Number 5 December 1994 - English version This has been produced by: FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL SECTION 84B WHITECHAPEL HIGH STREET LONDON E1 7QX GREAT BRITAIN This information is a summary of events and activities which may be of interest to those involved in the international anarchist movement. Please use the information in whatever way you see fit. The bulletin is at present being produced four times per year. Please contact us if you would like to receive it regularly. Contents this quarter... Chiapas - After the elections in Mexico. Great Britain - An anarchist community centre in Norwich. Italy - The self-management debate. Swedish Anarchist News News From Baltimore USA News from our Canadian correspondent Venezuelan film festival Uprising in Ecuador  CHIAPAS SOLIDARITY As part of the response to bulletin number 4 we received the following from the Collectiu de Solidaritat amb la Rebellio Zapatista which is based in Spain. Here they explain what they are doing and what the current situation is in Mexico. We let them speak for themselves... Our solidarity collective for the Zapatista rebellion meets once a week in Barcelona and seeks to co-ordinate activities in support of the Zapatista movement. We've put together postcards, photos, texts, a video and we've recently started selling on the street a book 'Zapata Vive' written by our comrade Guiomar Roira. In addition we organise talks accompanied by an exhibition explaining the situation and bringing news as and when it is received. Money is raised at concerts and through public activities which is then forwarded to contacts in the region. We also organise demonstrations and protest activities to counter the misinformation which is being put out. We have also set up an archive centre along with the possibility of viewing a video produced by our comrades who have been in the region this summer and who were able to observe the elections and make contact and observe the National Democratic Convention (CND). All this information is available for those who wish to receive it. The current situation in Mexico is that of an impasse. As you know the PRI won the elections that were held on 21st August, although in a fraudulent manner, despite all that has been said in the Western press. In a more concrete fashion Chiapas is seeing the reorganisation of civil society so as to consolidate any progress that has been made and avoid victory being snatched away. What may seem something of a paradox (but such is the reality) is that those who are quite uninterested in the electoral process went to vote as another means of struggle and they did it in an orderly way without irregularities in the conflict zone which is controlled by the EZLF. However, in the zones controlled by the security forces and the federal army all kinds of malpractices took place to such an extreme that in some villages violent incidents took place and the people took to burning the ballot boxes in Tuxtla, and Vellahermosa... With regard to the CND which as you know represents the type of social organisation hoped for by the EZLF the situation is one of paralysis in so far as it has difficulties in its relations with the ruling PRD the later only being interested in the political question. What is very interesting is the huge effort in trying to reorganise society from bottom up and it would be a tragedy were it to fail. For those involved it represents the historic possibility to bring into being a form of organisation which up until now may have seemed utopian but now carries the real promise of proving achievable. In one state of the Republic some measure of achievement is being seen, this is the situation in Quertaro where people are discussing political questions in a positive manner, forming new social relations and putting forward their own solutions to social problems. Unfortunately such is not the norm in the rest of the country. Let us hope that they will overcome their difficulties. Time will tell and say what it has to say. Let's hope it will be something good. CSRZ EL LOCAL CARRER LA CERA 1 BIS, 08001 BARCELONA SPAIN GREAT BRITAIN  LOCALS A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE Norwich Solidarity Centre has been open since May 1992 and is run by the local group of the SF (Solidarity Federation). The Centre has books, pamphlets, posters and badges for sale; information on subjects from anti-racism to industrial law; a small but growing library as well as a small but shrinking stash of booze for when meetings drag on too long. We produce the local Solidarity Bulletin; organise public meetings with speakers or videos and hold social events which, besides raising much-needed funds, also allow newer members to meet others in a less formal situation than a meeting. This social or 'club' aspect is vital in maintaining interest and attracting new contacts and members. The Centre isn't a general advice or information centre, a set-up which can lead to a producer/consumer scenario where those running it are expected to advise those who call in. We do not wish to see this type of divide being set up between working class people. We don't see ourselves as experts, we simply offer practical solidarity and the opportunity for centre users to get involved in our activities as equal participants. Although the centre itself has clear anarchosyndicalist politics, groups that we support such as AFA and ACT-UP can use the facilities. The response so far has been encouraging. New members are slowly but steadily joining and old activists have got more interested again and come out of hibernation. Having a centre, even a small on, gives us an important focus. It shows we mean business, gives us a lot of credibility and has been a unifying factor in the activities of anarchosyndicalists in the area. Ideally we want the centre to be a place where all sorts of activities can go on and to act as a place to rekindle some real solidarity and confidence within the working class. Getting people involved, especially unemployed workers and workers in industries with no network, has been the main problem. As anarchosyndicalism isn't solely concerned with economic or political issues, but with both, activities can be varied and such problems can be sorted out with a little imagination. Also if a number of members wish to work on one particular area or topic they can set up a working group. To summarise then, having a local centre, even if it's just a single room to start with, has many advantages. It immediately takes us a step away from being just another abstract political group, and shows we're doing something real. We now have a centre open at certain advertised times when someone can be found there. And of course it has a political role to play in promoting revolution. We'd say give it a go in your area. NORWICH SOLIDARITY CENTRE PO BOX 73 NORWICH NR3 ITALY  Italy also has recently seen much debate within the anarchist movement about the question of self-management. Here we bring you a contribution. The experiences of the last few years have allowed us to conclude that the established or institutionalised left is totally incapable (on either a theoretical or practical level) of responding concretely to the needs and demands of the people. The rugged debate around the themes of federalism and use of language by groups who have nothing to do with such concepts and the continual attempt to present oneself as 'new' in order to cover up past skeletons provide us with the general framework within which has fermented the experiences and movements which, over the years, have started to redefine, in practice and with a self-managed development, new ways to face up to the demands of daily life. In this way people began to turn to craft, agricultural and entertainment activities which either used modern technology or reproduced more traditional modes of production, but always had as their final objective the effective control of people's work and their lives. Social centres, alternative banks, self-managed schools, squats, producer or consumer co-operatives, self-managed musical productions... such are some of the phenomena which have been adopted by the self-management method. In the 80s, such practices were recognised by a denial of the "projectual' and political dimension to which was opposed a kind of minimalism which can be summed up in the small is beautiful slogan. Over the following years these groups began to realise that shutting yourself off in your own cocoon was pointless; in fact it ran the risk of bringing with it a progressive implosion that would wipe out or denaturalise the experience, giving ground to market forces and those of profit (or quite simple extinction). In addition a long and painful process was begun (still today in its early stages) of confronting and opposing to similar groupings which had usurped the self-management label. It was in this way that the first exchanges began, the first contacts: we were painfully seeking to escape from the margins, a kind of ghettoisation to which the dominant society would send these ideas which in the long run could put the organisational terms and conditions of the state in jeopardy, which in itself reveals a fragility and more and more clearly an incapacity to answer to, in an acceptable fashion, the demands of ordinary people. Thus, after a meeting which took place in Bologna, over the last few months we sought to verify in a concrete fashion the potential for a movement both divided and contradictory but also full of energy and potential. That is to say that we thought the value of this exchange, of concrete experiences as abstract elaborations, would be that it could provide a new springboard for expansion and bring about the opportunity for further exchanges and the spreading of the movement. Moreover, if the economic crisis (and above all the question of employment) brings to light the inability of capitalism to answer to the primary needs of a large part of the planet... then it seems to us that the moment has arrived for us to begin to set up the opportunities for dialogue between the different tendencies which exist amongst those concerned with self-management. In essence, our ambition is to develop an atmosphere in which the different groupings concerned can be put in contact with one another so that opportunities for dialogue can be brought into being and nurtured concerning the fascinating if difficult area of concrete utopias. This is a necessary first step for those who wish to escape from the marginality of the ghettos into which those with power would condemn us, contributing towards the opening up of new political and social spaces of co-operation and exchange outside of the market. SWEDEN ANARCHIST ACTIVITIES IN SWEDEN The Anarchist A-Infos group based in Sweden has recently sent us information about anarchist activity over there during the past few months... MARCH 5TH/6TH - An anarchist convention was held in the forests of Stila outside of Gothenburg. About 500 participants attended the well-planned event that was the victim of chilly and rainy weather. The event had an overall positive character resulting in the development of working relations between similar groups. However, disagreements highlighted the different strategies inside the movement. One of the main topics of discussion was the increasing consciousness, or lack thereof, of the anarcha-feminist movement. MAY 21ST - A demonstration held in Stockholm under the banner of 'Black and White together against the Rich' turned into the biggest homogenous anarchist demonstration in the Swedish capital since March 1992 with some 200 participants. The route passed through the rich quarter of the city, stermalm, taking in as it did so an exclusive shopping centre. Short speeches were given at various strategic points - the Turkish travel agency, a sex shop, a large bank, stermalm's main square and finally at the end of the march in front of Stockholm's Chamber of Commerce. Police kept their distance but made an identity check on three out of the six speakers. Two fascists from the organisation Riksfronten were identified while following the demo and dealt with in the appropriate manner. JUNE 13TH - Syndikalistisk Ungdomsfrbundet, SUF (Syndicalist Youth Organisation). This group squatted a house in rebro at the end of May. The house was named Victoria and was intended to be an all-activity centre. On June 13th it was stormed by police and the house was immediately torn down. USA  The following article from the California based United Anarchist Front will probably bring feelings of dj vu to many readers. Looking at the Richest Nation on Earth perhaps gives us a taste of what is to come... or is it what is already here... If there is symbol of American violence in the last ten years, it is without doubt the spreading in all our major cities of soup kitchens and doss houses. Traditionally, soup kitchens appear as a sign of rising poverty in the most underprivileged social classes particularly those living on welfare. This new poverty has increased and is more and more visible. If we accept the figures in the latest census, the number of those living in acute poverty has gone from 25 million in 1980 to 37 million in 1992. In the 1970s the minimum wage in dollars, taking inflation into account, diminished by 22%. A report from the New York council, published in 1992 specified that nearly 1% of the population had spent at least one night in a doss house over the previous 12 months. Similar statistics come from the city of Philadelphia giving us an idea of the considerable number of homeless and economically marginalised people living in the centres of our modern cities. In response to this situation the American authorities have heightened repression against those who are begging on the streets and have authorised the setting up of private police units (often in collaboration with big industrial and commercial concerns), police forces which are financed by special taxes whose main role is to uphold 'law and order' in the urban centres (where commercial and finance institutions are situated) and to repress the homeless. In effect, after the 1960s, a record number of poor people flooded on to the welfare register, but this enormous growth in claimants has been hidden by the media and other sources of information. The main result has been that those seeking to fight against this situation had only a partial view of the situation and were acting individually without the possibility of specific organisations being set up with one notable exception: Welfare Right. Protest struggles and forms of agitation, even the most spectacular, in this situation were therefore marginalised and had little impact. The considerable rise in the number of welfare claimants led to the bankruptcy of municipal administrations (and also contributed to the US fiscal crisis), particularly in major cities like New York. In the more recent past, the last 20 years or so, the social services were dealt a number of heavy blows as were the thousands who were kicked off the welfare register. Some states in order to achieve this objective cut back welfare rights to bachelors and introduced severe restrictions on the means to get a hold of it. Charitable institutions took the place of the state, so much so that today they are overwhelmed by calls well beyond their limitations. The desire of the state to transfer as much social spending as possible into civil society and the community ironically dates back to the 1960s. Recuperate and decentralise have become the slogans of the day as far as state social policies are concerned (politically speaking the state wished to liberate the public from the impersonal and bureaucratic obligations of the public sector) ironic, once again, because this transfer to the community has taken place when the latter has been reduced to near disappearance, reeling after two decades of economic reconstruction. The mythical communities to whom would be transferred responsibilities and services no longer exist. Local groups which, in the 1960s, served as the interface between the state and the locality, are fast disappearing. Nobody attends meetings and nobody seems interested in these very questions. Today, and this is particularly true of the ghettos, individuals refuse to give themselves over completely to something of a social nature. The soup kitchens and doss houses have simply become the tip of the iceberg, which highlight the worsening of conditions for the most vulnerable of the American workforce and the long term unemployed. So the welfare services have lost all legitimate power over the last 20 years, the spectre of the starving in the richest nation on Earth still shakes public opinion. During the most recent end of year celebrations for example, the media was flooded with calls for charity for the poor and demands were made for them to support those charitable institutions that have replaced the state. Another aspect of this spectacular increase in the number of soup kitchens is the disappearance of the feelings of shame to be seen in them and of the stigma attached to them 20 years ago. Many now attend them regularly as a means to increase their social gains, which are more and more diminished, and in this way to get a hold of those things they have less and less opportunity to acquire. There are now many, who with the money they save by going to the soup kitchens, buy other goods and/or alcohol or drugs. In the queues at the soup kitchens there is almost a party atmosphere having become another way of meeting people and socialising. It is above all another means of consuming in a personal fashion but it is also another approach which is very different to that handed out by the more traditional charitable institutions. Those who go to the kitchens are all too well aware of this. For the people living in the most poverty stricken sectors of the ghetto, going to the kitchens has become a means of collective organisation a means of survival outside and in opposition to the establishment. They teach begging the only way to obtain those goods other wise denied to them. ACTION NOTE COLLECTIVE BALTIMORE (trans. from) LE MONDE LIBERTAIRE 28/9/94 CANADA  August 25th 1994 Back to the commons? The Quebec organisation Rural Solidarity has developed a new, or perhaps not so new, concept of forest management. This group which unites community activists, trade unionists, arts and crafts people, representatives of the tourist industry, farmers and the financial milieu (chiefly the credit unions) wants the forest to be taken out of the hands of the state and given to the villages. These lands should no longer be treated, 'simply as a resource to be exploited by the forest industry'. They would also like the private forest lands, which comprise only 9% of the total wood lots, to also come under local supervision. Rural Solidarity sees this as the best means of creating sustainable development, multi- purpose usage and a sense of responsibility toward the woodlands. August 30th The New Democratic Party (NDP), the Canadian version of the Labour Party had its first congress after its disastrous showing in the last election. Debate was chiefly polarised around two conceptions of party policy; remaining with the old and unpopular state capitalism or adopting neoliberalism. A few voices were heard suggesting a more populist direction, but neoliberalism predominated. Since we have a Liberal Party government operating on neoliberal economic principles, the adoption of these policies will not save the NDP, but may hasten its demise. September 1st The libertarian municipalist movement in Montreal has taken a big step forward. The Ecology Party, influenced by ideas derived from Murray Bookchin, has united with another small municipal party called the Democratic Coalition. This latter group is made up of activists in the anti-poverty, tenants and co-operative housing movements and is in favour of a decentralist and grass-roots approach. During the last city election, two Democratic Coalition candidates were victorious and proved themselves a thorn in the side to Montreal's arrogant administration. The new party is called the Democratic Ecological Coalition and will be running in all 51 wards of the city. Dimitri Roussopoulis of Black Rose Books (and of the former Ecology Party) will be standing as a candidate. Since Montrealers are extremely angry with the present rgime, as evidenced by anti-tax riots earlier this year, there is a good chance that the libertarian municipalists will do well in this November's election. September 6th Thirty-eight people were arrested in the town of Jonquiere attempting to stop the school-board bureaucracy from closing the school. About 100 citizens formed a human chain preventing the removal of the furniture and building closure. In a neighbouring town, Batiscan, the people seized the school, collected money and hired their own teachers. The mayor of this village of 900 stated, 'the entire population is mobilised'. The authorities denounced the school as 'illegal' and threatened reprisals. Some twenty- five different committees have been formed in the rural areas to save local schools. Eighteen of these have federated to fight the school closures. September 10th Four Montreal doctors have been on hunger strike for the past two weeks. These representatives of the Association des Medicins de hors Quebec, (AMDHQ) a new organisation of physicians educated outside of Canada, are fighting to have their diplomas recognised (immigrant doctors have been forced to work as char ladies). The Quebec Medical Association, infamous for attacking midwifery and alternative medicine, is doing its best to maintain its present monopoly and scoffs at the AMDHQ claim that the rural areas could use more doctors. September 13th The undemocratic nature of the 'first-past- the-post' electoral system was clearly shown in the Quebec general election. A mere 0.4% of the popular vote separated the victorious nationalists, the Parti Quebecois, from the losing Liberal Party. Yet the winners got 77 seats compared to the losers 44, and the 11% who voted for the small parties were rewarded with one seat only. This single seat was a victory for the twenty four year old leader of the Action Democratique, a split-off from the Liberals. The Green party, number three in the last election, was almost obliterated, resulting from the defection of members to the party Quebecois. The new government, and unholy alliance of right-wing nationalists and social democrats has its work cut out for it. In order to get elected they promised everything to everybody and now they will have to deliver. And whilst most Quebecois are in favour of greater autonomy, only a minority seek outright independence, the true and stated goal of the Parti Quebecois. September 25th Regionalist sentiment continues to grow. At a recent meeting of the Quebec Union of Municipalities delegates pushed for decentralisation of governmental powers to the regions. They were worried that the government will give them certain duties on paper but without the power or money to do anything. The newly elected Parti Quebecois has set up a 15 member regional council whose duty is to oversee the decentralisation which they have promised and to act as regional representatives. This plan has been met with a good deal of scepticism. Delegates feared the creation of a fourth level of government at a time when people are 'pestered to death with government' and expressed the worry that powers might be removed from the villages to this regional level. Village autonomy must remain they declared. October 14th The Reform Party, the major force for decentrralism and direct democracy in Anglophone Canada, has at its recent congress made a sharp turn to the right. 'Workfare', the 'Three Strikes And You Are Out' formula for serious crimes and a tough approach to immigration were adopted. The centralists (Liberals and NDP) are rejoicing since this will limit the populist Reform's appeal to the average Canadian who tends toward social liberalism. The need for a 'left' decentralist movement has never been more evident. VENEZUELA  Following on from the last bulletin sent out in the summer from Freedom's International Section we have received more information, and a copy of their publication Correo A, from the Colectivo PLUM (A) (formerly Colectivo Circulo A) in Venezuela... CORREO A is a publication of Colectivo PLUM (A). That is a socialist libertarian group working in Venezuela since the 80's, where an anarchist tradition did not exist until then. The first number appeared in November 87 and we have tried to publish 4 numbers per year. We produce around 1200 copies that are sold at the rather symbolic price of US $0.17, and they are distributed in Caracas and 12 other cities in the rest of the country. CORREO A is not just the oldest libertarian publication here, but it is the only regular press of the radical left in these years. Because of this it is well appreciated among politically motivated young people wanting alternative points of view, in an intellectual environment where alternatives are few. We have published a few booklets about anarchism and in December 1990 we co- edited with Editorial Recorrtes, related to the Federaci"n Anarquista Uruguaya, the book (sold out) El Pensamiento de Malatesta written by Angel Cappalletti, one of our collaborators. We have further projects along these lines which will be carried out when our means allow. Colectivo PLUM (A) tries to organise groups to discuss and act according to anarchist ideas and take part and collaborate with several social and popular movements. Even though we are rather few in number we try to keep a permanent and enthusiastic presence in the fight which we hope will develop a higher consideration for out politics. We keep contacts and we interchange publications with 68 libertarian groups in 22 countries. We are now trying with some others. To celebrate the 7th anniversary of our magazine next November we are organising a film and video series, provisionally titled 'Lights! Camera! (A)!'. We hope to start in Caracas at the end of this year or at the beginning of 1995, counting on the support of the Cinemateca Nacional - the national film centre - (indispensable to get hold of some essential material and use their theatre) and the Cinema Club of Faculty of Engineering of the UCV (which has the equipment and space to show videos). Later the series will take to the cities of Barquisimeto and Valencia, where friends have already made moves to guarantee places and dates with cultural and educational centres. So it seems as if everything is going very smoothly, not to mention other possible places in Venezuela we have yet to contact with the certainty that more possibilities will arise. Thanks mainly to the Cinemateca archives, we already have a base on which to build (the films 'La Patagonia Rebelde', 'Viva Zapata', 'A Nous la Libert', 'Dead Poets Society', 'Sacco and Vanzetti', some Marx Brothers, some short films and our videos of the 1993 International Anarchist Exhibition in Barcelona). However, this is only a start. We need to show as many key testimonies of the presence of anarchism on the screen as we can. For this reason, once again we call for the support of our friends from all over the world, asking you to send video cassettes in whatever format or films - spoken or sub-titles in Spanish - which you are willing to donate to us and which naturally depicts and stresses the libertarian message as a possibility now and in the future. This request also extends to graphic and printed material along the same lines, since we would like to accompany the films and videos with an exhibition of posters, photos, reproductions, catalogues, press notes etc. We know we are asking a lot and that it's not easy to come up with what we want, but we are sure that any help you can give us will bear fruit in the growth of our movement in Venezuela, just as it was two years ago with our exhibition La A Dentro del Circulo (The 'A' in the Circle) the first public act of the contemporary Venezuelan anarchist movement. We'll let you know how we get on... N. Mndez Casilla 25, Fac. Ingenier!a, UCV, Caracas 1040 VENEZUELA ECUADOR  Coca 23rd June 1994 I came to visit the oilfields of Elf Hydrocarbures Equateur. Unfortunately things didn't go according to plan. The (conservative) government of Sixto Duran Ball n passed a new agrarian law which went against the interests of the Indians and the peasants. As a consequence the Confederation of Ecuadorian Indigenous Peoples (CONAIE) organised a national uprising which saw the participation of numerous organisations including those in the Amazon region. Elf is carrying out its operations in the national park of Yasuni the home of the Quichuas, Shuars and the Huaoranis. The Quichuas and the Shuars cut off Elf access route and captured the oil well chief Michel Martin. In return for his release they demanded that drilling at the Cupi well and the production at the other three wells owned by the company be stopped. Whilst these events were taking place I was at the base camp, twenty kms from the site where the hostage crisis was unfolding... Finally the problem was resolved with all foreigners including Michel Martin being taken out by army helicopter which of course stopped the drilling. A short while later Maxas Oryx, Oxi, Elf and Petroecuador had a meeting with the army minister in the town of Coca. It was decided to militarise all the wells in the Amazonian region and to control the indigenous uprising. Throughout the country strong reinforcements were brought in and there were several deaths as a result of clashes between the army and the Indians. The current situation is that the strike has been forcibly controlled and several radio stations have been closed down. However, CONAIE and affiliated organisations are still in a state of mobilisation against this law. Accion Ecologica has set up a solidarity campaign with the Indian people. The town of Coca after 20 years of 'oil development' is a depressing spectacle. For the 14 or 15 thousand inhabitants there are 400 bars and dozens of brothels but there is a shortage of drinking water no sanitation and the hospital is short of basics including gauze. If one considers that this region accounts for half the nations exports such degradation is inconceivable. Life is expensive and the money is destined to go elsewhere. In other towns like Lago Agrio, Shushufindi it's the same story. So many years of petrol but nothing but crude oil spilt over the streets. YVONNE YANEZ LE MONDE LIBERTAIRE 19TH OCTOBER 1994 FREEDOM PRESS Freedom Press has been publishing books and periodicals on anarchism for nearly 110 years. Do contact us for a list of publications or if you wish to see a specimen copy of our fortnightly journal Freedom. This contains a lot of international news, for English speaking readers, from countries all around the world. If you've seen it before but you haven't seen it recently... perhaps you should. This is the 5th edition of Freedom ... International News. The fourth edition produced a lot of encouraging feedback. We hope to continue producing this multilingual bulletin, for free, every quarter for the foreseeable future. Although we are at present asking for no money we do want readers to provide us with information for international circulation. We are also very keen to hear from anyone who can help us with our translation work. The information we are producing can also be made available on computer disc - please ask for details. The deadline for articles for the next bulletin is February 1st 1995.