Today's Topics:
1. alternativa libertaria fdca: Coronavirus and riots by Orange
Themes (ca, de, it, pt) [machine translation]
Themes (ca, de, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. US, Statement by Black Rose / Rosa Negra: Brunch is
Canceled: Biden, Trump, and the Case for Revolution
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Canceled: Biden, Trump, and the Case for Revolution
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Greece, mauro kokkino: Text of solidarity with the anarchist
Eroll [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Eroll [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #311 - Politics,
Libertarian pedagogy: do not demonize "family education" (de, it,
fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Libertarian pedagogy: do not demonize "family education" (de, it,
fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. ait russia: 109th "act" of "yellow vests" and the third
"march of freedoms" [machine translation]
"march of freedoms" [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Czech, AFED: Part Five: View and Distance to the Door
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The pandemic in these long months has exposed many of our society's weaknesses.
Beyond the general relationship of man with nature which is the basis of all the
evils we face today, the coronavirus has shown all the limits of a social and
economic organization that for over forty years has been described as the
unsurpassed pinnacle of human development. It is no coincidence that at the end
of the last century, ideologues of the capitalist system spoke of the end of
history, meaning that the arrival of liberal-democratic regimes marked the
insurmountable arrival point of the social and economic evolution of our
societies . The pandemic shows us how these certainties crumble under the weight
of material facts. Health and education in this are the apex of an iceberg that
liquefies in the same way as the glaciers of Antarctica. Decades of social cuts
have resulted in an inability to defend against the epidemic that is killing
thousands of lives, far above other nations, and which to date does not seem to
settle an awareness of the gravity of the situation. Faced with this contingency
"of the end of the world in small pieces" as a man of the church defined it with
a strong image, (because every life that goes out is a whole world that
disappears) society does not seem able to cope with a thousand emergencies that
struggle to emerge. From the elderly who rise to a media phenomenon, for the
deaths in the nursing homes, but who continue not to find adequate answers such
as to save them from abandonment or "imprisonment"; the various symptoms of
psychic and mental distress; and to the condition of those who have simply been
erased such as the more than 54,868 inmates of Italian prisons. The riots of the
detainees on 7 and 8 March ripped the veil of silence that envelops this "total
institution", but the media attention was immediately extinguished under the
weight of the death of the 14 detainees. To give voice to those who take it away
from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that reality on
his own skin. but the media attention was immediately extinguished under the
weight of the death of the 14 inmates. To give voice to those who take the law
away from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that
reality on his own skin. but the media attention was immediately extinguished
under the weight of the death of the 14 inmates. To give voice to those who take
it away from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that
reality on his own skin.
Carmelo Musumeci accepted our proposal to collaborate with "il Cantiere" and
could not have been the most suitable voice to tell us about the world of prison.
A place that he has lived in for twenty-eight years. Sentenced to life
imprisonment, the one that provides for the "end of sentence never", perhaps the
most unique case he manages to regain his freedom in 2018. Carmelo enters prison
in 1991 with an elementary school certificate, he graduates as a self-taught
person and then follows three degrees: in 2005 in Law with a thesis in Sociology
of Law entitled "Living life imprisonment", in 2011 in Penitentiary Law with a
thesis entitled "The 'living death penalty': life imprisonment and
constitutionality profiles" and in 2016 in Philosophy with 110 cum laude
discussing the thesis "Deviant Biographies".
At first glance, a superficial observer might get the idea that prison has had a
positive role on Carmelo, who entered prison as a hardened criminal, with heavy
crimes to serve, and comes out as a repentant and cultured man. All this
disappears, however, as soon as you read the pages of his writings in which the
harsh reality of imprisonment and in particular of that particular condition in
which the 1673 inmates sentenced to perpetual prison live, exude pain and
desperation. The reality of the "living dead" so are life prisoners, instead of
favoring and developing a review of their behavior aimed at becoming aware of
their mistakes, they operate a sort of self absolution. Carmelo says that the
evil done in some way takes a back seat in the face of the evil that is suffered
with a pain that does not give perspective. "A bad sentence does not improve, but
on the contrary, in many cases, it makes the situation worse". The change, then,
takes place not thanks to the prison, but despite the prison.
"If they have no more bread, let them eat brioches." This is what Queen Marie
Antoinette seems to have responded at the time of the French Revolution, to the
news that the hungry people were revolting.
Little is known about the deaths during the riots in prison these days, even the
death toll is uncertain. We know, however, that it is much easier for the police
to quell demonstrations in prison than outside in the squares or in the streets,
because "inside" no one sees you, there are no uncomfortable witnesses and for
the rioters it is not easy at all. run away or get away. If with the
demonstrators at the G8 in Genoa in 2001 it was not easy and they had to repress
them in front of the eyes of the whole world, in prison there are no eyes that
see. Apart from a few journalists who are exceptions, it seems that the mass
media does not care how and why these inmates died, why they were transferred
dying to other prisons (instead of taking them to hospital). I think these
questions will never be answered,
To confuse public opinion and justify the inability of the prison system to
manage the emergency, rumors are circulating that behind the riots there was the
direction of the Mafia, forgetting to say that these organizations never
participated in riots prison and that, indeed, have always hindered them. Behind
these revolts there is no mafia, rather the state that had forgotten its
prisoners, abandoning them to their fate, to despair, and fear did everything
else. It was just a spontaneous riot. Nothing else. But what would you have done?
Would you have protested peacefully? In prison it is not easy to do this and many
inmates do not have the tools to manage a peaceful protest. It is not my
intention to clear the violence, but I just try to understand why and where it
comes from,
When I hear that the mobile anti-riot departments enter to restore order, bad
memories come to mind, unfortunately there are no journalists, mobile phones and
cameras inside to testify what happens when these facts happen. That's why I've
always written diaries from prison:
"The director and the commissioner of the prison had decided to act and to
transfer the promoters of the protest and turned to the squad. It was a cold and
cloudy day. Even the weather didn't promise anything good. The guards swooped
into the section a few hours before dawn. The corridor was silent and gloomy.
Suddenly from the first cells there was an alarm cry from an inmate: "They are
coming". And soon afterwards shouts and insults were heard throughout the prison.
The guards began with the inmates of the first cells, to break noses and teeth,
smearing the walls of their rooms with blood. The weakest inmates, drug addicts,
and the elderly huddled in the corners of their cells crying and sobbing. I, to
cushion the blows of the truncheons, which surely would have come to me, had put
on three pajamas,
"In 1992 I arrived on the island of Asinara with the carabinieri helicopter. As
soon as I got off the guards took over. Immediately after they threw me into a
cage set up provisionally in the center of the sports garment, in front of the
infamous Fornelli section. We were squashed like sardines. Suddenly the guards
lined up left and right. They cleared a corridor in the middle that led straight
into the prison. The guards had plexiglass shields and batons in their hands. I
immediately imagined what would happen. I glanced at the route they had to take.
And immediately I thought it would be hard not to get some truncheon on the head.
The first inmates came out. They were immediately targeted with batons.
I ran bent double with my arms raised to try to shield myself from the blows of
the truncheon. But it didn't help much. It was my turn. I was trying to protect
my head, but the batons came right there. "
"The guards arrived by the dozen. They grabbed me and dragged me to the
punishment cells. They threw me into the smooth cell. Fists and kicks and insults
flew. They undressed me. They searched me. The guards boiled with rage. They
started insulting me: "Son of a bitch. Take this and this other ". Then they got
tired and left. I lay down on the ground, in the smooth cell there was not even a
cot. I covered myself with an old blanket thrown in a corner, the only thing that
was in that cell. I stood for half an hour with my eyes fixed on the ceiling. I
felt pain all over. My head hurt and my hips hurt, the part of my body that had
kicked the most. My eyes closed with exhaustion, anger and pain. I could not put
my thoughts in order. Eventually I fell asleep. The rays of the morning sun,
which filtered through the bars of the window, woke me. I had all the muscles
that hurt me, all over. I was feeling frustrated. I also had a numb shoulder and
a stiff arm. I closed my eyes again, as if to defend myself from what I was
seeing. The smooth cell was even uglier during the day. If I knew the prison
well, and knew it well, maybe during the day they would have packed me up and
moved me to a detention jail. After the protests, inmates never keep them in the
same prison. I stayed a while staring at the walls of the cell, then I decided to
try to get up. I straightened my shoulders and back and got up off the ground. I
staggered. I was about to fall. I supported myself by placing a hand on the wall.
Right on the spot on the wall where I was leaning, I saw that a sentence was
written on it. I struggled to read it. It seemed written in blood: "My soul seeks
the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to forget
what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more
so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me It seemed written in blood: "My soul
seeks the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to
forget what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become
even more so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I
was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the
prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some
judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that
my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the
face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not
have stopped at the body, they would have me It seemed written in blood: "My soul
seeks the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to
forget what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become
even more so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I
was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the
prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some
judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that
my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the
face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not
have stopped at the body, they would have me I shook my head, as if to forget
what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more
so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me I shook my head, as if to forget what I
had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more so. All
my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me I was still breathing hard. I thought
that other blows were waiting for me in the prison where they would send me. That
night they went "light", for fear that some judge would see me, if he came to
question me about the collective protest that I and my companions had made. In
fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face. Instead in the prison where
they would have sent me the guards would not have stopped at the body, they would
have me I was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for
me in the prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear
that some judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective
protest that my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched
me in the face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards
would not have stopped at the body, they would have me
also split the face. Like that time in Nuoro, when two of my teeth were blown
out. I sat down again on the ground, with my legs stretched out and my back
against the wall, waiting for my fate. "
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/blog/2020/12/15/coronavirus-e-rivolte
------------------------------
Message: 2
The 2020 presidential election has come and gone. While Donald Trump's refusal to
concede marks a departure from the established norms of U.S. bourgeois democracy,
it has not amounted to the coup that many feared it would. Despite the
authoritarian rhetoric that brought him to power, Trump never produced the sort
of coherent ideological project which the forces necessary for a successful coup
(namely the military and capital) would feel compelled to throw their weight
behind. If anything, four years of Trump threatened to complicate and destabilize
U.S. imperial hegemony and the smooth functioning of global markets, which the
U.S. ruling class is wholly invested in preserving and reproducing.
In light of his loss, Trump has made increasingly desperate plays at casting
doubt on the election results; filing doomed lawsuits, demanding recounts, and
making spurious claims of fraud. The GOP will buoy these claims for as long as it
remains politically expedient to do so, but this won't last forever. In fact many
have already jumped ship as this expediency begins to expire. By now, everyone
save for the most captured Trump diehards understands that come January 20th, Joe
Biden will assume the presidency.
Though Trump's power-grab appears to have failed, his brazen attempt to steal the
election has exposed structural vulnerabilities in the presidency, eroded
confidence in the electoral system, fed into growing conspiracy theories and
emboldened the far-right. It also provoked a state of alarm within popular
movements. These destabilizing effects will last far beyond Trump's term in
office, presenting real threats in the coming period. In many ways Trumpism will
live on.
While the Democrats have hailed Trump's failure as proof of a functioning
democracy, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only does the Democratic
party represent the same rotten system which brought millions into the streets
this year and gave rise to Trump in the first place - their victory against him
was far from a given. Despite what the polls predicted, Biden won only by a slim
margin, nearly identical to the one that propelled Trump to victory in 2016. Down
ballot, Democrats were unable to secure the Senate and even lost seats in the House.
This should cast serious doubt on hopes of a Biden presidency resulting in the
passage of anything resembling progressive legislation. Regardless of which party
is in power, it's only pressure from below in the form of militant mass social
movements that give us a real chance at making substantial gains and advancing
towards revolutionary transformation.
This election also took place against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic that has
careened further out of control - a factor that seems to have played a decisive
role in tipping the scales for Biden, while exposing and exacerbating
pre-existing inequalities at the heart of capitalism, heteropatriarchy, white
supremacy, and the state.
Both Congress and the executive have all but checked out on the question of
providing additional economic relief. This as COVID cases spike to new and unseen
levels across the country, causing our brittle private healthcare system to once
again hurtle toward a breaking point. As is always the case under capitalism, the
working class - especially working class women and people of color - will
continue to be hardest hit by the ravages of the pandemic.
While we have little reason to place faith in the institutions of capitalism or
the state to meet our basic needs, this year has shown the transformative power
of social movements to force concessions and build momentum towards liberation.
While we can win reforms with these movements, our ultimate aim should be social
revolution.
The power of social movements was exhibited early on in the pandemic when workers
in a variety of sectors demanded and often won protections in the form of hazard
pay or safety protocols. Similarly, renters in major cities around the U.S.
looked to tenant unions for guidance in organizing rent strikes, when it became
clear just how slow the state was in acting to prevent a (still pending) wave of
evictions resulting from mass unemployment. The proliferation of mutual aid
networks has been another inspiring example of people's ability to take matters
into their own hands and build structures of community solidarity.
But no other event better captures just how much social movements have developed
and just how radically they can change the present state of things, than this
summer's mass rebellion in response to the racist police lynching of George
Floyd. The sheer size, militancy, and multiracial nature of the uprising gave it
the force to move its central demand of "defunding the police" out of the realm
of fringe politics and onto the agenda of national conversation. In many places
the movement succeeded in actualizing this demand by exerting pressure on local
governments. This pressure must be sustained if we hope to defend and build on
these gains towards revolutionary transformation.
Make no mistake, the strongest social force in 2020 was not any political party
or candidate, it was social movements. The question is, will these movements
become emboldened or deflated by Trump's exit from the White House?
We must do everything in our power to limit the coming demobilization of those
who feel that the defeat of Trump signals an end to their political commitments.
Our answer to this must be to join, build, and strengthen fighting organizations
rooted in struggles around material issues. This means labor unions or organizing
committees at work, tenant unions at home, student organizations at school, as
well as popular assemblies and mutual aid in our neighborhoods. These
organizations constitute a pole of popular power which can not only win
concessions in the short term, but build the basis of a revolutionary mass
movement which can transform society on the basis of libertarian socialism in the
long term.
The moment we are in is one marked by precarity, alienation, and unease. We are
in a transition, but it is unclear where to. The only certainty is that the
struggle of working people, people of color, queer people, Indigenous
communities, and others will continue. If we can sustain the power of this
summer's uprising by grounding it in organization, direct action, and a
transformative vision of revolutionary change, then there's nothing that can
stand in our way.
The state has failed us, but the future is unwritten; another society is possible
if we press forward in organized collective struggle.
Join us as we move together toward libertarian socialism.
Black Rose Anarchist Federation
Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra
https://blackrosefed.org/brunch-is-canceled-biden-trump-and-the-case-for-revolution/
------------------------------
Message: 3
On December 6, Erol, an anarchist of French descent, is arrested and charged with
spreading the virus, which leads to deportation due to the pandemic. The
deportation sentence is currently pending against him on the pretext that it is a
"public danger" ---- The December 6 demonstration was a bet for the state, a bet
it eventually lost. A total ban on the demonstration, under the guise of a
pandemic and with the ultimate goal of creating a condition in which the
movement's forces would be forced to retreat in the face of state demands,
creating an even more suffocating situation for all those who fight but also for
the oppressed in general. was eventually accomplished by the state and its
assassins in uniform. The coordination, organization and stubbornness of dozens
of comrades all over Greece managed to break, even for a few hours, the universal
ban imposed once again by the Ministry of "Citizen Protection" and tried to
implement the mercenary army of occupation of the bosses , keeping the flame of
the December uprising burning, keeping intact in the collective memory the figure
of the murdered Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Among the crowd of these fighters was
Eroll, who due to his political action, his participation in the anarchist
movement and his origin is the ideal scapegoat to implement state policies of
repression and discipline. The method of deportation of Eroll, is not just a
direct threat to all the fighters who happen to not have Greek citizenship, that
a simple arrest in a demonstration could be a reason for deportation. It also
aims to create accomplished events, events on which it can rely in the future to
hit the movement and the fighters even harder.
It becomes clear, then, that the state will use every possible means to suppress
whoever chooses the path of struggle. Its arsenal is large and for this every
possible means is used. State repression is sometimes expressed through brutal
repression of cops, sexist attacks, torture of comrades and squatting
evacuations, and sometimes takes more "bloody" forms through exhaustive financial
guarantees or methods of deporting militants. From the immigrants stacked in the
hells of Petros Ralli and Kara Tepe in miserable conditions and the daily
pushbacks to the repressive methods against the anarchist movement, the attitude
of the authorities for the complete crushing of the oppressed and the fighters is
evident. For us, the method of expelling the anarchist Eroll, fits into this very
context. The origin of a man, that is, becomes the means by which the state will
manage to "get rid" of an anarchist. Our solidarity with anyone who is hit by the
state and capital is not only self-evident and imperative.
AGAINST THE METHODS OF STATE - COP - JUDGES
POWER & SOLIDARITY IN ANARCHIST EROLL
https://maurokokkino1936.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/2774/
------------------------------
Message: 4
In his speech of October 2, Macron announced that he wanted to ban, from the
start of the 2021 school year, except for medical reasons, home instruction. Far
from this image of withdrawal into oneself, home education also highlights the
values of libertarian pedagogy and allows children to develop themselves fully.
---- In his speech at the beginning of October, Macron gives examples
stigmatizing Muslims, amalgamations, which could divide the population and
legitimize racism, with great blows of the values of the republic. Banning family
education (IEF) would stop radicalism? Seriously, if there really are radicalized
families who teach as a family, they can always try to indoctrinate their
children outside of school time. However, these cases are exceptional, as
Blanquer himself has repeatedly pointed out. [1]
The government therefore responds to the exception by suppressing the freedoms of
the entire population. The parents who have chosen the IEF are very varied, no
typical profile. Above all, they made the choice of freedom. They are also not
completely free because currently the IEF is already very regulated, the controls
of the academic inspectorate are annual and the town halls can check the
conditions of instruction at home.
The Livradois unschoolers are passionate, curious children, great readers, living
in the open air, from the lower classes. They are thirsty for learning, thirsty
for human contact. And they have many friends, they are not alone - isolated at
home - as you might think. They have time. Time to play, to read, to discover, to
learn at their own pace, to travel.
What changes can we imagine by channeling all the children of the Republic into a
single model? Children will build the world of tomorrow. If we adults do not
allow, do not encourage a certain diversity of construction, how will society be
able to renew itself?
Teach differently
In 1901, Francisco Ferrer created the Escuela moderna. Its libertarian pedagogy
eliminates any idea of competition, there is no examination or classification in
the modern school, in order to favor solidarity and mutual aid between the
students. Punishments and rewards are also excluded. The teachers intervene very
little, and never without having been asked beforehand by one or more pupils, in
order to respect the capacities of the child to build himself.
Parents who have made the choice of out-of-school education are mostly attached
to the idea of the "free and secular public republic school" institution.
Nevertheless, as long as the socio-economic conditions are unequal, the teaching
conditions degraded, the teachers not listened to, as long as the State-boss is
in the orders and at the service of Capital, they will always and again demand
freedom of instruction. , it is a constitutional right.
Parents' associations are fighting, they have federated to take advice from a
lawyer, in order to counter this liberticidal bill which should be presented to
the Council of Ministers on December 9.
UCL Livradois
Validate
[1] "For the school of confidence", October 2020, Eduscol.education.fr where the
minister has already announced the ban on the IEF as having been recorded, thus
sitting on the legislative process of voting for a bill !
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pedagogie-libertaire-ne-pas-diaboliser-l-instruction-en-famille
------------------------------
Message: 5
The "109th act" of protest by the yellow vest movement in France on December 12
coincided with the third Saturday of mass protests against the "global security"
law. More than 60 thousand people took to the streets of French cities, according
to organizers. As in previous weeks, the protesters were brutally attacked by the
forces of the capitalist order. ---- Although this time the organizers called for
a focus primarily on protests in the provinces, the French capital again became
the epicenter of events. The march against the "security" law started at 15.15
from Châtelet, moving in the direction of the Saint-Jacques tower and the town
hall and reaching at 17.50 to Place de la Republique. At the last moment, his ban
was not followed. But the rally of "yellow vests" scheduled at the Palais Royal
was banned by the authorities. The Yellow Vests joined the general march. On that
day, demonstrations were held in fifty cities in France, including Bordeaux,
Caen, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, Rennes, Strasbourg, Tours, etc.
Clashes in Lille between demonstrators and the police, using tear gas, are reported.
The authorities brought reinforced police and gendarmerie units to the streets.
During the crackdown on protests, 142 people were arrested (
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/ceinna-coll/blog/131220/gj-acte109-paris-12122020-marchedeslibertes
)
The first clashes between protesters and repressive regime forces took place
within minutes of the start of the march. When moving towards the Republic
Square, the police tried to neutralize the activists of the "black bloc", and
they began to throw stones and bottles at her. The scooter was set on fire. The
police attacked the demonstrators and began to severely beat them. Water cannons
were placed along the route of the demonstrators, the police accompanied the
demonstration column ( https://www.vesti.ru/article/2497989 )
At first, the police used pepper spray, beat the protesters with truncheons and
shields, and later in the evening, water cannons were used. In the evening,
battles raged in the area of Republic Square. The demonstrators set fires and
used fireworks. Many victims of police brutality have been reported. One of the
photographers and the drummer of the demonstrators was smashed in the head
(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9046781/French-police-arrest-150-people-weekend-protests-against-new-security-law.html)
"Virus is Macron"
"Peace guards? Fuck!"
"To live - yes! To survive - no!"
The demonstrators chanted the already familiar: "Everybody hates the police",
"Anti, anti, anti-capitalists", "Paris, get up, get up!", "The police are
murderers", "Don't look at us - join us", "The police are everywhere, justice is
nowhere" ... On the posters held by the demonstrators, one could read: "The
vaccine against the coronavirus is poison. We reject the new world order!", "Stop
Macrongate's laws killing freedom", "Protected police" ...
https://aitrus.info/node/5601
------------------------------
Message: 6
Text following the EZLN communiqué "Mountain on the high seas" ---- Suppose you
can choose where you turn your gaze. Suppose also that it is possible to free
ourselves, at least for a moment, from the tyranny of social networks, which
dictate not only what we should look at and what we should talk about, but also
how we look and speak. Suppose you look beyond: from the immediate to the local,
regional and national to the global. Are you watching it? Yes, there is chaos,
confusion, disorder. Suppose you are a human being, not a digital application
that readily views, sorts, arranges, judges, or punishes everything, and as such
you choose what you look at... and how you look. It is possible (though this is
just another assumption) that watching and judging is not the same thing. In that
case, you not only choose where you turn your gaze, but you can also decide
otherwise to ask: a question"Is it good or bad?" To swap for "What is it?" . Of
course, the first question leads to a nourishing debate (are there still
debates?) Ending with the statement "This is bad (or good) because I say it."
Alternatively, we can discuss what is good and what is evil, and substantiate our
claims and quotes in footnotes. Sure, you're right, it's better than likes and
thumbs up, but I suggest you change the starting point: choose where you're looking.
For example: you decide to deny your view of Muslims. You can choose between
those who have assassinated Charlie Hebdo or those who are already walking
through France to claim their rights. Since you've read this far, it's likely
that you're more on the " sans-papiers " side"(1). And you probably feel
obligated to say that Macron is an idiot. However, let us now leave this glimpse
upwards and look back down at the protest camps and the migrant marches. First
you think of asking how many there are, and you hurry with the answer: a lot, a
little, too much, or just enough; your interest has shifted from their religion
to numbers. You ask yourself other questions: What do they want? What are they
fighting for? And here you have to decide whether to go in the media and on the
networks... or listen directly to them. Suppose you can ask them. Will you ask
them about their religion, or will you ask how many there are? Will you
immediately ask them why they left their country and arrived here, on unknown
land and clouds, in places with a different language, a different culture,
different laws and ways? Maybe he'll answer you in one word: war. And maybe he'll
explain to you what the word means in their perception. War. Do you decide to
search: war where? Or better yet, why the war? It will overwhelm you with
explanations: religion, territorial disputes, plunder of resources... or simply
stupidity. But you are not satisfied with that, and you keep asking: who benefits
all the destruction, displacement and subsequent renewal and population? Here you
will come across the names of various corporations. You look further and find
that they are based in several countries and that they produce not only weapons
but also cars, rockets and satellites, microwave ovens, disposable packaging,
banks, social networks, "media content", clothing, telephones and computers,
footwear, food with "bio" and without it, transport companies, online sales,
trains, heads of state and heads of various cabinets, scientific and
non-scientific research centers, hotel and restaurant chains, fast food,
airlines, thermal power plants and, of course, the "humanitarian" aid foundation.
It could be concluded that the responsibility lies in the very essence of
humanity and in the whole world.
But then it occurs to you to ask if the world and humanity happen to be
responsible for the migrant camps, the protest marches, for the defiance. And you
find that - probably, probably - the whole system is responsible for it all. The
system that produces and reproduces pain, as do those who cause pain and those
who endure it.
Now let's look back to the marchers who are now making their way through France.
Suppose there are few, a little, that there is only one woman carrying her child.
Do you now care about their religion, language, clothing, culture, their ways? Is
it important to you that she is just one woman with a baby in her arms? And now
forget about the woman for a moment and focus your attention only on the little
creature. Does it matter if it's a boy, a girl or another? Does the color of his
skin matter? Maybe now you'll find out that what really matters is his life.
And now let's move on. If you've read this far, a few more lines won't hurt you
anymore - or at least not much.
Suppose a woman speaks to you and that you have the honor of understanding what
she is telling you. Do you think she will ask you to apologize to her for the
color of your skin, for your faith or for your nationality, gender, for your
ancestors, for their culture and ways? Will you rush to apologize for who you
are? Do you hope that he will forgive you and you will be able to return to your
life knowing that you do not owe anything to anyone? Or will he not forgive you
and you say to yourself "well, at least I tried it and I sincerely regret being
who I am"?
Or are you afraid that he will just look at you in silence and you will feel that
he is asking you with that look: "What about you?"
If you come to this judgment / feeling / insecurity / fear, then I apologize, but
there is no cure for you: you are a human being.
* * *
So we've made it clear, we already know you're not a shoe , and now repeat this
exercise on the island of Lesbos, Gibraltar, in the English Channel, along the
Suchiate River, near the Rio Grande.
And now try to look at Palestine, Kurdistan, Euskadi (2) or Wallmap (3). Yes, it
makes my head spin, and it's not everything worth looking at. There are people
(whether there are many, few, too many or just enough) who also fight for life.
And who perceive life as inextricably linked with their land, their language,
their culture and their ways. With all that the Congress of Indigenous Peoples is
teaching us to call "territory," which is not just a piece of land. Aren't you
tempted to let these people tell their stories, their struggles and their dreams?
Yes, I know, it might be easier for you to turn to Wikipedia, but wouldn't it
tempt you to hear them directly and try to understand them?
Return now to what lies between the Suchiate River and the Rio Grande. Head to a
place called "Morelos". Here, look towards the village of Temoac and focus on the
community known as Amilcingo. Do you see the house? It is the house of a man who
bore the name of Samir Flores Soberanes during his lifetime. He was murdered in
front of this door. What did he do wrong? He resisted the mega-project, which
represented death for the life of the community of which he was a part. No, I did
not argue: Samir was not murdered because he would defend his individual life, he
would defend the life of his community.
What's more, Samir was murdered for defending the lives of generations that have
not yet been considered. Because for Samir, for his comrades, for the indigenous
people associated in the Congress of Indigenous Peoples, for us Zapatistas and
Zapatistas, community life is not something that takes place only in the present.
It is primarily what is yet to come. Community life is being built today, but for
tomorrow. Community life is passed on and on. Do you think the bill for his
murder would be leveled if his murderers - real or intellectual - apologized? Do
you think that his family, his organization, the Congress of Indigenous Peoples,
nosotr @ s , would be satisfied if those criminals asked us for
forgiveness?"Forgive me, I wrote the reward for killing him and paid the
assassins, I was always a little hot head. I'll try to fix it... or not. Ok, so I
apologized to you, and now finally pack your protest camp so we can complete the
construction of the thermal power plant, or we'll lose a lot of money. " Do you
think they're waiting to do that? That they are fighting for it, are we fighting
for it? To ask us for forgiveness? To say, "Sorry, you're right, we killed Samir
and our project will kill your communities." So sorry. And if you don't forgive
us, it doesn't matter, we will finish our project anyway. "?
And it turns out that those who apologize for the thermal power plant are the
ones behind the ill-named "Mayan train" (4), the "Transisthmast corridor" (5),
dams and open pit mines. They are the same ones who close the borders to prevent
migration caused by the wars they feed, the same ones who persecute the Mapuche,
the same ones who massacre the Kurds, the same ones who are destroying Palestine,
the same ones who are shooting African Americans, the same ones, who exploit -
either directly or indirectly - workers in every corner of the planet, the same
ones who cultivate and celebrate gender-based violence, the same ones who force
children into prostitution, the same ones who spy on you to find out what you
love and then you they could sell it, and if you don't like anything, then they
will force you to have the same ones who destroy nature. Those who make you, us,
and everyone else believe, that these global crimes are due to specific nations,
religions, languages, stories, or ways that resistance to progress is to blame.
That we should all be the same... or the same, so that we do not forget gender
equality.
If it could reach all corners of this dying planet, what would you do? We don't
know about you, but we Zapatistas and Zapatistas would go to learn. And of course
dancing, but I don't think these things are mutually exclusive. If this
opportunity existed, we would be willing to risk it all, really everything. Not
only our individual lives, but also the collective one. And if that possibility
did not exist, we would fight to create it. To build it as if it were a ship.
Yes, I know, it sounds crazy to you, like something unthinkable. Who could have
thought that the fate of those fighting a thermal power plant in a forgotten
corner of Mexico could be of interest to people in Palestine, the Basque Country,
that of Mapuche, migrants, African Americans, a young Swedish environmentalist, a
Kurdish fighter or a woman fighting in any another corner of the planet,
Shouldn't we instead go to Chablekal on the Yucatan Peninsula and complain to the
Equipo Indignación (6)? "Hey, you have fair skin and are believers, ask for
forgiveness," I'm almost certain that he replied: "No problem, just please wait
your turn, we are now busy with accompanying of those who opposed the Mayan train
and who suffer from displacement, persecution, imprisonment and death. " And they
would probably add:
"And we must also deal with the Supreme Leader's accusation that we are funded by
the Illuminati as part of an interplanetary conspiracy to stop 4T." (7) "Order".
Or should we invade Europe and destroy the Panthenon, the Louvre and the Prado
with the battle cry "Surrender, pale faces!" Instead of pasta, seafood and
paella, introduce a diet based on corn, chickpeas and sea yerba; instead of beer,
wine and lemonade obligatory pozol! And anyone caught on the street without a
balaclava, a fine or imprisonment (yes, one or the other, no need to exaggerate).
Shout, "Look, rockers, you're going to play marimba from now on! And we want to
hear cumbia, no more reggaeton! " (Tempting, isn't it?)"How about you two,
Panchito Varona (8) and Sabina (9)? Everyone else will now join the choir, let's
play in the loop 'Cartas Marcadas' (10), all the time, regardless of the fact
that it has already hit ten, eleven, twelve, one, two, three. get up early. Look
and you there, exiles, who preferred to take his feet on his shoulders, leave the
elephants alone (11) and go cook something! Pumpkin soup for the whole yard! " (I
know, isn't my cruelty amazing?)
And now tell me: Do you think those upstairs don't have a good night's sleep from
having to apologize? Rather, it is not their greatest nightmare that they will
disappear, that they will no longer care, no one will take them into account,
they will be nothing, that their world will collapse without making a sound, and
that no one will remember them, build statues for them, museums, invent
celebratory songs or declare memorial days? Doesn't this possible fact rather
cause panic in them?
* * *
It was one of the few opportunities the deceased SupMarcos did not use to explain
anything with a cinematic comparison. You shouldn't know, and I shouldn't tell
you, but the late Marcos could tell about every stage of his short life as if it
were a movie. Or to accompany your explanations of the national and international
situation with the phrase "as in this or that film" . Sure, sometimes he had to
adjust his script a little bit to better suit what he was telling, but since most
of us didn't see the movie anyway, and we didn't have a signal to consult
Wikipedia on our cell phones, we had no choice but to trust it. But let's not
deviate from the topic. Wait, I think I saw it written somewhere in that stack of
papers in the trunk of his memories... Here it is! So:
"To understand our determination and the magnitude of our audacity, imagine that
death is the door you have to go through. There are many different assumptions
about what is behind the door: heaven, hell, purgatory, emptiness, and dozens of
descriptions of all these possibilities. So we can understand life as the way to
this door. The door, that is, death, would then be the place of arrival... or the
interruption, the brazen abyss of the absent, which blows the breath of life.
The door is reached through violence, torture and murder, by accident, the door
is painfully opened by illness, fatigue and desire. This means that you can
usually walk to the door without trying, but you still have the opportunity to
choose the path.
For indigenous peoples and today's Zapatistas, death was a door set at the very
beginning of life. Children often arrived before the age of five and went through
them with fever and diarrhea. What we did on January 1, 1994, was an attempt to
push the door away. To achieve this, we had to be determined to go through them
ourselves, even if we didn't want to. Since then, all our efforts have been, and
still are, to push the door as far as possible. 'Increase life expectancy,' as
experts would say. 'But a dignified life,' we would add. Move them somewhere
completely aside, somewhere very far in our way. That is why we said at the
beginning of the uprising that 'we are dying to live'. Because if we didn't pass
on life - that is, the way - on, what would we actually live for? "
Pass on life.
This is exactly what Samir Flores Soberanes took care of. And what, in short, the
Frente de Pueblos en Defensa del Agua y de la Tierra de Morelos, Puebla y
Tlaxcala (12) and their resistance and rebellion against the planned thermal
power plant and the so-called " Proyecto Integral Morelos" are striving for . The
evil government responds to their demands for a halt and complete withdrawal from
the death project by arguing that it would lose a lot of money.
What is happening in Morelos is an example of the conflict that is present all
over the world today: money versus life. And in this conflict, in this war, no
honest man can remain neutral. You are either on the side of money or on the side
of life.
So to sum it up: the struggle for life is not just an obsession of the natives,
it is rather a... mission... a collective mission.
Okay, so hello and remember that an apology is not the same as justice.
Of the mountains called the Alps, thoughts of where to invade first: Germany?
Austria? Switzerland? France? Italy? Slovenia? Monaco? Lichtenstein? No, am I
kidding... or not?
He "smashed" it on you as tastefully as possible
El SupGaleano
Mexico, October 2020
From the diary Kockopsa: A mountain on the high sea.
Part I: Vor
"In the seas of all the worlds in this world,
mountains could be seen moving above the water,
and on them were covered the faces of women, men and others."
"Chronicles of Tomorrow" Don Durito de la Lacandona, 1990
After the third unsuccessful attempt, Maxo thought for a few seconds, shouting,
"It wants a rope!" "I told you," Gabino replied. The remnants of the raft,
meanwhile, floated freely on the surface, crashing into each other as the current
of the river, true to its name - Colorado - took on a reddish hue of mud lining
its banks.
Then they had the whole section of militiamen called, which arrived in the rhythm
of "Cumbia sobre el Río Suena" (13) by the genius Celso Piña. They tied several
ropes together and sent part of the division to the other side of the river.
Then, as the two groups tied their part of the rope to the raft, they could now
control it to the point that it did not disintegrate, pulling the pile of tied
logs down the river, which had no idea of their intentions.
This nonsensical operation started after we agreed on an invasion - sorry, a
visit to all five continents. So no procrastination! When the idea was voted on,
SupGaleano told them, "You are crazy! We don't have a ship, " Maxo replied, "
Then we'll build it, " and various proposals began to fall.
As if we were suffering from a lack of absurdity in Zapatista territory, the
construction of a "ship" was taken care of by Defens Zapatista (14) and her gang.
"Comrade die a miserable death," he said Esperanza[Hope]with optimism, which
became legendary (hit the word in a book and understand that means something
terrible and irreversible, and ever since it began to be used in various
situations: "Mommy Me poorly combed. " or " I feel bad teacher oznámkovala task.
" , and so forth), while the raft during the fourth experiment again disintegrated.
"And comrades," Pedrito felt obligated to add, though he wasn't sure if gender
solidarity was appropriate in this - miserable - situation.
"Well," Defensa replied, "comrades are easy to replace, but comrades - where will
you look for them? I mean real comrades, not just any kind. "
Defensin bunch of strategically deployed, not perhaps to watch the vain efforts
of committee members (15) to build the ship, but to Defensa and Esperanza could
both hold your hand Calamidad[calamity], which has twice tried to throw into the
river to save a crumbling raft in both cases, however, fortunately Pedrito,
Pablito and the beloved Amado[amado Amado]managed to intervene . Both the
one-eyed horse and Kockopes were speechless with amazement from the beginning,
but they were afraid unnecessarily. When SupGaleano saw the whole group, he sent
three platoons of militiamen to the river bank and, in his typically diplomatic
tone, without stopping to smile, declared, "If the girl gets into the water,
you're all dead."
After a successful sixth attempt, committee members began to raft what they
called "basic equipment" (something like a zapatist survival kit): a bag of
tostadas , a panel (cane sugar), a bale of coffee, pozzo corn , firewood, and a
piece of plastic in case it rains. After a moment of contemplation, they realized
that something was missing, and brought a marimba without much fuss .
Maxo addressed Monarca and SupGaleana who had just consulted over some plans,
about which I will tell you another time: "Listen, you need to send a letter to
the other side, whether you gathered together the rope properly it there tie and
let us then fit the free end . Especially long enough... this is how we will be
able to control the direction of the ship from both shores. But let them organize
it well there, if we threw the ropes on both sides just so carelessly, we would
never connect them. It has to be organized well and then the ropes are tied
together properly. "
Maxo did not wait for SupGaleano to come out of astonishment, and began to
explain to him hastily that there was a big difference between a raft made of
logs bound by a vine and a ship about to cross the Atlantic.
Then he returned to oversee the raft load test with all his luggage. They debated
who would be the first to board as a test human crew, but the river below roared
menacingly until they finally resorted to putting a rag doll on top of all that
cargo. Maxo played the role of a naval engineer because once, many years ago,
when a Zapatista delegation went to support a protest camp in Cucapá, he got wet
in the Gulf of California. He didn't dwell on the story of how he nearly drowned
when the hood covered his nose and mouth and he couldn't breathe, and instead
declared like a true sea wolf, "The ocean is like a river, but without current
and bigger, much bigger, like Laguna de Miramar. "
SupGaleano was trying to find out how to say "rope" in German, Italian, French,
English, Greek, Basque, Turkish, Swedish, Catalan, Finnish, etc., when Major Irma
approached him and said, "Write to them that they are not alone. " . "Not alone,"
added Lieutenant Colonel Rolando. "Write yourself," Marijos dared, coming to ask
the musicians to play a cumbia version of Swan Lake. "Pretty much from the floor,
let them dance, let their hearts not be sad." Musicians ask, what are "swans"?
"They're like ducks, but prettier, as if they had stretched their necks and
stayed that way. They're a bit like giraffes, but they walk and swim like ducks.
"" And can they be eaten? "ask the musicians who are well aware that it is a long
time ago for pozol and who have just come here to help load the marimba. "But by
no means, swans don't eat, swans dance!" The musicians agree that a modified
version of Pollito con papas (16) could work. "We're studying it," they said, and
went to take a look .
Defensa Zapatista and Esperanza, meanwhile, convinced Calamidad that since
SupGaleano was busy, it meant that his hut was empty and it was likely that he
had cookies hidden in his tobacco cabinet again. Calamidad doubted this, so they
had to promise her that they could play roasted corn there (17). They left. El
Sup saw him walking towards his hut, but he wasn't worried: it was impossible for
them to find the biscuits hidden under the bags of moldy tobacco. He turned to
Monarch, pointed to one of the many drawings, and asked, "Are you sure he won't
sink? It will be quite difficult. " Monarca thought for a moment and replied, "
Um, it is possible, " and then added seriously, " They should bring inflatable
balloons with them, just in case. "
El Sup sighed and said, "We need some sense more than a ship." "And a better
rope," added SubMoy, who was arriving just as the fully loaded raft sank.
While on shore, committee members meditated on the remnants of the shipwreck and
watched the current carry on and over the inverted marimba, someone said, "Even
if we haven't loaded the entire sound system, it would be more expensive."
Everyone started clapping as a rag doll floated to the surface. Someone had
wisely attached inflatable balloons to her armpits.
Really.
Meow-Haf.
Notes:
(1) French term for undocumented people.
(2) Basque Country.
(3) The territory inhabited by Mapuchi.
(4) 'Tren Maya' is one of the flagship projects of incumbent President Andrés e
Manuel and López e Obrador (AMLO). It aims to connect the Quintana Roo area,
which has already been destroyed by tourism, by rail with Chiapas.
(5) Corredor Transístmico - a project for a canal connecting the Pacific with the
Gulf and the related industrialization of the affected areas.
(6) "Collective of outrage" - a human rights non-governmental organization
operating since 1991.
(7) The Fourth Transformation (4T) is a term derived from the campaign of current
President Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), in which he promised a fundamental
transformation of Mexican society, as important as the War of Mexico Independence
(1810-1821), the War of Reform (1858-1861). ) and the Mexican Revolution
(1910-1917). On August 28, 2020, the ruling administration issued a statement
that the campaign against its flagship project - the Mayan Train - was funded
from abroad by, for example, the Rockefeller Foundation. See
https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2020/8/28/fundaciones-extranjeras-financian-oposicion-al-tren-maya-acusa-amlo-248452.html
.
(8) Well-known Spanish rock musician and producer.
(9) Joaquín Sabina: legendary Spanish singer and musician.
(10) "Marked Cards" is a popular song sung by Pedro Infant in the movie of 1948.
EZLN for this song often referred to as such. When it tzeltalští residents
Zapatista community of Amador Hernandez sang the soldiers who were sent in
federal government to end the Zapatista protest camp. See
https://www.jornada.com.mx/1999/08/19/payan.html .
(11) Former King Juan Carlos I of Spain fled the country earlier this year to
avoid prosecution for alleged corruption. Photographs from 2012 showing the king
hunting elephants in Botswana have been released, while Spain is facing a serious
economic crisis.
(12) People's Front for the Defense of Water and the Lands of Morelos, Puebla and
Tlaxcala.
(13) Cumbia sounds above the river. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1Yc6lkQc&feature=youtu.be .
(14) Defensa Zapatista, translated as "Zapatista Defense", is the name of the
character used by Subcomandante Galeano in his "Short Story of a Bad Dream of the
Girl Defensa Zapatista, on What is Urgent and Important" presented in January
2017 at CIDECI in San Cristóbal de las Casas. See
https://mardefueguitos.info/2017/02/03/la-historia-del-mal-sueno-de-la-nina-defensa-zapatista-lo-urgente-y-lo-importante/
.
(15) "Los comités" - members of the Secret Indigenous Revolutionary Committee.
(16) 'Chicken with Potatoes' is a 1986 cumbia album by Los Vaskez.
(17) 'Jugar a las palomitas' - a popular children's game in Chiapas, where corn
kernels are allowed to 'explode' like pounding balls.
This text was published in Czech on the Black Seeds website and follows the
communiqué of the Secret Indigenous Revolutionary Committee - the headquarters of
Zapata's Army of National Liberation (EZLN) of October 5, 2020, which was
published in Czech translation HERE and was also published in the latest issue of
the anarchist magazine Existence .
If you want to know more about the Zapatista uprising, we recommend the issue of
Existence .
https://www.afed.cz/text/7265/cast-pata-pohled-a-vzdalenost-ke-dverim
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[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The pandemic in these long months has exposed many of our society's weaknesses.
Beyond the general relationship of man with nature which is the basis of all the
evils we face today, the coronavirus has shown all the limits of a social and
economic organization that for over forty years has been described as the
unsurpassed pinnacle of human development. It is no coincidence that at the end
of the last century, ideologues of the capitalist system spoke of the end of
history, meaning that the arrival of liberal-democratic regimes marked the
insurmountable arrival point of the social and economic evolution of our
societies . The pandemic shows us how these certainties crumble under the weight
of material facts. Health and education in this are the apex of an iceberg that
liquefies in the same way as the glaciers of Antarctica. Decades of social cuts
have resulted in an inability to defend against the epidemic that is killing
thousands of lives, far above other nations, and which to date does not seem to
settle an awareness of the gravity of the situation. Faced with this contingency
"of the end of the world in small pieces" as a man of the church defined it with
a strong image, (because every life that goes out is a whole world that
disappears) society does not seem able to cope with a thousand emergencies that
struggle to emerge. From the elderly who rise to a media phenomenon, for the
deaths in the nursing homes, but who continue not to find adequate answers such
as to save them from abandonment or "imprisonment"; the various symptoms of
psychic and mental distress; and to the condition of those who have simply been
erased such as the more than 54,868 inmates of Italian prisons. The riots of the
detainees on 7 and 8 March ripped the veil of silence that envelops this "total
institution", but the media attention was immediately extinguished under the
weight of the death of the 14 detainees. To give voice to those who take it away
from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that reality on
his own skin. but the media attention was immediately extinguished under the
weight of the death of the 14 inmates. To give voice to those who take the law
away from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that
reality on his own skin. but the media attention was immediately extinguished
under the weight of the death of the 14 inmates. To give voice to those who take
it away from him, we asked Carmelo Musumeci for a contribution, who lived that
reality on his own skin.
Carmelo Musumeci accepted our proposal to collaborate with "il Cantiere" and
could not have been the most suitable voice to tell us about the world of prison.
A place that he has lived in for twenty-eight years. Sentenced to life
imprisonment, the one that provides for the "end of sentence never", perhaps the
most unique case he manages to regain his freedom in 2018. Carmelo enters prison
in 1991 with an elementary school certificate, he graduates as a self-taught
person and then follows three degrees: in 2005 in Law with a thesis in Sociology
of Law entitled "Living life imprisonment", in 2011 in Penitentiary Law with a
thesis entitled "The 'living death penalty': life imprisonment and
constitutionality profiles" and in 2016 in Philosophy with 110 cum laude
discussing the thesis "Deviant Biographies".
At first glance, a superficial observer might get the idea that prison has had a
positive role on Carmelo, who entered prison as a hardened criminal, with heavy
crimes to serve, and comes out as a repentant and cultured man. All this
disappears, however, as soon as you read the pages of his writings in which the
harsh reality of imprisonment and in particular of that particular condition in
which the 1673 inmates sentenced to perpetual prison live, exude pain and
desperation. The reality of the "living dead" so are life prisoners, instead of
favoring and developing a review of their behavior aimed at becoming aware of
their mistakes, they operate a sort of self absolution. Carmelo says that the
evil done in some way takes a back seat in the face of the evil that is suffered
with a pain that does not give perspective. "A bad sentence does not improve, but
on the contrary, in many cases, it makes the situation worse". The change, then,
takes place not thanks to the prison, but despite the prison.
"If they have no more bread, let them eat brioches." This is what Queen Marie
Antoinette seems to have responded at the time of the French Revolution, to the
news that the hungry people were revolting.
Little is known about the deaths during the riots in prison these days, even the
death toll is uncertain. We know, however, that it is much easier for the police
to quell demonstrations in prison than outside in the squares or in the streets,
because "inside" no one sees you, there are no uncomfortable witnesses and for
the rioters it is not easy at all. run away or get away. If with the
demonstrators at the G8 in Genoa in 2001 it was not easy and they had to repress
them in front of the eyes of the whole world, in prison there are no eyes that
see. Apart from a few journalists who are exceptions, it seems that the mass
media does not care how and why these inmates died, why they were transferred
dying to other prisons (instead of taking them to hospital). I think these
questions will never be answered,
To confuse public opinion and justify the inability of the prison system to
manage the emergency, rumors are circulating that behind the riots there was the
direction of the Mafia, forgetting to say that these organizations never
participated in riots prison and that, indeed, have always hindered them. Behind
these revolts there is no mafia, rather the state that had forgotten its
prisoners, abandoning them to their fate, to despair, and fear did everything
else. It was just a spontaneous riot. Nothing else. But what would you have done?
Would you have protested peacefully? In prison it is not easy to do this and many
inmates do not have the tools to manage a peaceful protest. It is not my
intention to clear the violence, but I just try to understand why and where it
comes from,
When I hear that the mobile anti-riot departments enter to restore order, bad
memories come to mind, unfortunately there are no journalists, mobile phones and
cameras inside to testify what happens when these facts happen. That's why I've
always written diaries from prison:
"The director and the commissioner of the prison had decided to act and to
transfer the promoters of the protest and turned to the squad. It was a cold and
cloudy day. Even the weather didn't promise anything good. The guards swooped
into the section a few hours before dawn. The corridor was silent and gloomy.
Suddenly from the first cells there was an alarm cry from an inmate: "They are
coming". And soon afterwards shouts and insults were heard throughout the prison.
The guards began with the inmates of the first cells, to break noses and teeth,
smearing the walls of their rooms with blood. The weakest inmates, drug addicts,
and the elderly huddled in the corners of their cells crying and sobbing. I, to
cushion the blows of the truncheons, which surely would have come to me, had put
on three pajamas,
"In 1992 I arrived on the island of Asinara with the carabinieri helicopter. As
soon as I got off the guards took over. Immediately after they threw me into a
cage set up provisionally in the center of the sports garment, in front of the
infamous Fornelli section. We were squashed like sardines. Suddenly the guards
lined up left and right. They cleared a corridor in the middle that led straight
into the prison. The guards had plexiglass shields and batons in their hands. I
immediately imagined what would happen. I glanced at the route they had to take.
And immediately I thought it would be hard not to get some truncheon on the head.
The first inmates came out. They were immediately targeted with batons.
I ran bent double with my arms raised to try to shield myself from the blows of
the truncheon. But it didn't help much. It was my turn. I was trying to protect
my head, but the batons came right there. "
"The guards arrived by the dozen. They grabbed me and dragged me to the
punishment cells. They threw me into the smooth cell. Fists and kicks and insults
flew. They undressed me. They searched me. The guards boiled with rage. They
started insulting me: "Son of a bitch. Take this and this other ". Then they got
tired and left. I lay down on the ground, in the smooth cell there was not even a
cot. I covered myself with an old blanket thrown in a corner, the only thing that
was in that cell. I stood for half an hour with my eyes fixed on the ceiling. I
felt pain all over. My head hurt and my hips hurt, the part of my body that had
kicked the most. My eyes closed with exhaustion, anger and pain. I could not put
my thoughts in order. Eventually I fell asleep. The rays of the morning sun,
which filtered through the bars of the window, woke me. I had all the muscles
that hurt me, all over. I was feeling frustrated. I also had a numb shoulder and
a stiff arm. I closed my eyes again, as if to defend myself from what I was
seeing. The smooth cell was even uglier during the day. If I knew the prison
well, and knew it well, maybe during the day they would have packed me up and
moved me to a detention jail. After the protests, inmates never keep them in the
same prison. I stayed a while staring at the walls of the cell, then I decided to
try to get up. I straightened my shoulders and back and got up off the ground. I
staggered. I was about to fall. I supported myself by placing a hand on the wall.
Right on the spot on the wall where I was leaning, I saw that a sentence was
written on it. I struggled to read it. It seemed written in blood: "My soul seeks
the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to forget
what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more
so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me It seemed written in blood: "My soul
seeks the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to
forget what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become
even more so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I
was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the
prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some
judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that
my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the
face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not
have stopped at the body, they would have me It seemed written in blood: "My soul
seeks the sky, the sun, the sea, while I die to live". I shook my head, as if to
forget what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become
even more so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I
was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the
prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some
judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that
my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the
face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not
have stopped at the body, they would have me I shook my head, as if to forget
what I had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more
so. All my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me I shook my head, as if to forget what I
had read. I was already sad of mine and I didn't want to become even more so. All
my ribs still hurt from the beating he had taken that night. I was still
breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for me in the prison
where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear that some judge
would see me, if he came to question me about the collective protest that my
companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face.
Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards would not have
stopped at the body, they would have me I was still breathing hard. I thought
that other blows were waiting for me in the prison where they would send me. That
night they went "light", for fear that some judge would see me, if he came to
question me about the collective protest that I and my companions had made. In
fact, the bastards hadn't touched me in the face. Instead in the prison where
they would have sent me the guards would not have stopped at the body, they would
have me I was still breathing hard. I thought that other blows were waiting for
me in the prison where they would send me. That night they went "light", for fear
that some judge would see me, if he came to question me about the collective
protest that my companions and I had made. In fact, the bastards hadn't touched
me in the face. Instead in the prison where they would have sent me the guards
would not have stopped at the body, they would have me
also split the face. Like that time in Nuoro, when two of my teeth were blown
out. I sat down again on the ground, with my legs stretched out and my back
against the wall, waiting for my fate. "
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/blog/2020/12/15/coronavirus-e-rivolte
------------------------------
Message: 2
The 2020 presidential election has come and gone. While Donald Trump's refusal to
concede marks a departure from the established norms of U.S. bourgeois democracy,
it has not amounted to the coup that many feared it would. Despite the
authoritarian rhetoric that brought him to power, Trump never produced the sort
of coherent ideological project which the forces necessary for a successful coup
(namely the military and capital) would feel compelled to throw their weight
behind. If anything, four years of Trump threatened to complicate and destabilize
U.S. imperial hegemony and the smooth functioning of global markets, which the
U.S. ruling class is wholly invested in preserving and reproducing.
In light of his loss, Trump has made increasingly desperate plays at casting
doubt on the election results; filing doomed lawsuits, demanding recounts, and
making spurious claims of fraud. The GOP will buoy these claims for as long as it
remains politically expedient to do so, but this won't last forever. In fact many
have already jumped ship as this expediency begins to expire. By now, everyone
save for the most captured Trump diehards understands that come January 20th, Joe
Biden will assume the presidency.
Though Trump's power-grab appears to have failed, his brazen attempt to steal the
election has exposed structural vulnerabilities in the presidency, eroded
confidence in the electoral system, fed into growing conspiracy theories and
emboldened the far-right. It also provoked a state of alarm within popular
movements. These destabilizing effects will last far beyond Trump's term in
office, presenting real threats in the coming period. In many ways Trumpism will
live on.
While the Democrats have hailed Trump's failure as proof of a functioning
democracy, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only does the Democratic
party represent the same rotten system which brought millions into the streets
this year and gave rise to Trump in the first place - their victory against him
was far from a given. Despite what the polls predicted, Biden won only by a slim
margin, nearly identical to the one that propelled Trump to victory in 2016. Down
ballot, Democrats were unable to secure the Senate and even lost seats in the House.
This should cast serious doubt on hopes of a Biden presidency resulting in the
passage of anything resembling progressive legislation. Regardless of which party
is in power, it's only pressure from below in the form of militant mass social
movements that give us a real chance at making substantial gains and advancing
towards revolutionary transformation.
This election also took place against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic that has
careened further out of control - a factor that seems to have played a decisive
role in tipping the scales for Biden, while exposing and exacerbating
pre-existing inequalities at the heart of capitalism, heteropatriarchy, white
supremacy, and the state.
Both Congress and the executive have all but checked out on the question of
providing additional economic relief. This as COVID cases spike to new and unseen
levels across the country, causing our brittle private healthcare system to once
again hurtle toward a breaking point. As is always the case under capitalism, the
working class - especially working class women and people of color - will
continue to be hardest hit by the ravages of the pandemic.
While we have little reason to place faith in the institutions of capitalism or
the state to meet our basic needs, this year has shown the transformative power
of social movements to force concessions and build momentum towards liberation.
While we can win reforms with these movements, our ultimate aim should be social
revolution.
The power of social movements was exhibited early on in the pandemic when workers
in a variety of sectors demanded and often won protections in the form of hazard
pay or safety protocols. Similarly, renters in major cities around the U.S.
looked to tenant unions for guidance in organizing rent strikes, when it became
clear just how slow the state was in acting to prevent a (still pending) wave of
evictions resulting from mass unemployment. The proliferation of mutual aid
networks has been another inspiring example of people's ability to take matters
into their own hands and build structures of community solidarity.
But no other event better captures just how much social movements have developed
and just how radically they can change the present state of things, than this
summer's mass rebellion in response to the racist police lynching of George
Floyd. The sheer size, militancy, and multiracial nature of the uprising gave it
the force to move its central demand of "defunding the police" out of the realm
of fringe politics and onto the agenda of national conversation. In many places
the movement succeeded in actualizing this demand by exerting pressure on local
governments. This pressure must be sustained if we hope to defend and build on
these gains towards revolutionary transformation.
Make no mistake, the strongest social force in 2020 was not any political party
or candidate, it was social movements. The question is, will these movements
become emboldened or deflated by Trump's exit from the White House?
We must do everything in our power to limit the coming demobilization of those
who feel that the defeat of Trump signals an end to their political commitments.
Our answer to this must be to join, build, and strengthen fighting organizations
rooted in struggles around material issues. This means labor unions or organizing
committees at work, tenant unions at home, student organizations at school, as
well as popular assemblies and mutual aid in our neighborhoods. These
organizations constitute a pole of popular power which can not only win
concessions in the short term, but build the basis of a revolutionary mass
movement which can transform society on the basis of libertarian socialism in the
long term.
The moment we are in is one marked by precarity, alienation, and unease. We are
in a transition, but it is unclear where to. The only certainty is that the
struggle of working people, people of color, queer people, Indigenous
communities, and others will continue. If we can sustain the power of this
summer's uprising by grounding it in organization, direct action, and a
transformative vision of revolutionary change, then there's nothing that can
stand in our way.
The state has failed us, but the future is unwritten; another society is possible
if we press forward in organized collective struggle.
Join us as we move together toward libertarian socialism.
Black Rose Anarchist Federation
Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra
https://blackrosefed.org/brunch-is-canceled-biden-trump-and-the-case-for-revolution/
------------------------------
Message: 3
On December 6, Erol, an anarchist of French descent, is arrested and charged with
spreading the virus, which leads to deportation due to the pandemic. The
deportation sentence is currently pending against him on the pretext that it is a
"public danger" ---- The December 6 demonstration was a bet for the state, a bet
it eventually lost. A total ban on the demonstration, under the guise of a
pandemic and with the ultimate goal of creating a condition in which the
movement's forces would be forced to retreat in the face of state demands,
creating an even more suffocating situation for all those who fight but also for
the oppressed in general. was eventually accomplished by the state and its
assassins in uniform. The coordination, organization and stubbornness of dozens
of comrades all over Greece managed to break, even for a few hours, the universal
ban imposed once again by the Ministry of "Citizen Protection" and tried to
implement the mercenary army of occupation of the bosses , keeping the flame of
the December uprising burning, keeping intact in the collective memory the figure
of the murdered Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Among the crowd of these fighters was
Eroll, who due to his political action, his participation in the anarchist
movement and his origin is the ideal scapegoat to implement state policies of
repression and discipline. The method of deportation of Eroll, is not just a
direct threat to all the fighters who happen to not have Greek citizenship, that
a simple arrest in a demonstration could be a reason for deportation. It also
aims to create accomplished events, events on which it can rely in the future to
hit the movement and the fighters even harder.
It becomes clear, then, that the state will use every possible means to suppress
whoever chooses the path of struggle. Its arsenal is large and for this every
possible means is used. State repression is sometimes expressed through brutal
repression of cops, sexist attacks, torture of comrades and squatting
evacuations, and sometimes takes more "bloody" forms through exhaustive financial
guarantees or methods of deporting militants. From the immigrants stacked in the
hells of Petros Ralli and Kara Tepe in miserable conditions and the daily
pushbacks to the repressive methods against the anarchist movement, the attitude
of the authorities for the complete crushing of the oppressed and the fighters is
evident. For us, the method of expelling the anarchist Eroll, fits into this very
context. The origin of a man, that is, becomes the means by which the state will
manage to "get rid" of an anarchist. Our solidarity with anyone who is hit by the
state and capital is not only self-evident and imperative.
AGAINST THE METHODS OF STATE - COP - JUDGES
POWER & SOLIDARITY IN ANARCHIST EROLL
https://maurokokkino1936.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/2774/
------------------------------
Message: 4
In his speech of October 2, Macron announced that he wanted to ban, from the
start of the 2021 school year, except for medical reasons, home instruction. Far
from this image of withdrawal into oneself, home education also highlights the
values of libertarian pedagogy and allows children to develop themselves fully.
---- In his speech at the beginning of October, Macron gives examples
stigmatizing Muslims, amalgamations, which could divide the population and
legitimize racism, with great blows of the values of the republic. Banning family
education (IEF) would stop radicalism? Seriously, if there really are radicalized
families who teach as a family, they can always try to indoctrinate their
children outside of school time. However, these cases are exceptional, as
Blanquer himself has repeatedly pointed out. [1]
The government therefore responds to the exception by suppressing the freedoms of
the entire population. The parents who have chosen the IEF are very varied, no
typical profile. Above all, they made the choice of freedom. They are also not
completely free because currently the IEF is already very regulated, the controls
of the academic inspectorate are annual and the town halls can check the
conditions of instruction at home.
The Livradois unschoolers are passionate, curious children, great readers, living
in the open air, from the lower classes. They are thirsty for learning, thirsty
for human contact. And they have many friends, they are not alone - isolated at
home - as you might think. They have time. Time to play, to read, to discover, to
learn at their own pace, to travel.
What changes can we imagine by channeling all the children of the Republic into a
single model? Children will build the world of tomorrow. If we adults do not
allow, do not encourage a certain diversity of construction, how will society be
able to renew itself?
Teach differently
In 1901, Francisco Ferrer created the Escuela moderna. Its libertarian pedagogy
eliminates any idea of competition, there is no examination or classification in
the modern school, in order to favor solidarity and mutual aid between the
students. Punishments and rewards are also excluded. The teachers intervene very
little, and never without having been asked beforehand by one or more pupils, in
order to respect the capacities of the child to build himself.
Parents who have made the choice of out-of-school education are mostly attached
to the idea of the "free and secular public republic school" institution.
Nevertheless, as long as the socio-economic conditions are unequal, the teaching
conditions degraded, the teachers not listened to, as long as the State-boss is
in the orders and at the service of Capital, they will always and again demand
freedom of instruction. , it is a constitutional right.
Parents' associations are fighting, they have federated to take advice from a
lawyer, in order to counter this liberticidal bill which should be presented to
the Council of Ministers on December 9.
UCL Livradois
Validate
[1] "For the school of confidence", October 2020, Eduscol.education.fr where the
minister has already announced the ban on the IEF as having been recorded, thus
sitting on the legislative process of voting for a bill !
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Pedagogie-libertaire-ne-pas-diaboliser-l-instruction-en-famille
------------------------------
Message: 5
The "109th act" of protest by the yellow vest movement in France on December 12
coincided with the third Saturday of mass protests against the "global security"
law. More than 60 thousand people took to the streets of French cities, according
to organizers. As in previous weeks, the protesters were brutally attacked by the
forces of the capitalist order. ---- Although this time the organizers called for
a focus primarily on protests in the provinces, the French capital again became
the epicenter of events. The march against the "security" law started at 15.15
from Châtelet, moving in the direction of the Saint-Jacques tower and the town
hall and reaching at 17.50 to Place de la Republique. At the last moment, his ban
was not followed. But the rally of "yellow vests" scheduled at the Palais Royal
was banned by the authorities. The Yellow Vests joined the general march. On that
day, demonstrations were held in fifty cities in France, including Bordeaux,
Caen, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, Rennes, Strasbourg, Tours, etc.
Clashes in Lille between demonstrators and the police, using tear gas, are reported.
The authorities brought reinforced police and gendarmerie units to the streets.
During the crackdown on protests, 142 people were arrested (
https://blogs.mediapart.fr/ceinna-coll/blog/131220/gj-acte109-paris-12122020-marchedeslibertes
)
The first clashes between protesters and repressive regime forces took place
within minutes of the start of the march. When moving towards the Republic
Square, the police tried to neutralize the activists of the "black bloc", and
they began to throw stones and bottles at her. The scooter was set on fire. The
police attacked the demonstrators and began to severely beat them. Water cannons
were placed along the route of the demonstrators, the police accompanied the
demonstration column ( https://www.vesti.ru/article/2497989 )
At first, the police used pepper spray, beat the protesters with truncheons and
shields, and later in the evening, water cannons were used. In the evening,
battles raged in the area of Republic Square. The demonstrators set fires and
used fireworks. Many victims of police brutality have been reported. One of the
photographers and the drummer of the demonstrators was smashed in the head
(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9046781/French-police-arrest-150-people-weekend-protests-against-new-security-law.html)
"Virus is Macron"
"Peace guards? Fuck!"
"To live - yes! To survive - no!"
The demonstrators chanted the already familiar: "Everybody hates the police",
"Anti, anti, anti-capitalists", "Paris, get up, get up!", "The police are
murderers", "Don't look at us - join us", "The police are everywhere, justice is
nowhere" ... On the posters held by the demonstrators, one could read: "The
vaccine against the coronavirus is poison. We reject the new world order!", "Stop
Macrongate's laws killing freedom", "Protected police" ...
https://aitrus.info/node/5601
------------------------------
Message: 6
Text following the EZLN communiqué "Mountain on the high seas" ---- Suppose you
can choose where you turn your gaze. Suppose also that it is possible to free
ourselves, at least for a moment, from the tyranny of social networks, which
dictate not only what we should look at and what we should talk about, but also
how we look and speak. Suppose you look beyond: from the immediate to the local,
regional and national to the global. Are you watching it? Yes, there is chaos,
confusion, disorder. Suppose you are a human being, not a digital application
that readily views, sorts, arranges, judges, or punishes everything, and as such
you choose what you look at... and how you look. It is possible (though this is
just another assumption) that watching and judging is not the same thing. In that
case, you not only choose where you turn your gaze, but you can also decide
otherwise to ask: a question"Is it good or bad?" To swap for "What is it?" . Of
course, the first question leads to a nourishing debate (are there still
debates?) Ending with the statement "This is bad (or good) because I say it."
Alternatively, we can discuss what is good and what is evil, and substantiate our
claims and quotes in footnotes. Sure, you're right, it's better than likes and
thumbs up, but I suggest you change the starting point: choose where you're looking.
For example: you decide to deny your view of Muslims. You can choose between
those who have assassinated Charlie Hebdo or those who are already walking
through France to claim their rights. Since you've read this far, it's likely
that you're more on the " sans-papiers " side"(1). And you probably feel
obligated to say that Macron is an idiot. However, let us now leave this glimpse
upwards and look back down at the protest camps and the migrant marches. First
you think of asking how many there are, and you hurry with the answer: a lot, a
little, too much, or just enough; your interest has shifted from their religion
to numbers. You ask yourself other questions: What do they want? What are they
fighting for? And here you have to decide whether to go in the media and on the
networks... or listen directly to them. Suppose you can ask them. Will you ask
them about their religion, or will you ask how many there are? Will you
immediately ask them why they left their country and arrived here, on unknown
land and clouds, in places with a different language, a different culture,
different laws and ways? Maybe he'll answer you in one word: war. And maybe he'll
explain to you what the word means in their perception. War. Do you decide to
search: war where? Or better yet, why the war? It will overwhelm you with
explanations: religion, territorial disputes, plunder of resources... or simply
stupidity. But you are not satisfied with that, and you keep asking: who benefits
all the destruction, displacement and subsequent renewal and population? Here you
will come across the names of various corporations. You look further and find
that they are based in several countries and that they produce not only weapons
but also cars, rockets and satellites, microwave ovens, disposable packaging,
banks, social networks, "media content", clothing, telephones and computers,
footwear, food with "bio" and without it, transport companies, online sales,
trains, heads of state and heads of various cabinets, scientific and
non-scientific research centers, hotel and restaurant chains, fast food,
airlines, thermal power plants and, of course, the "humanitarian" aid foundation.
It could be concluded that the responsibility lies in the very essence of
humanity and in the whole world.
But then it occurs to you to ask if the world and humanity happen to be
responsible for the migrant camps, the protest marches, for the defiance. And you
find that - probably, probably - the whole system is responsible for it all. The
system that produces and reproduces pain, as do those who cause pain and those
who endure it.
Now let's look back to the marchers who are now making their way through France.
Suppose there are few, a little, that there is only one woman carrying her child.
Do you now care about their religion, language, clothing, culture, their ways? Is
it important to you that she is just one woman with a baby in her arms? And now
forget about the woman for a moment and focus your attention only on the little
creature. Does it matter if it's a boy, a girl or another? Does the color of his
skin matter? Maybe now you'll find out that what really matters is his life.
And now let's move on. If you've read this far, a few more lines won't hurt you
anymore - or at least not much.
Suppose a woman speaks to you and that you have the honor of understanding what
she is telling you. Do you think she will ask you to apologize to her for the
color of your skin, for your faith or for your nationality, gender, for your
ancestors, for their culture and ways? Will you rush to apologize for who you
are? Do you hope that he will forgive you and you will be able to return to your
life knowing that you do not owe anything to anyone? Or will he not forgive you
and you say to yourself "well, at least I tried it and I sincerely regret being
who I am"?
Or are you afraid that he will just look at you in silence and you will feel that
he is asking you with that look: "What about you?"
If you come to this judgment / feeling / insecurity / fear, then I apologize, but
there is no cure for you: you are a human being.
* * *
So we've made it clear, we already know you're not a shoe , and now repeat this
exercise on the island of Lesbos, Gibraltar, in the English Channel, along the
Suchiate River, near the Rio Grande.
And now try to look at Palestine, Kurdistan, Euskadi (2) or Wallmap (3). Yes, it
makes my head spin, and it's not everything worth looking at. There are people
(whether there are many, few, too many or just enough) who also fight for life.
And who perceive life as inextricably linked with their land, their language,
their culture and their ways. With all that the Congress of Indigenous Peoples is
teaching us to call "territory," which is not just a piece of land. Aren't you
tempted to let these people tell their stories, their struggles and their dreams?
Yes, I know, it might be easier for you to turn to Wikipedia, but wouldn't it
tempt you to hear them directly and try to understand them?
Return now to what lies between the Suchiate River and the Rio Grande. Head to a
place called "Morelos". Here, look towards the village of Temoac and focus on the
community known as Amilcingo. Do you see the house? It is the house of a man who
bore the name of Samir Flores Soberanes during his lifetime. He was murdered in
front of this door. What did he do wrong? He resisted the mega-project, which
represented death for the life of the community of which he was a part. No, I did
not argue: Samir was not murdered because he would defend his individual life, he
would defend the life of his community.
What's more, Samir was murdered for defending the lives of generations that have
not yet been considered. Because for Samir, for his comrades, for the indigenous
people associated in the Congress of Indigenous Peoples, for us Zapatistas and
Zapatistas, community life is not something that takes place only in the present.
It is primarily what is yet to come. Community life is being built today, but for
tomorrow. Community life is passed on and on. Do you think the bill for his
murder would be leveled if his murderers - real or intellectual - apologized? Do
you think that his family, his organization, the Congress of Indigenous Peoples,
nosotr @ s , would be satisfied if those criminals asked us for
forgiveness?"Forgive me, I wrote the reward for killing him and paid the
assassins, I was always a little hot head. I'll try to fix it... or not. Ok, so I
apologized to you, and now finally pack your protest camp so we can complete the
construction of the thermal power plant, or we'll lose a lot of money. " Do you
think they're waiting to do that? That they are fighting for it, are we fighting
for it? To ask us for forgiveness? To say, "Sorry, you're right, we killed Samir
and our project will kill your communities." So sorry. And if you don't forgive
us, it doesn't matter, we will finish our project anyway. "?
And it turns out that those who apologize for the thermal power plant are the
ones behind the ill-named "Mayan train" (4), the "Transisthmast corridor" (5),
dams and open pit mines. They are the same ones who close the borders to prevent
migration caused by the wars they feed, the same ones who persecute the Mapuche,
the same ones who massacre the Kurds, the same ones who are destroying Palestine,
the same ones who are shooting African Americans, the same ones, who exploit -
either directly or indirectly - workers in every corner of the planet, the same
ones who cultivate and celebrate gender-based violence, the same ones who force
children into prostitution, the same ones who spy on you to find out what you
love and then you they could sell it, and if you don't like anything, then they
will force you to have the same ones who destroy nature. Those who make you, us,
and everyone else believe, that these global crimes are due to specific nations,
religions, languages, stories, or ways that resistance to progress is to blame.
That we should all be the same... or the same, so that we do not forget gender
equality.
If it could reach all corners of this dying planet, what would you do? We don't
know about you, but we Zapatistas and Zapatistas would go to learn. And of course
dancing, but I don't think these things are mutually exclusive. If this
opportunity existed, we would be willing to risk it all, really everything. Not
only our individual lives, but also the collective one. And if that possibility
did not exist, we would fight to create it. To build it as if it were a ship.
Yes, I know, it sounds crazy to you, like something unthinkable. Who could have
thought that the fate of those fighting a thermal power plant in a forgotten
corner of Mexico could be of interest to people in Palestine, the Basque Country,
that of Mapuche, migrants, African Americans, a young Swedish environmentalist, a
Kurdish fighter or a woman fighting in any another corner of the planet,
Shouldn't we instead go to Chablekal on the Yucatan Peninsula and complain to the
Equipo Indignación (6)? "Hey, you have fair skin and are believers, ask for
forgiveness," I'm almost certain that he replied: "No problem, just please wait
your turn, we are now busy with accompanying of those who opposed the Mayan train
and who suffer from displacement, persecution, imprisonment and death. " And they
would probably add:
"And we must also deal with the Supreme Leader's accusation that we are funded by
the Illuminati as part of an interplanetary conspiracy to stop 4T." (7) "Order".
Or should we invade Europe and destroy the Panthenon, the Louvre and the Prado
with the battle cry "Surrender, pale faces!" Instead of pasta, seafood and
paella, introduce a diet based on corn, chickpeas and sea yerba; instead of beer,
wine and lemonade obligatory pozol! And anyone caught on the street without a
balaclava, a fine or imprisonment (yes, one or the other, no need to exaggerate).
Shout, "Look, rockers, you're going to play marimba from now on! And we want to
hear cumbia, no more reggaeton! " (Tempting, isn't it?)"How about you two,
Panchito Varona (8) and Sabina (9)? Everyone else will now join the choir, let's
play in the loop 'Cartas Marcadas' (10), all the time, regardless of the fact
that it has already hit ten, eleven, twelve, one, two, three. get up early. Look
and you there, exiles, who preferred to take his feet on his shoulders, leave the
elephants alone (11) and go cook something! Pumpkin soup for the whole yard! " (I
know, isn't my cruelty amazing?)
And now tell me: Do you think those upstairs don't have a good night's sleep from
having to apologize? Rather, it is not their greatest nightmare that they will
disappear, that they will no longer care, no one will take them into account,
they will be nothing, that their world will collapse without making a sound, and
that no one will remember them, build statues for them, museums, invent
celebratory songs or declare memorial days? Doesn't this possible fact rather
cause panic in them?
* * *
It was one of the few opportunities the deceased SupMarcos did not use to explain
anything with a cinematic comparison. You shouldn't know, and I shouldn't tell
you, but the late Marcos could tell about every stage of his short life as if it
were a movie. Or to accompany your explanations of the national and international
situation with the phrase "as in this or that film" . Sure, sometimes he had to
adjust his script a little bit to better suit what he was telling, but since most
of us didn't see the movie anyway, and we didn't have a signal to consult
Wikipedia on our cell phones, we had no choice but to trust it. But let's not
deviate from the topic. Wait, I think I saw it written somewhere in that stack of
papers in the trunk of his memories... Here it is! So:
"To understand our determination and the magnitude of our audacity, imagine that
death is the door you have to go through. There are many different assumptions
about what is behind the door: heaven, hell, purgatory, emptiness, and dozens of
descriptions of all these possibilities. So we can understand life as the way to
this door. The door, that is, death, would then be the place of arrival... or the
interruption, the brazen abyss of the absent, which blows the breath of life.
The door is reached through violence, torture and murder, by accident, the door
is painfully opened by illness, fatigue and desire. This means that you can
usually walk to the door without trying, but you still have the opportunity to
choose the path.
For indigenous peoples and today's Zapatistas, death was a door set at the very
beginning of life. Children often arrived before the age of five and went through
them with fever and diarrhea. What we did on January 1, 1994, was an attempt to
push the door away. To achieve this, we had to be determined to go through them
ourselves, even if we didn't want to. Since then, all our efforts have been, and
still are, to push the door as far as possible. 'Increase life expectancy,' as
experts would say. 'But a dignified life,' we would add. Move them somewhere
completely aside, somewhere very far in our way. That is why we said at the
beginning of the uprising that 'we are dying to live'. Because if we didn't pass
on life - that is, the way - on, what would we actually live for? "
Pass on life.
This is exactly what Samir Flores Soberanes took care of. And what, in short, the
Frente de Pueblos en Defensa del Agua y de la Tierra de Morelos, Puebla y
Tlaxcala (12) and their resistance and rebellion against the planned thermal
power plant and the so-called " Proyecto Integral Morelos" are striving for . The
evil government responds to their demands for a halt and complete withdrawal from
the death project by arguing that it would lose a lot of money.
What is happening in Morelos is an example of the conflict that is present all
over the world today: money versus life. And in this conflict, in this war, no
honest man can remain neutral. You are either on the side of money or on the side
of life.
So to sum it up: the struggle for life is not just an obsession of the natives,
it is rather a... mission... a collective mission.
Okay, so hello and remember that an apology is not the same as justice.
Of the mountains called the Alps, thoughts of where to invade first: Germany?
Austria? Switzerland? France? Italy? Slovenia? Monaco? Lichtenstein? No, am I
kidding... or not?
He "smashed" it on you as tastefully as possible
El SupGaleano
Mexico, October 2020
From the diary Kockopsa: A mountain on the high sea.
Part I: Vor
"In the seas of all the worlds in this world,
mountains could be seen moving above the water,
and on them were covered the faces of women, men and others."
"Chronicles of Tomorrow" Don Durito de la Lacandona, 1990
After the third unsuccessful attempt, Maxo thought for a few seconds, shouting,
"It wants a rope!" "I told you," Gabino replied. The remnants of the raft,
meanwhile, floated freely on the surface, crashing into each other as the current
of the river, true to its name - Colorado - took on a reddish hue of mud lining
its banks.
Then they had the whole section of militiamen called, which arrived in the rhythm
of "Cumbia sobre el Río Suena" (13) by the genius Celso Piña. They tied several
ropes together and sent part of the division to the other side of the river.
Then, as the two groups tied their part of the rope to the raft, they could now
control it to the point that it did not disintegrate, pulling the pile of tied
logs down the river, which had no idea of their intentions.
This nonsensical operation started after we agreed on an invasion - sorry, a
visit to all five continents. So no procrastination! When the idea was voted on,
SupGaleano told them, "You are crazy! We don't have a ship, " Maxo replied, "
Then we'll build it, " and various proposals began to fall.
As if we were suffering from a lack of absurdity in Zapatista territory, the
construction of a "ship" was taken care of by Defens Zapatista (14) and her gang.
"Comrade die a miserable death," he said Esperanza[Hope]with optimism, which
became legendary (hit the word in a book and understand that means something
terrible and irreversible, and ever since it began to be used in various
situations: "Mommy Me poorly combed. " or " I feel bad teacher oznámkovala task.
" , and so forth), while the raft during the fourth experiment again disintegrated.
"And comrades," Pedrito felt obligated to add, though he wasn't sure if gender
solidarity was appropriate in this - miserable - situation.
"Well," Defensa replied, "comrades are easy to replace, but comrades - where will
you look for them? I mean real comrades, not just any kind. "
Defensin bunch of strategically deployed, not perhaps to watch the vain efforts
of committee members (15) to build the ship, but to Defensa and Esperanza could
both hold your hand Calamidad[calamity], which has twice tried to throw into the
river to save a crumbling raft in both cases, however, fortunately Pedrito,
Pablito and the beloved Amado[amado Amado]managed to intervene . Both the
one-eyed horse and Kockopes were speechless with amazement from the beginning,
but they were afraid unnecessarily. When SupGaleano saw the whole group, he sent
three platoons of militiamen to the river bank and, in his typically diplomatic
tone, without stopping to smile, declared, "If the girl gets into the water,
you're all dead."
After a successful sixth attempt, committee members began to raft what they
called "basic equipment" (something like a zapatist survival kit): a bag of
tostadas , a panel (cane sugar), a bale of coffee, pozzo corn , firewood, and a
piece of plastic in case it rains. After a moment of contemplation, they realized
that something was missing, and brought a marimba without much fuss .
Maxo addressed Monarca and SupGaleana who had just consulted over some plans,
about which I will tell you another time: "Listen, you need to send a letter to
the other side, whether you gathered together the rope properly it there tie and
let us then fit the free end . Especially long enough... this is how we will be
able to control the direction of the ship from both shores. But let them organize
it well there, if we threw the ropes on both sides just so carelessly, we would
never connect them. It has to be organized well and then the ropes are tied
together properly. "
Maxo did not wait for SupGaleano to come out of astonishment, and began to
explain to him hastily that there was a big difference between a raft made of
logs bound by a vine and a ship about to cross the Atlantic.
Then he returned to oversee the raft load test with all his luggage. They debated
who would be the first to board as a test human crew, but the river below roared
menacingly until they finally resorted to putting a rag doll on top of all that
cargo. Maxo played the role of a naval engineer because once, many years ago,
when a Zapatista delegation went to support a protest camp in Cucapá, he got wet
in the Gulf of California. He didn't dwell on the story of how he nearly drowned
when the hood covered his nose and mouth and he couldn't breathe, and instead
declared like a true sea wolf, "The ocean is like a river, but without current
and bigger, much bigger, like Laguna de Miramar. "
SupGaleano was trying to find out how to say "rope" in German, Italian, French,
English, Greek, Basque, Turkish, Swedish, Catalan, Finnish, etc., when Major Irma
approached him and said, "Write to them that they are not alone. " . "Not alone,"
added Lieutenant Colonel Rolando. "Write yourself," Marijos dared, coming to ask
the musicians to play a cumbia version of Swan Lake. "Pretty much from the floor,
let them dance, let their hearts not be sad." Musicians ask, what are "swans"?
"They're like ducks, but prettier, as if they had stretched their necks and
stayed that way. They're a bit like giraffes, but they walk and swim like ducks.
"" And can they be eaten? "ask the musicians who are well aware that it is a long
time ago for pozol and who have just come here to help load the marimba. "But by
no means, swans don't eat, swans dance!" The musicians agree that a modified
version of Pollito con papas (16) could work. "We're studying it," they said, and
went to take a look .
Defensa Zapatista and Esperanza, meanwhile, convinced Calamidad that since
SupGaleano was busy, it meant that his hut was empty and it was likely that he
had cookies hidden in his tobacco cabinet again. Calamidad doubted this, so they
had to promise her that they could play roasted corn there (17). They left. El
Sup saw him walking towards his hut, but he wasn't worried: it was impossible for
them to find the biscuits hidden under the bags of moldy tobacco. He turned to
Monarch, pointed to one of the many drawings, and asked, "Are you sure he won't
sink? It will be quite difficult. " Monarca thought for a moment and replied, "
Um, it is possible, " and then added seriously, " They should bring inflatable
balloons with them, just in case. "
El Sup sighed and said, "We need some sense more than a ship." "And a better
rope," added SubMoy, who was arriving just as the fully loaded raft sank.
While on shore, committee members meditated on the remnants of the shipwreck and
watched the current carry on and over the inverted marimba, someone said, "Even
if we haven't loaded the entire sound system, it would be more expensive."
Everyone started clapping as a rag doll floated to the surface. Someone had
wisely attached inflatable balloons to her armpits.
Really.
Meow-Haf.
Notes:
(1) French term for undocumented people.
(2) Basque Country.
(3) The territory inhabited by Mapuchi.
(4) 'Tren Maya' is one of the flagship projects of incumbent President Andrés e
Manuel and López e Obrador (AMLO). It aims to connect the Quintana Roo area,
which has already been destroyed by tourism, by rail with Chiapas.
(5) Corredor Transístmico - a project for a canal connecting the Pacific with the
Gulf and the related industrialization of the affected areas.
(6) "Collective of outrage" - a human rights non-governmental organization
operating since 1991.
(7) The Fourth Transformation (4T) is a term derived from the campaign of current
President Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), in which he promised a fundamental
transformation of Mexican society, as important as the War of Mexico Independence
(1810-1821), the War of Reform (1858-1861). ) and the Mexican Revolution
(1910-1917). On August 28, 2020, the ruling administration issued a statement
that the campaign against its flagship project - the Mayan Train - was funded
from abroad by, for example, the Rockefeller Foundation. See
https://www.proceso.com.mx/nacional/2020/8/28/fundaciones-extranjeras-financian-oposicion-al-tren-maya-acusa-amlo-248452.html
.
(8) Well-known Spanish rock musician and producer.
(9) Joaquín Sabina: legendary Spanish singer and musician.
(10) "Marked Cards" is a popular song sung by Pedro Infant in the movie of 1948.
EZLN for this song often referred to as such. When it tzeltalští residents
Zapatista community of Amador Hernandez sang the soldiers who were sent in
federal government to end the Zapatista protest camp. See
https://www.jornada.com.mx/1999/08/19/payan.html .
(11) Former King Juan Carlos I of Spain fled the country earlier this year to
avoid prosecution for alleged corruption. Photographs from 2012 showing the king
hunting elephants in Botswana have been released, while Spain is facing a serious
economic crisis.
(12) People's Front for the Defense of Water and the Lands of Morelos, Puebla and
Tlaxcala.
(13) Cumbia sounds above the river. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ba1Yc6lkQc&feature=youtu.be .
(14) Defensa Zapatista, translated as "Zapatista Defense", is the name of the
character used by Subcomandante Galeano in his "Short Story of a Bad Dream of the
Girl Defensa Zapatista, on What is Urgent and Important" presented in January
2017 at CIDECI in San Cristóbal de las Casas. See
https://mardefueguitos.info/2017/02/03/la-historia-del-mal-sueno-de-la-nina-defensa-zapatista-lo-urgente-y-lo-importante/
.
(15) "Los comités" - members of the Secret Indigenous Revolutionary Committee.
(16) 'Chicken with Potatoes' is a 1986 cumbia album by Los Vaskez.
(17) 'Jugar a las palomitas' - a popular children's game in Chiapas, where corn
kernels are allowed to 'explode' like pounding balls.
This text was published in Czech on the Black Seeds website and follows the
communiqué of the Secret Indigenous Revolutionary Committee - the headquarters of
Zapata's Army of National Liberation (EZLN) of October 5, 2020, which was
published in Czech translation HERE and was also published in the latest issue of
the anarchist magazine Existence .
If you want to know more about the Zapatista uprising, we recommend the issue of
Existence .
https://www.afed.cz/text/7265/cast-pata-pohled-a-vzdalenost-ke-dverim
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