Today's Topics:
1. Anarchist Federation of Mexico - IFA: Ecuador, October 9,
2019: 7th day of Paro Nacional and 1st day of General Strike.
(ca, it) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. CNT union: Spain must end relations with Turkey (ca, it)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. ASF-IWA, From our friends in Tunisia - cnt-ait, The Arab
Spring: failed revolutions and a successful transfer of power
(fr) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. wsm.ie: Reduced numbers at 2019 March for Choice after
referendum win but a big fight is coming in 2021
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Slovania, Prima Akcia*: We start open meetings with the
association Direct action in BA [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. freedom news: The frontline is everywhere: Communique from a
comrade in Syria (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. freedom news: Libertarian manifest on the Ecuadorian crisis
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. ait russia: Anarcho-syndicalists take part in student and
teacher protests in Colombia [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Pamphlet of a proletarian @ pissed off from the Ecuadorian region for the world anarchist
communist revolution, from "where potatoes burn": ---- We are fighting in the streets with
the proletarian masses of the city and the countryside. There is no time or copiers
available to take out and distribute this pamphlet on paper. It is more pleasant and
helpful to live the experience of rebellion than to write about it. ---- We fled the
puppet president of the businessmen and thieves bankers of the Carondelet Palace and we
took the National Assembly, through massive direct actions and class solidarity networks,
despite the terrorism of his State (state of exception, brutal police repression and
military, hundreds of detainees, dozens injured, several dead, curfew).
We do not know when or how the current situation will end. But we do know that the social
struggle continues and must continue, having clear and firm the following minimum and
non-negotiable claims:
* Repeal the entire economic package, not just the rise in tickets.
* Repeal the state of exception and curfew.
* Overthrow all "the powers" of Moreno's government, his bosses and his henchmen.
* Do not negotiate or yield with the State of the rich and powerful that kill us from
hunger and bullet. Do not be robbed by the bourgeoisie and the opportunist politicians of
the right or of the left the power we have gained in the streets these days. Do not demand
new elections and new government. Enough of the same old political book of crap.
Self-government of the masses.
* Keep the Assemblies everywhere to self-organize the mobilization, solidarity, supply,
health and self-defense of our people.
* Demand the return of all the money stolen by businessmen, bankers and politicians, in
order to improve the living conditions of the working class in the countryside and the city.
* Expel Mining and the IMF.
* Release detained partners.
* Breaking the media fence and denouncing the economic and police terrorism of the State.
* Call for concrete international class solidarity around the world.
Proletarians in struggle of this country:
We win or lose, we have awakened from the historical lethargy, responded to the attacks of
all kinds of the ruling class, done things that have not been done in many years, and we
are learning in practice several important lessons during these days of intense class
struggle .
Let us win or lose, keep the flame of the proletarian struggle burning to be able to build
and sustain in the medium and long term an autonomous social force with the necessary and
sufficient capacity and clarity to take power not from the bourgeois state, which must be
destroyed from root, but about our lives. To make the social revolution to the end, that
is, the abolition and positive overcoming of private property, merchandise, wage labor,
money, class society, the State, the homeland and all forms of oppression between beings.
Human and about nature.
It's not about surviving less badly, but about living really!
It's not about changing your master, but about stopping having it!
Long live the National Unemployment and the General Strike!
Class War and Insurrection!
Free Communes throughout the country!
For the transformation and communication of everything that exists!
Let's go to Life!
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Message: 2
CNT warned that "the life of our partners and our international partners, who have joined
their fate to that of the local population is in danger because of the Turkish attack".
---- The CNT (Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo) union issued the "strongest condemnation
of the genocidal attempts and ethnic cleansing of the Turkish regime." ---- The CNT added
in its statement: "For some time now, our practical solidarity with democratic
confederalism and with the revolution in Rojava has been shaped by supporting the campaign
of the Internationalist Commune for the ecological recovery of the area, a campaign also
undertaken by the sections of the International Confederation of Labor."
Today, said the CNT, "because of the Turkish attack, not only is this project in danger,
but also the life of our partners and our international partners, who have joined their
fate to that of the local population. Let no one doubt that we will do everything in our
power to defend the revolution, to our internationalist comrades and partners and to
civilians."
For this reason, the CNT "demands that the government of Spain, in the hands of the PSOE,
stop supporting, or turn a deaf ear to the human rights attack that is taking place in
northern Syria, to position itself publicly against this invasion and ask for the air
exclusion zone in northern Syria to avoid the massacre of civilians.
Otherwise, we will understand that the government is not interested at all in the fight
against Islamist terrorism and indeed is only interested in its trade relations with
Turkey and its regime with bloodstained hands."
https://anfenglish.com/news/cnt-union-spain-must-end-relations-with-turkey-38286
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Message: 3
It seems as if there is a predetermined pattern or a pre-equipped program for all the
so-called (Arab Spring revolutions), demonstrations against a corrupt and decaying old
authority, suppressed by the regime's police forces, the army intervenes to stop the
repression after a while and declares itself a neutral force outside the regime and rule
among the political forces The Salafis were used as a scarecrow to frighten the liberal
forces, handing power to the right wing of the regime represented in the moderate
political Islam (the Brotherhood) for a while, and then transferring power to other wings
of the former regime, wings that did not emerge in the first rows of it, the above It is
almost malach What happened in all the Arab Spring revolutions, with different differences
imposed by the local circumstances of each state, the Islamists always enter the line,
always end up handing over power to the former regime, the army always plays the role of
neutral government, and the revolutionary movement always ends in a worse economic and
political situation. From those revolutions,
We can, of course, justify and explain this view
But let's start by defining the pattern of movement of these revolutions from within:
1 - usually led by the middle class with a heavy presence of students and youth, the
popular classes are shifted to the background of the picture once the period of violent
clash with the police.
2. These revolutions lack the political axis, where there is no presence of any clear
political program or organized political forces. They usually do not present any clear
program or objectives, which offer populist slogans and (demands), not programs or objectives.
3 - These revolutions lack a radical position, they do not aim to remove (the whole)
system, but calls for political reforms limited to reform the political system, and
improve the conditions of voting, and combat administrative corruption and get rid of
certain figures in the system of government.
4 - These revolutions generally avoid a real clash with the (regime), with the state as a
whole, it avoids the creation of dual power by declaring a revolutionary government from
the street, for example, and it avoids the control or occupation of the joints of the
state such as parliament, banks, headquarters of ministries, etc.
5 - Avoiding those revolutions complete break with the regime, they are hostile to part of
it, but the alliance of another part (the army) and its transformation to rule over the
conflict addressed to its demands.
6 - These revolutions simply represent the maximum possible movement of the middle class,
they are reformist, conciliatory, does not announce a complete departure from obedience to
the system, avoid violent clash and prefer peaceful forms of expression, and ask the
system to repair part of the rest of its parts.
These revolutions succeeded, they succeeded in reshaping the ruling state system. In
Tunisia, they succeeded in restoring the old guard in the Constitutional Party to rule. It
is even more so in both Algeria and Sudan in the second wave of the Arab Spring.
Simply these were not revolutions, but rather limited uprisings resulting from the
restlessness of the middle class, which met with the restlessness of the wings of
government from the control of one wing for too long, those called revolutions, which
lacked any real class dimension or even a biased economic program for the poorer classes,
and lacked the courage to depart from Obeying the state and declaring a revolutionary
government or political system are not what we anarchists are fighting for. We do not
underestimate its value as a school to train the street and the masses, and an instrument
to expose and expose the entire state system, but we believe and strive for a class
revolution by masses of hard-working people in order to destroy the authority of the state
and give power And wealth for people, For real hardworking people.
http://blog.cnt-ait.info/post/2019/10/13/printemps-arabe
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Message: 4
The 2019 annual March for Choice in Dublin was smaller than the previous two marches as
many assumed the abortion referendum that Repealed the hated 8th amendment had settled the
issue.In fact the legislation brought in by the Fine Gael government in the months after
the referendum left some groups behind, in particular migrants and forces everyone to go
through a medically useless 3 day waiting period.Despite being warned about this and other
issues including the trans exclusive language Fine Gael went ahead with the flawed
legislation so some still have to travel and not everyone has the papers or resources to
be able to do so.The legislation is up for review in 2021 and the anti-choice
organisations are gearing up to try and roll back the legislation, the pro-choice movement
needs to not only stop them doing so but needs to try and force whoever is in power to
remove the flaws in the legislation.[Video]https://youtu.be/It_9wE2xQwk
Documents mentioned in narration
ARC submission on draft legislation
https://www.abortionrightscampaign.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ARC-submission-on-the-Health-Regulation-of-Termination-of-Pregnancy-Bill.pdf
Race, Identity & the State after Irish abortion referenda
https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0141778919845881
Video of the speeches
Transcript of narration
[chants] Our bodies, Our lives, Our right to decide Our bodies, Our lives, Our right to decide
Numbers on the 2019 March for Choice organized by the Abortion Rights Campaign were
significantly down on last year I would say probably less than a quarter of the number
marched and very considerably down on the pre-referendum march, it was probably about one
thirtieth of that. The reasons why are not that hard to understand a lot of people simply
see it as we won the referendum and haven't heard about or aren't particularly aware of
the problems in the legislation that Fine Gael enacted. That was the reason for the theme
of this year's march which was 'No One Left Behind'
[chants]No one left behind, no one left behind
It's an expression of a reality that in fact quite a number of groups were left behind and
that the legislation needs significant improvement. There is a timetable for that the
legislationthat was passed included a review after three years so sometime probably in
late 2021 there should be a review process and it's already apparent that the anti-choice
movements are gearing up for that process with the intention to try and introduce as many
restrictions as possible. As with other situations we can expect that the anti-choice
movement in Ireland is getting advice from their funders in the United States and will be
implementing exactly the sort of tactics that have been used in the United States to
rollback abortion access in the aftermath of Roe vs. Wade. We do have to presume that
they're going to be able to do this if unopposed they already succeeded in terms of the
legislation that was passed in getting that mandatory three-day waiting period and the
requirement for two visits to the doctor. That makes access for many people very much
harder and it does not have any basis whatsoever in medicine.
In fact it's very useful to read the ARC submission on the flaws of the draft legislation
that was sent in the August after the referendum passed where you'll see many of these
points covered it in quite a bit of detail. So Fine Gael can hardly claim not to have been
warned - the inclusion of the barriers to access is very much a deliberate policy. You can
find that submission at tinyurl.com/ARCsubmission
For instance specifically on the mandatory waiting period I'll quote "The government
itself must remove the significant legislative barrier to access currently proposed and
medically unnecessary three-day waiting period. Barriers to abortion access will only
serve to undermine the law and endanger the welfare of abortion seekers.They will force
some in Ireland to travel abroad for care as if the eighth had never been repealed or to
order pills online instead of receiving a doctor's care." with ARC "strongly urging the
government harmonize the proposed legislation with the Gender RecognitionAct 2015 by
making it explicitly inclusive of transgender and non-binary people who can and do become
pregnant and avail of abortion.This can be done by using the words person or person who is
pregnant rather than woman throughout the legislation or at a minimum defining woman to
encompass anyone of any age who can become pregnant."
That ARC document on the flaws in the Fine Gael legislation is worth reading it's about 10
pages in length but it very definitely establishes that Fine Gael were very clearly warned
that the legislation they proposed to introduce would result in a lot of people being left
behind and went ahead with that anyway. And that's not just important in the context of
who's to blame for that happening but also in the realization that one of the reasons Fine
Gael did that was for their own conservative base. If the anti-choice movement manages to
build a significant and large movement demanding restrictions in 2021 it's very likely
that either a Fine Gael or Fianna Fail government will make compromises to that movement
and the existing legislation will be further undermined.
[Chanting]Not the church, not the state Women must decide their fate
[Chanting]Not the church, not the state People must decide their fate
The other impact the flaws in the legislation I've had is to cause a certain amount of
demoralization and indeed even division within the pro-choice movement. You'll get some
sense of that if you listen to all the speeches at the end of the video. Very briefly at
the start of the actual referendum campaign ARC voted to enter into a coalition that was
called Together for Yes and that coalition managed to involve just about everybody who was
campaigning for a yes vote in the referendum. Of course the problem with the coalition of
everybody was that meant it also it involved people in Fine Gael who were very willing to
vote yes mainstream NGOs and a whole lot of others that were relatively conservative
voices but we're willing to go yes on that message.
Obviously in such a campaign it's not going to be the case that the most radical element
get to define what the messaging of the campaign is, it's all going to come out as
compromises and some of the compromises that ended up being made were not to talk about
migrant access to abortion and also not to talk about trans rights. The sense that
Together for Yes had was that that would overly complicate the issue and was likely to
result in a smaller yes vote or perhaps even a defeat. The problems with this are laid out
in an article by Paulo Revetti called 'Race Identity and the State After the Abortion
Referendum' which you'll find at tinyurl.com/t4ymessaging Specifically they argue "The
strategy of pro-choice activists to focus on abortion narrowly instead of approaching the
issue of reproductive justice intersectionally laid the foundations for the continuous
invisiblization in the law of those people who represent the 'other' to the Irish population"
My understanding is that the vote in ARC to enter Together for Yes was more or less
unanimous and really it's that decision that meant there was going to be compromises on
the messaging that followed. Was there an alternative tothat? Perhaps there might have
been - the alternative really would have been the ARC staying outside of Together for Yes,
Together for Yes would then have been the mainstream NGOs and Fine Gael politicians, it
would probably have had very much different messaging. The one significant problem with
that strategy is it[T4Y]would probably also have had almost all the media access. So that
while ARC would have been able to stick to its preferred messaging it may not have had
that much of an opportunity to get it across to people. In the aftermath of the referendum
most, indeed perhaps all, pro-choice activists reported that what they found difficult
about canvassing was having to listen to people's concerns that were based on misogyny and
reactionary politics and not being able to take those ideas directly on because you were
hoping to get them to vote yes despite that. In fact you could almost say that there's a
kind of form of PTSD in the aftermath with people unhappy about those compromises and it's
perhaps even less surprising that the greatest intensity of feeling around this is from
those who were left behind in terms of the campaign messaging, migrants and trans people
in particular. Hence the 'No one left behind demand' as the main theme of this march.
The pro-choice movement now finds itself in a little bit of a tricky situation the
demoralisation and divisions that came about because of the flaws in the Fine Gael
legislation and the Together for Yes campaign mean that the numbers that actually took
part are down and a lot of activists are feeling a bit burnt out and exhausted. However we
know that in a couple of years time there's going to be the review of the legislation and
we can see that the anti-choice side are very much regrouping.They have the significant
advantage in that although the demoralization and division on their side is considerably
worse they have operated on the basis of receiving very significant funds particularly
coming in from the United States and that, the thing about receiving significant funds is
it means that they're able to run an operation that's actually based on paid people,
working out of office rather than the pro-choice campaign which is essentially based on
unpaid volunteers. Even if people are burned out if they're being paid they will still
turn up and you can have things like sending people to the National Ploughing Championship
to sign people up.
The other major form of preparation the anti-choice side are taking is that they're
launching their own forms of online social media and in particular the new, quite hard
right, new site called GRIPT that has the involvement of some of the more extreme elements
of the anti-choice movement. But the other disturbing thing it's doing is it's very much
pivoting towards the wave of racism focused around the building of new Direct Provision
centers in places like Oughterard, Moiville and Rooskey that the very small Irish
far-right has managed to successfully manipulate and to start grow a movement out of.
Those of us who use Twitter a lot observed that in the aftermath of the referendum a lot
of the Twitter accounts that were being used to push the most virulent anti-choice
messaging started to also push equally virulent racist messaging so it's pretty clear that
the far-right that was running those accounts identified a gap in the market, if you like,
amongst no voters and have been seeking to exploit that ever since. Peter Casey's election
campaign of course where as soon as he came out with anti traveller racism he saw his vote
go from about 2% to about 19 percent is another indication of that sort of gap.
It's nothing like a majority of people in Ireland but it is enough that you could build a
really nasty party out of. All of which is to say that it's a pretty high-stakes situation
even beyond the immediate issue of abortion legislation. You have a far-right movement
that's hoping to grow out of the mobilizations that will take place to demand restrictive
legislation in the review in a couple of years time and of course you have that
anti-choice movement itself that has a model based on what's happening in the United
States, that is already well funded, is reorganizing itself, has already launched its own
media platform and I think we can definitely expect to see go on the offensive in the next
few months as a build-up to trying to bring in additional restrictions.
On the other hand for us the legislation is nothing like good enough, it's left too many
people behind. What we find ourselves with a comparatively weak movement that is only
mobilizing one thirtieth of the people that it was mobilizing two years ago. So the big
challenge is how to rebuild that movement and how to rebuild it in the context where there
is genuine deeply felt division and conflict. Next year's March for Choice is probably
going to be a key test as to whether or not that is succeeding and that's very much going
to be dependent on people who had sort of dropped out or only briefly involved around the
referendum and deciding to come back and get centrally involved in building. If we don't
see a March for Choice next year that's in the thousands then we really not need to be
worried about what's going to happen in terms of the review of legislation. And the odds
are the March for Choice the year afterwards will happen right before the review or
perhaps even during the course of it and that really therefore will need to get back to a
mobilization of tens of thousands.
So March for Choice is only one aspect of that but it's a barometer of how much of the
network actually exists outside of that The real success of the referendum campaign was
all the local groups that were built around the country and the canvassing that made
possible but it's much harder to actually see those - what we will be able to see is the
attendance that comes out for the March for Choice.
https://wsm.ie/c/2019-march-choice-big-fight-coming-2021
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Message: 5
We think that in Bratislava there are no meetings, discussions and joint activities of
people who are close to the "class approach". We would like to change this through open
meetings. We begin on Saturday 26 October 2019 at 16:00 in the Bystro community living
room . What should the meetings be about? About what you consider important and necessary.
---- We are about practical overlap ---- In the past, discussions at meetings have always
been based on the ideas of the participants and have a practical overlap. We spoke to the
matter and limited the branches unrelated to the topic. ---- What do we mean by practical
overlap? For example, the conclusions of the meetings, which we have long devoted to three
themes: psychological pressure at the workplace, defamation and reputational damage,
employer testimony. Thanks to the meetings, we figured out how to better defend ourselves
from their superiors, and then we used the ideas in our Union's disputes. So we have
better orientation in the issue and posted on the website tips and tricks for the practice
and struggles of workers.
What topics? The ones you consider important!
The topics are up to you. We do not limit them, so they may cover other areas, such as the
workplace, or issues that are currently being addressed by the Direct Action Association.
For example, this summer we organized a meeting where people wanted to discuss (among
other things) a climate strike. The discussion was not limited to the climate strike, but
also concerned the climate crisis itself. The practical overlap was that, as a union, we
subsequently drafted an opinion on the climate strike and attended a demonstration in
Bratislava .
Can anyone come?
If you're close to the classroom view, we'll be happy to see you. If you are in the
political party, security forces, or someone you are in, you better stay at home.
What we expect
In fact, nothing specific, but in general we would like the meetings to contribute to the
development of class-oriented activities in the region (for better understanding, we
recommend that you take a look at this short text about the class -
https://priamaakcia.sk/Kapitalizmus-trieda-a -class-fight-for-not-full-beginners-.html ).
If you have your own ideas for discussion and activity, we will welcome them. We wonder
what problems you are interested in, what you think could be improved in the region, what
upset you, or how we could organize more effectively.
We look forward to meeting you on 26 October.
Union Direct Action
--------------------------------------------------------
* Direct action is a solidarity association of workers,
which focuses on solving problems
in the workplace and the community, and on organizing solidarity actions for the rights
and requirements of
workers in Slovakia and abroad. Since 2000 it has been a section of the International
Workers' Association (MAP), which currently brings together unions and groups from 17
countries around the world.
https://www.priamaakcia.sk/-Re-startujeme-otvorene-stretnutia-so-zvazom-Priama-akcia-v-BA.html
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Message: 6
On the day of a Call to Action against Turkey's invasion of Rojava, Syria, in a week where
there was mass civil disobedience on the streets of London, molotovs and State-murder in
Hong Kong, and police taken hostage in indigenous protests in Ecuador, we got in touch
with one of our machine-gun-strapping, Isis-blapping, fascist-fragging anarchist comrades
to find out how they are responding to the long-expected betrayal by former US allies and
the next phase of persecution by Recep Erdogan's mob. ---- Speaking to us from inside the
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, our comrade had the following to share
as they enjoyed a dinner of fried eggs with their unit. ---- All around us are rooftops,
echoing with the boom of occasional artillery hits as drones buzz overhead. On the
not-to-distant border, we can see fires from where our friends have hit a tank, as they
try to gain ground on the Turkish jihadis. In the streets each day more people leave and
more and more shops close, and that means there are way more of the youth out. The youth
here are hard as fuck. They patrol the city armed to the teeth, organising the defences.
Right now, they're covering the streets with blankets and tarp so drones and jets can't
see. They take turns on the front for a few hours each every day.
Everyone is rallying round, barricading doors and windows, getting the piss bucket ready
to chuck from the roof, the mood like when you just got a high court order and are
prepping to mount an eviction resistance. Except here we're loading up belts for our
bixies[machine guns], filling all the spare AK mags we can find and making explosives in
the kitchen.
Revolution. Nowhere else is there actual anarchism-in-action on this level. It's bigger
than Chiapas in terms of number of people and area. The movement here wouldn't ever call
themselves anarchists, but they accept us and our shared political heritage. The whole
spectrum of leftists is represented, anarchists, Marxist-Leninists, Apoists (PKK
supporters) and democratic-socialist types.
Everyone except Trots. We don't have any Trots.
If you want to know how to support us, it's three simple things.
Direct action.
Direct action.
Direct action.
Turkey is heavily reliant on weapon imports particularly from British Aerospace, Lockheed
Martin, Rheinmetal in Germany. Shut these fuckers down. Target the Turkish state and their
commercial empire across Europe. Make sure every spare wall has images and words of our
resistance, and pictures of our martyrs like our dear comrade Hêlîn Qereçox[Anna Campbell].
This is the best shot we've had since the Paris Commune to make another world work right
here. If you are not supporting it you are not living your politics. You don't have to
travel here to support the revolution, there is a massive battle to be fought at home.
While we are fighting street by street with our AKs and RPGs, so you must be out with a
determination to disrupt the weapon-mongers. Show us the kind of solidarity I know the
anarchist movement in Europe is capable of, that we have seen at G20, that we have seen in
Hambach forest, in the ZAD.
We need it now more than ever.
I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else in the world right now.
https://freedomnews.org.uk/the-frontline-is-everywhere-communique-from-a-comrade-in-syria/
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Message: 7
The following text comes from the leaflet distributed by the group "Solidaridad
Anarquista Ecuatoriana" (SAE) on the streets of Ecuador's capital Quito. ---- Libertarian
Manifest about the Ecuatorian crisis: SAE with the People ---- The country lives in times
of unrest. Unrest which doesn't originate in previous Correa government, nor the current
one with Moreno. In these two governments, the situation of the country has been
concealed, but it cannot be sustained any more. ---- The STRIKE has spread like wildfire,
organized and united under a common cause. ---- Historical brothers: workers of the city,
the peasants, indigenous people, the dissatisfied echo of the students, the unemployed,
the homeless and everyone who belongs to the poor class of the country.
Comrade, you have to be very careful, careful not to fall into the hands of opportunists,
those who want to use you as cannon fodder to thrust you against the military and the
police. The political parties, the Correa's supporters, the chistian social-democrats,
Creo[1], Moreno's supporters, they want you first in line to shed your blood so they can
take power.
Careful friend, that if we march it doesn't have to be for a political party. We fight for
justice, for the emancipation of the working people. We don't only fight against the
"Paquetazo"[2]but against the neoliberal policies.
Don't let the people's fire be extinguished with the spit thrown by the political parties.
It's time for this country to make a revolutionary leap and fight for its emancipation.
Be careful of falling back. Be wary of putting another figurehead in power, even if they
call themselves democratic government of the people. In reality, it is dictatorship
against the proletariat: another Correa, another Moreno, a Lasso or Nebot.
Let's share the street, fight and hope with every single of our brothers and sisters of
the working people that has gone on STRIKE. It's time to unite.
FOR THE LAND TO THE PEASANT, THE MEANS TO THE PROLETARIAT, THE EDUCATION AND FREE CULTURE
OF QUALITY AND PUBLIC.
IT IS THE MOMENT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE!
[1]centre-right conservative policial movement
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creating_Opportunities)
[2]name given to a deal made by the government with the FMI to get a credit line of $4.209
million in exchange for reducing public expending and increasing taxes. This is what
sparked the protests.
https://freedomnews.org.uk/libertarian-manifest-on-the-ecuadorian-crisis/
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Message: 8
Activists from the Libertarian Union of Students and Workers (ULET), a friendly
organization of the International Workers Association in Colombia, took part on October 10
in a nationwide protest march for students and teachers. Protesters demanded funding for
education, an end to police violence and a halt to privatization. ---- The comrades joined
the protesters at the Pedagogical University of Bogota and went on the march, raising red
and black flags (https://twitter.com/ULETsindical) ---- A massive demonstration of
students and teachers actually paralyzed the country's capital Bogotá. The action was a
continuation of a series of student speeches that began with protests at a university
against corruption by a university administration. The brutal suppression of the protest
by the police caused solidarity actions, during which the ESMAD police special forces
intervened and clashes occurred. Now, protest marches for increased spending on education,
the dissolution of ESMAD and against corruption have taken place in 17 cities in Colombia.
In Bogota, students at state universities spoke together. At the end of the march, clashes
of part of the demonstrators with the police, entrenched at the Palace of Justice in the
city center, flared up again. In Medellin, the march went without incident. In Antioquia,
clashes broke out near a local university, but a few hours after the end of the march. In
Barranquilla, where students demanded the resignation of the rector accused of sexual
harassment, a group of protesters smashed the office of the candidate for governor
(https://colombiareports.com/students-and-teachers-paralyze-colombias-cities-demanding-more-education-less-police-violence/)
https://aitrus.info/node/5335
-----------------------------------------
Protests in Ecuador have been going on for more than a week
Friday October 11th was the 9th day of protests against neoliberal reforms in Ecuador. At
least 5 people died during the repression, but protesters do not give up. They rejected
the country's president's call for negotiations.
On Wednesday, October 9, the country was paralyzed by a general strike. In the capital of
Quito alone, more than 100 thousand people joined the strike. The Native American
organization CONAIE brought 50,000 demonstrators to the streets of the capital; workers,
union members, and students joined the columns (
https://www.jungewelt.de/loginFailed.php?ref=/artikel/364516.proteste-in-ecuador-repression-und-spaltung.html).
During marches (generally peaceful), clashes with security forces occurred. In Quito,
several men were injured; helicopters circled around the center of the capital. CONAIE
accused the government of establishing a military dictatorship.
"Our flag is red like the blood of the working class," chanted the demonstrators in Quito;
the walls are covered with graffiti and slogans against President Lenin Moreno and the
IMF. "The government gives gifts to large banks, capitalists and punishes the Ecuadorian
poor," said Mesias Tatamuez, spokesman for the United Workers' Front. On Wednesday
morning, protesters barricaded roads and streets in many parts of the country with garbage
and burning tires. They are trying to disperse water cannons and tear gas. "Moreno - get
out!", "Police are killers" - the demonstrators chanted.
To prevent the protesters from marching to Guayaquil, security forces blocked the main
bridge to this city. Authorities said 756 people were arrested during the protests and
dozens of policemen were injured.
As a result of the seizure by protesters of a number of oil production sites in the
Amazon, oil production was reduced by 70%. One of the two main oil pipelines stopped
working. The troops recaptured the Sacha field, but the rest remain under the control of
the protesters.
Authorities tried to engage in dialogue with protesters through the mediation of the
church, the UN, and university rectors. Lenin Moreno on Wednesday briefly arrived in
boiling Quito from Guayaquil to observe the situation, and in the evening he drove back.
At the same time, the president categorically refuses to resign or cancel a package of
neoliberal measures, including the abolition of subsidies on fuel prices. Instead, he
offered repayments to those in need, loans to Indian peasants, debt refinancing,
irrigation, technical assistance, etc. CONAJE rejected these proposals
(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/ecuador-unrest-protesters-raise-heat-defiant-moreno-191009224828996.html).
Discussions with the Indians took place in Guayaquil. But contrary to the president's
promises, they soon reached an agreement with the protesters, the representative of the
Indians, Salvador Quispe, said: "the demonstrations are ongoing, nothing is finished." And
one of the leaders of KONAYE, Jaime Vargas, announced his refusal to negotiate with the
government, which is under pressure from the IMF
(https://www.france24.com/en/20191010-ecuador-s-moreno-seeks-talks-after-week-of-fuel-hike-protests)
The Red Cross ceased operations in Ecuador for security reasons.
As a result of the strike, public life was paralyzed in Quito, Guayaquil and other places.
No transport was visible on the streets, shops remained closed, schools did not work.
Young people clashed with the police in places
(https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2019-10/ecuador-proteste-erdoelpipeline-kraftstoffpreise-rotes-kreuz).
The powerful demonstration in Quito on Wednesday began at the House of Culture. Along the
avenue on August 10, she moved to the city center, where the presidential palace of
Karondela is located. Demonstrators installed tree branches on paths in front of the
Ecuadorian Institute of Social Insurance, where the most violent clashes occurred last
week. Jaime Arsinyegas, a member of the Ecuadorian Labor Parliament, told reporters that
many more workers would join the demonstration in the evening, demanding the abolition of
the subsidy decree
(http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20191009/indigenas-mantienen-pulso-ecuador-huelga-general-contra-moreno-pese-disuasion-policial/1981155.shtml).
In the area of the palace, the march came across police trenches and barriers. Groups of
protesters tried to break into the empty Karondelet Palace, which is surrounded by police
barricades in the narrow neighboring streets. In one of the incidents, protesters climbed
onto the roof of a police car that stopped in one of the side streets. They knocked on
armored roofs and fortified windows with batons and stones, while those inside ran away
through clouds of smoke and tear gas
(https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/ecuador-thousands-march-anti-government-protests-intensify-n1064561)
Young men in hoods pelted police with stones and burning tires; guards of the capitalist
order let gas in protesters around the empty parliament building. Demonstrators also
attempted to storm police barricades around the deserted presidential palace - but to no
avail.
The leaders of the strike say that it will not stop until the government repeals the
decree on the abolition of subsidies.
Not far from the parliament building, in El Arbolito Park, thousands of Indians camped
right on the grass; many of them are armed with sticks. Representatives of various Native
American groups speak to the audience through loudspeakers. Demonstrations begin at the
Ecuadorian Culture House located there.
Jaime Vargas has proclaimed that no dialogue is possible until the decree on the abolition
of subsidies is repealed. "If he is taken back, then people will decide whether we want to
talk or not. But we are angry because we have wounded, there are arrested and dead, and it
just won't pass."
Amnesty International has called on the Ecuadorian government to end its heavy crackdown
on demonstrators, including mass arrests
(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/ecuador-strike-lenin-moreno-latest).
In Guayaquil, from early morning on Wednesday, temporary closures of the bridge connecting
the city with Duran were registered - one of the main communication routes of the city,
which is considered the economic center of the country. And in several areas of the city
of Cuenca, another major city of Ecuador, protesters also blocked roads in protest
(http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20191009/indigenas-mantienen-pulso-ecuador-huelga-general-contra-moreno-pese-disuasion-policial/1981155.shtml).
Security forces patrolling Quito. In the vicinity of the House of Culture, where
protesters gathered, 8 policemen were captured. On October 10, protesters demonstrated
them at the House of Culture. Jaime Vargas encouraged them to join the protests
(https://federalnewsnetwork.com/world-news/2019/10/8-police-held-captive-by-indigenous-protesters-in-ecuador/).
At the same time, the Indians declare that they will not be held responsible for the life
and safety of prisoners if the security forces of the authorities attack from headquarters
in El Arboledo Park. "Our leaders are not going to release the police, because we demand
respect. If they attack us, we will use Indian justice," said Indian Fabian Masabanda from
Imbabura province. "We are not responsible for the life of the police," if the House of
Culture is attacked.
CONAIE announced a tribute to those killed in the crackdown. According to the Ombudsman,
among them is Inosensio Tukumbi, the leader of Konaye Kotopahi. "We urge the government to
end the violence and guarantee the exercise of the right to peaceful social protest,"
CONAIE declared, expressing solidarity with the victims. The Indian leader died, having
suffered a head injury when the police dispersed a protest rally. At the end of last week,
one man was shot to death by a car hiding from protesters in the south of the country. The
three who fell from the bridge in Quito, too, apparently died ...
At a rally in the House of Culture on October 10, which brought together several thousand
Indians, Jaime Vargas called on the army to stop supporting Lenin Moreno. He called those
representatives of the Indians who are negotiating with the government traitors
(http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20191010/cinco-personas-han-muerto-ecuador-durante-protestas-contra-moreno-subida-del-combustible/1981237.shtm).
At the moment, the Indians are captive in Quito 8 police officers and 2 agent provocateurs
of the security forces. Eight police officers from agents from the motorized task force
that circulated around the House of Culture in central Quito were surrounded and captured
by the Indians. Soon after, the Indians demanded that the security forces move away from
the House of Culture, located in El Arbolito Park, where clashes were recorded in recent days.
CONAIE continues to demand the cancellation of the reform package and the resignation of
the Ministers of the Interior and Defense. "The government is killing people today," said
Jaime Vargas, who accused the executive of "surrendering to the IMF," rejecting the
dialogue: "We will not agree on anything with the government. The only thing required is
for him to immediately resign and resigned as president. "
Human rights activists report 5 dead, 554 wounded and 929 arrested since the start of the
protests
(https://elpotosi.net/mundo/20191011_ecuador-persiste-la-crisis-y-ya-suman-cinco-muertos.html)
https://aitrus.info/node/5333
----------------------------------------------------------
Ecuador: Confrontation Continues
The confrontation between the working people of Ecuador and the neoliberal regime
continues. On October 10, a "radicalization" of protest was announced. In the capital of
Quito, new columns of Indians enter. Young people engage in street battles with police
using improvised rockets. Protesters refuse any negotiations with the authorities until a
decree on the abolition of fuel subsidies is taken back.
Hundreds of Indians from Ecuadorian Amazonia October 11 came to Quito and joined the
protests, while from the province of Cotopaxi report new cases of police capture. Domingo
Tan, a spokesman for the Shuar Indians from the province of Pastas, said his fellow
tribesmen had come to "arrange a peaceful march" and claim their rights. "The government
must hear, if it does not want to listen, it is time for it to go home," the Indian said
after coming to Quito. In his hands is a spear made of pambil wood. But, according to him,
he is not going to fight with the forces of order. According to him, thousands of Indians
came from Amazonia to join the protesters, who are located on university territory near
the House of Culture. Some are housed in churches, while others are en route. Edgar
Chunmbi, a representative of the Shuar ashuar from Pastasa said that on the way from the
back of their province they reached the city of Puyo, but since the government did not
respond to their demands, they moved on to Quito. For him, the spear is a symbol of
protecting his rights, and so far he has not had to use it against the forces of order.
In the forum of the House of Culture on the morning of October 11 in front of the Indians,
the leaders of the protest declared that they were there "to fight to the end, to the last
drop of blood." At this time, civil society activists such as Ramiro Chalko and his
girlfriend Sylvia were distributing food for the "Indian Brothers" at the complex of the
House of Culture. As Chalko explained, he and his neighbors cooked food in the morning and
drove to the House of Culture area in cars to distribute food to demonstrators who "are
fighting against this government." "To share means to love, and we must share with our
brothers, who are for us and for the same thing," Sylvia explained, standing behind a
large pan of several hundred liters, from which she laid food on the demonstrators. "Here
are all brothers, we do not pay attention to color, race, we are all Ecuadorian brothers,"
- says Chalko. He is engaged in this strictly voluntarily, out of solidarity, at his own
expense and will continue to do so until the situation is resolved ...
A large number of food products and clothes were delivered to the Culture House in the
morning. The situation there is calm. 8 police officers captured the day before by the
Indians were released at night. However, on Thursday night, police officers were detained
in Puhili (Cotopaxi Province) ...
The strike, meanwhile, continues, in Quito and other cities there are problems with bus
services ...
(https://www.elnorte.ec/actualidad/indigenas-amazonicos-llegaron-a-quito-para-unirse-a-las-protestas-DB535467)
The provinces of Ecuador remain paralyzed, traffic is blocked. So, they inform about the
blockades from the province of Imbabur ( https:
//www.elnorte.ec/imbabura/la-provincia-de-imbabura-sigue-bloqueada ... ). On Thursday
evening, violent clashes broke out in Atuntaki between protesters and the police, which
lasted until midnight ( https:
//www.elnorte.ec/imbabura/atuntaqui-busca-recuperar-la-normalidad -... )
+++
Attempts by the Lenin government Moreno to suppress protests only exacerbated the
situation. "We have tears in our eyes, but if we learned something from our mothers and
fathers, it is that those who died for freedom were honored to replenish their ranks,"
said KONAYE leader Jaime Vargas. According to him, "in recent history, they do not
remember such brutal and violent repressions against people demanding their rights." "This
will not stop until the IMF removes itself from Ecuador," he assured in a communiqué read
out on October 10. The actions of the security forces are a gross violation of human
rights. "People were treated like an enemy. Humanitarian shelter zones were not respected,
tear gas bombs were thrown to where our children and old people were. We were not allowed
to create humanitarian corridors to deliver the wounded to hospitals.
However, the Indians do not leave Quito, far from it. On the contrary, from the most
remote corners of the country more and more columns are drawn to the capital ... Pictures
of violent dispersal, attacks by security forces and indiscriminate beatings only increase
anger against the government.
During the crowded funeral of the deceased Segundo Inosensio Tucumba Vega, there were not
only demands to repeal the subsidy decree. "Down with Moreno, down," chanted a crowd of
people gathered on October 10th.
The battle reached the House of Culture, the Salesian University and the University of the
Pontiff, places allocated for the recreation and refuge of thousands of Indians who came
to the capital. The leadership of both universities strongly condemned the gas attack on
its territory on October 9, and even the Minister of the Interior was forced to apologize
for this and promise that this would not happen again. Police officers detained by the
Indians were released, but only after being forced to carry the coffin of one of the
victims ( https: //www.elsaltodiario.com/ecuador/la-represion-de-la-revuelta-radica ... )
+++
While a military helicopter is circling overhead, a volunteer clown with a red rubber nose
sings a song to laughing children in front of a public theater. Volunteers inside the
building distribute sandwiches and juice to Shuar people who have recently arrived from
the Amazon rainforest. Some have painted black faces and hand-carved wooden spears, which
sway above the Indian demonstrators located in the House of Culture.
A few blocks from there, young demonstrators stoned the police with stones. On the morning
of October 11, street fighters again broke through to the main entrance to the parliament
building, but were again thrown back with tear gas. Clashes in the heart of Quito have
been going on for 5 days ...
The Native American peoples of Ecuador, captive of poverty and not covered by state social
programs, are furious. Over the past week, thousands of Shuars, Saraguro, Quechua and
other Indians rushed to Quito from the depths of the Amazon rainforest and the heights of
cities and villages of the Ecuadorian Andes. They camped at the House of Culture, the
nearby El Arbolito Park and three universities, with the support of thousands of
protesters from Quito and the surrounding area.
At least once a day, young people with sticks and stones rush to parliament and try to
seize it, as they already did once this week, before they were expelled with tear gas.
Protests paralyzed life, at least in the southern regions of the capital, forcing Moreno
to temporarily relocate the seat of government to the coastal city of Guayaquil.
Protesting Indians also attacked the oil fields in Amazonia and paralyzed oil production,
the main source of export, shutting down generators and forcing personnel to leave.
On October 11, President Lenin Moreno reiterated the call for dialogue, but reiterated
that he could not restore subsidies. CONAIAH, in response, demanded "direct and public
dialogue in order to halt or re-erase" neoliberal economic reforms.
The protest base functions as a mini-city, with playrooms for older children, children's
rooms for the smallest, and separate bedrooms for men and women to protect protesting
women and their children. Medical students provide medical assistance, and volunteers
bring donations - food, drinks, clothes, toilet paper and other necessities. Garbage is
divided into various categories for recycling.
On Friday afternoon, October 11th, a festive atmosphere reigned in the park. Families lay
down on the grass, sellers offered fried pork and kebabs of chicken and sausages. Inside
the House of Culture, exhausted protesters sprawled on blankets or armfuls of branches.
Mariana Yumbai, a 46-year-old law teacher from the Bolivar province, inserted two cotton
wool in her nose to soften the effect of tear gas. She admits that the country is
experiencing economic difficulties, but the solution is for the rich to pay higher taxes,
and not to raise prices, which will hit the poor. Bolivar Indian peasants do not have
irrigation networks to supply potato and grain crops and to water cattle. Over 40% of
children suffer from malnutrition; many people live on $ 30 a month. When the subsidies
were canceled, bus drivers raised fares to the provincial capital from $ 2 to $ 4 ...
Meanwhile, on the floor of the largest theater in the complex, the Quechua Indians burned
eucalyptus leaves in memory of the dead demonstrators ...
Lenin Moreno received support from the Organization of American States and the US
government. "We recognize the difficult decisions made by the Government of Ecuador to
advance manageability and sustainable economic growth. We will continue to work with
President Moreno to support democracy, prosperity and security," the US Secretary of State
characteristically stated (Associated Press reports - http: // www .startribune.com /
way-forward-in-ecuador-looks-murky-after-deadly-violence / 562785782 /)
------------------------------
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