Late last spring, in a small Italian village outside of Pisa called Coltano, thousands of protesters marched against the construction of a new military base in the 180-acre San Rossore Nature Park, a nature preserve that helps to protect fragile wetlands.
It was the largest demonstration held so far by the No Base Movement, a coalition of local residents and anti-militarist and environmental groups that formed after Italy’s then-Prime Minister Mario Draghi earmarked $190 million for the base’s construction. The No Base Movement notes that Pisa and its surrounding villages are already home to a large military presence. The Darby Military Community, a U.S. Army installation under the control of the Italian military and home to the Italian Army Special Forces Command, is less than four miles from Coltano.
While Draghi is no longer in office, Italy’s new, far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, remains committed to the project. The movement, meanwhile, has converged around the proposal’s cost: “The $190 million could be spent differently, to improve everyone’s life,” an organizer tells The Progressive.
Anti-military graffiti covers a sign at an abandoned radar center previously operated by the United States, at the location where the new base would be built.
A rally in Pisa organized by the No Base Movement. The yellow T-shirt, translated from Italian, reads: “No Base. Not in Coltano nor Elsewhere.”
The city council in Pisa discusses the proposal for building a new $190 million military base in Coltano on September 13, 2022. Pisa’s mayor, Michele Conti, supports the project.
Mimmo Russo, a resident of Coltano, in his vegetable garden. He co-founded a local grassroots organization, the Coltano Defense Committee, that is opposed to the base.
Members of the No Base Movement march in the Global Climate Strike in Pisa, in September 2022.
No Base Movement members gather for a three-day assembly in a forest near Coltano.