Dear Comrades:
Insurrectionary anarchism in Argentina is not of old age. What’s more is that the writings of Alfredo Bonanno, Constantino Cavalleri, etc., except for The Anarchist Tension and a few others, are practically unknown amongst anarchists, even amongst those who consider themselves insurrectionists. A lack of awareness of these writings is not accidental, since the anarchist movement of Argentina has been reformist for the greater part of its history, and has rejected all attempts, whether by individuals or affinity groups, to break with the status quo. Despite the lack of knowledge of large parts of the theory and praxis of insurrectionary anarchists, individuals and affinity groups have begun to propagate texts such as The Anarchist Tension, At Daggers Drawn, those by Cavalleri (about prisons and about post-industrial capitalism), things from Willful Disobedience, either as translations from the website Palabras de Guerra, or translated imperfectly by various comrades here. This effort has borne fruit, and with great help from a few web pages, has allowed for the spread of experiences and the materialization of local experiences. The list of publications that can be considered insurrectionary are Confrontación (1 issue), Disarmo from Rosario (10 issues), La Anarquía (6 issues), Nihil (2 issues), Aullidos Nocturnos (Howls in the Night, 4 issues), the site La Coordinación Anticarcelaria del Río de la Plata, which involves individuals from Argentina and Uruguay and the webpage Mariposas del Caos (Butterflies of Chaos), which hosts a large number of texts and publications. Also of great importance, it has resulted in the participation of insurrectionist individuals at the Anarchist Conference in Rosario, which despite being organized by the AIF (a platformist group), there were many workshops which referred to insurrectionary anarchism, and a big debate occurred confronting the platformists of the OSL and of the neo-platformists of Red Libertaria. The practice of insurrectionary anarchists is not limited to this however. Demonstrations were held at the embassies of Colombia and Germany, because of the death of a young Colombian anarchist on May Day and in solidarity with the Aachen 4. Likewise anarchist action continued with actions against Italian interests, against the Summit of the Americas in November 2005 in Mar del Plata and Buenos Aires, and solidarity with prisoners in Uruguay. Insurrectionary anarchism in Argentina, if we use a concept that I find repugnant, is very weak. It is not comparable to Spain or Italy, but the interesting thing is the emergence of individuals in search of affinities and accomplices who are insurrectionists, who reject any compromise or evolutionary ideas, which make up the majority of Argentine anarchism. Our limitations include isolation, a lack of contacts outside of the country and to more important centers of activity, the absence of books, pamphlets etc. that we copy ourselves as well as mail to other comrades. This is insufficient and many writings remain unknown due to this reason. Recently a public action took place against the Summit of the Americas, organized specifically by anarchists under the name Fire to the Summit. It was held in a public plaza in Mar del Plata and involved a decent number of people. This is but a short and incomplete list of what is happening in Argentina. We don’t have information about all of the activities carried out in solidarity with comrades in Italy or with the Thessaloniki 7, most of which are passed around through word of mouth or by e-mail. Pablo
Some Internet links: La Anarquía Main Page |