The launch of the film Arizona (Westerne), featured on the cover of this issue, is a Belgian adaptation of the version released in France in installments: labor law, pension reform - both public and private sector versions - social security contributions, the decline in living standards, unemployment rights, and, across all these topics, immigration policy... Successive governments have been implementing these measures. In truth, rather than an adaptation, it's a well-rehearsed script. Four Belgian comrades came to talk about their struggle (in our feature).
More prosaically, while the French state and employers had to withdraw some elements of the project - the CPE law (First Employment Contract) in particular - in the face of a major mobilization of workers, but also of young people who, for once, are less "depoliticized" than the ruling classes would like, the essential elements have been self-validated. In contrast, the union structures, which had temporarily transformed into inter-union bodies, were largely overwhelmed by their rank and file and by non-union members. But as we know, despite some particularly crucial moments, the process was completed, often by force.
The political structures of the Fifth Republic are particularly simple in our view; the Belgian constitutional monarchy is a nested system that multiplies decision-making bodies, all backed by a linguistic and cultural divide. It is a massive coalition, "Arizona," that is the instigator of the script for social dismantling and budget cuts, the execution of which is being carried out by Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a Flemish nationalist. And without any embellishment.
Therefore, the response of the proletariat is commensurate, our Belgian comrades tell us. Public services have come to a massive standstill: BPost (the postal service) is blocked, planes are grounded and flights are delayed at Brussels and Charleroi airports, there is no public transport in the capital, no river transport in the country, garbage collection is suspended, and services are practically at a standstill in prisons... Numerous associations are also involved. Brussels has seen more than 100,000 people take to the streets.
Among the scenes of confrontation, we find the now-classic elements of the genre: a few fires near the ring road, arrests. A long and arduous movement that the most militant would like to see run its course, literally. It will be a feature film in any case. Thus, the protagonists and technicians present provide somewhat confusing off-screen commentary, and the final cut remains uncertain.
Let's take a moment to shine a spotlight on Bart de Wever. He's no newcomer, and his career gave little indication that he would become the leader of a coalition that includes virtually every political player, even those diametrically opposed to him. Almost no one wanted it (not even his arch-rival, Vlaams Belang), but pragmatically, many joined forces. Such an alliance would be unimaginable in France, where parties are rife with internal egotistical ambitions, and where a government takes only a few weeks to form, compared to a year and a half in Belgium. Admittedly, the two systems and their decentralization, given their respective sizes, don't require the same political acrobatics. But let's get back to Bart De Wever. He is, in fact, the champion of rebranding. In less than twenty years, he has raised the N-VA (Nieuw-Vlaams Aliantie = New Flemish Alliance in English), an offshoot of the ultra-separatist, far-right Volksunie movement, to such a level of "respectability" that the N-VA is now the leading party in Flanders. It's a spectacular feat to embrace European confederation after having so vehemently rejected national confederation. And to deliver the retort: "A strong Flanders in a strong Europe." A Europe whose very Europe his party campaigns within the European Reform Council (ERC) against European federalism and other migratory or social issues, alongside IDL (Identity Freedom) and FDI (Brotherhood of Italy), among others... Breaking through the glass ceiling. Enough to make both rising stars and seasoned veterans of the scene salivate.
This transformation is, of course, due to political alliances and sponsors. The entire political film industry, whether confined to the halls and bars of European parliaments or to international distribution, is rife with product placement. And lobbyists flock to the box office more than viewers to the polls. This is true in Belgium as elsewhere. Politicians are on every set, financiers are behind the scenes, owning the means of production, the critical journals, and the PR networks for promotion.
Yet in the darkened theaters, when the film becomes unbearable, sometimes silhouettes emerge, standing out against the big screen.
Yet, in darkened theaters, when the film becomes unbearable, sometimes figures emerge, standing out against the big screen, accompanied by boos still muffled by the soundtrack. These troublemakers are those who are fed up with paying top dollar for a few duds, with consuming Capitalwood. They are spectators who cease to be passive. They are the invisible ones who go on strike, who occupy the street, the local business, the neighborhood supermarket, the city clinic.
So the professionals in the industry want to reduce this to amateur cinema, to ban its release. Let's stop being mere extras. Let's stand up to the self-proclaimed stars. Let's create our own distribution.
Lille-Boulogne-sur-Mer, April 25, 2026
https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4694
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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