Challenges and learnings: Digital security in the fight against lithium mining

CAD had the opportunity to participate in the First Andean Intercultural and Educational Summit for Indigenous Communities of Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Argentina that took place in the community of El Moreno in Jujuy province, Argentina from January 17th to the 19th, 2025.

The objective of the meeting organized by the Indian Law Resource Center was to bring together communities affected by mining in the so-called Lithium Triangle in order to learn, from the experiences of the different delegations, how to confront the advance of extractivism that threatens the communities and their means of subsistence.

Considering it was the first time that a meeting of this type was held, there were many urgent issues about which the communities discussed together with specialists in various subjects related to legal considerations and the defense of the territories. At the same time, the organization decided to include an equally urgent topic, but very unknown within communities and organizations defending human rights: digital security.

It would be very easy to say that our participation in the event was perfect and that we did not face any challenges, but that would also mean ignoring the learnings that came from this experience.

To begin with, throughout its history CAD has been present mainly in Ecuador, so we’ve been familiar with the dynamics of the country and its people (we still have a lot to learn!). We’ve had a somewhat clearer idea of the digital security situation of the country and in general, we’ve been in permanent contact with the problems that affect the country every day. For this reason, sharing our knowledge with communities has been somehow easier and we have been able to adapt to different contexts without major difficulties.

Although we prepared ourselves by carrying out prior research on the regulatory frameworks and situation of lithium exploitation in each country participating in the summit, we must admit that we had many doubts about how informed the delegations would be on issues related to digital security, since it was not possible for us to have that information in advance. Therefore, we were not sure how receptive our audience would be.

Despite this lack of information, we were able to realize that the interest in learning was there and, above all, a strong need. There were several people who shared with us their concerns and experiences with surveillance, persecution and intimidation by states and extractive companies, where the digital component is increasingly becoming more relevant.

However, it is important to mention that in meetings as diverse as these, the contexts of each indigenous community, of each country, are very different. The mechanisms to confront mining are also very diverse and in that sense, those who have assumed the defense of the territory do not always use the same approaches. The relationship with technology is also very diverse even within the same community, due to age, operational reasons, professional education, among others.

Going back to our participation in the meeting, it should be said that although we had prepared content that we considered sufficiently generic and applicable to different contexts, the reception of our audience was very uneven. Although the majority of the audience was interested on the activities that we proposed, we believe that the youngest people and those who, above all, carry out daily work more related to the use of technology, were the ones who truly understood the information we shared. That leads us to question how much impact we are really having in the communities with whom we share our knowledge and experiences in digital security. Are we really installing new capabilities to keep the defenders of the territory safe or are we generating deeper doubts and fears that are not clarified? Should we refocus on who our beneficiaries really are or should we adapt our content to each context?

They are all very valid doubts and probably, at the time of writing these lines, we do not have a concrete answer for each one of them, but what we are sure of is the enormous responsibility that we have as civil society organizations in ensuring that our contribution to the communities with which we work is as effective as possible and does not become short-term efforts with minimal impact. Meeting the needs that states have failed to address cannot be taken lightly.

At the same time, the limitations with which each community lives undoubtedly represent an additional challenge that makes us value even more the efforts made to generate learning spaces such as this meeting that, without a doubt, contributed to addressing the need to know each context in depth so that our support always aims to solve real problems and not problems that we assume afflict everyone in general.

This was undoubtedly an opportunity to learn and get to know realities that will now strengthen our work with the communities. Protecting those who resist every day from their territories is a mission that must be carried out responsibly.

We now assume the commitment to channel our experiences into meaningful actions that support those who fight for fairer and better days.