And they're surprised?
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CHILE'S POLICE CRACK DOWN ON ANARCHIST GROUPS
In Wake Of La Moneda 9/11 Molotov Cocktail Attack
(September 29, 2006)
Chilean police launched a new offensive against the various
"anarchist groups" operating in Santiago this week in
response to the Molotov cocktail launched at the La Moneda
Presidential Palace during a September 10 protest march.
The order to monitor the groups was issued by Judge Leonardo
de la Prida, and the Special Investigations Brigade of the
Chilean Civil Police (Bipe) is now actively creating a
"register" of all anarchist groups operating in the country,
documenting the groups' leaders, members, ideology,
financing, operating areas, and possible connections to
foreign anarchist movements.
The new crackdown on Chile's anarchist movement lead to a
raid Tuesday in the San Ignacio borough of Santiago. Six
young anarchists were arrested in a squatter settlement, and
police said the group had Molotov cocktails in their
possession. One of the arrested included a Spanish citizen,
Miquel Balaguer, identified as being a leader in the
Barcelona-based "okupa" movement.
Police Chief José Bernales said that police found evidence
the group had participated in the violent marches that
occurred on September 10 and 11 commemorating the September
11, 1973 military coup lead by Gen. Augusto Pinochet (ST,
Sept. 11). The police suspect the group has connections with
other anarchist groups, and evidence was found indicating
the group had been planning violent actions for an upcoming
October 9 protest march in support of Chile's native Mapuche
population.
The actions against the anarchist groups were widely
criticized online in anarchist blogs and on the Indymedia
independent media outlet. A group calling itself the
"Platform for the Freedom of Anarchist Prisoners" issued an
online press release on Wednesday and said, "Today they
criminalize us just for being anarchists, for expressing an
alternative political view, paradoxically in a country that
prides itself by speaking of democracy and freedom of
_expression."
The group called for the release of the "26-S Anarchist
prisoners" (alluding to the day they were arrested). At
about the same time, the Chilean consulate in Barcelona was
covered with graffiti urging the prisoners' release.
While Chile's mainstream media widely reported that Molotov
cocktails were found during the house raid, anarchist
activists argued that the objects found were simple
household goods. In an article entitled "Witch Hunt in
Chile," Indymedia reported that the confiscated goods
included empty bottles, common in any house populated by
groups of university students; kerosene, used by several of
the detained who are fire-jugglers; and sawdust, used to
care for the many cats found in the house.
In addition to the materials that could be used for Molotov
cocktails, the police carted away "subversive material,"
including magazines, posters, banners and books.
A witness to the raid told Chile's La Nación newspaper that
the house was a "cultural center." "They showed free movies
there. I know one of the people that lived at the house. I
never saw several of the people who were taken away; they
may have been there for just a day or two," the witness said.
The raid prompted fear in other squatter collectives around
Santiago. The leader of the República 550 Cultural
Collective, Alex Corvalán, filed a preventative lawsuit
Wednesday before Chile's Court of Appeals, seeking to
protect the commune's residents from police action.
According to Corvalán, police asked to enter the center last
week and were allowed in. Once inside, however, the police
began to "interrogate" the residents.
"I think a serious attack against democracy is underway in
Chile," said the center's pro-bono lawyer, Hugo Gutiérrez.
"People are being persecuted for their ideas, for their
beliefs, and that is not tolerable."
The República collective was created in 2005, after a group
of squatters known as Akí took over the abandoned building.
Today, over 600 people from age 15 to 80, including
ballerinas, acrobats, actors, human rights activists, and
indigenous Mapuches, frequent the center.
"We are a group of professionals that have started a
cultural project," said one of the collective's spokesmen,
who is called Lobsang. "A lot of people come here to create
and learn. We don't want them to be bothered by the police
bugging us."
The actions against Chile's anarchist groups come after the
Bachelet government was widely criticized for being caught
off guard by the student protests that rocked Santiago in
May and June. After sacking her Interior Minister and
appointing Belisario Velasco to the job, the government
indicated it would use secret "informants" in order not to
be caught off guard again (ST, Jul. 18).
Bachelet said it was the duty of the executive to be aware
of pending social problems and to have all available
information. "We are speaking of institutions approved by
Parliament, of police forces that always work to find
problems and solve them," she said. "As the entire world
wants us to better anticipate problems, that is what we are
going to do."
Last week, Velasco prohibited protest marches near the La
Moneda Presidential Palace both in response to the Molotov
cocktail and in anticipation of Monday's health-care and
student strikes (ST, Sept. 26).
"Today I could not authorize a march because there is no way
to guarantee that no one will infiltrate the march to attack
La Moneda, but this doesn't signify a permanent movement
backwards," Velasco said. He said once the committee is able
to identify the violent groups that infiltrate
demonstrations to encourage vandalism of property and
confrontations with the police, it will allow marches around
the capitol building to resume.
Still, not everyone was pleased with the crackdown.
Representatives of the Families of the Disappeared called
the measures "unnecessary" and "insulting a right that the
Chilean people achieved after many years of fighting and at
huge costs" (ST, Sept. 25).
Velasco received widespread acclaim in Chile's mainstream
media after Monday's strikes and marches were mostly
peaceful in nature, and many argued the methods he
implemented had proved successful.
SOURCE: LA TERCERA, EL MERCURIO, INDYMEDIA, LA NACIÓN
By Nathan Crooks (mailto:[email protected] s.cl )
And they're surprised?
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
Active anarchists are fighting to destroy the state. There is no "freedom" to do this, even under bourgeois legality. So instead of wasting time complaining about "freedom of speech" we should do whatever we can to help our comrades who were captured.
It's also very convenient that the police found molotov cocktails.
Some "socialist" Bachelet turned out to be
Same thing happened during the student demonstrations that happened awhile back, the police indiscriminately cracked down on the activities and rights of the protestors
And all the students were asking for was reform in the educational system
This is the hypocrisy abundant in bourgeoisie politics, now the "in" thing in Latin America is to be a "socialist" a "radical" or anti-American, without saying anything about emancipating workers and giving them direct control of the country
Its all talk and no action from so called "progressives" politicians
More the reason to not vote
<span style=\'color:red\'>As long as there is a people, there will be revolution - Oliverio Castaneda de Leon</span>
<span style=\'color:gray\'>"He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez </span>
<span style=\'color:red\'>There is no retirement for guerrillas, just a change in battles - Cesar Montes</span>
Marxist Internet Archive<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Free People's Movement<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Industrial Workers of the World
Was there ever any doubt?
I think the person who surprised more people was actually Lula, who actually had a history of militant unionism and came from a more authentically socialist tradtion.
Of course, Bachelet is a part of the party of Allende, but we know that that party changed it's stance after the coup.
"Getting a job, finding a mate, having a place to live, finding a creative outlet. Life is a war of attrition. You have to stay active on all fronts. It's one thing after another. I've tried to control a chaotic universe. And it's a losing battle. But I can't let go. I've tried, but I can't." - Harvey Pekar
Correct me if I am wrong here, but unlike Lula, with his working class background and the fact that his political career in the Workers Party (PT) had a substantial grassroots movement behind it, Bachelet is nothing more than a middle class, centrist, liberal with absolutly no grassroots, working class movement behind her in her time in politics.
The only thing that was 'radical' about her (and of course this could only come from the capitalist press) was that she was a woman! So fucking what if she is Chile's first female president, Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister and look at how reactionary she was.
Right on...yeah, I think the only radical things about her was that indeed she was a woman, and that she once was affiliated to several socialist organizations
In addition, her father was appointed by Allende's "socialist" government, and she herself went into exile as did many socialists and Allende followers
<span style=\'color:red\'>As long as there is a people, there will be revolution - Oliverio Castaneda de Leon</span>
<span style=\'color:gray\'>"He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez </span>
<span style=\'color:red\'>There is no retirement for guerrillas, just a change in battles - Cesar Montes</span>
Marxist Internet Archive<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Free People's Movement<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Industrial Workers of the World
Tekun:
Are you from Guatemala? I just thought of that, given your URNG avatar.
^Yep, from Guatemala City
Though I now live near LA
<span style=\'color:red\'>As long as there is a people, there will be revolution - Oliverio Castaneda de Leon</span>
<span style=\'color:gray\'>"He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez </span>
<span style=\'color:red\'>There is no retirement for guerrillas, just a change in battles - Cesar Montes</span>
Marxist Internet Archive<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Free People's Movement<span style=\'color:red\'>~</span>Industrial Workers of the World
