The Cáceres Viva party, founded by former Ciudadanos (Cs) councilors and now not attached to the Cáceres City Council, Francisco Alcántara and Mar Díaz, has signed the spokesperson for the Save the Mountain Platform, Montaña Chaves, who will go as number one on his list of candidates for the Assembly of Extremadura, as reported by the Efe agency on Wednesday. Number three on the list will be Sara Lajas.
Thus, the teacher Montaña Chave, one of the main activists against the lithium mine project in Valdeflórez, will be the candidate of the provincialist party for the regional Parliament. Cáceres Viva has already signed another activist from Cáceres for the municipal list, Pedro Moreno (number 3), who currently serves as spokesman for the Association of Friends of the Ribera del Marco and is another of the main opponents of the mining project.
In this way, “we want to make clear our totally negative position on the lithium mine project in Valdeflórez”, stated Alcántara, who last November confirmed his candidacy for the Mayor of Cáceres in the upcoming municipal elections in May. As for Chaves, Alcántara stressed that “it will help us bring the voice of the people of Caceres to the Junta de Extremadura and vindicate our positions.”
Chaves is a professor of Vocational Training, with a degree in Law and a Master’s Degree in Occupational Risk Prevention and Environmental Management from the University of Granada, and currently works as a teacher at the IES El Brocense in Cáceres.
The president of Cáceres Viva has defined her as a “social and environmental activist”, legal adviser, head of communication and spokesperson for Salvemos la Montaña. She is also a columnist and regular contributor to media such as El Salto Diario.
“We will work with unity of purpose, responsibility and decisive action to take advantage of the opportunities and face the challenges, positioning Cáceres one step away from its promising future”, Chaves herself stated in the presentation of her candidacy this Wednesday.