A-Infos (en) Britain, Organise! #63 - The anarchist movement in Argentina - part two*

In the last issue of Organise! we had detailed account of the present day
anarchist movement in Argentina. Unfortunately some of the text become
mangled in layout! So you can read that the Jose Ingenieros Peoples
library is supported by the International Libertarian Solidarity(ILS)
This is not the case. ILS supports the Organisacion Socialista Libertaria
(OSL) The section on this group was inadvertently left out of the account.
Going back to the Jose Ingenieros Library, the original article pointed out that
the Library was seen by many as a "neutral area" and had good relations with the
FLA, the FOR A, and La Protesta and that a few veterans of the movement were involved.
Its archives are not large, but it has a good and extensive book collection.

La Protesta

Again, a section on this paper was not
included in the last Organise! It was a paper
created for the anarchist movement in 1897
and has gone beyond its 8220th issue. It has
8 pages and is distributed widely throughout
Buenos Aires. It collaborates regularly with
another group Libertad.

Libertad

The French visitor did not meet this group,
but it has a bimonthly paper, with a standard
8-page format. It organises joint actions
with La Protesta on the 1st May. Each group
has no more than a dozen members each.
The print run of these papers is around 500,
with perhaps 1,000 run for La Protesta,
some of which are sent abroad. Their
anarchism appears to be of the `classical'
kind.

The Organisacion Socialista Libertaria (OSL)

Again the French comrade did not meet this
group. They appear to gather together a
handful of militants, and their main activity
seems to be to publish En La Calle (in the
street), journal of "organised anarchism" a
well presented monthly with 8 pages, with a
print run of 1,000, of which some are
distributed abroad. Its members seem to be
active in the unemployed associations of
greater Buenos Aires. The appearance and
distribution of their journal appears to be
largely to financial assistance from the ILS.
And now for some updates on anarchist
groups not mentioned before.

The independents of La Plata

A handful of anarchist militants mostly
from the same anarchist family! They have
worked for several years in several poor
neighbourhoods. They have started to
develop a people's library in a squatted
building on squatted land. They constructed
their buildings from recovered materials.
After the social explosion of December
2001 they set up a restaurant, a soup
kitchen, educational support, a clothes bank,
a bread oven and enlarged their buildings
before recreating the same sort of thing in a
shanty town. They have access to 80 social
aid plans. They have a plan to create a metal
workshop and to raise rabbits to supply
their restaurant. They have met the same
problems as all the other unemployed
movements- how to involve people, make
them self-active, share knowledge, and not
fall into reformism. Some of them
participate in the Letra Libre Collective,
which is planning to publish some works on
anarchism. These should be appearing soon.

The Alberto Ghiraldo Popular Library of Rosario

This was apparently founded in the 1940s
by anarchists in Rosario, a fairly large town
several hours bus journey from the capital.
Twenty people are involved, among them
quite a few young people. Their archives
are small, but they have a good stock of
pamphlets. They put on video projections
and organise debates. Quite a few young
people and several people involved in
assemblies have moved closer to them since
December 2001. Their financial situation is
tight, they just manage to pay for rent etc
with their subscriptions and donations and
benefits. The library welcomes the meetings
of a little circle of social studies that is not
specifically anarchist and those of a recently
created anarchist collective "Thought and
Action".

The Anarchist Movement of Workers

Liberation (MALO) of Bariloche
This group is a sort of political "miracle".
The 1st May 2002, anarchists of Cholila,
Esquel and Bolson in Patagonia went by bus
to Bariloche, several hours journey from
Esquel, for a small action in support of
political prisoners. At the entrance to the
town, the bus was halted by a piquetero
blockade, (burning tyres, with people in
hoods). They got down to see what was
going on and saw a black flag floating
above the piqueteros. They approached and
made contact with some young people
overjoyed to discover other anarchists in the
area!! These FORA comrades discovered
the existence of MALO created by 30
young people from a shanty town who lived
on the recycling of waste. The MALO has
existed for 4 years, putting roadblocks up
every 1st May and involving themselves in a
sort of informal piquetero movement in the
shantytown, and operating a form of taxing
on the flow of merchandise. With money
from this, they buy food wholesale for a
people's restaurant to feed the children of
the shantytown or to support a mother of
one of them killed by a policeman 2 years
before. After this murder, they overturned a
bus with other inhabitants of the shantytown
and went to the town centre to smash shop
windows.

They are all young. The oldest is 21-22
years old. It seems that they came across
some anarchist propaganda. After having
discussed and looked around for more
information on the subject, they decided to
set up a group, which was joined by some
of the young people of the shantytown.
Their political level is low and they have a
strong tendency towards illegalism. Some
of the young have been affected by the
squalor of their surroundings, and have
problems with alcohol, drugs and some are
involved in burgling the houses of the rich
and the middle classes. They also pillaged a
warehouse belonging to the Church. This
pillage undertaken by the majority of the
neighbourhood, led to a battle of several
hours with the police who were finally
forced to retreat. The warehouse is still in
the hands of the MALO.

Junkies recruited by local politicians to
intimidate the people of the neighbourhood
attacked the neighbourhood restaurant in
broad daylight. Shots were fired at the
canteen where women and children were
preparing food. Some young people of the
MALO have since acquired weapons for
self-defence.

They took part in the first anarchist
congress in Patagonia in January 2004 and
hoped to organise the second in their
warehouse. A fierce police repression has
now fallen on them and a group of riot cops
has been stationed at Bariloche where it
regularly makes raids on the shantytown.
Some members of the MALO have been
threatened, beaten and searched, and some
have withdrawn from activity because of
this.

Other groups exist at Cordoba and Marr Del
Plata. They have been active for several
years. A little anarchist centre exists at
Cordoba. A little anarchist network engaged
in sporadic activities exists at Viedma. They
have named themselves after Antonio Soto,
a FORA militant who animated the great
strikes of agricultural workers in Patagonia
in 1921. Several individuals are involved
sporadically in an Anarchist Black Cross at
Buenos Aires (circulation of info on
revolutionary political prisoners) Some
individuals have began to produce and
distribute a newssheet in Buenos Aires, El
Ilegal. Some groups of anarcho-punks exist
who have flyposted and brought out
fanzines before disappearing.

The Argentinian anarchist movement is
fragmented, communication is difficult
because of the vastness of the country, there
is an acute lack of funds and of militant
experience among the new young people.
There is also a certain amount of
ideological confusion. There must be no
more than 300-350 organised anarchists in
the country.

All these groups need support. If visiting,
bring papers, stickers and information on
the movement in your country, some money,
anarchist pamphlets in Spanish, and stuff
like envelopes, glue, etc. It's best to learn a
little Spanish. A good idea would be to
think of twinning with a particular group to
support it morally and financially. See the
list below.

One final word of caution. A group exists in
Buenos Aires called Socialismo Libertario
with a vaguely libertarian phraseology.
They are Trotskyists!
==================================
Anarchist contacts in Argentina

Buenos Aires
local Calle Coronel Salvadores N°1200
adresse C. P. 1167 Buenos Aires
Tel 4303-5963,
E-mail fora5congreso@hotmail.com
or fora@data54.com

San Martin
oficiosvariossanmartin@hotmail.com

Esquel
srcaesquel@hotmail.com

Cholila
S. R. Oficios Varios Cholila
(Lago Lezana, CP 9217 Cholila- Chubut)
Libertarian Federation of
Argentina(FLA)
Centre: Calle Brasil N°1551
Brasil 1551, 1154 Buenos Aires,
Argentine
Tel 4305-0307
fla2@radar.com.ar

OSL
libertaria@infovia.com.ar
Jose Ingenieros Library
Centre:Calle Ramirez de Velasco N°958,
Buenos Aires.
Tel 4857-6404

Libertad
Libertad C.C. N°15, 1824 Lanus Este,
Buenos Aires, Argentine
saludyanarquia@latinmail.com
saludyanarquia@ciudad.com.ar
www.geocities.com/grupo_libertad

OSL
libertaria@infovia.com.ar

ORA
resistencia_ora@ciudad.com.ar
http://orajar.cjb.net

La Protesta
Amanecer Fiorito, casilla de correo 20,
1439 Buenos Aires, Argentine
laprotesta@topmail.com.ar

AUCA
auca@data54.com

ofensivalibertaria@data54.com
www.nodo50.org/auca

The independents of La Plata
letralibre@yahoo.com.ar

Alberto Ghiraldo Library
Calle Paraguay N°2212, Rosario
iraldo@hotmail.com
pensamientoyaccion@hotmail.com

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