1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: The media. Hello, and welcome back to it. 2 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 2: He am Andrew Sage Farm you on YouTube at Andrew's 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 2: I'm here once again. 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: With oh beer hah. That was by c Yeah, indeed, yeah, 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,240 Speaker 1: she's She's here. 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 2: And today we'll continue in the Latin American Anarchism series 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 2: with our exploration of anarchism in Argentina. That's the scholarship 8 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 2: of Chuck Moss, Jeffrey de la Focade, and hil Capelletti 9 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 2: and Jose Antonio Guterrez and Ian McKay. When we us 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 2: left of all FAIUS laws and government actions, we're pressed 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 2: hard on the anarchist cause in the country. Which when 12 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: the anarchists executed, jailed or exiled, what become of the 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 2: anarchist movement? Where things get better or worse? Sad to say, 14 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 2: I think you know the answer. Nineteen ninety marked the 15 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 2: year of La Simana Tragica or the Tragic Week, when 16 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 2: several metal workers were killed by strike breakers. This led 17 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 2: to a general strike that shut down the entire country 18 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 2: and pushed Buenos Aires into a state of chaos for 19 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 2: several days. The anarchist paper A protester noted the complete 20 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 2: shutdown and praised worker's solidarity. But despite the revolutionary atmosphere, 21 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 2: the movement lacked a clear objective, which weakened its long 22 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 2: term impact. They had the power, but didn't do too 23 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 2: much with it. Eventually, the police and Argentina's first fascist organization, 24 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 2: Lega Patriotica, were able to subdue the rebellion. The fascists, 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 2: by the way, we were backed by military figures like 26 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 2: Rare Admirals Burmech Garcia and O'Connor. They attacked and killed 27 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 2: with impunity, and in the end the fifty five thousand 28 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 2: were detained, with anarchist sent to Martin, Garcia, Ireland, and 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 2: as many as seven hundred were killed and four thousand 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 2: were injured. The anarchist movement persisted, as they always do. 31 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 2: The protester continued publishing, alongside the launch of new papers 32 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 2: like Mandera Roja and Tribuna Proletaria. Even after the government 33 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 2: banned anarchist press in March nineteen nineteen, the movement continued 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 2: to organize, culminating an extraordinary Congress of two hundred unions 35 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 2: in September nineteen twenty. Throughout the nineteen twenties, four or 36 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 2: five remained a powerful force in Argentina's lable movement, pushing 37 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,360 Speaker 2: for causes like the six hour weekday and resistant rise 38 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 2: in nationalists and military sentiments, but throughout came more oppression. 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 2: In nineteen twenty one, Argentinian workers and that for A 40 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 2: style in the Chaco region were brutally killed for demanding 41 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 2: better wages and conditions. The anarchist four her proposed solidarity actions, 42 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 2: but the more reformist FORA the Ninth Congress, distanced itself, 43 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 2: leaving the movement unsupported. This indifference, unfortunately also extended to 44 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 2: other violent incidents, such as the murder of workers were 45 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 2: the fascist legal Patriotica in Guaalles guaid and we're still 46 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 2: with the largely unreported massacres of striking rural workers in 47 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 2: Patagonia by the army, sending fifteen hundred to death by 48 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 2: firing squad, an event ignored by most media except for 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 2: anarchist outlets like that Protester. In this case, at least 50 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 2: the anarchists got their get back somewhat later, when German 51 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,640 Speaker 2: anarchists could Wilkins assassinated Hector Valera, the military leader responsible 52 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 2: for the killers. That whole story is so wild because 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 2: the German assassin was also a pacifist, but it's just 54 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:36,839 Speaker 2: like fuck it with ball Yeah. 55 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: I mean sometimes they had to do what you had 56 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: to do. 57 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean the government got it to get 58 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,119 Speaker 2: back as well, because Wilkins was later murdered in retaliation 59 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 2: for his murder of Hector Valera. But at least that 60 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 2: led to general strike across Argentina. 61 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: It truly is a wild story. 62 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 2: Anarchists in Argentina further agitated in opposition to the trial 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 2: and execution of Italian American anarchists Sacco and Fanchetti in 64 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 2: the United States in nineteen twenty seven. This was a 65 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 2: notorious case, by the way, but we'll pull that string 66 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 2: another time. There was a certain anarchist who took the 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 2: protest in a different direction, though known to be prolific 68 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 2: in his acts of violence. Italian anarchists Severino the Giovanni, 69 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 2: carried out bombin's against the American embassy to protest the trial, 70 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 2: bombings against the Italian consulate to protest Italian fascism, and 71 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 2: robberies throughout the country. The Giovanni's actions sparked debate among 72 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 2: anarchists about the issue of quote unquote anarcho banditry. Some 73 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 2: papers like Landtorchia defended the Giovanni, others like La. 74 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: Protester, attacked him. 75 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 2: The Giuvanni's fight came to an end in nineteen thirty one, 76 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 2: when he was arrested and executed for carrying out the 77 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: murder of one of his fascest fellow anarchist critics, a 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 2: certain La Protester editor named Emilio Lopez a Ango. As 79 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 2: it could probably imagine, they weren't any general strikes to 80 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 2: protest the Giovanni's execution. General Jose Felix Uriburu led a 81 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 2: coup in nineteen thirty that marked the rise of fascism 82 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 2: in Argentina and the continuation of systematic persecution against workers 83 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 2: and anarchists. Many were imprisoned, deported, or killed, including prominent 84 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 2: figures like Juan Antonio Moran and Joaquin Penina. Anarchist groups 85 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 2: and unions were oppressed under Uriburu's martial law, whither more 86 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 2: moderate Confederacio and General del Trabajo or SGT, dominated by reformers. 87 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 2: Socialists survived and became the main representative of workers in 88 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 2: the country. Thanks to Uriburu's corporative stance. Martial law was 89 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 2: peeled back slightly by nineteen thirty two. With such heavy 90 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 2: blows the movement, Anachus had to pull back to the 91 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 2: more countercultural efforts to define their movement. In the eighteen 92 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 2: eighty for Our resumed publishing activities, with That Protester returning 93 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 2: as a daily, but government pressure, including action against his 94 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 2: editors and restrictions and postal services, made it difficult to 95 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 2: maintain this daily schedule. Eventually, La Protester transitioned to a weekly, 96 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 2: then bi weekly, and family monthly publication. Despite these challenges, 97 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 2: a group of anarchist militants and via devotoprism, conceived the 98 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 2: idea of a national Anarchist Congress. This congress first met 99 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 2: in September nineteen thirty two in the Rosario, with that 100 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,480 Speaker 2: it gets from across the country and one key outcome 101 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 2: of this congress was the creation of the Committee Rijonal 102 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 2: de re Laciones Anarquistas or the CRORA. This later foundation 103 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 2: for became the Argentine Anaco Communist Federation or FACER in 104 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty five, although the organization never really gained a 105 00:06:55,320 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 2: mass following. In nineteen thirty five, anarchists also establish a 106 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 2: taker Popular Jose in Hiniros a library and social center. 107 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,000 Speaker 2: While initially founded the support of socialists, the anarchist took 108 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,239 Speaker 2: full control after the socialists left. Around this time, anarchist 109 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 2: group's campaign fiercely to free Voto Maini and the Diago comrades, 110 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 2: who had been tortured and imprisoned for over a decade. 111 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 2: The newspaper just this year was created solely to advocate 112 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 2: for their release, who was finally granted in nineteen forty two. 113 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 2: Throughout this period, the anarchist press remained active, the number 114 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 2: of publications diminished, Several publishing houses like not Review, Iman Tupac, 115 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 2: and Reconstrier kept anarchist literature alive, publishing key works and essays. 116 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty three, Accion Libertaria emerged and eventually became 117 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 2: the voice of FACER, later owners the Federacion Libertaria Argentina 118 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 2: or FLA until nineteen seventy one. But the most significant 119 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 2: international event for Argentine anarchists during the nineteen thirties was 120 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 2: the Spanish Civil War. The rise of fascism among the resistance, 121 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 2: led by the CNT and Federacion and Anarchista Iberica or FAI, 122 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 2: inspired Argentine anarchists to provide solidarity and support. Many traveled 123 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 2: to Spain to join the fight, with Jose Grenfeld becoming 124 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 2: the secretary of the FAI. Campaigns to support anti fascists 125 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 2: in the Spanish Civil War were also launched, with FACA 126 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 2: publishing books and pamphlets in the struggle. FACCA launched Saladari 127 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 2: Dad Opera in nineteen forty one, edited by Juan Corral 128 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 2: and Loreano Rieira, though it was later shut down by 129 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 2: the first Justicialista government under Peron. FURA also began publishing 130 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 2: a series of booklets, including Toros coundre la Guera in 131 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty five and Lucca Constructiva pola lebordad i justicia 132 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 2: in nineteen forty four. One notable libertarian cultural journal, Ombre 133 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 2: de America, ran from January nineteen forty until the end 134 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 2: of nineteen forty five, covering nearly the entire duration of 135 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 2: the Second World War. FACA was clear about its position 136 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 2: on the global conflicts of the time. In nineteen forty 137 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 2: two general Plennary, the group denounced both Western democracies, which 138 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,520 Speaker 2: they saw as vlain capitalist exploitation, and the Soviet Union, 139 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 2: which they deemed bureaucratic capitalism. However, they saw the greatest 140 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 2: threat in national socialism the Nazis and the rise of 141 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,679 Speaker 2: the Third Reich, one in the total Tyranism was the 142 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 2: worst danger of their era. Faker's statement of solidarity with 143 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 2: the oppressed under the Nazi barbarity also recognized the threat 144 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 2: posed by Soviet expansionism and the force promises of post 145 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 2: war democracies. Domestically, Faca and fa faced a new challenge 146 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,959 Speaker 2: with the rise of Juan Domingo Pern. His populist approach, 147 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,800 Speaker 2: while beneficial somewhat to workers, was paradoxical for anarchists. Prone's 148 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 2: government promoted a state centered, jingoistic project that co opted 149 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 2: labor movements through control networks, undermining annuine proletarian and democracy. 150 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 2: Anarchists rejected Peranism Seniors as a threat to the revolutionary 151 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 2: ethos of Wuker's Hilarity. Despite this, fora retained some influence, 152 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 2: especially among agricultural workers, who were caught between the identities 153 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 2: of peasants and workers. In June nineteen forty six, anarchists 154 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 2: launched a new newspaper, Reconstruire, with Luista Nusi as editor. 155 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 2: The first issue featured Jacobo Prince's critique of Peranism in 156 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 2: an article titled El totali Tarismo falsea il Principio de 157 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 2: Justicia social, calling out the regime's distortion of social justice. 158 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 2: By the late nineteen forties and early nineteen fifties, Fora's 159 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 2: influence had waned, and anacocynicalism was reduced to a smaller 160 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:52,839 Speaker 2: rule in Argentina's labor movement. However, the societ Dad there 161 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 2: Resistencia del Pers del Puerto, aligned with FORA, demonstrated their 162 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 2: commitment to anarchosynicalism in nineteen fifty two by rejecting a 163 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:06,079 Speaker 2: compulsory wage tax to fund a monument to Eva peron 164 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. 165 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: Yeah. 166 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 2: This act of defiance led to the imprisonment of several 167 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 2: militants for six months. 168 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: Imagine you decide you want. 169 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 2: To reject extra taxes because the dictator's wife demands a 170 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:27,440 Speaker 2: monument like that's the e throw in jail because you 171 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 2: decide you don't want to pay that tax. 172 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: God, this terrible stuff. 173 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 2: While Peeran's regime weakened free unism, he did so by 174 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 2: means of corruption rather than violence, contrasting with the methods 175 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 2: of his predecessor. 176 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: Uriburu. 177 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 2: Faca continued its work well then several congresses, including the 178 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 2: fourth in nineteen fifty one and the fifth of nineteen 179 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 2: fifty five, just before Peroans overthrew In nineteen fifty five, 180 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 2: FACA rebranded as the Federacion Libertaria Argentina with the FLA, 181 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 2: and the FLA held its sixth congress in nineteen sixty one, 182 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: and its journal records career published regularly from nineteen fifty 183 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 2: nine until nineteen seventy six, coincided with the onset of 184 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:23,839 Speaker 2: Argentina's most brutal ditatorship. But before we fast forward in 185 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy six, we need to explore it took place 186 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 2: in the sixties. The sixties are own as the New 187 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,719 Speaker 2: Left era in many parts of the world thanks to 188 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 2: the rise of student radicalism. The new Left is marked 189 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 2: by a notable libertarian and democratic impulse, an emphasis on 190 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 2: cultural as well as political transformation, an extension traditional lefts 191 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 2: focus in class struggle to achnowledge multiple forms and basis 192 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 2: of oppression, including race and gender, an emphasis and anti 193 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 2: imperialism and anti colonalism, and a rejection of bureaucracy and 194 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 2: traditional forms of political organization in favor of direct action 195 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 2: and participatory democracy. Many youth were searching for a third 196 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:08,959 Speaker 2: way outside of Soviet and Western models, so during the 197 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 2: nineteen sixties and seventies, a new generation of Argentine youth 198 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 2: turned to anarchism, so they struggled to collaborate with the 199 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 2: older anarchist movements. Cultural and political differences were the heart 200 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 2: of this divide, with younger militantsiligning themselves more to global 201 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 2: anti impurelest movements of the time than with the anarchist 202 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 2: legacy already within Argentina. In some ways, this generational riff 203 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,839 Speaker 2: left a scar in the anarchist struggle. In other ways 204 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 2: helped younger anarchists to develop a clearer ideological stance compared 205 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 2: to their counterparts in countries where such internal conflicts were 206 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 2: less prevalent. One of the most significant anarchist groups to 207 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 2: emerge during this period was Resistancia Libertaria. Operating colandestantly and 208 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 2: with a cellular structure, RL aimed to ignite mass resistance 209 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 2: and ultimately spark a prolonged popular war. The group was 210 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 2: active in neighborhoods, labor movements, and student circles, and it 211 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 2: had a small armed wing for defense and expropriation. 212 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: Purposes. 213 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 2: Although it was formerly a national organization, ril's main operations 214 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 2: were in La Plata, Cordoba and Punas airis A. Argentina 215 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 2: grew increasingly polarized in the mid nineteen seventies. Rile activists 216 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 2: became targets. Many were disappeared even before the military coup 217 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 2: of nineteen seventy six. But then it hit Henry Kissinger 218 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 2: at the United States Machinations or Fruit. 219 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, we go in there. 220 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 2: A military coup overthrew President Isabel Peron, the third wife 221 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 2: of the original Perone, and installed a junta led by 222 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 2: Lieutenant General jorgueer Rafael Videla, Admiral Emilio Eduardo Masserra, and 223 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 2: Brigadier General Orlando Ramon Augusti. This coup was part of 224 00:14:56,120 --> 00:15:00,600 Speaker 2: Operation Condo, a coordinated effort between Latin American dict leatorships 225 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 2: back with the United States under its Cold War National 226 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 2: security doctrine. The aim was allegedly to maintain stability in 227 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 2: the region that America considers its backyard, and US officials, 228 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 2: including Kissinger, were short to meet with Argentine military leaders 229 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 2: after the coup, encouraged them to wipe out the opposition 230 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 2: quickly and brutally before any winy human rights concerned started 231 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 2: to be raised internationally. The junta remained in power until 232 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 2: December nineteen eighty three, during which time some thirty thousand 233 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 2: people were disappeared or executed. URL militants were particularly targeted 234 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 2: by the regime. One particularly horrible story I have to share. 235 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 2: The military men responsible for the killings often spared pregnant women, 236 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 2: kept them in custody until they gave birth, then killed 237 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 2: the mothers and gave their influence to childless military families. 238 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: Is christ. 239 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 2: That's the kind of evil with dealing work. Yeah, And 240 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 2: despite the dangers, URL continued to activities until nineteen seventy eight, 241 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 2: when a series of coordinated police raids dismantled much of 242 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 2: the group. Around eighty percent of URAL members were detained 243 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 2: in concentration camps where they were tortured and most were 244 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 2: eventually executed. And that is how you kill a social movement. 245 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 2: In the final years of the tatorship and follow on 246 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 2: their re establishment of civil government in nineteen eighty three, 247 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 2: new and relatively anti authoritarian social movements emerged Argentina, among 248 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 2: the most prominent with the Madres Tela Plaza de Mayo 249 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 2: a group of mothers advocating for justice for those who 250 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 2: had been disappeared under the military regime. Alongside them, they 251 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 2: are psychologists, feminists, and other grassroots activists began to make 252 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 2: their voices heard. This shift marked a significant departure from 253 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 2: traditional state centric leftist politics, with a growing inclination towards 254 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 2: more decentralized approaches. While this climate sparked renewed interest in anarchism, 255 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,480 Speaker 2: it didn't lead to a substantial increase in the membership 256 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 2: of older anarchist organizations. Instead, it highlighted the transformation and 257 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 2: how social movements approached to activism and sought to address 258 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,360 Speaker 2: issues of justice and accountability. And then we come into 259 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 2: the twenty first century. In the early two thousands, Argentina, 260 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 2: which was once a poster child for neoliberalism thanks to 261 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 2: the actions of the didataship, found itself in the throes 262 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 2: of a devastating economic crisis. This s meltdown didn't just 263 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 2: affect the economy, ignited a wave of social movements that 264 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 2: were far more confrontational, radical, and anarchistic than before, which 265 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 2: was the rise of militant neighborhood assemblies, factory takeovers, and 266 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 2: intense street protests. What was happened in Argentina was a 267 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 2: direct result of more than two decades of so called 268 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 2: free market reforms and structural adjustment programs. These policies had 269 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 2: left the economy in ruins, with poverty and unemployment levels soaring. 270 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,239 Speaker 2: By the time the crisis hit, poverty had shot up 271 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 2: from thirty one percent to fifty three percent, and unemployment 272 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,439 Speaker 2: had jumped to twenty one point four percent, nearly a 273 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:18,640 Speaker 2: quarter of the country's population. Out of this chaos came 274 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:23,080 Speaker 2: the Pictaros, a new movement of unemployed workers who turned 275 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 2: their anger into direct action. They didn't just march in protest. 276 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 2: They blocked roads, demanded work and dignity. But what said 277 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 2: the Pictero is apart from traditional unions was they commit 278 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,200 Speaker 2: months to horizontal organizing and direct action. They knew that 279 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,360 Speaker 2: those unions didn't represent them, and they wanted something more 280 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 2: than just jobs. They wanted dignity, and they wanted us 281 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 2: say in how society was run. One of the voices 282 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 2: from this movement, a woman from the Solano neighborhood in 283 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 2: Buenos Aires, captured the spirit when she said, I dream 284 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 2: of my children finding a way of life here away 285 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 2: from the despair the system gives us. Were building something new. 286 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 2: Politics without political parties encode the Pictaro's in just demand employment. 287 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 2: They wanted meaningful work that gave them control over their lives. 288 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:15,400 Speaker 2: They weren't looking to be folded back into the capitalist 289 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 2: system that had failed them. Instead, they called themselves autonomous 290 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 2: workers in envisionous society where people took charge their communities 291 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 2: and their futures. 292 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:26,120 Speaker 1: And then came. 293 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,479 Speaker 2: December two thousand and one. On the nineteenth, the crisis 294 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 2: hit a boiling point. All across the country. People took 295 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 2: to the streets, unemployed workers, middle class families, and whole neighborhoods. 296 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 2: They were united in their demands an end to the 297 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 2: government's economic policies and the resignation of the deeply unpopular 298 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 2: President Fernando de la Rua. After two days of street 299 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 2: battles with police, the government collapsed. In the wake of 300 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 2: this upheaval, neighborhood assemblies popped up everywhere, and the Pictaros 301 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 2: intensified their efforts. Millions of workers across Argentina joined a 302 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 2: general strike and put as Airis alone. Over a million 303 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 2: people defied a government imposed state of emergency. Flood in 304 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 2: the streets and protest. It wasn't just about events and 305 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 2: frustration with what reclaiming their power. In a way, the 306 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 2: ideas of anarchism, self management, the centralization, and direct action 307 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,199 Speaker 2: were be input into practice on a truly massive scale, 308 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 2: even though anarchist groups themselves didn't necessarily lead the charge. 309 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 2: The fight wasn't just on the streets, though, It had 310 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 2: to happen in the factories, the fields, across all the 311 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 2: sectors of society. They couldn't just remove politicians. They had 312 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 2: to dismantle the entire system of exploitation and replace it 313 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,560 Speaker 2: with something radically different. A key piece of this puzzle 314 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 2: was the rise of the fabricas, ricuperradas, or reclaim factories. 315 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 2: These takeovers didn't start with the two thousand one up prizing, though. 316 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 2: The first occupation happened back in nineteen ninety six, when 317 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 2: workers in a cool storage plant to control after the 318 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 2: bosses abandoned it. More factory followed suit, with workers stepping 319 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 2: in with an owner's fled. But they weren't even trying 320 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 2: to launch an offensive against capitalism. They were simply trying 321 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,199 Speaker 2: to survive, to hold on to their livelihoods and an 322 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,199 Speaker 2: economy that had pushed them to the edge. By the 323 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 2: time of the Argentine uprising in December two thousand and one, 324 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,679 Speaker 2: over one hundred and seventy factories had been reclaimed, with 325 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 2: some ten thousand workers taking part in this new form 326 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 2: of collective labor. The message was clear, when the bosses leave, 327 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 2: the workers are more than capable of keeping things running. 328 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 2: In these reclaimed factories, they got rid of the traditional 329 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 2: management hierarchies and made collective decisions and shared income equally. 330 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 2: It was a living example of one potential way society 331 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 2: could function without the capitalist class. In the midst of 332 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 2: the Argentine economic collapse, these workers didn't just resist, they 333 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 2: were also producing, hence their banner of occupy resistar prosir 334 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 2: occupy resids to produce the new was possible, to not 335 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 2: just fight, but to build something new from the ground up, 336 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 2: not just to survive, but to lay the foundations for 337 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,720 Speaker 2: a new society. The cries of kissevayan totros or basically 338 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 2: out with all of them, echoed the widespread dissolution with 339 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 2: the entire political class, but the sentiment needed to be 340 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 2: transformed into something more substantial, a proper political framework to 341 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 2: drive the momentum forward. But it's also into this framework. 342 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 2: This potentially anarchist framework wasn't fully developed among the population 343 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 2: at the time. There were some comrades who were working 344 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 2: towards build in such a framework, but much of the movement, 345 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 2: particularly of the left, were focused on elections as a 346 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 2: way forward. 347 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: The logic was simple. 348 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 2: A left leading government could introduce policies to leave the 349 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 2: situation and prevent the open repression of popular movements. What 350 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 2: does this really achieve. It risked the transfer and of 351 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 2: the struggle from the streets, from the workplace, from the 352 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 2: hands of the people into the hands of a new 353 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 2: set of politicians, shifting the focus from the masses to 354 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:12,159 Speaker 2: a few leaders operating within clearly capitalist institutions. The elections 355 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 2: were not important. The fight wasn't about winning seats in 356 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 2: the government, and that needed to be understood. The fight 357 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 2: was about building a true popular power. Kiss if Ian 358 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 2: Totos out with all of them rejected not just individuals, 359 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 2: but the entire political, social and economic power structures. Even 360 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 2: though the Argentine people will not identifying as anarchists, they 361 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 2: will apply on anarchist principles in many aspects of their struggles, 362 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 2: just like the Appatistas and Chiappas who ruse up in 363 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty fourth Rally and cry yabasta or enough already. 364 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 2: The Argentine uprising was a clear rejection of state power 365 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 2: and capitalism. Votes can't last forever, but they could plant 366 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 2: the seats of a new society, one built from below. 367 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 2: But the movement was torn between the two approaches of 368 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 2: whether factory to be managed by workers under state ownership 369 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 2: or if they should be completely worker owned. Some argue 370 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 2: the demanding expropriation why the state wasn't a real solution 371 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 2: within a capitalist framework, because the state itself was responsible 372 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:13,320 Speaker 2: for the conditions they found themselves in. But even though 373 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 2: they argue that true worker's power came from the workers 374 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 2: controlling their own production, are the flip side? Cooperatives don't 375 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:25,680 Speaker 2: really address the deeper issues of capitalism. Cooperativism doesn't inherently 376 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 2: challenge capitalist relations of production, just tinkers with the service 377 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,760 Speaker 2: issues like monopolies, internal structures, and competition. Building a network 378 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 2: of cooperatives can be valuable, but it's not going to 379 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 2: create a subsystem capable of topling capitalism. Anarchism and specifically 380 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 2: anarchist communist ideas proposed something far more transformative abortion, all 381 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 2: forms of power exercised by minority, whether the bourgeoisie or 382 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:55,119 Speaker 2: the state, assuming control of not just factories and fields, 383 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 2: but all of society. It's not a choice between cooperatives 384 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 2: or state managed workplaces. It's about creating conditions for all 385 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:06,440 Speaker 2: workers and all people to self organize. And such reforms, 386 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 2: such as reforms for workers to have control of their 387 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 2: workplaces a merely steps. It's what a much larger goal 388 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 2: should be kept in mind in that struggle. These experiences, 389 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:22,080 Speaker 2: in this history in Argentina shows us that anarchist ideas 390 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 2: are not just lofty dreams. 391 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: They're grounded in real struggles of working people. 392 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 2: Consciously or unconsciously proven that a society without bosses, managers 393 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 2: and expectation is possible. Every social struggle, every revolutionary action, 394 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 2: is another step towards building that world. Through these movements, 395 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 2: through these actions, through these struggles, we can see the 396 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 2: foundation of a new society. And to the people of 397 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 2: Argentina who now face the rule of a new right 398 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 2: way menace, I employees to stand up and say, once again, 399 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,480 Speaker 2: kissevan Toros out with all of them, all power to 400 00:25:59,520 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 2: all the people. 401 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:07,400 Speaker 1: Peace. It could Happen Here is a production of cool 402 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 1: Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit 403 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: our website coolzonemedia dot com or check us out. From 404 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. 405 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 2: You listen to podcasts, you can now find sources for 406 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 2: it could happen here listed directly in episode descriptions. 407 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:23,200 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.