Coldblooded murder:
Two Panamanian environmental activists were murdered in cold blood on Tuesday. They’d been protesting against Canadian mining operations in a rainforest, which critics say will “devastate” the land and poison drinking water. The activists, who’d set up a roadblock on a major road some 55-miles outside of Panama City, were gunned down by 77-year-old Kenneth Darlington – with the entire incident being caught on camera.
Darlington is said to be a retired professor, with joint citizenship in the US and Panama. In footage, easily accessed online, he’s seen verbally confronting activists, before opening fire with a pistol. One victim, Abdiel Díaz Chávez, died at the scene. The other, Iván Rodríguez Mendoza, was pronounced dead at a local medical facility. Both were teachers.
Environmental activists often face violence and intimidation. In countries such as the UK, this violence is usually limited. But for those who dare to challenge the likes of illegal loggers in the Amazon or oil operations in Nigeria, the consequences have routinely been far more severe – with cases of murder and assassination being well-documented. Whilst the deaths in Panama are a tragedy, we can arguably learn more from the reaction to them than the incident itself.
…Glorified
A cursory search on Twitter (now ‘X’), reveals near endless commentary glorifying the killings…
‘On the plus side, those two activists will no longer produce CO’, Thomas Macioszek (11,000 likes as of writing).
‘Face of a man who is just too tired of this shit’, Jason Green, referencing a photo of the perpetrator, (6,500 likes as of writing).
‘I hear he used ethically sourced, non-gmo, glucose free and soy based rounds.’, Chris D, (2,100 likes, as of writing).
Other comments made reference to how ‘memable’ photos of the perpetrator were, with many making light of the killings. On the one hand, such reactions seemingly suggest that we live in societies increasingly populated by death-worshipping sociopaths, but a more penetrating and serious analysis is required.
The role of the capitalist press
Press coverage of environmental activists and causes is, unsurprisingly, negative. That a press owned and directed by the same class interests as, say, the fossil fuel industry would be so critical is hardly surprising. But the dehumanisation of activists has accelerated. References to ‘eco-mobs’, the propagation of footage containing assaults on activists, has stirred up considerable antipathy amongst the public.
In the UK, routine footage of irate motorists assaulting XR and Just Stop Oil activists is disseminated online. The attackers, overwhelmingly (if not exclusively) male, pour forth their vitriol, manhandling and assaulting activists regardless of their age or sex – with their actions usually brokering near-universal praise from onlookers and online commentators.
That we live and work amongst people that can be transformed into violent thugs due to being inconvenienced is never explored. As is the case with Darlington. This man is clearly mentally deranged, violent, and misogynist (he refused to speak to female activists). Nevertheless, a disturbing number of people already regard him as either aspirational or misunderstood, a Joe Bloggs character who simply couldn’t take it anymore – indeed, references to the cult classic film ‘Falling Down’, which follows a middle-aged White man’s descent into rampage-inducing madness, abound online.
The tedium, monotony, and stresses of capitalist society take their toll on the collective mental well-being of communities. An underlying rage, desperate for a viable outlet, constantly lingers. Male insecurities, and an unwillingness to explore them in a healthy context, have found a perfect, contemporary target in the form of environmental activists – and the establishment is perfectly willing to exploit this to maximum effect.
The task for the left
As the climate crisis accelerates, the future of our species appears to be increasingly fraught. The tangible consequences of extreme weather events are now being felt throughout the world. With more and more people becoming cognizant of this development, the more corporate power seeks to double down on any challenges (perceived or otherwise). One of its most potent strategies, tried and tested for centuries, is to convince working people that their enemies come from below, rather than above.
In the final analysis, a White American gunned down Panamanians who did the only thing they could do in the face of vast, corporate power – take peaceful, direct action. He murdered them because he was inconvenienced and, undoubtedly, riled up by a global media hellbent on destroying anyone or anything that poses a threat to it’s benefactors’ wealth.
The task for socialists is to redirect the anger and frustration of the population away from their fundamental allies, and back towards their real oppressors. If they fail, many more innocent, often desperate people, will die.
