Update: anarchist news and information from all over the world - Part 2 - 5.12.2019

Today's Topics:

   
1.  cnt.es: Maygar's workforce goes out for decent conditions -
      Casariche Strike (ca, it) [machine translation] 
     (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  vrije bond: Barriversary #3 - Striving for Autonomy -- The
      Barricade is celebrating its third birthday! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Britain, AFED, organise magazine: The Leaderless Revolution
      | Review (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  priama akcia: We supported the climate protest in Bratislava
      as well as the protests in Chile [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Holand, Amsterdam, vrije bond: party and Zapatistas benefit!
      (nl) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  anarkismo.net: Declaration of Solidarity with demonstration
      called for in Athens on November 30 by the ESE [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  cnt-ait: After more than a month of protests in the Chilean
      region (Statment from SOV - Sindicato Oficios Varios Santiago )
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
8.  Slovania, priama akcia: (Not) voting is not enough! We
      organize every day and meet on the election day [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
9.  anarkismo.net - Colombia on strike: "This government has to
      fall" by José Antonio Gutiérrez D. - ROAR (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1





This morning the demonstration took place in support of the workers of the Maygar company in Huelga, convened by the CNT
of Andalusia, in the Sevillian town of Casariche. ---- Some 500 people have participated in the protest, which has
traveled the streets of Casariche, demanding Maygar to sit down to negotiate and comply with the agreement, respecting
the rights and dignity of its employees. The march has joined numerous neighbors of the town and the surrounding area,
and the SAT union. The demonstration has ended at the gates of the City Hall, and there have been various spokesmen of
the CNT and the SAT, who have insisted on the need to continue strongly in the strike and mobilization. ---- It has been
11 days since the start of the indefinite strike called, and before the closing of the company to negotiate, there is no
choice but to continue fighting.
Maygar is a company that already has 2 deaths behind it, due to the exhausting days of more than 12 hours to which they
are forced to meet their workers, often in extreme weather conditions. Strikers only ask that the current agreement be
applied and that they be paid a fair salary. If we allow Maygar to commit such abuses against its workers without
consequences, we are allowing any company to do so.

For decent conditions for all, support the Maygar workers in their struggle to achieve decent conditions.

https://www.cnt.es/noticias/la-plantilla-de-maygar-sale-a-la-calle-por-unas-condiciones-dignas/

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Message: 2






With what was a pile of dusty boxes of books, we've made a library with more than 300 members. Of what would have been
discarded veggies ready to become trash, we make every week a free dinner for almost 100 people. And it is not just a
free dinner, it is not just a public library or an event factory. What we are doing is trying to anticipate the society
we would like to live in, by creating a space that is different, that refuses and fights the current hegemonic system by
following other dynamics, from the way we prepare and eat food to the way we learn from each other and interact with
knowledge. ---- In a context where repression does not attack the tree but the soil, stopping everything from growing
with its welcoming/devouring double face, Autonomy is the process of gaining back inch by inch this soil. Every inch
taken back will give us the chance of planting more seeds, every seed that grows gives us the chance of gaining back
even more.

This world is on fire and there's no way of making it nicer (to build a more sustainable system of exploitation is
clearly useless), at the same time, we cannot be contented with the few pieces we have managed to grab.

It's for these reasons that we feel the need of reflecting and finding ways to put autonomy into practice even more.

We would like to use this day to gather together and approach this topic from different points of view, spanning from
practical ways of self-producing things communally, to talks with different realities of counter-power, and reflections
on our own practices.

Of course, as it's still our Barriversary, there will definitely be plenty of rescued delicious food, music, a photo
exhibition, and other surprises to come (did someone say Barribook?)

Schedule
11:30   Exhibition Opening: Trash Reverted
11:30 - 12:30   Vegan Brunch
12:30 - 14:30   Reflection Tables on People's Kitchens and Political Struggle
15:00 - 16:15   DIY: A collective toolbox against the supermarkets!
16:45 - 18:45   Talk: Social Centers as basis for Counter-power
19:00 - 19:30   Book presenation: The Barricade ABC
19:30 - 21:00   Dinner
21:00 - 21:45   Your Local Pirates
22:00 - 22:45   Trikosis trio
¡¡A las barricadas!!

ACU, Anarchisme, barricade, barriccoons kitchen, boekpresentatie, Bookcafé the Barricade, info-talk, Utrecht, voku

Vrije Bond Secretariaat

https://www.vrijebond.org/barriversary-3-striving-for-autonomy/

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Message: 3






Carne Ross' The Leaderless Revolution is refreshing because of its atypical perspective. Contemporary anarchist
literature is often written by academics who have studied political theory, or by working class people, who have
struggled in a Neo-liberal capitalist society, and understand the need for change. Ross is neither of these; a former
British diplomat, he was a lead official at Britain's mission at the United Nations in New York dealing with Iraq. He
was responsible for the policy on weapons of mass destruction and the pre-war sanctions. Ross states that Britain and
their allies knew that Saddam Hussein did not possess significant WMD. Therefore, the sanctions and the subsequent
invasion of Iraq were unjustified, and led to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary civilian deaths. Rather than
critiquing the establishment, their systems and institutions from the outside, Ross has been enmeshed in the inner
workings of the machine, and has decided it is broken.

This book is for those new to anarchism as a political theory, but who are dissatisfied with the state of the world, and
yearn for something better. Many veteran anarchists' first reaction to Carne Ross might be one of distrust - he was part
of the establishment, he wears a suit, looks like a civil servant, and is still involved in international diplomacy,
albeit advocating independently for marginalised groups. However, the fact that he is a non-conventional anarchist,
might be Ross' greatest strength. Brexit and Trump were arguably a result of people's dissatisfaction with current
systems, and a desire for radical change. Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion have engaged a wide range of people
not normally involved in radical politics. This seems a potentially fertile time for enlisting people to anarchism, and
many might be more easily recruited to the cause by a well-spoken, respectable former diplomat, than a dreadlocked
crusty with a black bandana over their face. Ross' experience and former position afford him an air of respectability
and legitimacy that may make his messages more palatable for many people.

Ross eschews established examples of anarchism in action, such as the Paris Commune or Spanish Civil War, instead
presenting more contemporary examples, such as the autonomous region of Rojava in North-eastern Syria, participatory
democracy at the municipal level in Porto Allege, Brazil, or even communities' abilities to respond to their own needs
following emergency situations more effectively than the authorities and institutions entrusted to do so, as witnessed
in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or the Grenfell Tower fire.

Where Ross' vision of an egalitarian society differs from many anarchists is his commitment to non-violence, and his
suggestion of a gradual transition to an anarchist society, rather than through revolution. The belief that large
worker-owned co-operative institutions could be built within a capitalist state, and that they would be so appealing,
and productive, that the existing capitalist alternatives would simply wither away, demonstrates a naivety on Ross'
part. This book is a gateway drug, which will hopefully lead people to seek out stronger substances in the future. ?

Stuart Barton is a teacher and trade unionist, based in the West Midlands. You can check out his other writing on his
website, as well as his Facebook and Twitter pages.

RELATED ARTICLES:-

http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/10/26/the-leaderless-revolution-review/

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Message: 4






protest against climate change took place in several Slovak cities today. It was part of a global event and the Fridays
For Future (FFF) student initiative linked it locally with the legacy of November 1989. We participated in the events in
Bratislava together with other activists from the anti-authoritarian and environmental movement. Our banners referred to
the idea that the fight against climate change concerns capitalism and is inevitably linked to social issues. In this
spirit, we have also prepared a solidarity message during the event for the people in Chile, who are currently
experiencing severe repression by the state. ---- In our opinion, numbers are not always important. Although there have
not been more than 300 protesters today (mostly from high schools), this is an important issue. There are certainly more
reasons for less participation. The fact that the United Nations Conference on Climate Change was held on 23 September
and other organizations were also involved in the mobilization was the last to help mobilize. Mobilization is an eternal
challenge and everyone who organizes something has to cope with it. Sometimes it works better, sometimes worse, but
critical self-reflection is always a good way to learn and move on.

Capitalism is nowhere to go, and its "green" technologies and the desire to preserve "business as usual" (with a
negative impact on the lives of workers around the world) and the symbolic proclamation of the "state of the climate
crisis" are no reason for satisfaction.

https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Podporili-sme-klimaticky-protest-v-Bratislave-aj-protesty-v-Cile.html

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Message: 5






On Saturday November 30, the Vrije Bond Amsterdam is organising a party. We are doing this to celebrate the fact that
we've been around for 2 years already. We're also gonna make it a benefit for the zapatistas! ---- The party will be
this Saturday at the NIeuwland (Pieter Nieuwlandstraat 95) and will start at 20.00. Everybody is welcome, so you don't
have to be member of the Vrije Bond and you can bring all your friends! ---- Come one, come all. We have snacks, games,
Zapatista coffee and music. Even live music! We will present an overview of everything that happened this year in the
anarcho world and developments in the Vrije Bond (Amsterdam). ---- Do you want to celebrate the second anniversary of
the Vrije Bond Amsterdam? Come to our party!
Do you just want to have fun and support the Zapatistas? Also come to our party!
https://www.vrijebond.org/vrije-bond-amsterdam-feest/

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Message: 6






The International Labor Confederation and its local associations endorse and support the demonstration called for in
Athens on November 30, 2019 by our Greek section of the ERC along with a wide range of primary associations. ----
Declaration of Solidarity by the International Labor Confederation (TSE) on the Path of Primary Unions 30 November 2019
---- The International Labor Confederation and its local associations endorse and support the demonstration called in
Athens for our 30 November 2019 together a large number of primary associations. That is why we endorse the following
call: ---- As labor unions, in our endeavor to pursue a vigorous pursuit of our struggles for labor interests and
rights, our needs, our lives and our dignity, we have chosen the path of the common, horizontally coordinated and
organized from the bottom up.
The main milestones of this effort have been the inter-branch and organized strike below of November 1, 2018, as well as
the labor demonstration of February 16, 2019. In addition, as in previous years, as we have in previous periods, we have
advanced many common actions and we have reinforced each other in the various battles we are fighting in our industries
and workplaces.

Through the meetings of our associations in the previous period (Spring - Summer 2019) it was the choice to move to a
new inter-branch and downstream strike in the early spring of 2020. We have already set a day for this strike. last
October on Thursday, March 19, 2020.

Our unions are now and again going to new general meetings, so that through our basic processes we can continue the
debate on the strike, decide on its strike, and organize it in our industries and workplaces.

In the wake of this strike, as a union we choose to move on to a series of new open meetings for our ongoing
coordination, the organization of joint actions, such as labor demonstrations and interventions, and anti-labor measures
and attacks by the government and employers as well. and at various events.

For the workers' demonstration on 30 November 2019:

We have already (by mid-October) launched the organization of a new workers' demonstration in downtown Athens on
Saturday 30 November 2019. The initial rally will be at 12 noon in Korai Square (as well as our corresponding
demonstration on 16/2). 19). Participation in it and its co-organization is open to all unions (whether they have
already decided to strike on 19/3/2020 or whether they intend to discuss or make such a decision subsequently) . Already
participated in the demonstration and the Panhellenic Union of Temporary Personnel of the Ministry of Culture and the
Coordinator of Independent Teachers. Also, the Association of Employees of Employees, by decision of its General
Assembly (26/11/19) participates in the labor demonstration on 30/11/19,

We also call on labor unions, labor-social collectives and fellow-workers from various cities in Greece to organize
similar demonstrations on the same day (30/11/19). Already for Thessaloniki, the Mental Health & Social Welfare Workers
'Union, the Waiters-Cooks & Other Food Workers Association and the Book-Charter Officers' Association of Thessaloniki
organizes 12 No9 00 at the Lambraki Monument (Ermou with Venizelos) labor rally on the street for a new
interdisciplinary and organized bottom-up strike on 19 March 2020.

As part of the organization of this demonstration, we also appealed to all colleagues and all colleagues from every
industry and workplace, the collective of workers and the unemployed, the collective struggles in neighborhoods and all
the forces of the class-social movement. At a very large meeting on Tuesday 19/11/19 we discussed the content of the
demonstration (but also the strike on 19/3/20), the movements we are organizing for its propaganda, as well as the
possibility- their choice to participate in the demonstration. And there are plenty of collectives who are going to take
part in the workers' demonstration on Saturday 30/11/19 but are already actively contributing to its propaganda through
posters, outings and interventions in workplaces and neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, at previous meetings we had discussed our militant mobilizations (interventions, demonstrations, strikes,...)
against the new anti-social anti-social arrangements of the government in full collusion with the representatives of the
capital (see their new attack on the CoCs). our salaries, further interference by the state in the operation of the
unions, ...).

Through all this effort we attempt:

To put our demands forward in a dynamic way again. Both our claims in every industry and workplace, as well as the total
demands of the labor movement. Indicatively - at this stage - we are mentioning the fight for Collective Employment
Contracts and for increases in wages and salaries. The fight against capital and the state for their responsibility for
the so-called "accidents at work". The fight against employer terrorism and the criminalization and deterrence of labor
struggles and trade unions. Opposition to black and white-collar work, non-paid work, non-protection of working mothers,
and sexist behavior in the workplace. Opposition to job insecurity and fixed-term contracts,

To link our resistance to our industries and workplaces and to strengthen our position vis-à-vis our employers and
governors (whichever they may be), against the common enemy of the class as a whole.

To show again in every direction that the world of work can rely on its own strength to organize from below and to carry
out its struggles effectively.

We invite every private and public trade union of the entire Greek territory that is interested in moving in such a
direction - whether in whole or in part - to become part of this effort, to participate in subsequent meetings (or - in
particular for a union of its own). contact us), as in the inter-sectoral strike and other joint actions (such as the
forthcoming workers' demonstration on 30/11/19).

Of course, it is open to any union to move in such a direction either by signing any joint posters that appear, or by
its own announcement and action on which it can raise any particular issues of the members' working reality. of. After
all, in particular, the inter-sectoral strike is based on all the strike effort that will be made in every sector and
every workplace by every union in that sector. In any case, each association can move at its own pace and in any way it
deems most appropriate. As an example for the public sector unions we note that, as we had discussed-expressed in the
wake of the first inter-sectoral strike (1/11/18),

Lastly, we specify that our club meetings are open to fellow club colleagues who may not have - by the time of the
meetings - a collective decision to participate. However, any movement that is co-formed each time (through these
meetings) is a product of co-configuration of the associations' positions by a collective decision.

This announcement (which is an updated version of a relevant announcement was originally released in July 2019 and
updated after each meeting) signed by the following associations:

- Association of Workers Teachers Classes (Sefko)
- Translators Association of Probation rectifier (SMED)
- Association Book Officers - Map - Digital Media of Attica (SYVCHIA)
- Club Base Workers NGO (SVEMKO)
- Association of Workers in Public
- Workers Association in NGO Arsis
- Association of Workers at Nokia Greece
- Association of Employees in the company Box Attica
- Waiters Chefs Association and other people working in the catering industry (COP)

Finally, it is noted that as part of our overall coordination process involved in collective decision and the following
associations:

 From Thessaloniki:
- Club Base Workers in the field of mental health and joint Treaty welfare (SVEPSYKOI)
- Waiters Chefs Association and other workers in the sector of catering Central Macedonia
- Book Officers Association - Map of Thessaloniki Prefecture

 From Ioannina:
- Ioannina Workers Distribution Base Association (SWEDI)

Saturday, 30 November 2019: Demonstration in downtown Athens | Initial concentration: 12m. Korai

Monday, December 9, 2019, 7.30pm: Next open club meeting

Thursday, March 19, 2020: New inter-branch and down strike

https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31668

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Message: 7






Discontent in Chile was something that gave light many years ago, however silence was what prevailed in the population.
People were reluctant to express their dissatisfaction, always without shouting, always obedient, with the knowledge
that work is finally what the only thing that gave us meagre fare. And if we look closely at History, not many years
ago, shouting and getting up meant bullets, blood and death. It was this same feeling of lack of justice and impunity,
and the indignity that made us swallow so many years, that took the streets of the whole country. People opened their
eyes, they saw a government, provider of injustice on each front and in every aspect of our lives.It was this, which
ended up generating a social uprising. All the discontent became materialized. It was no longer small isolated groups
driving demands, it was the population as a whole, which stopped and said "Enough!" (basta!). In vogue of public opinion
began to mention all the demands and requests[to which the power]never paid attention before. The forgotten took the
floor. What happened on Friday, October 18, was a step well taken, it is the march of the people that has extended for
more than one month, and what we know should not stop.

At the present, we see that the social problem was derived to a constituent assembly, that some want the whole struggle
to focus only on this topic. As a worker's union we have full clarity that a constituent assembly does not solve or
reach the depths of our struggle. Some wanted to show this has a end[to the struggle], but we are fully aware that it is
not. We know that a constituent assembly will not change the reality that we live as poor, we have knowledge of how the
reform operates in the struggle and social uprising, it is proposed as a solution that is not, because we know that the
Constituent assembly is done with the idea of generating a new way of administering capitalism. That is why our proposal
does not go there, nor for favoring any statist route that that is seeking to enroll under its banner the revolution of
the forgotten.

Within the reforms there is talk of many things, including raising the salary. Although this could be perceived as an
improvement, somehow it would give lights to improve our quality of life, it will definitely be not the case. The
government gives economic benefits, but at the same time taxes go up, and likewise it ends up paying from our pocket
these "improvements". It is not new that the power does not want to lose neither bread nor piece. So we are critical to
any "benefit" and "social pact" that rises from his path.

Within the protest, we have been able to see how different forms of resistance are raised, and how they wanted to
repressed using the forces of dis-order. Now the worker, the student, the villager and the professional, are informed
and starting to organize thelmselves. The government is back to the wall, and no repressive force can stop this
progress, no matter how hard it is intended. We have seen spontaneous emergence of community kitchens, groups of trained
paramedics, always available to our people,. We have seen rotating groups defense groups that do not abandon resistance,
feminist marches shouting for women's rights, evidencing abuse for years lived, without fear and with force. This is our
alternative, this is what has truly marked a before and after. It demonstrates that when we are organized, we are many
and everything is possible, we can meet our needs in total autonomy and determination. We are the main actors of this
movement, that cannot be lost, because it is a won territory, it is the outpost of those who took the floor, of the
forgotten ones, of the people.

In every protest there are self-defense groups that face the inhuman and aberrant violence of the forces of dis-order,
we fully support all those who fight. We believe that we must strengthen our ideas above all things, we know that this
It is what must remain of the confrontation and what gives it meaning. No advance is unfortunately free, there are
victims, there are missing and murdered, there are a significant number of people deprived of their liberty. The
repressive force of dis order imprisons the poor, imprisons social fighters, and those who have not had a real chance in
life. That is why we say: all prisoners are politicians, we demand the freedom of those who are imprisoned for fighting,
or for being born poor.

As anarchists, we do not have the ambition to demonstrate absolutely nothing. We are working side by side with the
people, our ideas have always gone for justice and the love of humanity, against authority, capitalism and patriarchy.
That is why we apply it on each front where we work. The bourgeois press has wanted for years to criminalize our ideas,
our movement, and with this protest, it has been shown who is the real terrorist, this word whose bourgeois
journalists'mouth  is so full of. They have shown that they operate under the interests of the powerful, in defense of
private property, where an infrastructure is worth more than human life, where the body of women is nothing more than a
consumer good. They are neither for fair self-defense, nor for people, nor for our demands. Either they mock or
infantilize what afflicts us and what lifts us, we are glad to see that the vast majority of the population already has
knowledge of their[shameless behavior].

It is necessary to mention in turn, that we are critical to representative democracy, since it gives rise to detractors
of our demands, it makes policy against and in disfavor of our struggle. Since 2006, students began to do politics,
breaking with the previous imposed way of doing it, in which social actors had no place. In that scenario, the state's
move was to appeal to the democratic, that is, if the students had a valid opinion, they did not have the authority to
solve social problems, since if what the students demanded was done, their position would be imposed, and democracy is
not only composed of students.

Thus thirteen years passed, where various demands were promoted, not only for education, for housing,for health, against
private pension fund (NO+AFP), against patriarchy and against mining industry. None of this question received any
answer[from the Power], but all were understood and felt by the people, even if it had to went through the democratic
filter that seeks conciliation between those who suffer social injustices and those who do business with them. At the
end Conciliation is always favorable to the powerful ones.

The struggle that is brewing is related to five demands: health, education, work, housing and the visibility of the
oppression that women live. As SOV (Sindicato Oficios Varios Santiago) we think that health and education, not only must
be free and of quality, but also that systems must change. Other forms of education must be sought, models in which we
learn to think. We are not for a public education that is similar to a laboratory for the productive machine. By this we
mean that each demand must be worked in depth: it is not only access[to the demand], it is also the content[of the
demand itself that must be discussed]. We are against the economic model established, we know that the problem is
capitalism, we know that the problem in turn and hand in hand , is the patriarch. We have blind confidence that the
bases can create another way of living, in harmony with our community and especially with dignity, for each and every
one. The power that drives the[current dominant]model, has adhered the authority and the bad life, to the point of abuse
and wear, in complete coordination with the defense of private property. We know what is our clear enemy: the way in
which they force us to live, that is why all sectors are struggling. Although the ruling class does not want to assume
this truth, we will continue in the struggle until the dignified life becomes reality, where the relatives have their
home, where the elderly receive a pension that reaches, where the school is a place of development and culture
dispenser, where health is approached comprehensively and not to profit from our diseases, where entrepreneurs do not
abuse our natural resources, where every woman and companion have the free and fair decision on their own body, where
the right to leave and return safe to home is respected. A world where they can finally free themselves from always
being an object of conquest, with a line demarcated from the cradle, which determines and delimits it, only because of
its gender status. Our fight is for everything, and the arms will not be lowered until fulfilling this dream.

Because of this, all of us who are in the struggle know that the organization is important, assemblies are raised from
everywhere, we applaud every effort that is driven from the grassroots, even so, we do not share certain logics of some
leftist sectors that try and pretend to be the people's spokesperson, when the only people's spokesperson is the people
organized horizontally, under the principles of federalism. Federalism is still necessary for the people to really
organize, but it is possible and that day is very close.

We do not think that the people are a phantom entity in dispute, that they do not think and should be manipulated. We
believe that the people exist and that their organization is fundamental from their bases, whether in the territories,
in the university or in the workplaces.

Consequently, as Sindicato Oficios Varios Santiago: we are anarchists but we are not the spokesman of anarchism, we are
workers but we are not the representatives of the workers.

There is much to do in the organizational field and we think that the only way to make progress is to put aside the
claims that do not contribute to this process. What it does not mean to lower the flags and hide the speeches, is simply
to assume what we really are, without falsehoods, without manipulations, and from there understand each other.

We call to continue the struggle, to the union of organizations organised by libertarian principles, in mutual support
and solidarity.

Although anarchy does not arrive today or tomorrow, it always puts us on the side of the oppressed and against the
injustices that prevail.
We are resistance, proposal and rebellion.

 From the sea to the mountains you can hear the powerful song of the land that is forging other worlds and one of them
is anarchy.

For a new world, which guarantees the well-being and happiness of everyone, where nobody exploits to another and where
we all live in harmony with nature.

SOV (Sindicato Oficios Varios Santiago )

Translation: Cnt-AIT France
http://blog.cnt-ait.info/post/2019/11/29/CHILI-UN-MOIS

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Message: 8






Exactly, there will be another open meeting with our association on the day of the parliamentary elections. In this way,
we want to show our idea of politics and social change in the spirit of (No) voting is not enough. As in previous open
meetings, this time we will discuss organizing and practical issues. We will see you in Bratislava in Bystra on 29th
February from 16:00 and we will bring one new piece. In the meantime, we will focus on spreading the ideas associated
with the idea of "(Not) voting is not enough" and we will share all the news in a special FB event. ---- Your Activity
---- At the meeting, we will mainly want to talk about what interests you in the context of the classroom approach. If
you have your own idea of what could be solved with other people in Bratislava, it will be a good time to talk about it.
---- A new brochure on disputes
We will also bring with us a new brochure on disputes in which we have been involved so far. We will briefly introduce
it and possibly discuss more about litigation.

Snacks

We will also bring a small vegan snack to ward off hunger if the discussion happens to be prolonged.

And until then? It also matters to you

The idea of "(Not) voting is not enough" is to put emphasis on self-organization and self-activity in the regions. For
this purpose we have prepared stickers and a series of short articles, which will be gradually published in the
aforementioned event on FB.

We would like the labels to reach as many regions as possible. If you are interested, please contact us and send. We'll
be happy if you send us a photo and write where it was stuck. Alternatively, you can send it directly to the FB event.

FB event: fb.com/events/2369086196740383/
You can see the stickers here: https://priamaakcia.sk/sprava/Nalepky-Ne-volit-nestaci-su-tu-.html

We also have other ideas about the hangout that we'll post when they're up to date.

We look forward to meeting.

Direct action

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Message: 9






Colombia's national civic strike is paving the way for a rural-urban coalition of protesters and movements that together
can take on President Duque's right-wing government. ---- Colombia on strike: "This government has to fall" ---- A
specter is haunting Latin America - the specter of class struggle. From Haiti, Ecuador and Peru to Chile - until one
month ago an oasis of neoliberal governance - people are taking to the streets in protest. Their anger is directed not
only against their governments, but even more so against a system that causes unspeakable hardship for most while
creating obscene profits for a few. People have had it with the rampant inequality and with barely being able to survive
in countries that, according to all economic indicators, are seemingly doing fine.
These protests pose a formidable challenge to the decade of neo-conservative and neoliberal dominance in the region. The
governments of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, the de facto president and putschist Jeanine Añez in Bolivia, Lenin Moreno in
Ecuador, Sebastián Piñera in Chile and Iván Duque in Colombia are all part of this new technocratic and neoliberal
far-right that flirts with the dictatorial penchants of the old far-right.

Racism, misogyny, homophobia, religious fundamentalism, class supremacy, a foaming-at-mouth anti-socialist rhetoric and
a venal attitude towards res publica are traits they have in common. They are part of a club that exchanges advisers in
an aggressive crusade against "populism" and squarely subordinated to the dictates of the USA presidency. Incapable of
original ideas, they repeat the same blabber day and night; property, patriarchal family, religion, fatherland and other
mumbo-jumbo.

IVÁN DUQUE, INCOMPETENT-IN-CHIEF

There are signs, however, that the tables are turning. Across the region, there is a surge in anti-neoliberal protests
cornering these authoritarian puppets. Even though the far-right in Bolivia and Venezuela maintains its offensive
capacity, emboldened by their patrons in Europe and the US, it has certainly lost the momentum.

Now it is the Colombian government's turn to face the anger of the people. Authoritarian, repressive, venal, and most of
all, incompetent, President Iván Duque has managed in just one year to become one of the most - if not the most -
unpopular presidents in Colombian history, rejected by 70 percent of the population. It is an incredible feat in a
country whose history is awash with presidents who have had set the unpopularity bar pretty high.

Duque was elected in early 2018 as the heir to former president Alvaro Uribe -another nasty far-right figure surrounded
by scandal. His campaign relied on fear: of Venezuela, of the marginalized, and of the left. He gathered the support of
the most conservative and reactionary elements of a society intoxicated with anti-Venezuela and anti-socialist propaganda.

Once in power, he has been a quarrelsome bully who attacks Venezuela (the same week of the frustrated aid-convoy's
shenanigans in February, the Colombian government denied humanitarian aid to Afro-Colombians suffering from floods in
the impoverished Chocó region). He unilaterally terminated the peace negotiations with the ELN, the second largest
guerrilla group in Colombia, and he has systematically undermined the peace agreement with the former FARC-EP guerrillas.

He is reigniting armed conflict through military operations against insurgents with disastrous humanitarian consequences
- murdered children and economic incentives for soldiers to kill as many guerrillas as possible; these decisions led to
the resignation of his Minister of Defense. On top of that, he has come back to the old policy of criminalization of the
cocaleros (coca leaf farmers) in spite of the - unfulfilled - promises of alternatives to illicit crops in the 2016
peace agreement.

All of this is happening in the midst of high unemployment rates, the skyrocketing cost of living, and murders of social
leaders, members of opposition parties and demobilized guerrillas. After just one year, Duque's record is nothing short
of appalling, and naturally, the people have had enough.

21N: FURY AND REPRESSION

A national civic strike (paro cívico) was called for November 21 to protest against some of Duque's policies, such as
proposed labor reforms that would reduce the already-unsustainable minimum income and privatize the pension system. A
civic strike is a form of protest in a country where most of the population does not have formal employment and
therefore cannot engage in collective action at the workplace. Everyone comes out to the streets to protest in any way
they can: workers go on strike, students do not attend classes, people in marginalized communities block the roads, etc.

The Comité Nacional de Paro (National Committee for the Civic Strike), an umbrella organization of Indigenous, agrarian,
civic and labor organizations, made the call in October to protest corruption, the cost of living, and the revenue
reform; with broad public support, they called for the defense of the right to social protest, an end to repression and
militarization and action against unemployment, which borders on 11 percent without accounting for sub-employment and
the informal economy that together make up for over 50 percent of the labor force.

Remarkably, most of the left-wing parties in Colombia, including the FARC party, have taken a lukewarm stance towards
the strike. Probably being too busy with the past elections in October, they have failed to grasp the significance of
this (post-electoral) movement brewing on the streets.

Before the strike even started, the authorities arrested and raided organizers' homes. Oblivious of the depths of
popular anger and indignation, Duque accused boogeymen of organizing the protest, from "international anarchists" to the
São Paulo Forum. A demobilized FARC-EP guerrilla explained to ROAR,

People are really fed up of it all; students and workers can't stand this any longer, but the government can't say
anymore, look, it's the guerrillas, the narco-terrorists infiltrating these protests. They are afraid, so they are
making up new boogeymen to repress, discredit and dismiss the protesters.

The government closed the borders, militarized the big towns, and threatened the organizers. They even banned a document
published by a student collective that gave tips on preventing abuses by the ESMAD, the Colombian riot police.

Soon after, the president clumsily acknowledged that protesters may have a point or two. But this was too little, too
late: by then, his cocktail of repressive measures and arrogance had already incensed much of the population. Duque then
blatantly lied, denying he ever planned a pension system reform or a reduction of the minimum wage.

At this stage, however, the die was cast. Despite the terror tactics used by the government and the atmosphere of fear
it created, hundreds of thousands, if not millions, from across the country came out to protest, not just for specific
demands, but even more so because they are fed up with the neoliberal capitalist system and Colombia's ruling cliques
profiting from it.

Unlike protests in the previous decade, which were mainly dominated by rural unrest and agitation, the civic national
strike was a predominantly urban phenomenon, albeit with the participation of several agrarian organizations.

As expected, repression came swiftly. The joint action of the ESMAD and the military left three dead in Cauca Valley on
November 21, plus hundreds arrested and injured across the country. Confrontations in the city of Cali were particularly
fierce. In response, neighborhoods of La Macarena and Candelaria in Bogotá started spontaneous cacerolazos (pot-banging
protests), which spread all over the city and to the rest of the country.

The next day, demonstrations and blockades continued, and the ESMAD clashed with protestors in the working-class
quarters of the main towns. Pro-government activists started a social network campaign to cause panic, claiming that
vandals were attacking private houses to discourage people from joining the protests and painting those who did join as
vigilantes.

The government's response was a full militarization of the capital - tanks and about 4,000 soldiers patrolled the
streets of Bogotá, declaring a curfew from 9pm to 6am on Friday night.

People disobeyed the curfew en masse and came out at night for more cacerolazos and to dance in the streets. But the
repression continued, particularly in working-class quarters. However, Gilberto Martínez, member of the executive board
of the CUT Colombia (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores, the country's largest trade union), explained to ROAR, "People
are no longer afraid, so people face and respond to aggression, people faced the ESMAD, they came together on the streets."

ESCALATING RURAL PROTESTS

Inasmuch as there is a tendency to - rightly - view the recent events in Colombia in the context of the global struggles
against the cost of living, corruption and neoliberal austerity of the last decade, these struggles are also part of an
internal cycle of protest in Colombia that started in 2008.

That year, sugar-cane cutters in southwestern Colombia went on a three-month strike, followed by mass mobilization of
Indigenous communities known as minga ("collective effort" in various Indigenous languages). Since then, protests and
popular mobilizations have been on the rise, particularly in rural regions. Urban protest has been limited to the huge
student demonstrations of 2011 and the heroic-but-isolated struggles of various trade unions that are often attacked by
hit men and death squads, accounting for Colombia's status as world leader in the murder of trade unionists.

Led by agrarian unions and Indigenous communities, rural Colombia experienced a period of popular mass mobilization
opposing the militarization of the countryside, confronting - unsuccessfully -various free trade agreements with the US
and the EU, and, most importantly, opposing the implementation of megaprojects in the agricultural and mining sectors.

It was this resistance, best exemplified in the struggles of the Tolima communities against gold-mining giant Anglo Gold
Ashanti, which connected peasants with urban masses through the environmental movement.

Escalating rural protest, coupled with increasingly effective insurgent attacks against the military, particularly by
the FARC-EP, provided the backdrop for the launch of the peace negotiations between this rebel movement and the
Colombian government in late 2012. Alas, its transformative potential was squandered by isolating the population from
the negotiations that took place in Cuba, by not insisting on broader popular participation, and by limiting its scope
to issues that were in the Constitution anyway, such as the government insisting that the economic model was not to be
touched and the FARC-EP negotiating team accepting this.

Ultimately, the government's reluctance to implement any substantial change, combined with a guerrilla movement which by
and large saw mass participation in the dialogues as a threat to their "ownership" of the process, resulted in a
restricted, non-transformative, peace agreement in 2016.

In 2013, a series of rural protests - started by coffee farmers in March and followed by mobilizations of cocaleros in
the border region with Venezuela in June - led to a mass agrarian strike against the free trade agreement with the USA
signed the previous year. This rural protest brought millions out to the streets and gathered unprecedented support in
urban centers. After some 25 people died and many hundreds were arrested and injured, the government agreed to negotiate
with the agrarian unions separately by economic activity and region.

Thus, the collective power that had been built up over the course of a month of protests was successfully fragmented and
contained. The traditional left and their movements, possibly alarmed at the independence of the movement, opted to turn
away from sustained protest, discrediting direct action as "undermining" the Santos government and, therefore, the peace
process. Instead, they focused on a futile electoral strategy, which rendered the poorest of results the following year.
They did not understand that the anger in the streets is seldom channeled through the ballot box.

To a degree, the peace process - which had been described as an attempt at "pacification" by left-wing critics - plus
the electoralist strategy of the left curbed the 2008-2013 tendency to the escalation of social protest. But this was to
be only temporary.

WHAT NOW? LEARNING THE LESSONS OF A LONG HISTORY OF STRUGGLE

The current protests are the biggest since September 1977, when a civic strike against the high costs of living,
militarization and repression, and depressed salaries was violently repressed by the state. The 1978 Security Statute
significantly empowered the military and authorized martial courts for the opposition. Afterwards, para-state mechanisms
of repressions - i.e., death squads - proliferated, and the hideous practice of forced disappearance commenced.

One sector of the left thought that an urban insurrection would merge imminently with the rural guerrilla movement - an
interpretation that, although it proved to be wrong, was not completely baseless in light of the events in Nicaragua.
Guerrilla cells multiplied as the Security Statute and the wholesale repression following the 1977 civic strike moved
many left-wing militants to join armed struggle as they saw the space for democratic political opposition shrinking.

It is a well-known pattern in Colombia that popular mobilization leads to state repression, and repression leads to a
growth in number and size of guerrilla movements. Urban centers remained, however, by and large, a difficult nut to
crack for guerrillas. The traditional left-wing regarded the events as an opportunity to gather votes and as a sign of
the people moving towards the left. However, they too would be disappointed after their poor electoral performance in 1978.

Where to now? As the number of guerrillas who reject the 2016 FARC-EP agreement with the government continues to grow,
it is clear that under the current conditions, and given the government's unwillingness to fulfill its duties as
outlined in the peace agreement, there is a very real threat of renewed armed struggle in the countryside.

However, the urban centers have a completely different dynamic and the insurrectionary logic is not likely to bring
about the changes expected by the vast majority of the population. Likewise, people in Colombia do not necessarily
express their anger and frustration through the ballot box. Therefore, the conclusions from 1977 of both the
insurrectionary left and of the traditional left are not applicable to the present.

Although it would be extremely unwise to dismiss the power of the far-right, of uribismo, it is clear that whatever
legitimacy it had has been nullified in the eyes of most people. But, if a progressive alternative does not fill this
vacuum, the doors will be opened for an authoritarian solution to the crisis of hegemony just as it happened in 1977-78.
In this respect, Martínez of the CUT stated that,

We are trying to keep up with permanent actions[...]this 21st was a magnificent display of fighting spirit. There were
cacerolazos all across the country[...]So repression will likely get worse, because we have a far-right government. But
people are not taking it anymore, but without a clear direction people don't know where to go, what's going to happen
and we need to be prepared.

Given the past experience, it would also be unwise to rely on the ballot box for an appropriate response to this crisis.
The fighting spirit of the people needs to be organized independently, around their most immediate demands: committees
for pensioners, for the youth, for women, for the myriad of demands. They need to be organized to exercise pressure and
engage in direct action - what was fought out on the streets needs to be won on the streets. They also need to act as
one, and no particular sector should engage separately in negotiations as happened in 2014; unity is key.

The labor movement needs to be strong and lead by example. Vis-à-vis the scale of the moral crisis of the political
establishment, there is a need for the people to constitute power from below. Talking to ROAR, an activist from the
working-class quarters of Cali remarked that,

Things are heating up. People now believe that this can actually change. But we need to be firm and demand that Duque
resigns at once. We do not have nothing to negotiate with him. Why should we? He never keeps his promises, he will only
use negotiations as a diversion, so people sign up agreement they will never fulfill. This government has to fall.

This warning becomes relevant now that the government is calling for a national dialogue, in all likelihood to wear down
the movement. Agrarian activist from Putumayo explained, "We have always held that this is a mafia state, but then
whenever we are called to sit down with them for a coffee, we run to their presence and thus we legitimate it. We need
to be more coherent than that."

Martínez, of the CUT, also emphasized,

On Tuesday,[November]26, the Executive Committee of the civic strike will reach a decision on the proposal. The
government is talking of a national agreement with the demagogues, not really with the people's organizations. We don't
need any more promises. They know our demands: social welfare, labor rights. Dialogue, for the government, is a way to
end up imposing their own views, we should not be naive about this.

The latest Colombian crisis is far from resolved. The challenge for the popular sectors consist of keeping the momentum,
turning anger into organization, slogans into concrete proposals to be fought and won on the streets and to remain
united and avoid fragmentation.

At the same time, pointless negotiations designed as strategies of attrition need to be avoided, and the same goes for
provocations that try to put segments of the people against one another. A wave of agrarian unrest is in the making for
next year, when it will hopefully merge with this new generation of urban rebels who learned their lessons the hard way.
Then, the chance to give a mortal blow to the far-right will be at hand. If Colombia's oligarchy really thinks this is
just a passing mood to be smashed through deception and repression, they have another thing coming.

José Antonio Gutiérrez D.
26 November, 2019
Related Link: https://roarmag.org/essays/colombia-on-strike-this-government-has-to-fall/

https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31667

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