Speaker 1: Al the media. Hello, and welcome to Happen here. I'm
Speaker 1: Andrew Siege. I'm also andrewism on YouTube, and I'm here
Speaker 1: once again.
Speaker 2: With Garrison Davis. Happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Happy to have you, and we're going to continue our
Speaker 1: journey through Latin American anarchisms and their histories. We've already
Speaker 1: discussed Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, Paraguay, Cuba, uapouch Struggle, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama,
Speaker 1: and Venezuela, and so there are just a few territories
Speaker 1: left that are considered Latin America. So just before we
Speaker 1: get to Mexico and Uruguay and possibly even Quebec, I
Speaker 1: want to round up all the anarchist histories in the
Speaker 1: smaller states.
Speaker 2: You're not wrong, but it still is funny.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Quebec. I mean, honestly, you could say the same
Speaker 1: for like Haiti, Guadeloube, Martinique.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, I mean there's even a lot of anarchists
Speaker 2: in Montreal today as a booming anarchist movement, but it
Speaker 2: still is a little funny.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, yeah. I actually wanted to include explorations of
Speaker 1: Haiti and in Guadelupe and Martinique in this episode, since
Speaker 1: it's you know, fairly small anarchist movements there. But I mean,
Speaker 1: I suppose I could just summarize it one time, which
Speaker 1: is that Martinique had a section of the International at
Speaker 1: one point in eighteen ninety five. There was also a
Speaker 1: branch of the International in eighteen sixty six in the
Speaker 1: island of Guadeloup, And it's very difficult to establish whether
Speaker 1: there were any anarchist groups in Heati. Ever, from my
Speaker 1: research there there was an appearance of socialism more broadly
Speaker 1: as part of the struggle against domination and taking place
Speaker 1: in the country. But the dictatorships of Haiti have made
Speaker 1: those kinds of movements very difficult to spring out and thrive.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1: But today we're going to be focusing on the anarchist
Speaker 1: histories and the rest of the smaller states of Central
Speaker 1: America and the Caribbean. So we'll be covering the sparks
Speaker 1: of anarchism in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvor, Guatemala,
Speaker 1: Dimerican Republic, and Puerto Rico. And as with previous episodes,
Speaker 1: this is all possible thanks to Health Capitalet's exhaustive work
Speaker 1: titled Anarchism in Latin America. But let me set the
Speaker 1: scene first and foremost across the lush rainforests and turquoise
Speaker 1: seas of Central America. Historically, there were several indigenous peoples
Speaker 1: that have called it home, and that home was violated
Speaker 1: in the nearly sixteenth century as Spanish conquistadors carved bloody
Speaker 1: paths through the region, replacing the ones vibrant pre colonial
Speaker 1: societies with the feudal like arrangements of the incomeenda system,
Speaker 1: which forced indigenous peoples into labor under Spanish landowners. The
Speaker 1: colonial eras of the rise of vast plantations for cash
Speaker 1: crops like cocoa, indigo and later coffee in Richina small
Speaker 1: elite while indigenous and after descendant population endured brutal oppression
Speaker 1: over the centuries. Fast forward to the early nineteenth century
Speaker 1: and the wave of independence sweeping Acrosslast America reached Central America.
Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty one, the region officially threw off Spanish rule,
Speaker 1: and in eighteen twenty three, Central America gained its independence
Speaker 1: from the Mexican Empire. For a fleeting moment, from eighteen
Speaker 1: twenty three to eighteen thirty nine, Central America united as
Speaker 1: the Federal Republic of Central America modeled after the US
Speaker 1: Constitution and encompass in modern day Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua,
Speaker 1: and Costa Rica. Why eighteen thirty eight, the cracks in
Speaker 1: the federation would become in too large to ignore. I mean,
Speaker 1: for most of its existence, the capital of the country
Speaker 1: alternated between Guatemala City and San South Law, so they
Speaker 1: couldn't even decide on that. Liberals and conservatives were also
Speaker 1: split on the economy, centralization versus decentralization, and the role
Speaker 1: of the Catholic Church, and Guatemala was kind of resented
Speaker 1: by the other states because it had such disproportionate influence.
Speaker 1: So political infight and regional rivalries eventually caused the union
Speaker 1: to splinter. Each state went its own way. But the
Speaker 1: collapse of the federation wasn't the end of the story,
Speaker 1: as seas of resistance would sprout across the former territory
Speaker 1: of the Republic, and among those seeds with the anarchists.
Speaker 1: Let's start from Costa Rica and head north. In nearly
Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, in Costa Rica, you had libertarian newspapers popping
Speaker 1: up all over the place as usual.
Speaker 2: And when you say libertarian, You don't necessarily.
Speaker 1: I mean anarchists. Yes, yeah, I refuse let them appropriate
Speaker 1: that to it. Yes, so you had names like Eleora
Speaker 1: social Eldra Bajo, and Raluca, which would echo in the
Speaker 1: struggles of local workers and the cross continental knowledge of
Speaker 1: international discourses. But even before these publications, which you believe,
Speaker 1: there was enough anarchist danger to still up the establishment.
Speaker 2: A very little anarchist danger is enough anarchist danger history
Speaker 2: of the tablished.
Speaker 1: No, but to tell you how how unsettled the establishment was.
Speaker 1: So you know we're recording this a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: before Christmas.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, this is going to come out I think
Speaker 2: right after New Year's okay.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if you've gone to chooch for
Speaker 1: Christmas before. If that's the thing that you've done, okay,
Speaker 1: I have as well. And imagine eighteen ninety two, go,
Speaker 1: it's Christmas time, you go into church, you sit down
Speaker 1: to get your little you know, you're supposed to keep
Speaker 1: the sermon short and sweet, let people get home to
Speaker 1: do what they have to do, right, But in eighteen
Speaker 1: ninety two, Bishop thil decided to use his Christmas sermon
Speaker 1: to one against anarchists.
Speaker 2: That that's pretty funny.
Speaker 1: Like imagine you just trying to go home at each
Speaker 1: of Christmas lunch and you have to listen to this
Speaker 1: guy preach against like these radical anarchists who come in
Speaker 1: to rest up the country.
Speaker 2: They're giving out food, they're healing the sick, they're doing.
Speaker 1: I mean to be fairly because at the time were
Speaker 1: generally a threat to the to the clerical establishment.
Speaker 2: Sure, of course, as was our Lord and Savior Christ
Speaker 2: Jesus age Christ Jesus and his affinity group of twelve
Speaker 2: traveling around the countryside, stirring up all kinds.
Speaker 1: Of trouble, indeed indeed.
Speaker 2: Seeding revolt against the Roman Empire. We got to stop them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, gosh, that's the whole kind of roombs
Speaker 1: I could have got into right there.
Speaker 2: Sure is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I mean, seriously, Christianity went from being
Speaker 1: a response to the Roman Empire to be in the
Speaker 1: Roman Empire, and that is like one of the biggest
Speaker 1: downgrades of the millennia.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, it's a super successful recuperation. And that's why
Speaker 2: I do find as much as it has some problems,
Speaker 2: Liberation theology, especially the version in the South to be
Speaker 2: kind of compelling. I wouldn't consider myself a Christian necessarily,
Speaker 2: but as of like a religious sect goes, I am
Speaker 2: interested in in what liberation theology kind of does and
Speaker 2: how it tries to reradicalize forms of Christianity.
Speaker 1: For sure, for sure I have some concerns about it.
Speaker 1: Another strands of Christian anarchism, same as somebody who grew
Speaker 1: a Christian. Yeah, same, But of course this is not
Speaker 1: the place to like ask about that toffic as we
Speaker 1: do have quite a few countries to cover. So because
Speaker 1: three can anarchists were not just being called out by
Speaker 1: the bishops bishops, you know, and they were also struggling,
Speaker 1: you know, print eight our work day, such as with
Speaker 1: the beaker strike in nineteen oh five, and they would
Speaker 1: also demonstrate against the assassination of anarchists educator Francisco Frere Nice.
Speaker 1: They would also found the Centauri Studio Socialist Criminal, which
Speaker 1: was a collective of intellectuals and workers who focus on
Speaker 1: study and expanded upon anarchism at A nineteen eleven, and
Speaker 1: they woul launch the journal Renovacion, which a sid and
Speaker 1: impressive seventy plus issues. They helped organize Costarica's first May
Speaker 1: Day celebration in nineteen thirteen and he results. As in
Speaker 1: nineteen twenties, groups explicitly formed for libertarian action, but unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the anarchist influen wouldn't be as impactful in the country
Speaker 1: heading into the mid twentieth century, as the country faced
Speaker 1: two dictatorships. However, the defeat of the latter in nineteen
Speaker 1: forty nine actually ushered in the most peaceful and stable
Speaker 1: political situation in all of Latin America. I suppose that
Speaker 1: might be because the democratic government that followed didn't transgress
Speaker 1: US interests. They do have a US military base in
Speaker 1: the country, after all, But let me not speculate too much.
Speaker 2: Look who doesn't have a US military base these days?
Speaker 1: Come on, cut them some sack.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's right, Andrew. I thought you were pro internationalism,
Speaker 2: but here we go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, look at this, Look at this, this this
Speaker 1: perole ko backwards regressive. You're telling me you don't want
Speaker 1: boots on the ground in your country.
Speaker 2: Globe aboji in bio version of internationalism.
Speaker 1: So moving on north to Nicaragua. The spark of labor
Speaker 1: organization began to flicker in the early nineteen hundreds, but
Speaker 1: there's little evidence of any anarchists specific influence. In nineteen eighteen,
Speaker 1: in the Federals Nicaraguenes or the fo N, emerged and
Speaker 1: pulled together various mutual societies from across the country, from
Speaker 1: shoemakers to baker's to telas, from Leon to Managua. But
Speaker 1: this federation wasn't anarchist and character both conservative and liberal
Speaker 1: elites actually tried to use these workers groups with their
Speaker 1: own ends. Within the fo N, the group of Socialista
Speaker 1: ended up emerging as a rebel force to challenge these
Speaker 1: elites and the influence and the workers' movements. But even
Speaker 1: that rebel group was a performist in nature. Now it
Speaker 1: is possible that libertarians from Spain in Mexico played roles
Speaker 1: in the Stevedore strikes of nineteen nineteen in Corinto, which
Speaker 1: was nicragu was major port city, but a caste for Shure.
Speaker 1: For my research, we do know that at least one
Speaker 1: influential person was perhaps inspired by anarchism, and that was
Speaker 1: Augusto Sandino, the leader of the Sandinista rebellion against the
Speaker 1: US occupation of Nicaragua. Sandino worked alongside anarchists during his
Speaker 1: time in exile in Mexico, Juni's revolution, and the red
Speaker 1: and black of the Sandinistas actually came from that anarchist influence.
Speaker 1: By the nineteen thirties, after the US withdrawal, the labor
Speaker 1: movement had to navigate a somewhats of family dictatorship, which
Speaker 1: was marked by the severe oppression of anything that even
Speaker 1: smelled red. Even in the face of state violence, unions
Speaker 1: and workers groups continue to organize, laying the groundwork for
Speaker 1: future resistance, including the eventual Sandinista revolution that overthrew the
Speaker 1: Soumotzas in the late seventies. Some social progress was then
Speaker 1: possible in the country, but it was still marred by
Speaker 1: corruption and authoritarianism, made worse by the re election of
Speaker 1: Daniel Rodegger in two thousand and six. He still holds
Speaker 1: the presidency in nicarat War to this day. Managine to
Speaker 1: stave off this swell of protests against him between twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen and twenty twenty, of which anarchists, however small number
Speaker 1: did indeed take part if returned to Honduras. Now, this
Speaker 1: not too much to say about anarchists so again, but
Speaker 1: Honduras did have a vibrant labor movement. In eighteen ninety,
Speaker 1: La Democracia, one of the country's first mutual aid societies,
Speaker 1: emerged with a cooperative spirit that laid the foundation for
Speaker 1: was to come. By the early twentieth century, the workers
Speaker 1: move when in Honduras had begun to heat up even more,
Speaker 1: particularly among miners and banana plantation laborers, two groups that
Speaker 1: were central to the country's economy. In March nineteen o nine,
Speaker 1: miners struck against brutal conditions and poverty wages. The response Garson,
Speaker 1: maybe you can guess bad things, violent, brutal repression, ding
Speaker 1: ding ding ding ding.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is, that is you know what I was assuming,
Speaker 2: but I didn't want to, you know, make a fool
Speaker 2: out of myself.
Speaker 1: Nineteen sixteen banana plantation workers at the Quama Food Company.
Speaker 1: What was their.
Speaker 2: Response, Oh, violence, murder, I assume.
Speaker 1: Ding ding ding, ding ding. Four hundred strikers were four
Speaker 1: hundred strikers were arrested and imprisoned in the infamous Castillo
Speaker 1: der Moor. I didn't see any evidence of mass deaths
Speaker 1: in this particular case.
Speaker 2: Which is honestly progressive considering the time.
Speaker 1: I don't know, mass incarceration not really that much better.
Speaker 1: I mean, they literally got imprisoned in this castle, dungeon jail.
Speaker 1: Not not something I would want to be. Rats nibbling
Speaker 1: at you tools and stuff like that. You know, no,
Speaker 1: no so. Following these early twentieth century strikes, workers gradually
Speaker 1: began to build some momentum when they're fired for rights,
Speaker 1: but circularly during the nineteen fifty four general strike against
Speaker 1: the US banana companies. This strike led to significant gains,
Speaker 1: including the legal right to organize and the emergence of
Speaker 1: a more unified labor movement. Now will anarchists involve these movements.
Speaker 1: It's possible, as movements do bear much of the language
Speaker 1: and hallmarks of the anarchist Cynicolus thoughts at the time,
Speaker 1: but identify specific names as difficult, and there doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to be any evidence of specifically anarchist groups in the
Speaker 1: early labor history of the country. As in other parts
Speaker 1: of Central America, it appears that Marxists had a bit
Speaker 1: more influence in their struggles. In response to the workers' gains,
Speaker 1: the US backed military coups of roles to counter that progress.
Speaker 1: The nineteen sixty three coup against President Harmone vieda Morales
Speaker 1: usher in decades of military rule, which stifled labor movements
Speaker 1: and pasiant movements, often violently. Due to the nineteen seventies,
Speaker 1: Campesino or peasant land struggles intensified as the people demanded
Speaker 1: redistribution and reforms. They did get some reform under General
Speaker 1: Zuldo Lopez Ariano, but these reforms were limited and met
Speaker 1: with the usual repression. In transition in to a civilian
Speaker 1: government in nineteen eighties, Honduras remained under heavy US influence,
Speaker 1: serving as a base for anti communist activities and Central America.
Speaker 1: Then neoliberal policies in nineteen nineties eroded many of the
Speaker 1: hard won social and labor rights, as privatization and austerity
Speaker 1: measures deepened the inequality in the country. Two thousand and
Speaker 1: nine coups against President Manuel's Liar marked another turning point
Speaker 1: in modern hundred resistance. Slaia's progressive policies, including raised in
Speaker 1: the minimum wage and considering a Greeran reform. Imagine you're
Speaker 1: considered progressive, even considering a greering reform. But for that
Speaker 1: thought crime of considering a Greeran reform, he was alienated
Speaker 1: by the business elite and the US aligned military and
Speaker 1: thus could and this triggered, of course, a wave of
Speaker 1: militarization and repression, and protests were met with violence and
Speaker 1: human rights abuses usual in the years following the coop.
Speaker 1: Movements like that Resistentsia unified a broad coalition of workers,
Speaker 1: indigenous grows, feminists, students who were all demanding systemic change.
Speaker 1: But the issues persist and Dorus continues to face crises
Speaker 1: of poverty, violence and migration, but Grassts organizing continues. The
Speaker 1: ground there is indeed fertile for an anarchist resurgence, and
Speaker 1: then we come to the Salvor. Anarchists, both local and international,
Speaker 1: played a key role in shape in the early labor movement. Spanish,
Speaker 1: Mexico and Panamanian anarchisynicalists work with them ideas of collector
Speaker 1: resistance and workers' autonomy. One of the earliest milestones in
Speaker 1: the country was the Union Operetra Savagorinia, founded in nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty two, which united workers under the principles of mutual
Speaker 1: aid and direct action. Nineteen before the Ferracri Theravadores Salvador
Speaker 1: or FRTs emerged and was initially steeped in anarchist cynicleust
Speaker 1: ideas before shifting towards Marxism in the late nineteen twenties.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen thirties, the anarchist Centro Synical Libretario was
Speaker 1: founded and operated in San Salvador. Unfortunately, for pretty much
Speaker 1: everybody in El Salvador, nineteen thirty two happened the devastating
Speaker 1: La Mantaza of nineteen thirty two. To be specific, this
Speaker 1: was a massacre that was orchestrated by the dictatorship of
Speaker 1: General Or I shouldn't have told you. I should have
Speaker 1: asked you what you think to la matanza means un
Speaker 1: as you've be brushed up in your Spanish.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately. No, my Spanish is actually quite famously bad. I
Speaker 2: really should work on it.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're envying my my stumbling through the all
Speaker 1: these Spanish names throughout this series.
Speaker 2: See, that's usually me. I'm just happy to have it
Speaker 2: be someone else, so James doesn't laugh at me for
Speaker 2: reading too many books but not practicing saying things out
Speaker 2: loud as a kid.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel you. I mean for me,
Speaker 1: I think one of the difficulties I have been in
Speaker 1: the Spanish like all my life. Yeah. The difficulty is
Speaker 1: when you're speaking at a momentum in one language, at
Speaker 1: least in my experience, it's really difficult to switch the
Speaker 1: patterns of pronunciation to the other language. You know, the
Speaker 1: way that Spanish like reads vowels is different from how
Speaker 1: English reads vowels, so it's hard to like quickly switch
Speaker 1: in and switch out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that has always been my struggle is reading
Speaker 2: their vowels like my vowels, and it produces some sometimes
Speaker 2: quite quite comical pronunciation which is really really my bad.
Speaker 1: I can imagine, but yeah. The La Matanza of nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty two was a massacre orchestrated by the dictatorship of
Speaker 1: General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez that aimed to crush the peasant
Speaker 1: u prize in that was sparked by systemic poverty and
Speaker 1: landist possession. Tens of thousands were slaughtered, many of them
Speaker 1: indigenous people, and the anarchists and labor movements in the
Speaker 1: country suffered immense losses as activists were either killed or
Speaker 1: forced underground. This marked the beginning of decades of military
Speaker 1: rule designed to protect the interests of the land owned
Speaker 1: in oligarchy, the fourteen families that practically owned everything in
Speaker 1: Al Salvor. But despite this repression, radical organizations have persisted.
Speaker 1: The mid to lay twentieth century, so the rise of
Speaker 1: armed revolutionary groups, culminating in the salvadorra In Civil War
Speaker 1: from nineteen eighty eight to nineteen ninety two. The war
Speaker 1: pitted the primarily marx Lenists and socialist factions against the
Speaker 1: US backed salvador And military dictasership. The Marxists transitioned into
Speaker 1: a political party after the nineteen twinety two peace Accords,
Speaker 1: which ended the war but left many systemic inequalities unresolved.
Speaker 1: In the twenty first century, labor struggles have continued amid
Speaker 1: new liberal economic reforms and international financial pressures. While the
Speaker 1: left wing fml AND won the president seems those nine
Speaker 1: and held power one until twenty nineteen. His tenure was
Speaker 1: criticized for failing to sufficiently addressed issues plague in the country.
Speaker 1: Recent years under President Abukele have seen the construction of
Speaker 1: a proper mass casseral police state while we were going
Speaker 1: to struggle against privatization and austerity measures. By the way,
Speaker 1: the rise of Achille is just really fascinating to me,
Speaker 1: particularly from a Trindardy in context, because we have a
Speaker 1: pre surveyor murder rate situation going on. Our murder rate
Speaker 1: has been rising steadily in the past two decades, and
Speaker 1: there's just been in general a lot of crime issues
Speaker 1: lately and the response a lot I've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of Trindadians have toward the rise of Auchilli and a
Speaker 1: Salvador is literally like, we do that too, We need
Speaker 1: to do that too, like we need to you know,
Speaker 1: institute like a mass cossus as well. And I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm fighting a wave. I'm like talking to a wall.
Speaker 1: Like really, it's really difficult for me, I think, to
Speaker 1: challenge that because I know some people's frustrations, but to me,
Speaker 1: my mind is just boggled at it. You know, like
Speaker 1: you really think we we complaining about corruption all the time, right,
Speaker 1: Like it's very openly nepotistic and corrupt in this place,
Speaker 1: people who are like either political party that is presented
Speaker 1: to us as the options. And yet people are so
Speaker 1: thinking about the crime situation that they're willing to put
Speaker 1: that much power in the hands of the government to
Speaker 1: make that judgment. That's the thing is, we know that
Speaker 1: they are innocent people in for killer's prisons. You know,
Speaker 1: we know that journalists haveing locks of criticizing the government.
Speaker 1: We know that all people are locked up without charges,
Speaker 1: without rights, without anything. And what's crazy to me is
Speaker 1: that like people are like cheering it on until it's them,
Speaker 1: until you happen to be unlucky enough to have a tattoo.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, as long as it's someone else, then
Speaker 2: it's not them.
Speaker 1: Yeah exactly. It's like it's fine as long as somebody else.
Speaker 1: But like, let's say you have a tattoo or I mean,
Speaker 1: the thing is the police. I'm sure it's the case
Speaker 1: in Saba as well, because the police are themselves a
Speaker 1: gang pretty much anywhere in the world, but the police
Speaker 1: and should not literally connected in some cases with with gangs.
Speaker 1: In fact, there's some gang members who end up like
Speaker 1: joining the police force later on in their lives. And
Speaker 1: so to just give that kind of policy that, you know,
Speaker 1: let's say you criticize an officer, you say something they
Speaker 1: were like, and then before you know it, you're the
Speaker 1: one behind boss as well. I understand the frustration, I
Speaker 1: don't understand the response, and it remains to be seen
Speaker 1: how Pikuli's policies continue to play out in the country.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's a disaster wayson to happen. In
Speaker 1: many ways, it is already a disaster. But you know
Speaker 1: there are people point to oh, look, I'll see if
Speaker 1: things have got no But I don't know how long
Speaker 1: that will last, especially when the families that are responsible
Speaker 1: for so much of the disparity in the country are
Speaker 1: still in their position of power. But I digress. The
Speaker 1: spirit of mutually direct action and anti Thoritain resistance still
Speaker 1: has a potential to persist in the country without Salbado.
Speaker 1: At last, we've reached Guatemala. The nineteen twenty sixth, the
Speaker 1: publication Orientacition Syndical started circulating in Guatemala calling for the
Speaker 1: kind of direct, grassroots union action that went around or
Speaker 1: even opposed fiscal parties as obstacles liberation. Meanwhile, the Marxists
Speaker 1: in the country had a different vision. They pushed for
Speaker 1: the formation of the Federaci Jianalo Verradia Guatemala and with
Speaker 1: that the launch of fan Gardia Proletaria, a communist led
Speaker 1: people that aim to rally the working class behind Marxist ideas.
Speaker 1: At the same time, Spanish and Peruvian workers alongside Quatemalan
Speaker 1: students and workers came together to form the Committee Proxy
Speaker 1: and Sindical, which was the space where anarchistyndicalism truly found
Speaker 1: its voice in Quatemala, Guds. You can probably guess the
Speaker 1: powers that be weren't going to let this kind of
Speaker 1: antical action stand. In nineteen thirty a military dictatorship spread
Speaker 1: swept into the country and in the committ Dae, effectively
Speaker 1: silence and anarchistnicalism in Quatermala and set in the stage
Speaker 1: for years of political oppression as the state worked tirelessly
Speaker 1: to suppress any form of workers self organization, often with
Speaker 1: the back end of the one and only us say
Speaker 1: us say us say. The mid twentieth century marked a
Speaker 1: period of extreme violence against workers movements, passive movements, and
Speaker 1: leftists movements, especially after the nineteen fifty four CIA backed coup.
Speaker 1: Despite these setbacks, workers and political movements really never stopped fighting.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties and seventies, thriller movements gainablemental inspired
Speaker 1: by Marxist and anti imperialist side urologies, and although these
Speaker 1: movements were frequently crushed with state violence in the Fourth
Speaker 1: massacres and disappearances, they persisted until the end of the
Speaker 1: Civil War nineteen ninety six. Still, social inequality and economic
Speaker 1: exploitation persisted they will move on, especially in this sweatshop industry,
Speaker 1: have continued to fight for workers' rights. Automno today is
Speaker 1: still fighting to breathe free. Its people are still fighting
Speaker 1: against the continued dominance of neoliberal economic policies, fighting against
Speaker 1: crop political elites, and most importantly fighting for autonomy, frest
Speaker 1: indigenous and working peoples, and that it was time to
Speaker 1: hit the islands on. Our first stop is the Dominican Republic.
Speaker 1: Through the efforts of Spanish immigrant workers, the ideas of
Speaker 1: mutual aid and syndicalism found very fertile ground, particularly in
Speaker 1: the mid eighteen eighties, where we see the emerging into
Speaker 1: the first mutualist associations such as La Alianza Chipayania in
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty four and Society dad at tsinale Ecosted Pueblo
Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety. The River road Workers strike and eighteen
Speaker 1: ninety six struck in protest against their conditions on the
Speaker 1: Puerto Plata Santiago Line among the first direct actions in
Speaker 1: the American Republic outside of its historical maroonages and slaver vootes.
Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety seven, the first labor union was formed,
Speaker 1: the Union de Panaderos de Santo Domingo. Not long after,
Speaker 1: strikes erupted across the country. Bakers, cobblers, bricklayers all marched
Speaker 1: in protest, often the heart of Cologne Park, fighting for
Speaker 1: better working conditions and respect from their employers. Fast forward
Speaker 1: a bit, and in nineteen twenty we saw the first
Speaker 1: Premier Congress to de Rabajadores Dominicanos convene in Santremingo, where
Speaker 1: the Confederacion Dominicano del Tabajo was born. The demands were
Speaker 1: basic but crucial, things like the eight hour workday, the
Speaker 1: right to strike, a salary schedule, and profit sharing. But
Speaker 1: it wasn't just about improving their daily lives. They also
Speaker 1: sought to fight foreign intervention. Specifically, they called to the
Speaker 1: end to the North American occupation, which had had a
Speaker 1: heavy presence in the region for decades. The nineteen twenties
Speaker 1: also the rise of another powerful union, the Ferreacion Local
Speaker 1: Devajo de sant Domingo, which was founded by thirty one
Speaker 1: different unions. But despite the strength of these movements, the
Speaker 1: Dominican Republic remained under the heavy influence of foreign powers
Speaker 1: and corrupt local elites. In nineteen forty six, the Dominican
Speaker 1: Republic saw a major strike in the sugar plantations of
Speaker 1: La Romana and San Pedro de Macoris, and this time
Speaker 1: the influence of Spanish anarchists who had fled the Spanish
Speaker 1: Civil War was undeniable. Today, the anarchist presence in the
Speaker 1: American Republic is not pronounced, but the conditions are as
Speaker 1: with the others ripe for such a transformation. Finally, let's
Speaker 1: jump across to Puerto Rico for a final historical review.
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico, as we know, was a Spanish colony into
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, but after that it fell under the
Speaker 1: control of the United States. Anarchism in Puerto Rico didn't
Speaker 1: have quite the same impact as it did in there
Speaker 1: By Cuba, let us men, it wasn't there pushing back
Speaker 1: against the powers of be anarchism. Militans, particularly from Spain,
Speaker 1: made their way to Perto Rico and eighteen eighties bring
Speaker 1: them the fire of direct action and commitment to the
Speaker 1: idea that workers should control their own lives. In the
Speaker 1: liberal period between eighteen sixty eight and eighteen seventy three,
Speaker 1: the first artist and based organizations started popping up. These
Speaker 1: were mutual aid societies and cooperatives, They weren't exactly radical
Speaker 1: in organization, a far cry from the anarchist uprisings happening
Speaker 1: elsewhere in that America, but there were spaces where workers
Speaker 1: could find solidarity and support. In eighteen ninety four, things
Speaker 1: began to change. A monetary crisis hit, followed by a
Speaker 1: devaluation that ten prices chyrocketing, and the population started to
Speaker 1: push back. Dis triggered a wave of strikes and mass protests,
Speaker 1: and this is where we started to see the direct
Speaker 1: influence of anarchists. Were now for sure that Spanish anarchists
Speaker 1: who had settled in Puerto Rico were active in these
Speaker 1: early struggles, pushing freemancipation and non sin expoitation. Eighteen ninety eight,
Speaker 1: when Puerto Rico was already under US control, anarchists and
Speaker 1: socialists came together to form the Federacrialrichnal the Rostrabadories, a
Speaker 1: group clearly inspired with the Spanish Rasciol Richiernallystpanola. Their program
Speaker 1: was a simple yet radical one, abolished the exploitation of
Speaker 1: workers and build a society without borders or masters. But
Speaker 1: as with all movements, there were contradictions and splits. In
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine, a major rift occurred within the Federation
Speaker 1: when it became clear that some of its leaders were
Speaker 1: more willing than others to accept the support of political parties,
Speaker 1: something the anarchists traditionally rejected. This caused those that were
Speaker 1: true to syndicalist autonomy to form the Federascian Libre, a
Speaker 1: group that split from that original federation and stuck to
Speaker 1: the principles of the First International. Yet, just a few
Speaker 1: years later, in nineteen oh one, this same group ended
Speaker 1: up affiliated with the Conservative American Federation of Labor, which
Speaker 1: is a very strange bedfellow considering their earlier anarchist commitments.
Speaker 1: But the anarchists didn't feed away just after these splits.
Speaker 1: They didn't achieve the downant position in Puertrico's worker movement,
Speaker 1: but they kept pushing forward anyway, and one of the
Speaker 1: ways they did this was through the press, as they
Speaker 1: spread ideas, shared literature, and build networks. Bauz Sumana, a
Speaker 1: publication based on Kaguas, was one such example. The energy
Speaker 1: anarchist in Pertorico was translated into action, especially in the
Speaker 1: labor front, where they were there and part of strikes
Speaker 1: and meetings and ongoing battles. So as we look at
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico today, whether with the fight for sovereignty, for
Speaker 1: labor rights, against crunalism, or whatever else, we can remember
Speaker 1: the potential of anarchism on the island. There are Puerto
Speaker 1: Ricans and history who understood that freedom wasn't solely about
Speaker 1: political independence, but about the liberation of all people from
Speaker 1: all forms of exploitation. So I take a step back
Speaker 1: and look at the broader picture of labor and anarchists
Speaker 1: struggle across the region. Do the anarchist move once We're
Speaker 1: not as vibrant as elsewhere, whether indeed dormant or dead
Speaker 1: in many cases, we still see a very powerful thread
Speaker 1: of resistance and a very futile ground for anarchist development,
Speaker 1: which our comrades in these places can hope the flourish within.
Speaker 1: That's all for me today. You can find me on
Speaker 1: YouTube at andrazom and pature on nat seem Drew. This
Speaker 1: is it could happen here. All power to all the people. Peace.
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