The Struggle Of Indigenous People.

         We should share and spread this update on the growing struggle for freedom and justice in Ecuador from Roar Magazine:

 

        In the Ecuadorian Amazon, Shuar and Achuar people radicalize the strike, marching towards Puyo. Photo: CONAIE.

    Over the past days, women, children and elders from the diverse nations and Indigenous communities in Ecuador have paralyzed highways, and carried out assemblies in their communities, neighborhoods, and cities. These dignified women and men, who live at the middle of the world, have risen up to recover and take back their country, their present and their future, which is under threat once more by the same elites as always, allied to the predatory right wing patriarchs that monopolize political life.
         With the declaration of a national strike and an Indigenous uprising, they have created a powerful space of discussion that questions the nefarious Decree 883, which dictates austerity measures, the most obvious of which is a dramatic increase in the cost of fuel. “If the price of gas rises, everything gets more expensive, transportation and food get more expensive,” said one Indigenous woman into a microphone in front of a crowd of mobilized community members in the Cotopaxi region.
         Communities in the mountains, in the Amazon and along the coast are standing up together. Through their speeches, posters and songs, they are producing a plurality of meanings, and weaving rejection to the issues that affect them: resisting poverty, resisting being subjected to the economic measures and agenda of the International Monetary Fund, and stopping the extractive regime that is destroying their collective wealth.
A long term struggle has been activated
         As part of this powerful uprising, which is connected to strikes in the cities, calling up historic Indigenous struggles for land and water, and against oil and gas camps and mining projects which sow misery wherever they operate, is clear. In Ecuador we can tell that a long term struggle has been activated, because while today we see that effort and energy are devoted to rolling back economic austerity, the power of the Indigenous and community struggle demonstrates the frustration of the people with state aggression against their communities.
        On October 5, the government of Lenin Moreno declared a sixty day State of Emergency to avoid demonstrations, gatherings and public actions. In response, the president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), together with members of the Popular Front and the Unified Workers’ Front, responded: “Don’t play with fire, the destiny of 17 million people is at stake.”
     In the days following, the CONAIE has announced that Indigenous communities have also declared themselves in a State of Emergency, and stated that they will not allow police of the army to destroy the homes of those they detain, or mistreat women and children. Their communiqué makes clear that anyone found taking part in human rights violations will be brought before Indigenous justice.
        The communities that are rising up are doing so with the aim of re-establishing the order of communal life. Indigenous justice does not threaten or contradict the Constitution, nor does it allow rights and guarantees that have been won through organization to be ignored in such an arbitrary and crude manner. The State of Emergency, through an Indigenous lens, is against the detention of more than 477 people, the attacks on many others, and the killing of one.
        The images from Ecuador that are spreading around the world today show the decision and the energy of the youth, of children, of women and elders. These images have profoundly moved Indigenous people throughout the continent. The speeches of Indigenous leaders in Ecuador have been seen thousands of times on social media. Their speeches are expansive, they nurture Indigenous struggles and at the same time, they include cities in their demands.
The dignity of community struggles
       Students around the country have also powerfully spoken out. The green kerchiefs from recent feminist struggles for legal abortion can also be seen in the images of the demonstrations in the cities, as organized women add their voices and bring with them the capacity to sustain a strike. The cacerolazos (pots and pans demonstrations) convened by womens’ collectives force us to take note of the double workday and the exploitation of women via unpaid work, it also demonstrates how the paquetazo (series of economic reforms ordered by the IMF) will impact them. Urban women recognize the dignity of community struggles, and seek to add their voices, their screams of frustration, by self-organizing to take the streets.
      On October 8th, at the barricades in the Pastaza region, the people demanded the resignation of Lenin Moreno, in other parts of the country, interior ministry buildings have been occupied. The Indigenous movement entered Quito from the south, receiving support and solidarity from working class and poor neighborhoods who joined them to chant: “Join in, pueblo, join the struggle against this government that is against us.”
        Social organizations represented by workers unions and others in the cities will now join in the massive National Strike on October 9th. An Indigenous uprising is, once again, at the heart of the struggle, opening a horizon of re-appropriation in the face of an attempt to expropriate all of the peoples of Ecuador. The Indigenous mobilization calls for the generalization of protest actions so that the struggle can grow stronger.
      This moment of struggle is a moment to re-appropriate strength and self determination, a time of rebellion towards the production of a renewed sense of struggle, woven together with diverse voices that warn, clearly and firmly: “Not Moreno or Correa, not Lasso or Nebot! The struggle is ours!” This makes clear that this uprising will not end in new alliances between power brokers or in other kinds of patriarchal pacts.
        On October 7, Lenin Moreno moved the seat of his government to the coastal city of Guayaquil. His actions remind us of the nervous and fearful priests and colonial bureaucrats during the colonial period, who hid in walled houses and called for military aid, fearing the moment that Indians in resistance would, in the words of Bartolina Sisa, reign again.
        From our communities, from the cities we live in, we are and will continue to follow and express solidarity with what is taking place in Ecuador. The strength of Indigenous communities nurtures ours. We raise our voices together and show our support for popular and Indigenous resistance. Here and there, we resist being overseen by the state, and we yell once again that we are moved by a desire to change every single thing.
        ¡Nos queremos vivas, libres y desendeudadas en todas partes! We want to be alive, free and without debt, everywhere! ¡Que se sigan tejiendo entramados comunitarios y populares de lucha! May community weavings of popular struggle continue to be woven! ¡Que siga creciendo la dignidad! May dignity continue to flourish!

Signed,
Gladys Tzul Tzul, Guatemala
Raquel Gutiérrez, México
Claudia López, Bolivia
Mariana Menéndez, Uruguay
Noel Sosa, Uruguay
Veronica Gago, Argentina
Luci Caballero, Argentina
Jovita Tzul Tzul, Guatemala
Ita del Cielo, México
Victoria Furtado, Uruguay
Siboney Mora, Uruguay
Dunia Mokrani, Bolivia
Claudia Cuellar, Bolivia
Silvia Federici, United States
Dawn Paley, Canada

    

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Depressed, Probably Suffering From Capitalism.

The real shape of the UK:

At least '320,000 people homeless in Britain'
Fifth of people in working UK household trapped in relative poverty.
There were 4.1 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2017-18.
There are expected to be 5.2 million children living in poverty in the UK by 2022
47% of children living in lone-parent families are in poverty.
Children from Black and minority ethnic groups are more likely to be in poverty: 45 per cent are now in poverty, compared with 26 per cent of children in White British families.
London the richest city in UK has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK.
70 per cent of children growing up in poverty live in a household where at least one person works.

Figures show a homeless person dying every 19 hours in UK.

       This is the true picture of capitalist Britain, poverty, rough sleeping and homelessness are part and parcel of a very large slice of the population of this country. There isn't much good you can say about capitalism, unless of course you are one of the millionaire/billionaire exploiters that control the system. However, you can of course list a catalogue of its negative aspects. These vary from the brutal deprivation of millions of humans, the abject poverty of millions more, and of course its endless lists of wars for resources, markets and power. These all happen on a vast scale affecting us all across the planet, but there is also the individual problems less associated with this unjust economical system.

     Across the developed world, that part that is considered the lucky part of the world, there is an ever increase in mental health problems, rises in self-harm, suicides and substance abuse. More and more people feel anxious, depressed and isolated these can all be traced back to the type of society we live in, a capitalist economy where injustice, inequality and the constant fear of poverty have created a state of anxiety that can become normal, the accepted way of life. Capitalism doesn't just affect your purse and standard of living, it can also decimate your physical and mental health, without you realising the root cause. 

      A society freed from the greed drive profit motive that sees to the needs of all our people, would go a long way to eliminate these personal problems of physical and mental health.

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For Human Dignity, Capitalism Must Fall.

         Ecuador, like Haiti and many other countries is in open revolt, as more and more people allow their righteous anger at the cruel injustices of this destructive economic system of capitalism, that is rapidly plunging the world into chaos, to flow onto the streets. More and more people are now realising that debating and seeking legislation to protect the poor and curtail the rampant plundering of the public purse, just doesn't work. Across the globe, living standards are falling for the majority, while the opulence of the few grows ever more grotesque. We have had centuries of "representative democracy" but still the gap between the privileged few and the vast majority grows ever wider. We the many are on an ever ending slippery slope to poverty and deprivation, as long as we tolerate this greed drive economic system of capitalism to rule our planet.

       All strength to and support for, all those we stand up and fight to end this system of greed and savage injustice. For human dignity and justice, capitalism must fall.

This from AMW:

      About 50 police officers have been taken hostage and indigenous groups have blocked roads and highways, as protests against the state’s neoliberal economic policies continued in Ecuador.

       On October 3, in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, anarchists, some carrying red and black flags, fought alongside students, setting flaming barricades and throwing rocks at riot police, who they forced to retreat. Anarchists have been on the forefront of the struggle against IMF-imposed “reforms” and against the police-state that is attempting to enforce these “reforms” with brutality.

       Protests began when Ecuador’s corrupt president Lenin Moreno announced the end of fuel subsidies. Moreno’s regime, though nominally left-wing, has strengthened relations with the imperialist United States, launching a joint security effort and intelligence sharing operation.

       President Lenin Moreno says he will not bring back subsidies and has declared a two-month national emergency.

       Some of the protests were organized by transport unions who have since stopped their action. Other sectors are calling for a national strike on Wednesday.

       An umbrella group for indigenous groups in the country, the Confederation of Indigenous Nations in Ecuador (Conaie) said it was declaring a “state of exception” in indigenous areas, where soldiers and police officers would be detained and would face “indigenous justice.”

      Luis Iguamba, leader of the Kayambi people from northern Ecuador, said they would keep up the pressure on the government.

“We are fighting for everyone and we are fighting to foresee the rights we all have and we can’t allow this. So, everyone, be on the lookout and keep up the fight. Let’s radicalise the strike,” he said.

Indigenous-led protests have toppled three presidents in the last few decades.

        Their intervention follows protests on Thursday and Friday that saw roads in the capital Quito and the city of Guayaquil strewn with makeshift barricades and burning tires.

Hundreds of people were arrested, dozens of police officers hurt, several police cars destroyed and a local government building was attacked, the authorities said.

       Ecuador’s government has agreed to cut public spending as part of a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The agreement, signed in March, allows Ecuador to borrow $4.2bn.

Anarchists and indigenous groups are likely to continue resistance against the neoliberal policies of the Moreno regime.

More information from that area: AMW

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Coming To A Street Near You.

         It is now obvious that the powers that be in the West are preparing for the army to be ready to function in civilian areas, in the event of civil unrest or threat of insurrection. They are always better prepared than we the public are, they do their planning well in advance and with unlimited funding. We tend to react to circumstances that are forced on us, rather than accept that there is a class war already operational at the moment. It is sold to us in various guises, austerity, national emergency, privatisation, gentrification, balancing the books, etc. when these start to hurt and anger rises, we react, but they are well prepared to quell that anger by force. What are our preparations for self defence?

      This from Act For Freedom Now:

 Coming to a street near you.

         For decades France has been one of the most important arms suppliers to the four corners of the world. With a flourishing industrial-military complex, it regularly carries out wars, supports irregular troops (such as that of general Haftar in Libya) and is also training on its own territory… and that of its neighbours. In the context of the ‘Motorized Ability’ program signed in June 2019 with one of NATO’s privileged partners, Belgium, it will supply the latter with 450 armoured vehicles (382 Griffon troops transporters and 60 Jaguar recognition vehicles), which will be delivered from 2025. Another aspect of this agreement is the strengthening of ‘strategic partnership’ between French and Belgian ground troops, which takes form in particular with conjoint training. This might seem quite banal, were it not for the fact that the army decided to train not only in barracks and appointed centres [1] that reproduce cities in miniature… but directly among the civilian population by performing exercises on a real scale.That’s how more than 1,000 Belgian and French military will occupy the provinces of Namur (ten municipalities located in the triangle Walcourt-Hastière-Couvin) and Hainaut (triangle Beaumont-Chimay-Froidchapelle) from 18th to 25th September 2019.

         ‘The goal is to start a French-Belgian military cooperation by integrating units in both countries in a civilian environment. It will also allow us to exchange skills and improve our inter-operations action in many sectors, such as radio communication and weapons use’. Yes, you read right, the goal is that of operating on a large scale ‘in a civilian environment’ as happened after the 2015 attacks, but above all that of carrying out an operation meant to improve ‘weapons use’. More precisely, 150 vehicles and 600 soldiers (fifty fifty for each of the States involved) will be deployed in twenty villages, with over 300 taking care of assignment (personnel, examiners, logistics) and… and… and… 100 soldiers who will play the part of rural insurgents euphemistically called ‘opponents’, who hide among the population.

         This military training operation, called ‘Celtic uprise’ (a reference to Brexit), has ‘a fictitious country in crisis’ as its scenario, and the goal of the murderers in uniform is no longer simply hidden behind vague humanitarian pretexts to aid the population, as it was years ago, but this time it also officially includes ‘patrolling, making sensitive points secure’ and of course ‘antiterrorism actions’. It’s been known for some time that the army has been preparing for interventions within the European borders in case of urban insurrections or rural guerrillas, scenarios that even NATO projections took seriously. As for us, it’s time we took seriously the proposals that insist on the need to be involved in it now [2]; to map carefully industries and technological companies, but also everything that is sensitive to the correct operational functioning of domination: communication networks, transport routes, resources and energy networks, strategic supplies of raw material and food; to develop technical skills and precise knowledge in order to put them out of use; to think today of forms of informal coordination and develop anarchist projectualities, valid in times of peace as well as of war, because the distinction between the two is no longer appropriate…

          [1]. Such as the 12,000 hectares of CENTAC (combat training centre) in Mailly-le-camp (Aube) and the 6,000 hectares of CENZUB (urban action training centre) in Sissonne (Aisne).

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All Must Kneel Before The Altar Of The Economy.

       So often humans create something for their benefit, and then the "thing" becomes more important than the people. Trade unions were created to help people but now in most cases the union becomes more important than the people it was meant to serve. Religion is the same, the church must be protected even at the expense of the people. Today it is the economy, how do we cure ourselves from the epidemic of consumerism. These usual words of wisdom, which I endorse, from Not Buying Anything sums it up perfectly.

 Don't worry. Keep buying, and be happy... sort of.

          I keep hearing that "the consumer is doing the heavy lifting" for the economy, that they are "holding up", and "aren't fatigued yet". Isn't this backwards?
      I remember a time when the economy worked for the people, existed for the people, functioned for the people. Now, the people work for the economy. Now, nothing is more important than the economy.
       So we get the following situations:
       The environment is generally collapsing... but the consumer is still buying.
       Manufacturing is down... but the consumer is still buying.
       There is a "Retail Apocalypse"... but the consumer is still buying.
       There is a global political crisis... but the consumer is still buying.
      Depression and suicide have reached depressing proportions... but the consumer is still buying.
       We are getting fatter and less fit... but the consumer is still buying.
      Everything is breaking down, but not to worry - the consumer is still buying.
       If I understand this correctly, as long as we keep buying, everything will appear to be fine. The only disaster that could befall the world that would actually matter is if The Consumer stopped buying.
         If The Consumer even dared to slow their acquisitional frenzy, there would be an immediate emergency declared that would require special and intense activity to repair.
        We would need to really DO something in that case. We wouldn't want to put the billionaire lifestyle at risk now, would we?
       "I buy, therefore I am", will be the new motto to live by if the economic manipulators get their way. Today's Consumers will be tomorrow's Buybots.
       So don't worry about all those pesky and unimportant emergencies scientists and environmental activists keep making up, just keep buying.
         Everything will be fine. Well, the economy will be fine, at least, and what is more important than that?
       That is the system as it exists, and I'm not buying it. Our planetary community needs something better, and soon.

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A Magical Rise To Fame!!!

         Extinction Rebellion is certainly grabbing the headlines at the moment it was a very rapid rise to prominence and its figurehead Greta Thunberg is a most remarkable and sudden rise to fame. A little girl sitting all alone on a pavement complaining about "climate change" suddenly is a world figure. I find that rather strange. How come, all those other activists that have been complaining for years never got the same treatment, a lot of them instead, got a criminal record for their efforts.  Who really is the driving force behind this little girl, where did the financial support come from originally? As I have said before, I'm not against mass protests to stop the obliteration of the planet, I just feel that this particular protest is being steered deliberately, and for ulterior motives, in the wrong direction. See previous article.

        This is an extract from an interesting article from Acorn:

    ------It also turns out not to be entirely coincidental that Rentzhog came across Greta’s little protest. He later admitted had already done PR work for her mother and was “tipped off” about the event in advance.
       So the bottom line is this: from the very first day of her “rebellion”, Greta Thunberg was being promoted by two corporate PR professionals paid for their skills in “brand development” and “storytelling”.
        Since then, of course, she has addressed the UN, the WEF, the European Parliament, featured on the cover of Time magazine, which named her a “next generation leader”, met Barack Obama and Emmanuel Macron and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
       This is all rather strange in a world where the usual reward for environmental activism is a criminal record.-------

        It is well worth reading the entire article to try and understand who really is pushing this particular campaign.

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What Is Wrong With Extinction Rebellion?

           Though I have always believed that the people have to take to the streets in a drive to change society to one that sees to the needs of all of society, not just the privileged few, I just can’t accept the direction of this particular protest. Yes I accept that climate change is a rapidly impending disaster, and yes we have to tackle it head on. However to ignore the root cause of this looming disaster, which is the capitalist economic system, which is part and parcel of the state system, is doomed to failure. This particular protest is aiming to get the state apparatus to legislate for “green capitalism”, a mythical beast that belongs in the category of fairy tales. Capitalism, green or any other shade, can only survive by continual growth, ever increasing consumption and growth of profit for the few. These are its essence, its blood vessels for survival, and it is obvious that these very goals are the very cause of the climate disaster that we face. To “save the planet” we have to stop the drive for continued growth, drastically cut consumption and end the mantra of everything must produce a profit. In other words we must destroy capitalism if we are serious about “saving the planet”. 

 

 

       I consider it naive in the extreme to expect capitalism ever to embark on a drive that will destroy it, an end to perpetual growth, and to work towards a continual cut in consumption, as both these aims would destroy its need for ever growing profits. Profit, wealth and power is what capitalism is all about, no matter its colour. If you wish to “save the planet” then get behind those who wish to destroy capitalism and its bastard twin, the state, as that is the only direction that will take you down the road to “saving the planet”. 

       Yes, take to the streets, grow your numbers, create disruption, stop the city, but have no illusions about who your real enemy is, capitalism brought us to this catastrophe, it can never get us out of it. Capitalism of any shade or colour and “save the planet” ideals, will never make pleasant bed-fellows, one will have to kill the other to survive, they are totally incompatible. 

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The Web Of Illusions Woven Around War.

        Wars and their reasons are probably the most savage and brutal illusions foisted on the people of any and all countries. Wars are always labelled defence of democracy, for liberty, justice, to bring democracy to others, just wars, wars to bring peace. They are never stated to be for the growth of empire, to grow resources and markets, to stifle the growth of competitors in the big corporate battles, to fan patriotism and get the public behind the government. Part and parcel of this system and society of illusions that swamp our minds and blind us to reality.

An interesting excerpt from an article from Anarkismo: 

World War One and 100 Years of Counter-Revolution.

--------FROM THE WAR ON TERROR TO A NEW GREAT UNREST
        Despite the brutality of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, international opposition did deter the US military from bombing people on the scale of the Korean and Vietnam wars. At the same time, however, the US population's reluctance to sacrifice its soldiers compelled the US military to use a level of violence to protect its personnel that only increased opposition to the American presence. Unable to bomb people into submission or to win their support, US defeat was inevitable.
        This defeat later helped to encourage the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East. Unfortunately, counter-revolutionary repression and civil war have, so far, crushed these uprisings. But the US and other Western governments still need to use troops on the ground to stabilise these counter-revolutions and people’s reluctance to sacrifice any more soldiers makes that an extremely risky proposition. Unable to unite their populations around wars in Iraq, Iran or Syria – let alone the Ukraine – Western politicians are, instead, keen to commemorate the national unity and futile sacrifice of past wars in a desperate attempt to pretend that we really are ‘all in this together’.
        With no concession to any historical truth, Barack Obama has praised the ‘profound sacrifice’ that Allied soldiers made in 1914-18 ‘to fight and die for the freedom we enjoy’. Meanwhile, David Cameron was so fixated on the idea of the sacrifice that British soldiers ‘made for us’ that he used the word ‘sacrifice’ eight times in one commemoration speech. Fortunately, if Britain, with its strong military traditions, cannot tolerate the sacrifice of 179 soldiers in Iraq, then no Western societies are likely to tolerate the sacrifice of vastly greater numbers in any new global war. Nevertheless, the Western ruling class are still hoping that people will agree to sacrifice their living standards in order to compete with workers in Asia and so, somehow, rejuvenate Western capitalism.[13]
       Such a sacrifice, such a ‘race to the bottom’, would be less bloody than the inter-imperialist competition of 1914-18, but no less pointless. As in the early years of the Great War, people will go along with government propaganda for a while but – eventually – they will realise that they are sacrificing their lives for nothing. Then it may only be a matter of time before we see social unrest comparable to that of the Great Unrest. And, this time, our rulers will have serious problems containing any such unrest because there is no easy way to divert people’s energies into war as there was in the Cold War – or in the Great War.
       The British Government’s desperate attempt to revive what Cameron called the ‘national spirit’ by commemorating the monstrous slaughter of 1914-18 is a good opportunity to expose the real history of capitalism and its counter-revolutionary wars. See http://therealww1.wordpress.com for information about future events and for more anti-war articles.

Read the full article HERE:

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Representative Democracy, The Great Illusion.

       This so called democracy we live in, is a world of illusions. Most people consider themselves free because they can choose from a box of goodies handed to them by unseen masters, but seem unaware that there are other boxes that they are not being allowed to see. The public's tastes and values are formed by manipulation, formed and shaped by deliberate propaganda from the media, the corporate juggernaut and state institutions. The information you get is what they want you to hear and see, and that invariably bears no relation to what is actually going on in the world. Concealment of the true workings of society is necessary for the survival of the powers that be, the greater the division between the elite, powerful controlling few and the ordinary person, the greater the illusions created. Truth would destroy this unjust and exploitative economic system, illusions must be generated and will grow at an ever greater distance from the truth.

      The vast majority seem to accept that poverty and deprivation, existing alongside unimaginable wealth, is just an adjustable hiccup in the system, but fail to see that the ever increasing wealth of the few is the root cause of all that poverty and deprivation. The illusions state that the economic system we have is the best, it's all there is, and the injustice and inequalities are caused by differences in ability and effort, but can be sorted by little adjustments here and there. That is the great big illusion on which all the others are built.
       History should tell us that these minor manipulations of the system to repair its little hiccups is just another fantasy to safe guard the small wealthy and powerful controllers of the system. 

        Of course others have been saying this for years and saying it much better than I ever could.

". . . in America, we have achieved the Orwellian prediction - enslaved, the people have been programmed to love their bondage and are left to clutch only mirage-like images of freedom, its fables and fictions. The new slaves are linked together by vast electronic chains of television that imprison not their bodies but their minds. Their desires are programmed, their tastes manipulated, their values set for them. " Gerry Spence, From Freedom to Slavery.

      However it is not just in America that this enslavement of the human mind is in full control, it is the existing model for the capitalist world. Though there are signs that more and more of the public at large, are beginning to see through the illusions, their eyes are beginning to penetrate the smoke and mirrors and they see glimpses of the reality of the system that has for so long heaped so much misery on the population of the world. 

        "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country . . . we're dominated by the relatively small number of persons . . . it is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world." Edward Bernays - Propaganda, Liveright Publishing Company, New York, 2005, excerpts from pp. 9-19 

       Illusions are meant to be part of stage entertainment, not the world in which we live. Illusions should be fun, something you know is not true, you should then leave the theatre and re-enter the real world of truths, realities and facts. When will we all leave the theatre?

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Spirit of Revolt, More Digitised Collections.

      The volunteers at Spirit of Revolt are as always busy trying to bring the people to the archive, and bring our history to the people. We are delighted to state that two more of our collections have been fully digitised and therefore you can now read them from the comfort of your home, library, cafe, etc. No need to make you way into the Mitchell Library to do so. Though you will always be made welcome should you wish to visit us at the Mitchell.

The two collections are:

GB243 T/SOR/23 Collection No. 23, Clydeside Hunt Saboteurs.

GB243 T/SOR/35 Collection No. 35, Shirley Sampson Collection.

      Enjoy perusing these wonderful and informative collections from the comfort of your home. Of course there is a wealth of information already digitised on our website, so you could spend endless hours in that comfy chair trawling through the thousands of documents, leaflets, booklets, posters, letters, photos etc. all from grassroots activities in your local Glasgow/Clydeside area, with lots from further afield. Have a look and let's know what you think. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

The Financial Mafia Fiddles While The World Burns.

       Our system propaganda machine, the mainstream media, continues to paint a picture that all is well within the system, with a few hiccups here and there. This despite the obvious impending collapse of the financial system that will bring extreme hardship and deprivation across the globe, moving it right across the developed world instead of containing it mostly, as it tries at present, in the poorer countries of the world. On top of that, there are massive uprisings across the globe by the people, against the brutal exploitative system that has for generations, heaped so much misery and deprivation on so many while lavishing untold wealth on the few. It is obvious to the thinking observer that something has to break and that break is not far off.

This from Its Going Down:

          The Demise of U.S. Hegemony: Analysis of a Revolutionary Heat Wave in Haiti, West Papua, Mexico and Beyond

Filed under: Analysis, The State

— Abolition Media Worldwide 

A look at recent revolts in Haiti, West Papua, and Mexico and how they are linked to the decline in US imperial power.

       A massive revolutionary heat wave has swept the globe this summer, as militants have risen up with the intent to overthrow their colonial and imperialist foes. In the face of gruesome and relentless State repression, the people are nevertheless holding and gaining ground. From West Papua to Mexico, from Haiti to Colombia, from Honduras to Sudan and beyond, those who have long suffered the violence and indignities of occupation are declaring, unequivocally, that they have had enough. These and other uprisings around the world herald the demise of U.S. hegemony.

Recent Events in West Papua, Mexico, and Haiti

        On September 23rd, 2019, West Papuan revolutionaries burned down an Indonesian colonial government building in Wamena, as the insurrection in West Papua that began last month gained new momentum. In August, racist attacks against West Papuans in cities on the island of Java prompted widespread protests in the provinces, and roughly 2,000 West Papuan students studying in Java headed home early. Indonesia’s colonial occupation of West Papua and the racist violence stemming therefrom have propelled these protests into a full-on insurrection— and the Indonesian State has responded accordingly.

The State remains unable to suppress the revolution, despite many feverish attempts. At least 35,000 West Papuans have been forced from their homes, and an additional 6,000 Indonesian police and military personnel were deployed to West Papua earlier this month. Still, when police murdered sixteen West Papuans after students protested against racism, the people administered revolutionary justice in the form of flaming barricades and the torching of several buildings, including a government building and the airport.

         In Mexico, on the fifth anniversary of the disappearance of 43 Normalista students from Ayotzinapa, militants attacked the national palace where President Andrés Manuel López Obrador currently lives, a Christopher Columbus statue, and other commercial and government buildings in Mexico City. The Normalista students disappeared on September 26th and 27th of 2014; last week, roughly 4,000 people, including students and anarchists, took part in enacting revolutionary justice against the State on their behalf.

Targeted offices included those of Secretariat of Welfare, the Superior Court of Justice of Mexico City, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among other government agencies. In all, roughly thirty businesses and public offices were affected.

          On Friday, September 27th, revolutionaries throughout Haiti destroyed police headquarters, attacked residences of government officials, and burned a jail and courts to the ground. Insurgents there are fighting to overthrow the corrupt right-wing regime of Jovenel Moise, who is backed by the U.S. Four people died in clashes in recent days, with many reports of injuries. Moise’s government had siphoned off Venezuelan aid money that came through Venezuela’s PetroCaribe program, which had allowed Haiti to buy petroleum products at discount and on credit. The program has now been suspended, owing to both the U.S.’s interest in overthrowing the current Venezuelan government in order to install a new far-right puppet regime and its support of the Haitian State.

Faced with devastating fuel shortages and prices, the people of Haiti have set the island ablaze. In the capital city of Port-au-Prince, police were met with armed resistance; in Jacmel, the central court and prison were burned to the ground, while prisoners arrested during the last round of uprisings earlier this summer were liberated. In Thomonde, revolutionaries disarmed the police, who fled as their vehicles and substation were set on fire. And in Les Cayes, the office of USAID NGO Caris Foundation was ransacked and their vehicle was set on fire.

The Death of U.S. Hegemony

        While circumstances vary from one to another, these struggles are united in myriad ways. Not only are they all instances of anti-imperialist rebellion, but also among the sinister empires at the root of the oppression endured in West Papua, Mexico, and Haiti alike is none other than that of the United States.

        In 1957, eight years after having recognized Indonesia’s independence, the Dutch empire began a process that would allegedly allow independence for West Papua in 1972. What the Dutch did not know at that time was that twenty-one years earlier, a 1936 expedition had discovered an ertsberg (ore mountain) on West Papua. While various territorial claims had been made, the mountain remained uninhabited for over twenty years.

         Enter the twin demons of capitalism and imperialism.

The United States mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold negotiated with Indonesian army general Suharto to allow prospecting on the mountain. In 1962, after Indonesia declared war on the Netherlands, the U.S. and U.N. predictably conspired to have “interim” control of West Papua signed over to Indonesia. The Indonesian State, having just over a dozen years earlier liberated itself from Dutch colonial rule, donned the colonizer’s clothes and viciously repressed the people of West Papua, making acts such as singing the West Papuan anthem and flying the West Papuan flag illegal.

General Suharto, no doubt thoroughly a U.S. stooge by this time, became president of Indonesia in 1968.

            Similarly, the U.S. empire also colonized Haiti through both stooge deployment and theft of resources. In 2015, the U.S. successfully installed its Haitian stooge, Moise, by enabling former president Martelly— via his goons— to frighten and intimidate Haitians into voting for Moise (who Martelly also backed). In 2010, Canadian and U.S. mining companies unearthed gold, silver, copper, and other valuable metals— roughly $20,000,000,000 worth— in Haiti. This was just after the devastating earthquake that instantly killed up to 300,000 people and from which Haiti has yet to fully recover.

Roughly 15 percent of Haiti’s territory was under license to North American mining firms and partners as of December 2018, including the U.S. company VCS Mining, the Canadian company Majescor, and their subsidiaries. Predictably enough, as the people of Haiti struggle harder and harder to meet their most basic needs, North American colonizers continue to profit wildly from the island’s resources.

Hillary Clinton’s brother, Anthony Rodham, was a prominent player in the mining scheme, according to corporate VCS documents. (It should come as no surprise that Rodham has no background in mining whatsoever.) Rodham joined the advisory board of VCS Mining in October 2013, and a 2014 VCS memorandum touts his influential connections to the Clintons’ “inner circles” and “power bases.”

While President Obrador (AMLO) was fashioned in the style of a left-leaning crusader for justice during the most recent Mexican presidential elections, he has unwaveringly done Trump’s bidding since taking office. AMLO, who vowed not to do Trump’s “dirty work” with respect to abusing and oppressing migrants while on the campaign trail, has been deploying unprecedented levels of troops throughout Mexico, including his newly-formed and contentious Guardia Nacional (National Guard): an amalgamation of existing federal, military, and naval police.

         In spite of ample promises made to respect the autonomy of indigenous people, AMLO created the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples to manage indigenous affairs— an obvious attempt to undermine organizations such as the National Indigenous Congress, an anti-capitalist indigenous resistance movement focused on defending land and resources and protecting indigenous culture. In April, AMLO announced a series of megaprojects he claimed would improve regional development: the Maya Train, a new refinery in Tabasco along the Gulf of Mexico, the Trans Isthmus corridor, and the Plan Integral Morelos— all of which involve dispossession of farmers and indigenous communities. In some cases, construction and management have already opened to bidding by transnational corporations, including many that are U.S.-based.

        Trump personally sent a message to AMLO to assure the latter that the U.S. would invest in the Maya Train in particular. The area it will cover— approximately 1,500 kilometers, from Palenque to Cancún— is already overrun by big-box hotels, fine-dining restaurants and nightclubs which allow tourists from advanced capitalist societies to enjoy luxury on the cheap. By comparison, local economic benefits from this arrangement are minimal. Tourists are spared the sight of the wretchedly under-serviced neighborhoods outside of town that are home to the army of service, maintenance and construction workers whose starting salary ranges from $180 to $420 per month for a six-day week. One can imagine how far that goes in a city dominated by international tourism.

        That this by-colonizers-for-colonizers railway invokes the name of the first indigenous people of Mexico pours salt on an ever-widening wound. (It is fitting that so many harbingers of the end of the U.S. empire’s dominion should occur as we approach Indigenous People’s Day, October 7th— a day the State calls Columbus Day and that was meant to celebrate Columbus’s enslavement and murder of indigenous people, but is now being reclaimed by U.S.-based anti-imperialists as a day to commemorate indigenous martyrs and express solidarity with ongoing indigenous struggles unfolding across the globe.)

One remarkable thing about the present moment is that the three revolutionary uprisings explored above do not even amount to half of the total number taking place worldwide:

        On September 20th and 21st, thousands of people in at least eight Egyptian cities took to the streets to demand the removal of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a fascist who won both the 2014 and 2018 “elections” after running against no serious contenders and amid widespread voting boycotts.

Two days later, on September 23rd, students in Colombia rebelled in the capital city of Bogota and defended themselves in the face of violent repression by the police. This was the second clash between students and police there this year, and the third since current President Ivan Duque took office. (Under his regime, repression of student protests of any kind has become increasingly merciless.)

Three days later, on September 26th, roughly two thousand people demonstrated in Khartoum, Sudan to demand the immediate release of Waleed Abdelrahman Hassan, a Sudanese student who had been detained by Egyptian authorities and delivered a coerced confession on television.

         Still, this list is not exhaustive.

Revolutionary anarchists stand in solidarity with all oppressed people, and recognize the potential contained in this moment. We mourn those who have already fallen in these struggles, but are buoyed by the knowledge that the Age of Empire is coming to a definitive end. The revolutionary heartbeat is palpable and thunderous, pulsing across oceans, deserts, mountains, and hills; igniting fortitude and resilience like wildfire. Neither individual State actors nor their imperial puppet-masters can put out the fire that burns in the chest of the People.

We welcome the imminent demise of U.S. hegemony, and support all of those who continue to fight for liberation!

Sources:

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/08/201182814172453998.html https://sfbayview.com/2018/12/merten-mercenaries-marionettes-and-the-media-blackout-on-haiti/ https://truthout.org/articles/amlo-in-office-from-megaprojects-to-militarization/

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Rotating Hunger Strike.

 

       Spending money on prisoners conditions is not a vote winner, so our political ballerinas shy away from such activities. Therefore the conditions in almost all prisons are atrocious. Overcrowding is a major problem, leading to psychological and physical health problems, aggravated by the treatment from the cage keepers. Obviously the abolition of the prison system is the only humane direction we should be taking, but in the meantime we have to stand up for the humane treatment of those who find themselves entangled in the loaded judicial system.

This from Act For Freedom Now:

         Madrid, Spain: Rotating hungerstrike info + letter from Toni Chavero, anarchist prisoner

         Hi everywhere, we want to spread this info about the actual rotating hungerstrike in spanish prisons. The horrible situation in spanish prisons, tortures, deads, the basicly nonexistent medical attention,terrible food, bad communication inside/outside, aislation confinement for rebellious prisoners etc. etc. There are thousands of denouncements of this situation in the offices of the European Union Tribunals at least from the last 20 years. No one there cares about this nonexistent human rights in spanish prisons! So the prisoners, with the support of solidarious groups from outside, try to continue the long tradition of struggles against this fascist prisoner system in Spain. So from last September 1st a small group of prisoners started this rotative hungerstrike and Toni Chavero, anarchist comrade actually encaged in the prison of Estremera (Madr.i.p.) wrote this letter:

          [Madrid, Spain] Letter from anarchist prisoner Toni Chavero about the rotating hunger strike in spanish prisons
         Bunker of Estremera (Prison Madrid VII)
5th September, 2019
         Cheers, comrades, I am Toni Chavero. I hope that on the arrival of these letters you will find yourself with strength and courage. We need strength, determination and a firm position. I want to thank you, first of all, for joining these rotating hunger strikes. I have been on strike for five days today, but I didn’t even have to start it, the reprisals came earlier, I have been cut off from communications with three companions, for “reasons of security and good order of the establishment”. Since they lack the arguments or connections that lead to this intervention, they continue to violate our rights and freedoms through the nose, we will see what the court says. Although I know this goes on for a long time, I have set out to recover communications with my colleagues.
The dentist and the oculist don’t even call me. Reprisals or a Hippocratic oath? Or hypocrite?
          The objective of this strike is obvious and necessary: to demand the application of Articles 104.4 and 196 RP to the companions with chronic diseases, their release without the fascist requirement of having to be in terminal phase, I mean, dead, we’re not gonna stand for this. At least they won’t shut us up. That’s clear to us.
        On the other hand, we call for the repeal of the permanent prison that can be reviewed and, of course, for the disappearance of the hidden life sentences. Here I highlight the case of Antoine or Enrique del Valle, because right now I don’t remember any other name; it would be necessary to make a list of all the people subjected to similar situations.Comrade Antoine (Antonio Nieto Galindo), after 40 years, 4 months and 16 days of effective fulfillment, they want to kidnap him to France, these sociopaths, devoid of heart, unaware of the humanitarian spirit. Who are the killers here? All that remains is for them to claim article 100 of the old penal code of 1973: redemption of penalties for works, studies, cultural, artistic, creative activities, etc., etc., etc. We have no choice but to continue sending the writings about it to the incompetent, national and international bodies, you know the addresses by the compañerx out there.
After the end of the first 10 days, I think we should continue to send letters to these individuals, bodies, institutions In solidarity with the comrades who carry out the rotating hunger strikes. After the end of these first 10 days of September, begins the Peque companion (Courage, Angel!) and so, successively, continue, as I know today, ten more people. I know that they will enter, after finishing the comrade Peque, Aroca Lisón, Doblado, Hermenegildo, Tinoco, Marían Tapia… and I do not know who you are the others. Encouragement and many forces! We will reach the end of 2019 and beyond with these rotating demands, because we deserve it and because we can do it. Determination and iron positioning, I have no doubt. And thanks, inside and out.
          I want to thank the colleagues of Tokata and Grupo Pro Presxs of Madrid, for being the ones who have more contact with me, the fact of taking care of us despite the adversities. Thanks is to say little. To all the individual people, to all the Presxs Support Groups that I know you are there, to the Families, to the Solidarity Solidarity Groups all, thank you very much, much strength for the gatherings in the cave of the jailers (SGIP), the concentrations in Navalcarnero, in Albocásser. Thanks to the friends of Alcalá de Xivert (Castellón) for their “Desde dentro” (From inside), the voice of the prisoners and everything they do. Thankfulxs, compañerxs. Come on, add there the informative tables in Anarchist Book Fairs, Tatoo Cirkus, concerts, etc. You are the fucking rod! We feel you strong in here and we are grateful.
       A terrible fraternal and libertarian embrace. May the struggle for a society without cages not cease!
Rebellion and friendship! Also in memory of our compañero Xosé Tarrío and his nai Pastora.
We don’t forget you! Cheers to everyone.
Toni  

      Thanx a lot for the difusión of this letter-document of Toni Chavero. We animate to everyone to support this struggle with solidarity-actions!  You can also write to Toni directly; his address is:

Toni Chavero,
Centro Penitenciario Madrid VII, Estremera
Ctra. M-241, km 5.750,
28595 ESTREMERA (MD)
Spain

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk