.

“They focused on my past and my path”, said Costa e Silva, who says he is in favor of the use of renewable energies and the energy transition.

Amidst the pressure, other government figures have been defending Costa e Silva. Case of the Minister of Infrastructure, Pedro Nuno Santos.

“The Minister of Economy has given great support to the railway sector, which also shows very well his willingness to take advantage of the climate transition to develop our economy, to do more sustainable things”.

Actions in Portugal began on November 7 and join other occupations and acts of civil disobedience around the world, taking advantage of the mobilization for climate issues due to the holding of COP27 (UN climate conference), which takes place until the end of this week in Egypt.

The police had already been mobilized to end an occupation, last Friday (11), at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon. The four young people removed by the police have already been brought before the courts. They rejected a proposal made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office –which involved a commitment not to participate in similar demonstrations– and will be judged at the end of the month.

The police also acted to prevent the invasion of the building of the Order of Accountants, on Saturday (12), where the Minister of Economy, the main target of the protests, was participating in an event.

The images of the students being dragged by the police went around the country, but the corporation denies that there was a disproportionate use of force.

One of the most traditional schools in Lisbon, Liceu Camões also had student occupations. Protesters were camped at the institution for more than a week and even closed the gates on Monday (14), preventing the entry of other students.

After negotiations with the school’s management, the process was closed and access was cleared. During the occupation, the students also carried out actions to raise awareness of environmental problems.

A student at the school and one of the student representatives, Inês Esteves, 16, says that the young people intend to raise awareness of the severity of the climate emergency. “We are outraged by this situation [inação do governo] and we want change”, says the young woman, who even slept a few nights at the institution’s camp.

In addition to occupying the building, the students also staged a kind of student strike, missing classes as a form of protest.

“At the beginning, some students were a bit reluctant to miss classes, because we are in a very delicate time, with tests and oral presentations, and we understand that. But, from the beginning, there was great adherence and a lot of understanding”, he adds. .

Although everything indicates that occupations should not continue throughout the week, students promise new occupation actions for next year.