We publish below the greeting read at the opening of the work of thefirst session of the Unified Anarchist Congress, involving theorganizations COMPA, FARJ, OASL and Rusga Libertária, held in São Pauloon the 8th and 9th of July 2023. ---- Comrades! ---- This is a historicmoment for Brazilian anarchism in general, and organized anarchism inparticular. The Congress that begins now marks another fundamental stagein our political project. ---- As all the activists present here know,as well as the comrades who remained in the states, this project is notnew. It refers to the reopening after the military dictatorship, in the1980s, when anarchism, restricted to small, almost clandestine circles,began to rearticulate itself. Our oldest activists were part of orinfluenced by this rearticulation movement, which involved the Círculode Estudos Libertários, in Rio de Janeiro; the Center for SocialCulture, in São Paulo; the publisher Novos Tempos, in Brasília; thenewspaper O Inimigo do Rei, in Bahia, in addition to other initiatives.But, without a doubt, the most important milestone in this history wasour contact with the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (fAu), in themid-1990s, which gave new impetus to a considerable part of Brazilianmilitancy and organized a group of young people around what later wewould call it especifist anarchism, or, simply, especifism.The fAu had been, in the 1960s and 1970s, an exemplary anarchistorganization. It was the only organization in Uruguay to intervene, in acontext of regime closure, both in the mass struggle (union, community,student) and in the armed struggle. The struggles advancedsignificantly, but with the dictatorship and the enormous repressionthat followed, many militants were arrested, murdered and others remainmissing to this day.Among us, currently, are activists who were the main disseminators ofthis anarchist project in Brazil in its origins. In the organicrelationship with the fAu, they disseminated the Brazilian AnarchistConstruction proposal nationally, using the mailing list of theperiodical Libera - the newspaper that today has the longestuninterrupted duration in the entire history of Brazilian anarchism.We directly contributed to the founding and strengthening of differentanarchist organizations affiliated to this current in various parts ofBrazil.We were part of the OSL in the 1990s, the first attempt to create anationwide specific anarchist organization in Brazil, and also of theinitiatives that continued it: the Organized Anarchism Forum and, later,the Brazilian Anarchist Coordination.We were part not only of COMPA, FARJ, OASL and Rusga Libertária, whichnow lead this new organizational moment. But also from FAG, LutaLibertária/OSL São Paulo, CABN, CALC and other similar initiatives.We directly contribute to making Brazilian especifismo a reference inthe country and the world. Our practice, our training and disseminationmaterial not only made this anarchism the largest organized current inthe country, but it also penetrated Latin America, North America,Europe, Africa, and even Asia and Oceania.In Brazil, between mistakes and successes, we managed to place anarchismin the political reality and popular struggles. We create and articulateunion, community, agrarian and student movements. We were gainingrespect compared to other currents of the combative and revolutionaryleft. We organize, organize, organize. Currently, there have beenpractically three decades of especifism in Brazil.And we have no doubt that all the militancy that is associated here inthis new stage remains firm and consistent with the especifista projectin particular and with anarchist organizational dualism in general,whose parallels with platformism and other similar conceptions ofhistorical anarchism are evident.As everyone here knows, we had a huge period of stress recently beforeour departure from CAB. When we decided to face issues that seemedfundamental to us, different conflicts arose and what we call"irreconcilable paths" became evident to us. There were differentprojects within the coordination, even though they all claimed to be"specifist".However, for us, it was not - and never has been - just a matter ofcriticizing. We really wanted to build and advance the anarchist projectthat we have been involved with for decades. We wanted a unifiednational organization, with the same principles, the same organicity,the same strategy and the same program, something that we began todevelop in our former Southeast/Mid-West Regional, seeing that therereally were possibilities for progress. Unfortunately, it was not thegeneral understanding at that time, however, we know that constitutingitself as a specific organization requires unity, and it is not a raritythat when unity does not happen, each part follows its path, itsproject. They are different paths that seek the same place: freedom,equality, in short, social revolution! However, we cannot advance alongthese paths without cohesion.At this time, it is essential to formalize here our congratulations toeveryone who maintained our political and social activities amidst allthe difficulties that culminated in the split. There were many problems,many meetings, many seams. A huge strain for many people... But wemanaged to successfully overcome this difficulty, taking the necessarystep to be able to build the future.There were many conversations in the SP municipal teachers' strikecamps, late nights writing and reading positions, weekends in collectivedebates, tiring hours-long meetings on computers in the middle of thepandemic; from reflections on the uncertainties amidst housingoccupations in Minas Gerais, to that scarce time found to struggleamidst the various tasks of a worker's life in Mato Grosso, amidst theenemies of agribusiness; from pickets and barricades on the avenues thatcross the favela in Guarulhos to self-defense efforts on the beaches ofBaixada Santista; From early morning vigils against repression inindigenous lands, to the dismissals and legal proceedings we took forfighting in Bauru; from dawn in prison during the 2017 general strike todawn counting votes and leafleting for the opposition ticket in theCenter. From the victories of the student movement in the interior ofSP, to the collective defeats of the oppressed classes. In densereadings alone, in the streets fighting against repression and inpolitical meetings defending our ideology, we are here alive and readyfor another stage!In recent months, we have also achieved an important feat. Maintainingall our work, without allowing organicity and social work to be harmed,we prepared all the material for this Congress session and heldqualified discussions in the groups.We must also formalize our congratulations here, both to those whoworked hard to make this Congress possible, and to those who kept theorganization running and made great effort to collectively discuss alarge amount of material.Now, starting this first session of our Congress, we will take anotherstep on this long journey. We will found our national organization,consolidating that old project conceived in the 1990s, which, betweenebbs and flows, continued in the following decades. We are aware that,even with important advances - and we have no doubt that they havehappened -, there is still a long way to go.With this Congress, we want to strengthen this journey so that we canadvance our egalitarian, libertarian and revolutionary project.Durruti has already said that we bring a new world in our hearts. Wehope that all this heritage and our recent efforts contribute to thisnew organization that is emerging at this time. May this date be amilestone in the strengthening of this new world. May it strengthen theanarchist, libertarian socialist project, the cause of socialrevolution! We will spare no effort for this!Long live anarchism!Long live libertarian socialism!Long live popular power!Long live the Libertarian Socialist Organization!To the barricades, comrades and companions!https://socialismolibertario.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Libera-outubro-2023-V4_web_FINAL.pdf_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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