On April 9, 1927, the anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti
were sentenced to death in Boston, United States[1], after seven yearsin prison, awaiting sentencing in a scandalous and farcical trial that
became public and unleashed a great solidarity movement throughout the
world, thousands of acts of protest by solidarity committees of
organizations from all over the world, prominent intellectuals of the
time such as Albert Einstein and Freud added their voices of repudiation
to the sentence, together with religious, lawyers, social and political
leaders of all tendencies, demanding the freedom of both and that they
not be executed.
Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested in 1920 [2], accused of robbing a toll
truck and killing two guards. Both were Italian immigrants and
anarchists and were defended by the lawyer of the IWW, an
anarcho-syndicalist organization from the United States. At the time of
their arrest, they played a prominent role in organizing strikes and
demonstrations, as well as in spreading libertarian ideas. Nicola Sacco
was a shoemaker by trade, and Vanzetti worked selling fish. These were
times of illegal strikes that demanded a clandestine organization of
preparation and the repression of the Yankee state was unleashed with
extreme brutality, arresting, deporting or even killing foreign and
native workers who fought against it, as in the case of the anarchist
Andrés Salsedo, illegally detained and killed after falling from the
height of 14 floors of a building, curiously from the offices of the
secret police, an event that was presented as a suicide. The two
anarchists were involved in denouncing this crime at the time of their
arrest.
After several postponements, due to social pressure linked to the
solidarity campaigns and the sympathy they aroused in the working
classes, the mobilizations intensified when it was learned, at the
beginning of August, that the governor of the state had refused to grant
them a pardon, and strikes broke out in several capitals. Finally, the
two fighters sentenced for their ideas were executed in the electric
chair in Charlestown prison. Sacco, first, and Vanzetti, immediately
after, sat in the electric chair. It was all over, it was August 23,
1927. In all countries there were meetings, strikes, protests and
attacks in repudiation of the barbaric crime.
In Argentina, shortly after the trial was announced, solidarity
committees were organized and numerous protest actions were held during
the seven years of imprisonment they endured while awaiting sentencing.
The anarchist newspaper La Protesta constantly reported on the twists
and turns of the case. The popularity of the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
was evident in the space devoted by the press to the treatment of the
news of the trial. The newspaper La Razón went so far as to compare this
"cause for which so many people fight without distinction of class or
ideas" with the Dreyfuss case [3].
The solidarity expressed in the streets, along with some expressions
of "violence" that accompanied the moments of greatest mobilization, was
a widespread phenomenon in the large European and American cities; where
the anarchist movement was relevant or there was a strong workers'
movement, networks of solidarity with Sacco and Vanzetti were created.
It was a mass phenomenon that went beyond the events organized by the
workers' unions, political parties or groups.
Buenos Aires was no exception and this fact favoured the link made by
the commercial press between workers' protest and violence, taking
advantage of the fact that the working classes actually played a leading
role in the cause of the two immigrant workers tried in the United
States. The campaigns for Sacco and Vanzetti favoured the construction
of an international network that included newspapers, bulletins, groups
and circles with transnational and regional links that allowed the news
about the judicial case to be known and various strategies of struggle
to be articulated." [4]
In 1927, the city of Buenos Aires recorded the highest number of general
strikes and mobilizations of the entire decade. [5]
The Argentine Regional Workers Federation declared general strikes on
April 8 and 9 during the verdict and joined the strike called by the USA
and the COA on June 15 and again called for a general strike on August 5
and 6 and again on August 10 and 11 and August 22 and 23 during the
execution.
"This country occupies the first place in the struggle for the salvation
of Sacco and Vanzetti. For more than six years, the Dedham Massachusetts
trial has been agitated in our press, and the FORA organizations and the
anarchist groups maintained an active campaign on the different aspects
that this case presented during the long and hard period of trial. The
agitation followed all the oscillations of the process. When the Sacco
and Vanzetti case was considered lost in the legal field, the anarchists
of Argentina were the first to resort to the weapon of the strike to
express the discontent of the workers against the treacherous crime of
the Yankee justice system. The Massachusetts state court rejected the
request for a review of the process, which meant the immediate
application of the sentence imposed by Judge Thayer, and the FORA
responded to the challenge of Yanquilandia with a general strike
throughout the country. That first demonstration on April 8 and 9 was
completed by the other on June 15, when our organizations assumed the
responsibility of the campaign that they had started and continued for
six long years." Diario La Protesta, August 5, 1927
The pages of the anarchist newspaper reported the announcements of the
strikes of the FORA unions and other mobilizations of anarchists from
other sectors. The solidarity and protest strike did not only take place
in the capital but throughout the Argentine region, as evidenced by the
telegrams that were published daily in the morning paper:
By the Guilds
The unions of the Buenos Aires Local Workers Federation: FO del Calzado;
O. del Puerto; FO del Tabaco; O. Bakers; O. Mosaistas; O. albariños;
Unión Chaufers; Metalworkers United; Stonecutters and Graniteworkers; O.
Bricklayers; United Painters; O. Glaziers; B. Valijeros and A.; O. de
Luz y Fuerza; O. en Dulce; Horse Farriers; O. Cajoneros and Undertaker
etc. in accordance with the strike declaration by Sacco and Vanzetti
have in turn made statements in newspapers and in widely disseminated
manifestos. From six o'clock today Monday the strike is effective
everywhere with exemplary unanimity, which demonstrates the
consciousness of the organized proletariat.
Strikes in various towns in the interior
Strikes and business closures occurred across much of the province
following the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti.
The greatest order has reigned everywhere.
In Campana, a strike was declared by factory workers and car drivers and
the police established surveillance to prevent attacks.
In Quilmes, the workers at the paper factory went on strike and, at the
request of the respective management, surveillance was established on
the trams on line 22, up to the boundary with Avellaneda.
In addition, the strike and closure of commercial houses have been
complete in Mar del Plata, General Alvarado, Pehuajo, Colon, Pringles
and Junín.
-CORONEL PRINGLES - In protest against the conviction of Sacco and
Vanzetti, a general strike of commercial activities was carried out in
this town.
Calm reigns in the town and no incidents have occurred.
-BAHIA BLANCA- Bakers, bricklayers, carpenters, tram drivers and other
workers did not go to work in protest against the death sentence imposed
on Sacco and Vanzetti.
The chauffeurs and coachmen did not work either.
The police banned the demonstration that the strikers were planning to hold.
A rally was held in Rivadavia Square and when it was beginning to get
dark, the gendarmerie suspended the event, forcing the crowd to disperse.
-JUNIN- As an act of adhesion to the movement initiated in favor of
Sacco and Vanzetti, the commerce of this town paralyzed its activities.
-LA PLATA- With as many or more adhesions than the one obtained on the
10th, the public protest movement against the condemnation of the
workers Sacco and Vanzetti organized by the workers of this city was
repeated again. With the exception of the tram drivers who only did it
out of fear and with the prior consent of the two local companies, the
strike was absolute only from the last hours of the afternoon. The
closure of the commerce was also almost general, neither did work take
place in the meat packing plants "Armour and Swift"
-MAR DEL PLATA- The workers responded unanimously to the declaration of
a general strike, so that it acquired greater intensity.
Two important meetings were held, attended by numerous people. Various
speakers spoke, condemning the barbaric crime of the Yankee bourgeoisie
and urging the workers to remain united and persevere in their action
against capitalist imperialism.
-PERGAMINO- The general strike was now absolute, with the agreements
taken in this regard by all the workers' unions having been put into effect.
-PUNTA ALTA- The strike here is partial. Businesses closed for 24 hours.
-ARRECIFES- a general strike was held in protest against the execution
of Sacco and Vanzetti. The shops opened their doors due to police
orders. The workers of Capitán Sarmiento stopped work.
-BERNAL- The factories in this town that employ several thousand workers
did not work.
-CHIVILCOY- The strike was absolute, even among bakers, milkmen and taxi
drivers. Some shops worked but with their doors ajar.
-SANTA FE- The workers' unions declared a general strike on the occasion
of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti. Several meetings were held. The
newspapers did not appear. The coachmen, bricklayers, carpenters,
milkmen, bakers and butchers joined in.
-ROSARIO- The strike was decided on a general basis, except for tram
traffic. There was no activity at the port. Some unions such as bakers,
chauffeurs and others have declared an indefinite strike, and this calm
prevails.
-RESISTANCE- Work in its various manifestations was paralyzed in protest
of the execution of the workers Sacco and Vanzetti, victims of the
thoughtless Yankee plutocracy.
-LEANDRO ALEM- The protest demonstration against the blind condemnation
of American capitalism was more successful than expected. A committee
organized in support of Sacco and Vanzetti held an act of affirmation
with good results.
-CORDOBA- The workers' protest strike was repeated with the same
characteristics as the previous strike caused by the Sacco and Vanzetti
case.
-RIO CUARTO- The unions of the Regional Workers Federation declared a
general strike in protest against the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti,
but there were no incidents.
-TUCUMAN- The unions of this company declared a strike, thus joining the
global strike declared due to the Sacco and Vanzetti affair.
With the exception of drivers and newspaper vendors, members of other
trades responded to the protest movement in part, so that the strike did
not disrupt the normal activities of the population. The petrol pumps
are guarded by soldiers of the fire brigade armed with Mausers.
-JUJUY- A group of about a thousand people, men and women from the
working class, marched through the streets of this city in protest
against the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti. The Provincial Police
declared a general strike.
-TRES ARROYOS- The movement of this movement reached projections never
seen before. Complete strike. A large meeting and street demonstration
were held. The Protest Wednesday, August 24, 1927
The last strike
The general protest strike declared by the FORA assumed grandiose
proportions
The declaration of a strike by the Federal Council of the FORA was
unanimously received throughout the country by the affiliated
federations and unions, since this protest movement was the decisive one
to stop the executioner's hand. At the same time, in the cities and
towns where the FORA has active organizations and sympathetic workers,
the strike took place in an absolute manner, evidencing with great
eloquence the indignation of the conscious proletariat in the face of
the barbaric immolation of the martyrs Sacco and Vanzetti.
The Argentine workers, unionized or not, affiliated with the FORA or
organized in autonomous entities, at the supreme moment when the
executioner had to carry out the cruel decision of bourgeois justice,
demonstrated to the Yankee plutocracy that with the death of the
innocent victims the ideals of liberty and justice have thousands of
defenders and they also demonstrated that the offense to all inflicted
by the brutal defiance and the horrendous legal crime perpetrated, will
be indelible in the hearts and minds of those who, exposing their
liberty and their lives, knew how to defend at all times until the fatal
moment, that of Sacco and Vanzetti.
Once again the regional proletariat knew how to put its conscience and
feelings of solidarity to the test, inscribing them in everlasting days,
as immortal will be the names of the glorious martyrs who defied death
with a "Long live anarchy!" shouted calmly from the electric chair to
the impassive faces of their executioners.
The last general strike declared by the FORA Regional Argentina and
supported by the USA and autonomous unions, reached incredible and
unsuspected projections throughout the republic. The strike lasted for
forty-eight hours, supported by the FORA unions and autonomous unions.
Despite the expected defection of the USA leaders, the protest movement
did not decline. The day after the execution of the two rebels, and when
the USA returned to work, the proletariat remained standing. No one who
had lived through hours of anguish and indescribable pain waiting at
midnight for the vibrations of the cable that would give the unfortunate
news, once confirmed by the state of mind and the harsh moral blow
suffered, would have gone to take up the tools of work. This explains
why, when the sad outcome became known, on the 23rd the proletariat,
filled with holy rage, outraged by the immolation of Sacco and Vanzetti,
redoubled their noisy demonstrations.
In many localities, the proletariat organised rallies and spontaneously
improvised street demonstrations, some of which were violently repressed
by the police. The number of those arrested on Tuesday 23rd was higher
than in previous days. The quartering of troops and police
reinforcements gave an indication of how popular indignation was
manifesting itself.
Police marched from La Plata to Balcarce; in González Chávez the
headquarters of the workers' organizations were raided; in Rosario and
in this capital people were arrested for the sole reason of expressing
their feelings when the fatal news was read in front of the newspapers'
blackboards.
In short: The days of the 22nd and 23rd were formidable, foreshadowing
the scope that the fight against those responsible for the deaths of
Sacco and Vanzetti will assume from now on.
[1] The Tragedy of Sacco and Vanzetti, Abad de Santillán, Biweekly
Supplement of La Protesta, August 20, 1928, p.479
[2] Biweekly supplement of La Protesta, page 479
[3] "Demonstrations for Sacco and Vanzetti continue universally," La
Razón, August 9, 1927, p. 11. Mentioned by L. Anapios in "The City of
Bombs," Bulletin of the Institute of Argentine and American History "Dr.
Emilio Ravignani," Third Series, No. 39, second semester 2013
[4] Luciana Anapios in "The City of Bombs", Bulletin of the Institute of
Argentine and American History "Dr. Emilio Ravignani", Third Series, No.
39, second semester 2013
[5] Same
https://organizacion-obrera.fora.com.ar/2024/08/08/el-asesinato-de-sacco-y-vanzetti-y-su-repercusion-en-la-region-argentina/
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