Our History.

        Prisons are books, that contain dark and dreadful tales, tales of brutality, savagery, suffering  and death, but also tales of struggle, explosions of desire for freedom and enduring comradeship. Most of these tales go untold, but they are there, a history of endurance and struggle in the face of continuous state repression, we should tell these tales they are an inspiration to all those who struggle for that society of justice, freedom and comradeship.

The following from Act For Freedom Now: 

        Chile : 10 years after the massacre in the prison of San Miguel: words from Memory and tales of struggle
        If prison walls could talk they would tell the experiences of those who were (and are) locked up behind them; perhaps they would tell us many stories where the poor are the protagonists, or perhaps they would tell us of the immense yearning for freedom that fills the hearts of those locked up in the dungeons and the cells.
      Unfortunately prison walls are silent witnesses of the experiences of the people inside them. It is therefore a precise responsibility of each of us, kidnapped by the State, and of whoever wants to put an end to the present system of terror to tell what happens inside these places. The history of the prisoners is our history and cannot be lost.
        Sadness reigns in prison, is its lady and mistress and dominates the lives of those who end up in this gloomy place. Not only does the prison of San Miguel contain stories full of pain, it has also had many experiences of resistance and struggle.
        In the early 1990s many political prisoners were locked up in this prison, men of several organizations filled the tower cells until they were transferred to the C.A.S. in 1994, a transfer that the combatants opposed arms in hand.
        During the cell searches right after the clashes a large quantity of weapons and ammunition were found: a 7.65 mm Browning gun with seven cartridges; an Italian calibre 38 Trident revolver; a Dachmaur gun with fifteen cartridges; a 7.65 calibre Llama; a bag containing thirteen bullets; another leather bag with 18 bullets; a NEC cell phone and three homemade explosives (1). Several prison guards and a number of prisoners were injured during the clashes, among whom Mauricio Hernández Norambuena (guerrilla and ex-commander of the FPMR, Manuel Rodrìguez Patriotic Front). Commander Ramiro (one of the founders of FPMR) said: “I was seriously injured. I had never been hit by gunfire before, and it was precisely in jail that I was shot for the first time” (2). The same event was recounted by Ricardo Palma Salamanca (ex-guerrilla of the FPMR) in an interview given in Paris on 27th January 2019: “In the middle of the clashes two people were killed, I was also armed but I wasn’t hit”.
        The weapons used in the resistance during the transfers to the C.A.S. had originally been destined for escapes. Mauricio Hernandez tells it like this: “We managed to get various weapons into the prison of San Miguel and had devised a very interesting escape plan with external support, which was joined by fighters of Mapu-Lautaro (Mapuche military leader protagonist in the war of Arauco in Chile and the MIR, Movement of the Revolutionary Left). The idea was to get a large group of prisoners out. There were fifteen or twenty combatants in support outside. There were good weapons but unfortunately the plan failed. The whole operation was organized right down to the smallest detail, the fighters outside occupied a house whose walls adjoined those of the prison, with the intention of blowing it up. They could just go through a gate and get out from that side. Unfortunately, we were transferred to the C.A.S. a few days before the escape and used the weapons for the escape to resist the transfer” (3).
        This was not the only escape attempt from the prison of San Miguel. In 1997, a group of ex-members of the FPRM tried to escape from the prison through the roofs, with a system of ropes and pulleys, so as to reach one of the adjoining roads. But the attempt failed and a revolt broke out, the prisoners involved were transferred to the prison of Colina I and II, among whom Jorge Saldivia, who was killed during a bank robbery in 2014.
      The walls don’t talk but they bear signs that are difficult to erase. Many prisoners tell us that in Tower 5 in the prison of San Miguel, where 81 prisoners died in a fire, the stains of the bodies were never completely erased … The women say that the stains seem to be made of oil, and it doesn’t matter how much wax and paint they put on the floor and walls, they always come through again. Many anecdotes are told about the ghosts and spirits of tower 5, beliefs, myths or reality… but the death of 81 prisoners has never been forgotten by the other prisoners of tower 5, and shouldn’t be forgotten by any other prisoner.

10 YEARS AFTER THE MASSACRE IN THE PRISON OF SAN MIGUEL: ACTIVE AND COMBATIVE MEMORY UNTIL ALL CAGES ARE DESTROYED!

MÓNICA CABALLERO SEPÚLVEDA

ANARCHIST PRISONER

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Workers Know Your History, Francisco Ascaso Abadia.

      April first, all fools day, but it also marks another anniversary. April, 1, 1901, in Spain, Francisco Ascaso Abadía was born. Though his life was short, it was one of struggle, serving the cause of the ordinary people. He died on the first day of conflict of the Spanish civil war in Barcelona, (The following is from The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest) An important figure in both the Spanish anarchosyndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Labor Confederation, CNT) and the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (Iberian Anarchist Federation, FAI) from 1922 until his death, Ascaso Abadía is associated with Buenaventura Durruti and Juan García Oliver , fellow members of the group Solidarity (Los Solidarios, later Nosotros [We]), who were together nicknamed “the three musketeers.” Imprisoned in 1923 for the assassination of Zaragoza's archbishop, Ascaso escaped, joining Durruti in France and traveling to the Americas. They returned to Europe by April 1926, and by 1931 Ascaso was back in Spain as one of the leading radicals of the movement. Deported to Africa in 1932, he returned with enhanced prestige, battling moderate forces both as an editor of Solidaridad Obrera (Workers' Solidarity) and as secretary of the Catalan CNT during 1934–5. Critical of the policies of the Asturian CNT, he opposed alliances with political organizations. Ascaso supported the formation of armed militia from CNT members and was at the forefront of the street battles in the 1936 Spanish Revolution; he died on July 20 during the struggle for Barcelona's Atarazanas Barracks. SEE ALSO: Abad de Santillán, Diego (1897–1983); Anarchism, Spain; Anarchosyndicalism; Asturias Uprising, October 1934 ; Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). 

                            

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MATEWAN, ARMED STRUGGLE.

            Not many films are ever made that cover a strike from the strikers point of view, one such film was Matewan by John Sales. I think Matewan is one of the most powerful films made, it covers a miners strike in West Virginia when all the miners walked out, this action turned West Virginian into a battlefield with the miners fighting it out with armed strike breakers, who were paid and armed by the mining companies. After a harsh and brutal struggle the miners eventually laid down their arms probably from the excess fire power of the enemy, but also an appeal to patriotism played a part. This short clip shows one of the many powerful scenes and should be essential viewing.

         Times have changed but the struggle hasn't, it is still those who have to work to survive, and those who exploit them to enrich themselves and/or their shareholders. To them workers are just tools, expendable items that are bought at the cheapest possible price, and cast aside as profit margins dictate. As long as we have that duality, there will always be conflict and struggle.

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