Today's Topics:
1. Czech, afed: Stop torture! -- Report on a solidary protest
action in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague to support
prosecuted anarchists and anti-fascists. [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. [Spain] Release: "The insistence. Anarchism, culture,
self-management ", by Xavi López GarcÃa By ANA (pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Poland, rozbrat: Summary of FA-Poznan activities in the past
2017 rozbrat.org [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - ecology, Bure: Faced
with the nuclear trash, we are all resistant.es! (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. anarkismo.net: Against Imperialism: International Solidarity
and Resistance (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
On Saturday, February 3, a group of about 15 anti-Fascists and anarchists from Prague went
to the Russian embassy in Korunovacnà Street to condemn the bullying and persecution of
Russian friends who were subjected to kidnappings, torture, fictitious accusations, and
prosecution in the Airsoft case. ---- With the banners "Stop torture, I will close the
prison. FSB fuck off "and" Russian anti-fascist, keep the fight "clearly showed
representatives of Russian power in Prague that the repressive campaign of the FSB secret
service against anarchists and anti-fascists in Russia does not remain unnoticed beyond
the borders. And for fugitive friends in "Czar Putin," it was a message that their fate is
not indifferent to the liberal people in the world. Solidarity knows no boundaries.
If you want to promote the activists, visit the Russian Embassy in Korunovacnà Street
(perhaps you can take a photo of your friends behind the gates), send a nice message or
help the Russian Anarchist Black Cross.
https://www.afed.cz/text/6793/stop-muceni
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Message: 2
"The insistence" Is an approximation to the most common phenomena, and at the same time
more unknown to the public, of the history of anarchism, especially focused around the
city of Barcelona. The chronology, although it may seem a little bold (it covers the
curious period between 1870 and 2017), does not want to be solely a historical
introduction for newcomers. Herein lies the meaning of the title: what is explored here,
as if exploring an unknown landscape, is the "insistence" of a series of revolutionary
ideas and practices and self-management throughout our recent history, materialized in the
phenomenon of the first worker's culture third of the 20th century, but which throughout
the century suffered a series of more or less fortunate adventures. The author goes
through these episodes through the transition, the period of the second Bourbon
restoration (called "democratic"), the difficult years of neoliberalism for social
movements, and the current crises. The book is therefore a historical and political essay
that seeks a broad concept of popular culture, not so much as folklore or production of
meanings, but as a political culture of resistance, an antipodal culture present in all
spheres of human life.
Xavi López GarcÃa
Created in the neighborhood of Plaça d'en Coll in Sant Cugat del Vallès, he studied
Philosophy at UAB, conciliating it with all kinds of works. Soon he completed Literary
Theory, which helped him to configure his first works (the novels Nit i fugue and Gross
Interior Happiness). However, it has not actively politicized through the trade union
sphere, but since social volunteers. Getting in touch with the worlds of marginality and
disability was an important incentive that brought him closer to anti-system political
forms and ended up convincing him of the interest of the prevailing system in submitting
to and discrediting the planet. Although this was not his first contact with the
libertarian world, it was the discovery of this parallel culture in all its forms
(economic, ethical, artistic, identity, experiential) which led him to write a book on the
foundations of anarchism of yesterday and today. He collaborates with the Integral Catalan
Cooperative, is a writer of Lo Comunal magazine and a member of the ICEA (Institute of
Economic Sciences and Self-Management).
The insistence. Anarchism, culture, self-management
Xavi López GarcÃa
Volapük Ediciones - Guadalajara
426 pages
17 euros
Translation> Sol de Abril
anarchist-ana news agency
It is late, it
gets dark, the moon struggles
but soon appears.
Pedro Mutti
------------------------------
Message: 3
Last year, the activities of the Poznan section of the Anarchist Federation focused mainly
on continuing their own activities, and supporting initiatives such as the Wielkopolska
Tenant Association , the IPO Inter-enterprise Commission , Poznanians against the Hunter
or Food Instead of Bomb Poznan ---- On February 18, as part of the fight with the hunting
lobby, we participated in the happening and information campaign during the "Knieje 2017"
hunting fair at MTP. ---- Further involvement in the fight for women's rights was also of
great importance due to the earlier involvement in the Black Protest. ---- In March, we
participated in the preparations and the course of Poznan's Manify. A commemorative
newspaper was prepared together with forces. The women's strike continues!
Where possible, we have also supported international anti-fascist actions, including The
blockade of the neofascists march in Leipzig and the national ones - in Bydgoszcz and Warsaw .
The consequences of intransigent anti-fascist attitudes were attacks by local
neo-fascists. Most often they boiled down to painting neo-fascist symbols on the walls of
the city and around the Rozbrat squat. In March, however, there was a direct attack on
Anarchist Klubo Bookstores Revenge . It took place just after the demonstration of the
All-Polish Youth. The bookstore collective issued a statement after the attack .
The response of our environment, not only to the attack on revenge, but also to attacks on
foreigners or people associated with the LGBT environment, which occurred in Poznan, and
the clear rise in racist and xenophobic mood in the country, was the preparation of
anti-nationalist protest. We have tried to involve various environments in the preparation
of the demonstration, including academic. That is why we have paid attention to the
behavior of the UAM authorities, which tried to impede the involvement of both students
and researchers in propagating the demonstration .
On Saturday, April 8 a demonstration entitled "Nationalism will not pass". It was a
protest organized against the wave of racist and homophobic violence that has been growing
for months. The demonstration has aimed to show this wave as a result of the exploitation
of the economic system. Demonstration was supported by various environments, from
foreigners living in Poznan to feminist organizations, LGBTQIA +, academia and people of
culture. In total, about 800 people participated in it. The demonstration began under the
Stary Browar shopping center, one of the places of the racist attack on a Polish citizen
of Syrian origin. After reading the statement "Nationalism will not pass"the demonstration
was attacked by several nationalists. Attackers and participants of the demonstration
reacted very quickly to the attack. The effect was the knockout of one of the aggressors
left by his companions. One of the attackers was Remigiusz Stalewski, the owner of the
"patriotic" store "National" located at pl. Cyril Ratajski in Poznan. The police showed a
total lack of preparation and first let the nationalists attack, later de facto it
facilitated their escape. She also tried to stop the anti-fascists who wanted to fight off
the attack ...
However, this attack did not hinder the further course of the demonstration. The next
attempt to disrupt it occurred near the PiS office on ul. St. Marcin. The officers
attacked several demonstrators and demonstrators in front of the main group of protesters.
The police used clubs (which together with the shields partly lost), gas, also ready to
wield a smooth-bore weapon. Once again, their action can be taken only as an attempt to
break up legal protest. Prevention officers - apparently deprived of support from their
commanders, or even so often present at the demonstrations of the police "Anti-Conflict
Team" (which this time ran out) - clearly sought this escalation of violence. The legal
protest route was blocked stopping the protest itself and tram and car traffic on
neighboring streets and still trying to stop the people participating in the
demonstration. A total of seven people were detained. Despite the actions of the police
and nationalists, we managed to bring the march to the end, that is, under Anarchist Klubo
Bookstores Revenge. Thanks to the solidary attitude of the participants and participants,
it was shown that there was no consent for the actions of nationalist militias in Poznan,
and any attacks from them would meet with a strong reaction.
On April 26, the delegation of the Anarchist Federation Poznan and the Inter-enterprise
Commission of the National Trade Union Workers' Initiative symbolically commemorated the
flowers, part of nine Poznan railwaymen who were murdered 97 years ago by the Poznan endec
authorities of Poznan .
In May, we supported logically, organisationally and physically the next edition of the
sport event, ie the 9th edition of Freedom Fighters .
On June 9, we co-organized with the Poznan group Against the Hunter a protest in
connection with the ongoing felling in the Bialowieza Forest. Nearly two hundred people
shouted clearly and loudly against the actions of the Minister of the Environment - Jan
Szyszka and his supporters.
In July, together with a broad international coalition of activists and activists, we took
part in protests against the meeting and politics of the G20 group in Hamburg, Germany .
In August, we supported the newly established Inter-company Commission of IPO at
Volkswagen Poznan .
In September we participated and co-organized the 23rd birthday of Rozbrat . For many
years Rozbrat's squat has been serving its space also for meetings of the Anarchist
Federation.
Participants and participants of the Anarchist Federation were also involved in anti-cut
activities in the Bialowieza Forest, staying in the Forest Camp and taking part in its
activities. The consequence of this commitmentIt was a beating by the Forest Guard one of
the Poznan activists associated with the Anarchist Federation blocking felling in the
Bialowieza Forest.
In November, representatives and representatives went to Warsaw to take part in the
occupation of the State Forests . It was another element of the fight in defense of the
Bialowieza Forest. Many of the participants, including people from our community, have
complaints about participation in this action. The same applies to our participation in
direct blockings in the Bialowieza Forest.
On Wednesday, November 15, as part of the Poznan Against Nationalism coalition, we
organized a protest against the visit in our house of Robert Winnicki . The reason for the
assembly"Nationalism will not pass # 2. We're booing Winnicki ", it was to show the
disagreement of Poznan circles on rising nationalism, racist attacks and neo-Nazism, which
is more and more present on Polish streets. In Poznan, there is no place for an envoy of
hatred, fueling the refusal of refugees and appealing with his organization to the
tradition of pre-war fascist groups. Winnicki, known, among other things, for a failed
attack on the Roma settlement in Wroclaw, became the face of a fascismist extreme right.
Eventually, the meeting with the fascist deputy was repeatedly interrupted, and the noise
generated by the congregation drowned out his gibberish. This protest is now taking on
additional meaning in connection with the subsequent disclosure of Robert Winnicki's
connections with neo-fascists. The MP even had to intervene in the prosecutor's office so
that she would not pursue propagators of neo-fascist propaganda.
The consequence of the conducted activity are also detentions by the police and cases
conducted against activists and activists . In June, the anarchist trial began, which was
detained as a result of police officers, after the demonstration against Lukasz Bukowski's
imprisonment on May 7, 2016.
During police activities at the April demonstration "Nationalism will not pass", one
anti-fascist was also detained, who was accused of participating in the fight, his case
began in November, so we will have to wait for it to be resolved. The case of an activist
and activists detained after a demonstration under the Black Protest in October 2016 is
also awaiting the start - a total of six people
In the case of police repression and apparatus of (in) fairness, we always try to support
people with their own knowledge and experience as well as professional legal assistance.
We also encourage you to constantly support ACK activity also through benefits.
Throughout the year, we have not forgotten about propaganda activities. We have organized
poster actions many times, we also distributed vlepki and leaflets.
We co- create the A-yes magazine , to which we encourage you to distribute and engage in
its editing. Last year you could also reach for more books published as part of the
Bractwa Trojka Publishing House .
We encourage you to become involved in the activities of the Poznan section of the
Anarchist Federation. We invite you to participate actively in meetings every Tuesday at
19.00 in the Anarchist Club at Rozbrac (Pulaski 21a St.).
http://www.rozbrat.org/publicystyka/aktywizm/4598-podsumowanie-dziaa-fa-pozna-w-minionym-2017-roku
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Message: 4
For several months, the convocation of activists opposed to the project of burying
radioactive waste Cigéo multiply, especially about the collective action carried out on
August 14, 2016 which saw hundreds of people put down a wall erected illegally by the
National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management. ---- Our organizations wish to support
the associations and activists who signed the text below. By distributing it in turn, we
wish to: ---- Collectively deny the fictitious and extravagant accusations of "criminal
conspiracy" against activists opposed to the Cigeo project. ---- Denounce this strategy of
systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition, whether associative, union or
individual. ---- We declare full solidarity with the fight against the nuclear bin. ----
Invite to sign this petition against repression and police violence .
We also invite you to come and support the activists during the trial which will take
place on February 13 in Bar-le-Duc.
Signatories: Adret Morvan, Libertarian Alternative, Friends of the Earth France, Alsace
Nature, Inter-communal citizen association of the populations concerned by the
Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project (ACIPA), Association of Nancy Decreasing (ADN),
Association for the Preservation of the Environment in Lérouville and Public Health
(APPELS), Association for the taxation of financial transactions and for citizen action
(ATTAC), Attac Vosges, Bloc Anti Fascist Nancy (BAF Nancy), Collective of Associations of
defense of the Environment Southern Basque Country of the Landes (CADE) Champagne Ardenne
Nature Environment (CANE), Collective Alternative Libertaire 54 Collective STOP-EPR
neither in Penly nor elsewhere, Collective of support to Notre-Dame-des-Landes of Tours
(Collective NDDL Tours ) South Brittany Bure Committee,Jura Support Committee, Haute-Marne
Committee of the Left Party, Committee for the Safeguarding of Fessenheim and the Rhine
Plain (CSFR), National Confederation of Inter-corporate Work 54 (CNT Interco 54),
Confederation Paysanne, Confederation Paysanne Vosges, Confluence To Exit Nuclear (CPSDN),
Europe Ecology Greens (EELV) Europe Ecology Greens Lorraine (EELV Lorraine), Emancipation
trend inter-union, France Insubordinate: Livrete forest and energy of France Insoumise,
France Insubordinate Meuse, France Nature Environment Burgundy Franche-Comté (FNE Burgundy
Franche-Comté), France Nature Environment Grand-Est (FNE Grand Est), Action Groups
Haute-Marne of France rebellious, The Seed (Commercy, 55) The Party Left, The bad days
will end "Verdun revolutionary choir, Librairie Quartier Libre «Free Canut "of Goven,
Movement for a Nonviolent Alternative of Nancy (MAN Nancy), New Anti-Capitalist Party
Meuse (NPA Meuse) Communist Party 52, Left Party 55 Human Chain Reaction (RCH), Network"
Out of Nuclear " " Healthcare Ecology " Paul Nuclear Phaseout 72 Getting through the
Moselle Nuclear, Stop Fessenheim, Stop Golfech (47) SUD Rail union CGT multi-professional
pension Chaumont trade Union solidarity, Vosges Alternatives to Nuclear ...
In front of the nuclear bin, we are all resistant.es !
On Tuesday 13 February, three trials related to the fight against Cigéo will take place at
the Criminal Court of Bar-le-Duc. Two activists are accused of having participated in the
destruction of the wall built by Andra in the Bois Lejuc during the summer of 2016, the
third is prosecuted for attacking the honor of agent depositary of the public authority.
It would seem that it is rather their convictions that are intended to be incriminated
rather than the very vague facts that are blamed on them. It is in this sense that their
trials are ours.
We are many, the fight against the nuclear trash and its world is a fight that concerns us
all.
Today, we are victims of a campaign of demonization, only to justify an increasingly heavy
repression: from now on, everything is an excuse to summon us, before the gendarmes to the
courts.
We are filmed, we are taken, we take our fingerprints and our DNA, we search our
communication tools and our houses, we are watched: we are harassed.
Yet we are simply opposed to a state project.
Since an instruction for "criminal conspiracy" is open, it serves to summon all those
involved in this fight from near and far.
This judicial system is based on a political motivation that aims to:
to discourage and scare activists and the growing number of people joining the
anti-nuclear movement through the recent support committees for the fight against CIGEO
to build from scratch a crude image of a pre-terrorist organization, a dangerous network
of French and even foreign environmental activists ...
Who are we laughing at ?
Everything is good for diverting attention from where the real danger lies: in all nuclear
installations in France and elsewhere.
Because, no one is fooled: this repression is a strategy of diversion.
To silence the opposition, the state uses justice by making evasive accusations and
catch-all: a deplorable tactic to suppress the challenge rather than respond to 20 years
of counter-expertise militant.
The rain of convocations that we have been suffering for a few weeks is an admission of
failure of the State, unable to justify its project.
While we are being criminalized, the project is moving forward, ignoring the long-standing
technical impasses of independent scientists, now confirmed by the Nuclear Safety Authority.
But far from dividing us, this repressive strategy brings us together: we are even more
determined, united, and combative.
No person or association is the owner or sponsor of this struggle: there are a thousand
ways to fight.
Yes, it is the resistance that associates us against this association of ill-doers that
are the State, the nucleocrats, the elected officials, guilty of corruption, of
degradation of territory in meeting with premeditation, and aggravated violence, like the
15 last August when Robin almost lost his foot in the explosion of a grenade GLI-F4, the
same type of grenades that have already killed, including Vital Michalon in 1977 and Rémi
Fraisse in 2014 for which the gendarme involved has just been relaxed.
This is a comprehensive strategy that is at work: legitimizing the use of violence by the
police in the recent despicable and media processing on certain.es militant.es " zadistes
" of NDDL for a possible evacuation raises fears a trivialization of these methods
towards all social movements.
Whether at the ZAD NDDL or Bure, we stand up against these same attempts to manipulate
public opinion.
We are all resisters
Signatories: Asodedra, Bure stop 55, Bure Free Zone, Cacendr, Cedra, Eodra, The Vigilant
Inhabitants of Gondrecourt, The Vigilant Habitants of Void-Vacon, Meuse nature
environment, Mirabel-LNE and opponents to the nuclear trash
More info here
https://cedra52.jimdo.com/2018/02/02/ces-organisations-soutiennent-le-rassemblement-du-13-f%C3%A9vrier-contre-les-r%C3%A9pressions-%C3%A0-bure-et-nous-assurent-de-leur-soutien/
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Face-a-la-poubelle-nucleaire-nous-sommes-tous-tes-resistant-e-s
------------------------------
Message: 5
Against Imperialism: International Solidarity and Resistance: A Discussion on
Anti-Imperialism, National Liberation Struggles, & Extending Social Struggles to an
International Level of Resistance ---- Part of a discussion on International Solidarity &
Revolutionary Resistance presented at the Regional Anarchist Gathering held in
Jan.26-29/90 in Vancouver, Canada, the first half is a brief introduction to the
historical development of imperialism, including the rise to dominance of US capital in
the global economic order, and the second half discusses national liberation struggles,
their contradictions & limitations, & an anarchist perspective to these struggles. If
anarchist or autonomist struggles are to have any impact, a complete re-assessment of our
analysis & methods is necessary. Developing this means addressing ourselves to an analysis
against capital- something which this article also mentions.
Against Imperialism: International Solidarity and Resistance
A Discussion on Anti-Imperialism, National Liberation Struggles, & Extending Social
Struggles to an International Level of Resistance
Endless Struggle #12, Spring/Summer 1990, Vancouver, pp. 13-15, 24
"It is our opinion that our failing to have any significant presence in the reality of
present day struggles is largely due to complacency & lack of up to date analysis of
problems in an increasingly complex social structure" (Bratach Dubh collective, intro. to
Anarchism & the National Liberation Struggle, by Alfredo Bonanno)
The following article was part of a discussion on International Solidarity & Revolutionary
Resistance presented at the Regional Anarchist Gathering held in Jan.26-29/90 in
Vancouver, Canada.
The first half of this article is a brief introduction to the historical development of
imperialism, including the rise to dominance of US capital in the global economic order.
The second half discusses national liberation struggles, their contradictions &
limitations, & an anarchist perspective to these struggles. It certainly isn't definitive
in total, but we hope it provides a starting point for discussion. A lot hasn't been
analysed, such as the present global economic thrust towards mobility in production,
significant changes in capitalist production (i.e. technology, flexibility), & the
relationship between these factors & the class struggle in the advanced capitalist
countries corresponding with the national liberation struggles. It is beyond the scope of
this article to fully address these, nevertheless, if anarchist or autonomist struggles
are to have any impact, a complete re-assessment of our analysis & methods is necessary.
Developing this means addressing ourselves to an analysis against capital- something which
this article also mentions.
Anarchists tend to reduce anarchism to mere anti-statism or opposition to authority, a
superficial & all encompassing "anti-authoritarian blanket" draped over all social
struggles. Instead of extending an analysis to patriarchal & capitalist exploitation,
which by its nature demands an international struggle, anarchists have restricted their
perspective (if at all) to the most blatant products of this: sometimes in the
"life-stylist" approach by boycotting multinationals, at other times in the pursuit of
"alternative economic communities". Capitalism is acknowledged, but only as some kind of
background setting with no specific structures or conditions. When the Economic Summit of
the G-7 (the seven leading industrial countries consisting of the US, Canada, Japan, W.
Germany, Britain, France & Italy) was held in Toronto in June /88, the movements lack of
anti-capitalist analysis was clear: "Protesting the 7 leaders is somewhat of a red
herring, seeing as it's not just these 7 who are the problem, but all leaders & capitalism
itself" (from Ecomedia Toronto, our emphasis). In this, the world economic order,
dominated primarily by US capitalism, & its structures the IMF & World Bank, in which the
G7 maintain dominant positions, is reduced to a problem of "leaders" & "capitalism"
remains as something lurking in the background. The article continues on, making the point
of resistance a question of who controls the streets rather than one of who maintains the
levels of exploitation: "But many anarchists came out to support the days actions because
the issue turned from one of protesting the leaders to... reclaiming the streets of our
city, which have been blocked off for us for the length of the Summit".
This is a reflection of the fact that most anarchists don't see various social struggles
(ecological, anti-sexism, anti-racism) as having a basis in class struggle. But this isn't
to say that these social struggles are irrelevant or secondary to the class struggle, as
some Marxists (as well as some anarchists) do, but rather the opposite: these social
struggles make up the basis of the class struggle. In the minds of those who delegate
these social struggles to a secondary position it is commonly argued that capital created
racism, sexism etc. as a tool to divide the class. But such a simplistic analysis ignores
the patriarchal & racist ideological basis that makes up the domination & expansion of
capitalism. Today, capitalism shapes & effects our cultural & social relationships like no
other social culture has. Anti-capitalism is not only an economic struggle but is also a
cultural struggle.
For most anarchists, the logical conclusion of an international class struggle against
international exploitation, imperialism, is not seen. A primary component of resistance to
imperialism has been the national liberation struggle. The anarchist response has been
silence, reluctance, or outright hostility to these movements. We think there is another
approach, one of intervention & solidarity.
DEVELOPMENT OF IMPERIALISM 1800 - 1900
Between 1800-1900, the full division of the world amongst the major European and American
powers was completed. From this point on, only the re-division of the world was possible.
During this period, Great Britain acquired 3, 700, 000sq. miles with 14, 700, 000
inhabitants, and so on (from Lenin's Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism where he
quoted economist J.A. Hobson).
For nations which had a level of independence after fighting colonial wars, the metropoles
were already developing new forms of colonialism in the forms of debts and dependence. In
the 1820s, English banks lent a total of £21 million to former Spanish colonies (Chile,
Argentina, Peru, Mexico, and Guatemala). The loans were directed towards developing export
infrastructures: roads, railways, and ports, specifically from the mining and agricultural
industries. The traditional agriculture was destroyed and replaced by monocultures, "cash
crops", grown for export. The export of raw materials was essential for the
industrialization process of the metropoles, England, France, Spain, etc. With the debts,
it was also a way of ensuring dependency, through the import of technology and machinery
necessary for large-scale export, the increase in loans for these projects, and loans to
maintain a balance-of-payment on the debt.
This then, is the basis of the economic control of the "Third World", & the mass poverty &
super-exploitation gripping the people in the Three Continents today; the peripheral
countries provide agricultural & mineral raw materials for the imperialist centres, at the
same time serving as sales markets for the manufactured goods produced in the metropoles,
& as spheres of influ-investment for their surplus capital.
WORLD WAR II: THE AMERICAN CENTURY
The Second World War market a substantial change for world imperialism, & out of it the US
was to emerge as the dominant player.
The US ruling class entered the war with a clear idea of what it wanted. Competing
imperialist nations would be dismantled & made dependent on US capital. Britain, Japan,
Germany & France were exhausted & almost non-functioning economies from the war, & they
would be reduced to junior partners. An important part of this was the Marshall Plan, in
which the US gave or lent to W. Europe & Japan $17 billion between1947-55. This allowed
the US to control post-war re-building along capitalist lines & to expand foreign
investment by US multinationals. Alongside this, the US prepared plans for a new world
trade & monetary order to prevent a world economic crisis as in the 1920's & to further
develop the expansion of US capitalism. The IMF & World Bank were important steps in this
direction. For obvious political reasons, the USSR & its satellites were excluded. In fact
the USSR was to be seen as the major threat to US interests, even though as a result of
the war it wasn't in a realistic position to do this. Nevertheless, the US quickly began
consolidating itself against this "spread of communism". Military & economic blocs,
dependent on the US, were created to contain & encircle the USSR & its European
satellites. These came in the form of NATO in 1949, SEATO in 1954 & ANZUS.
This was to be the "American Century"! But the post-second world war expansion was to last
only 3 decades. The pattern of economic growth came to an end in '73 - 74. The investment
boom making up for war-time losses & shortages, & capitalizing on new industries
(electronics, jet aircraft etc.) had run its course with nothing comparable to take its
place as a force of driving the capitalist accumulation process (Paul M. Sweezy, US
Imperialism in the 90s). The interpenetration of the US market by W. European & Japanese
manufactured goods forced the US to shift many of its manufacturing industries to the
Asian market, where costs were low. The formerly dependent powers in W. Europe & Japan
were in the process of breaking out of their dependence on the US (Already new
developments are occurring, with the possibility of the creation of 3 competing blocs; the
US & its dependents, the USSR & its dependents, & the European Economic Community, which
in 1992 will abolish trade barriers within its borders. The Free Trade Agreement between
the US & Canada is an integral part of this development. US imperialism can be said to be
declining as a dominant world power).
Contributing to this decline of the US were revolutionary movements within the US itself &
the development of national liberation movements. During this period a "record number of
defections" from Western imperialism occurred: Ethiopia in 74, Angola, Mozambique,
Guinea-Bissau, leading up to Grenada, Nicaragua, & Iran in 79, & Zimbabwe in 1980. These
liberation movements had their roots in the struggles between1954-75. During this period,
17 British colonies in Africa alone achieved nominal independence, the French followed
ceding independence to 19 of its 20 African colonies. But upon independence, political
power was merely transferred from colonial gov'ts to local bourgeoisies. In this way, the
metropoles were able to maintain influence & control.
But this "formal break" with colonialism was only a prelude to revolutionary struggles in
the form of national liberation movements. A primary characteristic of these were the
nationalisation of industries & resources, the "ideology of nationalization" (Julio Rosad
"Behind the US Economic Decline," Breakthrough vol. xii no. 1. Summer 88).
THE USSR & NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLES
It is without doubt that conditions for national liberation movements would be much more
extreme without the aid of the USSR. The existence of this competing bloc has in ways
reduced the movements of the western bloc. But this should be seen as the result of the
USSR's own interests. Under the rhetoric of "socialist internationalism", the USSR has
given aid according to its own geostrategic interests & designs. "...the Eastern bloc is a
black stain in the political geography of leftism... it is mainly according to their
geostrategic interests & the priority given to the consolidation of their own existence
through the external policies of the Soviet Union are decided. The aspiration to be
"recognised" & to have the equivalent of imperialism & not the aspiration of World
Revolution is the red thread that runs through all of the world politics" (Revolutionary,
Cells/Red Zora Discussion Paper on the Peace Movement 1984).
Afghanistan shows that the USSR, like the US, is prepared to defend the interests using
violence in the form of armed intervention, napalm, & chemical weapons. Even with this
however, the USSR cannot be placed on an equal level of that of the US. The USSR's
expansion is based on need, not on a surplus, & in this way is incapable of developing a
strong dependence. "In the face if[sic]imperialism is based on need & not on surplus. They
cannot rely on the "gentle" violence of a mode of production, waiting for it, as a result
of its inherent expansive logic, to build a durable dependence (RZ/RZ Discussion paper).
In the age of perestroika, the East bloc shows its own integration into western capital in
the form of its massive debts to western banks, the IMF & World Bank. Even today, the
Deutsche Bank opens up offices within the East bloc.
THE LIMITATIONS & CONTRADICTIONS OF NATIONAL LIBERATION STRUGGLES
Today, the consolidation of national liberation & self-determination is an unrealistic
goal. In these isolated struggles, one nation merely moves from one capitalist bloc to
another, unable to determine its own economic direction. Because of this, many anarchists
& marxists define the FMLN in El Salvador as the "left-wing of capital's political
apparatus", while the US backed regime is the "right-wing". In a candid interview,
Francisco Jovel of the 5 member FMLN General Command flatly stated "We are not talking
about installing a socialist regime. This is a product of our analysis of national &
international reality" (NACLA Report on the Americas, Vol. xxiii no. 3 Sept. 89). Eduardo
Sancho, another member of the General Command, describes the FMLN's proposed "Gov't of
Broad Participation", the "pluralistic democracy" which is the basis of the FMLN's
proposals, as being "from an ideological & economic point of view, nothing more than (a
program for) the development of capitalism in El Salvador ... We first have to develop our
minimal program .. then later bases to construct socialism, & then later communism - which
we think will develop in this country around the year 3,000" (talk about long-range
development plans! From NACLA, Report on the Americas Sept. 89). Obviously, the FMLN is
the "left-wing" of capital, but this reformist view of socialism is only a reflection of
the reality that self-determination isn't possible in national liberation.
Increasingly, it becomes clear that the consolidation of social liberation, the breakout
of national liberation, & the extending of the insurrection in the periphery is directly
related to our own revolutionary struggles here & now, in the centres. This is the basis
of Internationalism: "If Internationalism is not to be merely meaningless rhetoric, it
must imply solidarity between the proletariat of different countries or nations. This is a
concrete term. When there is a revolution, it will be as it has been in the past, in a
precise geographical area. How much it remains there will be directly linked to the extent
of that Internationalism, both in terms of solidarity & the spreading of the revolution
itself" (Jean Weir, intro to Anarchism & the National Liberation Struggle).
In the absence of this Internationalism, the success of a Cuba (altho[ugh]the continued
repression including that against the anarchists is well known) in the eradication of mass
hunger & extreme hunger, providing healthcare & schooling, takes on a new level of
attractiveness for the people still fighting for these necessities. In this way, the
"left-wing of capitalism", & its' accompanying condemnation, becomes little more than
political posturing, true as it is. The total rejection of the FMLN as the left-wing
ignores the context of what they are fighting for and what they must fight against.
Of course, there are countless other criticisms of national liberation fronts & struggles:
that, as in Cambodia, there is the possibility of disastrous outcome or that they are
mostly dominated by Marxist-Leninist positions. Perhaps we could let Insurrection no. 4
May 88[reply]: "One could reply to the first that there is no such situation as one that
can guarantee a revolutionary or progressive outcome in advance, but rather that such an
outcome would be more probable in the presence of the anarchists & their struggle." As for
the blinding neo-McCarthyism, the same article goes on to say: "... the relationship
between Marxism & the National liberation struggle is purely instrumental. That is, the
people in struggle have adopted ... certain Marxist elements as they have nothing else at
their disposition. And is this not the fault of the anarchists?" This also reflects the
fact that anarchism, while addressing themselves to all sorts of social & cultural
struggles, have recently failed to offer any kind of attack on capitalism's economic
exploitation. Is it no wonder that the most economically and socially oppressed peoples
have always been areas where Marxists or Marxist-Leninists have been able to make inroads?
National liberation fronts, as vehicles for achieving political & economic independence,
contain contradictions in their very content, & these clearly lead to their limitations.
These fronts generally encompass all people who are part of the specific ethnic group that
is engaged in struggle. Thus for the ETA or native peoples in Canada, it becomes a
question of the "liberation of ... Basques" or the liberation of native peoples, rather
than one of specifically class struggle. Writing on this in the magazine No Middle Ground
(no. 3-4/85), K. Sorel, in reference to the FSLN in Nicaragua, wrote: "From its very
beginnings in the 1960's the FSLN had emphasized multi-class co-operation against the
regime & that the Patriotic middle-classes would play a central role..." and that the
"Sandinista regime (after overthrowing Somoza) quickly demonstrated its class nature by
inviting leading businessmen Alfonso Robelo & Arturo Cruz into top positions of the new
gov't. At the Managua labor seminar of the state-controlled labor union, the Sandinista
Workers Central, Commander Carlos Nunez declared that it was "important to distinguish
between those members of the bourgeoisie who are still influenced by imperialism & those
who had been victims of the dictatorship because the latter are individuals the FSLN wants
to attract & consolidate into the revolution" (Sorrel quoted Barricada Sept. 25/79).
Expanding on this narrow view of ethnic culture, Fronte Libertaire wrote: "Ethnic culture
is not that of all who are born or live in the same territory & speak the same language.
It is the culture of those who, in a given group, suffer the same exploitation. Ethnic
culture is class culture, & for this reason is revolutionary culture" (quoted from
Anarchism & the National Lib. Struggle). In this way, the diversity of the "front" begins
to contradict what should be the logical base of its struggle: anti-capitalism. "National
lib. Movements are capitalist multi-class coalitions in which the proletarians of the
Third World do the fighting & dying ..." (No Middle Ground no. 3-4). If anti-imperialist
resistance (here or there) doesn't expand beyond this, if it is in opposition to
imperialism only, then it too begins to develop its own contradictions & can in fact
become a reformist struggle. As Alfredo Bonanno writes "The enemy is he who exploits,
organising production & distribution in a capitalist dimension, even if this exploiter
then calls us compatriot, party comrade, or whatever other pleasing epithet ... Unity with
the internal exploiters is impossible, because no unity is possible between the class of
workers & the class of exploiters".
In rejecting national lib. struggles some anarchists & marxists use the slogan "Nation or
Class," with the view that because we struggle for international revolution, limited
national struggles are an obstacle. However, as has already been said, the limitations of
these struggles can be viewed as a direct result of our own revolutionary struggles
lacking intensity & influence. Demanding "World Revolution" while rejecting national lib.
struggles & ignoring the lack of revolutionary struggle here, is like trying to get blood
out of a stone. With or without revolutionary solidarity, the exploited of the 3
continents will continue to build resistance on their own. Whether or not the national
liberation struggles contribute to international revolution, by extending the
insurrection, is something that also rests in our hands.
Our internationalism, which connects revolutionary struggles here with the struggles in
the periphery, is what creates the anti-imperialist resistance. The basis of our
anti-imperialist struggle is extending the social struggle to form a base in the
anti-capitalist struggle within an international perspective. A contributing part of
developing an anti-imperialist, international perspective is seeing that even with the
contradictions & limitations, national liberation fronts also contain class fronts, & this
is what connects our struggles into one. Our position should be one of intervening &
extending the struggle.
"Anarchists should give all their support, concrete regarding participation, theoretical
concerning analysis & study, to national liberation struggles" (Alfredo Bonanno, Anarchism
& the National Liberation Struggle).
FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLDIARITY AND REVOLUTIONARY RESISTANCE
(Credit for text mark-up: SB, JF).
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/30843
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» Anarchic update news all over the world - 16.02.2018