Speaker 1: All the media.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Karapen here. I'm Andrew Sage from the YouTube
Speaker 2: channel Andrewism and I'm joined.
Speaker 1: Today by James. It's me Hi Andrew, So James.
Speaker 2: Just before the show we were talking about it a
Speaker 2: couple of different places that we've either been to or
Speaker 2: would like to visit. Have you ever been to the Andes?
Speaker 1: No, anything I have, Actually I'd like to I like mountains.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Andes is one of my bucket list destinations
Speaker 2: for sure. They've always enticed me, you know, as a
Speaker 2: place of settlement, a center of culture, a place of
Speaker 2: political struggle. So, you know, I had to do an
Speaker 2: episode on the development of anarchistsinicalism in Peru. So they're
Speaker 2: continuing along with my previous research on anarchism and other
Speaker 2: parts of the group. Much information I've gathered as thanks
Speaker 2: to the work of Stephen J. Hush and Ducent founder Wald,
Speaker 2: particularly anarchism and synicalism in the colonial and post cleaner
Speaker 2: world Easy seventeen nineteen forty. And you know, people don't
Speaker 2: usually think of Peru when they think of anarchist clinical struggles,
Speaker 2: not even in the context of Latin America. Folks familiar
Speaker 2: with that history would quicker consider Brazil or Argentina as
Speaker 2: sites of anarchist cynicalism. You know, in Brazil the roots
Speaker 2: of anarchism could be traced back to the late nineteenth century,
Speaker 2: to the influence of European immigrants, and at the early
Speaker 2: twentieth century had anarchist ideas keen interaction across the work
Speaker 2: in class, with the establishment of various associations and newspapers
Speaker 2: like the Brazilian Workers Confederation found that in nineteen oh
Speaker 2: six anarchists would play, of course a crucial role in
Speaker 2: the general strike of nineteen seventeen, and then unfortunately, with
Speaker 2: the rise of Jitulio Vargas and his Estado Novo regime
Speaker 2: in the nineteen thirties, there was a very severe oppression
Speaker 2: of anarchist activities. In Argentina, you also had anarchism taken
Speaker 2: route in the late nineteenth century, again largely due to
Speaker 2: the influence of European immigrants, and by the early twenties
Speaker 2: entry Buenos Airess had become a hub of anarchist activity,
Speaker 2: with numerous anarchist newspapers, clubs and unions. The Argentine Region
Speaker 2: of Workers Federation, foundated nineteen oh one, was a leading
Speaker 2: Anachosynicus organization that advocated for workers' rights and direct action. Sadly,
Speaker 2: the movement reached its peak during the first two decades
Speaker 2: of twentieth century, and fortunately, similarly to Brazil, due to
Speaker 2: the repression they endured, particularly during the infamous Tragic Week
Speaker 2: in nineteen nineteen, where a major workers strike led to
Speaker 2: violent clashes and a crackdown on anarchists and labor activists,
Speaker 2: the overall movement went into a decline. Peru during this
Speaker 2: period was predominantly an agrarian society with a large and
Speaker 2: economically marginalized indigenous population. It hardly resembled a nation in
Speaker 2: the throes of industrialization. So though there was significant capus
Speaker 2: growth in Peru's export sectors, chiefly mining, sugar, cotton, and wool,
Speaker 2: fast areas of the country remained largely unaffected by these
Speaker 2: capitalist changes. Aside from Lima and its adjacent port city, Callao,
Speaker 2: which served as the nation's administrative, commercial and financial hub,
Speaker 2: sizeable urban economies were conspicuously absent. This lack of urban
Speaker 2: centers typically associate with industrial growth post a unique challenge
Speaker 2: for the development of a robust labor movement, but labor
Speaker 2: one would still arise. The working class in limaclaw would
Speaker 2: emerge beginning in the eighteen nineties and early nineteen hundreds,
Speaker 2: spurred by the export boom that invigorated the urban economy.
Speaker 2: Profits from the export sectors were reinvested into new financial institutions,
Speaker 2: infrastructure projects, utility companies, and consumer goods industries by native
Speaker 2: and foreign capitalists, and this economic growth led to a
Speaker 2: dramatic rise in the urban labor force. In Lima, the
Speaker 2: number of manual workers grew from about nine thousand in
Speaker 2: eighteen seventy six tony twenty four thy nineteen oh eight,
Speaker 2: making up seventeen percent of Lima's estimated one hundred forty
Speaker 2: thousand residents. In Kalao, the workforce grew at a slower pace,
Speaker 2: doubling in size betree nineteen oh five nineteen twenty to
Speaker 2: around eight thousand out of a total population of fifty
Speaker 2: two thousand. So this is not a bustling industrial heartland
Speaker 2: by any means, and peasant based society is are not
Speaker 2: exactly known for their cyndicalism, But despite its unlikelihood, Peru
Speaker 2: was indeed also a place of anarchistinicalism, though most notably
Speaker 2: within Lima and Kalao. The nineteen tens and twenties were
Speaker 2: the Heydi of syncalism Peru, as anarchist ideas and publications
Speaker 2: were circulated by a small handful of radical immigrant intellectuals,
Speaker 2: alongside the labor organized and efforts of craftsmen and machine
Speaker 2: tenders who were inspired by Prudon, Bacunin, Kropotkin, and Manchester.
Speaker 2: Thanks to their efforts, anarchistinicalism would come to dominate the
Speaker 2: still fledgling labor movement in Peru, spreading its influence beyond
Speaker 2: Limacalau to the working classes along Peru's northern coast and
Speaker 2: central and southern highlands. Workers in factories, crafts transportation, and
Speaker 2: rural settings all found appeal in the ideals and practice
Speaker 2: of the ideology. Of course, at the size of the
Speaker 2: movement of the time, the anarchists may have dominated the movement,
Speaker 2: but the movement itself and the anarchists within it constituted
Speaker 2: a minority of Peru's urban and rural working classes. Keeps
Speaker 2: that in mind as we proceed stea emerging Peruvian working
Speaker 2: class was highly diverse. He had workers of different origins, gender, race, ethnicity, age,
Speaker 2: skill level, and despite these differences, They all were dealing
Speaker 2: with long working hours after beteen twelve to sixteen hours
Speaker 2: a day in poor conditions for meager wages the barely
Speaker 2: covered basic living expenses. Seeking to improve their die working
Speaker 2: and living conditions, workers began to turn to anarchism because
Speaker 2: the elite dominated political system in Peru was simply not
Speaker 2: taking them on. But there was a handful of sympathetic
Speaker 2: dissolution deletes like Manuel Gonzalez Prada and upper class intellectual
Speaker 2: who became an anarchist after interacting with French and Spanish
Speaker 2: anarchists during a self imposed European exile between eighteen ninety
Speaker 2: one and eighteen ninety eight. Gonzales Prada founded the first
Speaker 2: anarchist publication, Los Parias in nineteen oh four, and this
Speaker 2: was soon followed by other anarchist newspapers like Lasimier and
Speaker 2: ter Roja, Elambriento, Umanidad and Oprimido. Anarchist slogans like Kropotkins
Speaker 2: liberties and not pistowed They're seized were prominently featured in
Speaker 2: these newspapers, and these publications mainly produced by radical intellectuals
Speaker 2: such as Clicerio Tassara and hil Arihi Cali Carlos del
Speaker 2: Barrizo and Ino Sincio Lombarosi introduced workers to European anarchist
Speaker 2: ideas and perspectives on the state, the Bouchoisi, the church,
Speaker 2: property and class relations. Anarchist study circles further promoted these
Speaker 2: ideas among workers, operated by both workers and radical intellectuals.
Speaker 2: Groups like the Center of Socialist Studies First of Me
Speaker 2: in Limo and Love and Light in Calau provided spaces
Speaker 2: for discussing anarchist principles, and these study circles, like the
Speaker 2: Anarchist Press, emphasized workers self emancipation and cultural advancement. And
Speaker 2: somehow this man manages to come up in practically every
Speaker 2: single one of my explorations of anarchist history, that being
Speaker 2: the Spanish anarchist Francisco Ferrer. He was the guy who
Speaker 2: kickstarted the modern school movement in Spain and led to
Speaker 2: the creation of anarchist schools worldwide, and he was also
Speaker 2: unjustly executed by the Spanish state.
Speaker 3: YEA, for there is like a guy I like to
Speaker 3: a lot I like to. If you're in Barcelona, you
Speaker 3: can visit him, along with Ascaso and de Rudy on
Speaker 3: much week. They're in the cemetery there they have like
Speaker 3: a little little area with the three of them.
Speaker 2: I was wondering for a second therese he said, oh,
Speaker 2: you could visit him. I was like, well, really, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure he's six feet under he's.
Speaker 3: Immortal, like they've reanimated him.
Speaker 1: It's like zombie for there. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I feel like the Simpsons did an episode of that
Speaker 2: with Lenin.
Speaker 3: Fortunately, I'm trying to think. I'm pretty sure that anarchids
Speaker 3: have we have spared the world the embalming of our leaders.
Speaker 2: Fortunately. Yeah, fortunately, I mean his death. Though despite not
Speaker 2: being embalmed, his death still continues to refuberate across these
Speaker 2: historical episodes across the world. Upon his death, anarchists went
Speaker 2: out in their numbers to protest his execution, and Peru
Speaker 2: was no different. On October seventeenth, nineteen or nine, the
Speaker 2: Center of Socialist Studies First of Me organized a public
Speaker 2: protest in response to the execution of perrer A by
Speaker 2: the Spanish government, and these sorts of demonstrations were not
Speaker 2: new to the workers in Peru at the time. In
Speaker 2: the previous year, an anarchist musical group associated with the
Speaker 2: Center held a performance to commemorate the nineteen o seven
Speaker 2: massacre of Chilian mine workers and for the more annual
Speaker 2: media celebrations in honor of the Chicago Martyrs were also
Speaker 2: supported by these study circles and the anarchist press. The
Speaker 2: first May Day celebration in Lima, organized primarily by the
Speaker 2: Federation of Bakery Workers Star of Peru, took place in
Speaker 2: nineteen oh five, highlighting international working class solidarity and the
Speaker 2: struggle for the eight hour workday, while honoring Peru's first
Speaker 2: worker martyr and to the dedication of anarchist leaders, publications
Speaker 2: and study circles, the early years of Peruvian anarchism and
Speaker 2: labor organization laid the groundwork for a movement committed to
Speaker 2: justice and dignity for all workers. We can say that
Speaker 2: by nineteen eleven anarchist cynicalism had truly firmly taken route.
Speaker 2: Why because this was the year of the first general
Speaker 2: strike in Peru by the urban working class, spearheaded by
Speaker 2: anarcho synicalists. In March nineteen eleven, five hundred workers at
Speaker 2: the US owned Vitarde cotton Mill initiated a strike demanding
Speaker 2: higher wages, a reduction of the work day from thirteen
Speaker 2: to ten hours and the elimination of the night shift.
Speaker 2: And I found these demands very interesting because I'm imagining
Speaker 2: even know people back then saying, you know, how lazy
Speaker 2: can you be? You know, you only want to work
Speaker 2: ten hours? Like, come on, some of us, some of
Speaker 2: us are putting in sixteen, seventeen, eighteen hours, pick up,
Speaker 2: pick up the slack.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it's always like these early anarchist demands. You
Speaker 3: just realize the unfathomable misery of being like part of
Speaker 3: the industrial working class in the late nineteenth and early
Speaker 3: twentieth century.
Speaker 2: Yes, like can you can you ease the boot off
Speaker 2: my neck for like two seconds a day? You know?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's people fighting and dying right to work, like
Speaker 3: the amount of hours that most of us are awake
Speaker 3: in a day. They would work that much without taking
Speaker 3: care of any of their family or personal or other needs.
Speaker 2: Like can I please see my family more than an already?
Speaker 2: Absolutely not, no youth, And then the Pinkerton's come out
Speaker 2: and yeah.
Speaker 3: Yes, exactly, like, yeah, people are asking for sixteen hour
Speaker 3: day and their response is to send out someone to
Speaker 3: murder them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's ridiculous, Yeah, but I am impressed by their
Speaker 2: tenacity you know, yeah, absolutely, even with the what I
Speaker 2: would consider to be rather soft demands, I mean a
Speaker 2: ten hour worth, the higher wages, and the elimination of
Speaker 2: the night shift. I mean those are things that some
Speaker 2: people take for granted today, right, Yeah, but that's what
Speaker 2: they had to fight for. And their strike lasted twenty
Speaker 2: nine days.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, that's very impressive. Yeah.
Speaker 3: This has reminded me of like, I'm working on a
Speaker 3: book right now, and I've been reading this biography of
Speaker 3: Duluti for a while. The able pass wrote and it
Speaker 3: passes book where de Ruti goes into exile for a
Speaker 3: way too and turn travels across South America and these
Speaker 3: these anarchist schools are being set up along the modern
Speaker 3: system as envisaged by Jess fel Air. And they don't
Speaker 3: have any funding, right because everyone's so dirt poor that
Speaker 3: like that, there isn't much surplus to contribute to their
Speaker 3: children's education. And they have once they have taken care
Speaker 3: of their subsistence needs. And there's this line in the
Speaker 3: book which, for whatever reason, it's just like a line
Speaker 3: I aspire to write something this beautiful. It's de Ruty
Speaker 3: was very fond of children, and so he risked his
Speaker 3: life robbing banks to fund their education, which is like
Speaker 3: I just love the pivot from like he liked kids
Speaker 3: and therefore he conducted on bank robbery throughout the world.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, it's like you know, put the money in
Speaker 2: the bag and maybe some textbooks while yeah at it.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, and like he at this time, like the
Speaker 3: anarchists were so pure at this time, and like in
Speaker 3: their sort of aspirations and in their actions in many ways.
Speaker 3: In other ways, not of course that they could not
Speaker 3: rid themselves to some of their gender assumptions, but they
Speaker 3: would make an accounting of everything they stole, which is
Speaker 3: really not like if if you're involved in crimes and
Speaker 3: you're listening, it's not a good.
Speaker 2: Idea, yeah, exact.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but he would do it to to like prove
Speaker 3: sure everyone that he wasn't stealing for his own personal benefit.
Speaker 3: He'd be like, we get this to this school, and
Speaker 3: we bought some textbooks and like that. You know, they
Speaker 3: needed school lunches, so we got some sacks of rice
Speaker 3: and bananas, and like, as you can see, the entire
Speaker 3: money from this bank heightst has been redistributed, and we're
Speaker 3: off to another country to do the same.
Speaker 2: Now, I'm just imagining this guy like he's keeping all
Speaker 2: these records because the anarchist auditor is going to come
Speaker 2: and you know, check all.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like I'm not sure who would like
Speaker 3: doubt the commitment of the man traveling around the world
Speaker 3: robbing the banks. But apparently they felt that, like no
Speaker 3: one should be above approach, which is admirable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, you know what's not admirable, Andrew ads.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's our obligation to include products and services in
Speaker 3: these podcasts, but we have to.
Speaker 1: So here we go.
Speaker 3: Okay, we're back, and yeah, you're telling me about their
Speaker 3: twenty nine day general strike or that strike rather not
Speaker 3: general strike.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the strike, but you're close because the strike started
Speaker 2: in March as a regular strike, it last twenty nine
Speaker 2: days and then eventually escalates into a general strike on
Speaker 2: April tenth, bring in Lema's business and transport to a
Speaker 2: complete halt. And so the following day, President Leguya intervened
Speaker 2: and forced the mills management to meet the workers' demands.
Speaker 1: That's a win.
Speaker 2: It is a way of a ten hour workday, but
Speaker 2: a win.
Speaker 3: Nonetheless, Yeah, I guess it's approved that you can force
Speaker 3: them to change and you can you can continue from there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And so to save safeguard their heart won victories,
Speaker 2: textile workers in Vitality established the Textile Workers Unification of
Speaker 2: Ititarate in May nineteen eleven, dedicators to defending the rights
Speaker 2: of all workers. Inspired with Ytart's example, workers at other
Speaker 2: major mills and Lima began forming their own resistance societies
Speaker 2: dedicated to serving and defending the right of the proletariat
Speaker 2: in general and the textile workers in particular. The movement
Speaker 2: continued to gain momentum in nineteen twelve nineteen thirteen. In
Speaker 2: October nineteen twelve, the that protester group succeeded in forming
Speaker 2: the first Workers Regional Federation of Peru, uniting various worker
Speaker 2: resistance societies modeled after Argentina's Workers Regional Federation. The FORP,
Speaker 2: as it was also called, advocated for both immediate improvements
Speaker 2: and long term social revolution, aimen to unite workers across Peru. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: as is the case with many workers struggles in this time,
Speaker 2: economic instability and state hostelsy during World War One led
Speaker 2: to the dissolusion of the FORP in nineteen sixteen. Thankfully,
Speaker 2: this setback was temporary, between nineteen sixteen and nineteen nineteen,
Speaker 2: anacosynicalis redouble their efforts, focusing on organizing both urban and
Speaker 2: rural workers. Following the death of Manuel Gonzalez Prada nineteen nineteen,
Speaker 2: work around union presses emerged, spreading anachosyniclust ideas and replace
Speaker 2: in earlier anarchist publications. This renewed activity strengthened the labor movement, theadnity,
Speaker 2: establishment of new labor federations and the revival of the FORP.
Speaker 2: And with the deteriorating conditions during the war years and
Speaker 2: real wages fallen sharply, they had to be a wave
Speaker 2: of strikes in nineteen eighteen. The most significant strike occurred
Speaker 2: in December nineteen eighty, when nearly twenty nine hundred textile
Speaker 2: workers demanded an eight hour workday. Finally we're making some progress.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we'll get in there.
Speaker 2: What I find so interesting about the demand of an
Speaker 2: eight hour workday is if we look at their first
Speaker 2: demand nineteen eleven, they fought to reduce their work day
Speaker 2: from thirteen hours to ten hours, right, and then a
Speaker 2: mayor seven years later eleven to nineteen eighteen, I mean
Speaker 2: seven years.
Speaker 1: Later, Yeah, they go them down to eight They go.
Speaker 2: From ten hours to eight hours. And by the way,
Speaker 2: by January nineteen nineteen, they organized a general strike. They
Speaker 2: moved on to general strike to let to street clashes
Speaker 2: and business shutdowns, and despite the arrests and the torture
Speaker 2: of strike leaders, the strike continued until president they were
Speaker 2: conceded to the eight hour weekday. So in seven years
Speaker 2: they went from ten hours to eight hours. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: then we've all collectively as a global society been stuck
Speaker 2: on eight hours for the past century, over our century
Speaker 2: this point, I mean it's twenty four this was nineteen nineteen.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Wow. Putting it that way, that is blake.
Speaker 2: We should we should be down to on hour this point.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, we give it extrapolate, right, we take two
Speaker 3: points and draw the line. That's what happened when like
Speaker 3: they see the success of the people in the street
Speaker 3: train and they know they had a power and they
Speaker 3: can keep going.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, because they wouldn't have felt so boll demand
Speaker 2: the eight hours if they didn't fight and win that
Speaker 2: that's in hours at first, just a couple of years before.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like it's why we have made a versus International
Speaker 3: Workers Day, right, Like because like the number of rights
Speaker 3: that we enjoy visa VI, our employers and the state
Speaker 3: were all fought for and won by people who sometimes
Speaker 3: died in the process, and like, yeah, we ought to
Speaker 3: remember that. I think like sometimes now organizing forgets how
Speaker 3: hard fought those were, but also like they won. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we have not had many dubs in the in the
Speaker 3: intervening period, of course, the state, like the state has
Speaker 3: grown exponentially stronger.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean the situation has changed. We have
Speaker 2: to acknowledge that. Yeah, but it's just it is very fascinating,
Speaker 2: you know that the way that you know, these small
Speaker 2: wins was able to embolden bigger wins yeah, later down
Speaker 2: the line, and that keeping that momentum really is vital.
Speaker 1: Hmm, yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3: It still works that way when I like, you know,
Speaker 3: in the last couple of years, I've been to Rajava
Speaker 3: and to Mian Mahar, Like, they have done things that
Speaker 3: would have seemed inconceivable to them ten years before they
Speaker 3: did them. And in both cases it's by staying in
Speaker 3: the streets, right or staying in the jungles or the
Speaker 3: mountains or wherever you're fighting them, and then refusing to
Speaker 3: like accept that the state can tell you what to do,
Speaker 3: even when the state tries to bring its coercive violence
Speaker 3: against you. And like that's how all of these these
Speaker 3: winds occur. But it doesn't happen without organization, without community,
Speaker 3: without like all the things that they had built in Peru,
Speaker 3: right like before they did their first strike, they had
Speaker 3: to have confidence that their strike would succeed, and presumably
Speaker 3: a strike fund and a means to collectively support the
Speaker 3: people who weren't getting paid, and they had to build
Speaker 3: all that and then like these things can kind of
Speaker 3: cascade once the once the movement has a strong base.
Speaker 2: Exactly. There's the reason that I'm going through these histories.
Speaker 2: You know, these are the sort of lessons I want
Speaker 2: people to be able to glean.
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally.
Speaker 3: I think it can be frustrating Otherwise, like it can
Speaker 3: be frustrating to be people. I'm not saying people right
Speaker 3: now aren't trying, because people do a lot and they're
Speaker 3: working hard, But it can be frustrating until you see
Speaker 3: that it takes years of building that base and then
Speaker 3: things things can seem to come quickly, but it does
Speaker 3: years of work sort of behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: That has happened first.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, so In the months following the general strike, workers
Speaker 2: continue to protest the rising costs of living. Organizers like
Speaker 2: ad Alberto Funken Nicolas Gutara formed the Committee for the
Speaker 2: Cheapen Enough of Prime Necessities, mobilizing thousands. I think we
Speaker 2: definitely need a Committee for the Cheap Enough of Prime
Speaker 2: Necessities today.
Speaker 1: It's an amazing group. Like I've just what a great thing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, fantastic name. When the demands were ignored, you know,
Speaker 2: here we go again. A general strike was declared in
Speaker 2: May nineteen nineteen, resulting in violent clashes with the state
Speaker 2: and the arrests of Kutara and another figure, Carlos Barper.
Speaker 2: Upon their release, resolve unshaken, Gutara and Barba defiantly addressed
Speaker 2: President Leaguya, stating in part that the populace of today
Speaker 2: was not the team one of yesterday, which had silently
Speaker 2: borne all terrannees.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a threat, yeah.
Speaker 2: Two days later, FORP was reactivated with a mission to
Speaker 2: dismantle capitalism and create a society based on mutual aid
Speaker 2: and equality. Serocosilicus' movement had dissolved any linkering passivity among
Speaker 2: Leemaclau's workers. The passion hunger and aggression towards state and
Speaker 2: employer threats had reached a crescendo by this point. For example,
Speaker 2: in September nineteen twenty one, textile workers seized el Inca
Speaker 2: mill in response to management's plans to close the factory.
Speaker 2: Although they were eventually dislodged by troops, their active resistance
Speaker 2: demonstrated their determination and boldness. And it isn't that fascinating
Speaker 2: that these workers were willing to seize the mill they
Speaker 2: had worked at because the margin and plan and closing
Speaker 2: it down. They were willing to take control of that
Speaker 2: place and work at it, and you contribute to the economy.
Speaker 2: But the troops were mobilized ensure that they did not
Speaker 2: exercise autonomy as workers to self organize their own labor.
Speaker 2: It's either you're under management or out of a job.
Speaker 2: There's no working for yourself or working as a collective.
Speaker 2: Also in nineteen twenty one, the FORP was replaced by
Speaker 2: the Local Workers Federation or fol which lashed out against
Speaker 2: the government's legal rules against strikes. So in nineteen twenty
Speaker 2: President Leaguiya put forward a new constitution with very strict
Speaker 2: provisions to regulate this wave of strikes and to put
Speaker 2: the labor conflicts under arbitration by the state, and so
Speaker 2: the Local Workers Federation the FOL, which had replaced the
Speaker 2: FORP in nineteen twenty one, lashed out at this government's
Speaker 2: legal rules and vowed to completely ignore it. At the time,
Speaker 2: as well, alongside the labour struggles, anaqual syncalists were struggling
Speaker 2: to transform culture. Contrary to the idea that the FOL
Speaker 2: neglected cultural issues, evidence shows that they actively developed a
Speaker 2: distinct working class culture. Their strategy was a war of
Speaker 2: position against rule elites, even to create a counterculture that
Speaker 2: challenged the dominant bourgeois values. At the nineteen twenty one
Speaker 2: FOL Congress, workers affirmed the importance of both economic improvements
Speaker 2: and cultural uplift, which led to the estalient of initiatives
Speaker 2: like a worker's daily newspaper, a popular library, and various
Speaker 2: cultural associations. One key example was the central musical Obrero
Speaker 2: de Lima, founded in nineteen twenty two, which used music
Speaker 2: to promote workers' rights and solidarity. Workers also participated in
Speaker 2: social events like the Fiesta de la planter, a secular
Speaker 2: festival designed to compete with Christian holidays and promote class unity.
Speaker 2: They also held media celebrations and organized tributes for foreign comrades. Moreover,
Speaker 2: the fol supported the creation of popular universities to educate
Speaker 2: workers and foster cultural and political awareness. Meanwhile, also in
Speaker 2: the late nineteen tens and nineteen twenties, the southern highlands
Speaker 2: of Peru saw the emergence of a dynamic network of
Speaker 2: anarchostynicalist movements. The network thrived amid the bursioning will export economy.
Speaker 2: The will trade's expansion spurreed economic links and infrastructural development,
Speaker 2: which turned Arakeeper into a key economic center and the
Speaker 2: hub of the anarchistyndicalist network in the region. Anacosynicalism and
Speaker 2: araqueper was influenced by four major factors. A radical liberal press,
Speaker 2: the labor movement and Lema, immigrant anarchists, and cross border
Speaker 2: connections with Chilean Anaquascynicalists influenced by thinkers like Manuel Gonzaldees Prado,
Speaker 2: intellectuals and artistans critique Arakeepers conservative society through radical publications
Speaker 2: such as Lariete and Bandera Roja. These radical ideas burned
Speaker 2: significant actions like atta keepers first major strikes in nineteen
Speaker 2: oh two, the inaugural media celebration in nineteen oh six,
Speaker 2: and the establishment of pivotal organizations such as the Workers'
Speaker 2: Social Center of Arakeeper and the Worker Coalition of the Neighborhoods.
Speaker 2: The labor movement in Lima, along with influences Argentina and Chile,
Speaker 2: further inspired at Keepers workers. By December nineteen eighteen, motivated
Speaker 2: by reports of workers struggles abroad, Artisans and Workers and
Speaker 2: Arakeeper founder of Society of Workers and Mutual Assistants the
Speaker 2: SOS in July nineteen nineteen, following Lema's example, at Keeper's
Speaker 2: main labor organizations establish a committee to combat the rising
Speaker 2: cost of living. When the demands were ignored, they too
Speaker 2: launched a general strike, which lasted eight days and received
Speaker 2: widespread support. While some wage and benefit demands were met,
Speaker 2: many of the committee's requests remained unaddressed. So after the
Speaker 2: general strike, at Keeper's workers founded the Atrakeeper Worker Federation
Speaker 2: to advocate for their rights and demands. Further, that federation
Speaker 2: was one of numerous unions and federations, either being the
Speaker 2: local Worker Federation of Atkeeper or Fuller, which emerged between
Speaker 2: nineteen nineteen to nineteen twenty six. In response to calls
Speaker 2: from the FRPEAT enhanced the worker's capacity for direct action
Speaker 2: against capitalist and state depression. Like their counterparts in Lima, Atkeepers,
Speaker 2: anarchysynicalists employed direct action to achieve both immediate and long
Speaker 2: term goals. The protests against a railway tariff hike in
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty three pressure the government enough to suspend the increase,
Speaker 2: but nineteen twenty five was perhaps their most pivotal year
Speaker 2: because the Popular Workers Assembly, which was an ad hoc
Speaker 2: coalition of anarchisticalist groups to Atkeeper and Lima, called for
Speaker 2: a general strike against the Road Conscription Law, which required
Speaker 2: adult males to register and to work on unpaid state
Speaker 2: infrastructure projects for upward of twelve days per year. For
Speaker 2: the Assembly, this was more than just an unfailed law.
Speaker 2: This was a symbol of the state's utter disregard for
Speaker 2: the working class. As a strike unfolded, the authorities sought
Speaker 2: to crush the movement, arrest in labor leaders and attempting
Speaker 2: to dismantle the anarchist organization's influence. But even with only
Speaker 2: a small industrial sector and a relatively small population, at
Speaker 2: a Keeper's labor movement demonstrated a remarkable level of class
Speaker 2: consciousness and solidarity beyond strikes, to use the variety of
Speaker 2: methods to build solidarity and consciousness among workers, from worker
Speaker 2: libraries to football clubs. One key figure in this movement
Speaker 2: was Ramon Rossignole, a Spanish architect and passionate anarcho syndic list.
Speaker 2: Arriving an arakeeper in nineteen nineteen, Roussignole turned his office
Speaker 2: into a hub of anarchist thought at activism. His influence
Speaker 2: was profound as he trained future leaders like Justine do
Speaker 2: Leendo and Francisco Ramos, who would become central figures in
Speaker 2: the labor movement. Roussigno's efforts extended beyond traditional activism. He
Speaker 2: also founded a popular university in the footsteps of Francisco Frere,
Speaker 2: and it still as a place for workers to receive
Speaker 2: education and become politically conscious. In Moyendo, a key port
Speaker 2: city in Peru, the influence of the International Workers of
Speaker 2: the World was particularly strong. Louis Armando Trevigno, a key
Speaker 2: chile and IWW leader, published a series of influential articles
Speaker 2: in a newspaper called Labor Testa in nineteen twenty two.
Speaker 2: He extolled the virtues the IWW's methods and called for
Speaker 2: international solidarity among workers. He was best received right in Moyendo,
Speaker 2: where by early nineteen twenty five maritime workers from Chile
Speaker 2: had established close and secretive tie to the local Peruvian
Speaker 2: workers under the cover of darkness the health clandestine meetings
Speaker 2: and an old house at Ailey Street. These meetings would
Speaker 2: lead to the formation of a local iww branch right
Speaker 2: in Moyendo. But it wasn't just a meeting of the minds,
Speaker 2: but of the shared struggles and victories of the workers
Speaker 2: that's event to these ties. In February nineteen twenty five,
Speaker 2: a popular general strike in Moyendo saw workers fighting back
Speaker 2: against unjust practices by British owned companies. The strike was
Speaker 2: a massive success, and the solidarity from Chile and IWW
Speaker 2: members bolstered the proved workers' resolve. The government's response the
Speaker 2: anarchistynicalist movement was severe fear in the spread of what
Speaker 2: they saw as Bolshevik ideas. They cracked down hard on
Speaker 2: the Moyendo labor movement. Security forces were deploy to suppressed
Speaker 2: protests and activists were arrested or reported to Chile. Of course,
Speaker 2: government repression efforts were not fully successful due to resilience
Speaker 2: of loose, flexible and decentralized organizing. The seeds of Anarchisynopust's
Speaker 2: thought had already taken root. Throughout nineteen twenty six and beyond,
Speaker 2: the labor movement and Moyendo continued to be a site
Speaker 2: of struggle and resistance. Workers engaged in protests and work stoppages,
Speaker 2: driven am by the ideas of direct action and social
Speaker 2: justice that had been nurtured through the interaction with Chilean wobblies.
Speaker 3: Do you know what was almost certainly not nurtured through
Speaker 3: interactions with Chilean wobblies. Andrew ads Yeah, and we are
Speaker 3: back from that break.
Speaker 2: Beyond the cities, anachistinicalism had a profound impact on the
Speaker 2: rural indigenous communities in Cusco and Puno. Internal migration and
Speaker 2: the exchange of ideals led to the rise of a
Speaker 2: new political consciousness among the peasantry. Carlos Condorina, an indigenous
Speaker 2: presidant from Puno, became a key figure in the Tejuante
Speaker 2: Suio pro Indian Rights Central Committee the Secret where he
Speaker 2: championed indigenous labor rights and the struggle for better work
Speaker 2: and conditions. His work, along with that of other provincial
Speaker 2: migrants like Skeel Or Viola, bridged the gap between the
Speaker 2: urban anarchosynicalists and the rural Indigenous communities. Reviola was a
Speaker 2: passionate advocate for both indigenous rights and the broader anarchostnicalist course,
Speaker 2: pushing back against the paternalism of this date toward indigenous
Speaker 2: community and connecting the struggles of workers and peasants alike.
Speaker 2: He spoke out against bourgeois pigs yankee imperialism, all while
Speaker 2: encouraging pride in one's indigeneity. Alongside with Yola, Salazar and
Speaker 2: Ayulo were also guide the sept and Approve Young Regional
Speaker 2: Indian Workers Federation toward anarchost syndicuist ideology, organization and tactics.
Speaker 2: Even after this untimely death in nineteen twenty five, with
Speaker 2: Viewler's legacy continue to inspire anarchists and indigenous movements. Indigenous
Speaker 2: leaders and activists have being grown fed up with the
Speaker 2: abuse of practices of local authorities and the gaminalyists, the
Speaker 2: rural bosses who exploited the peasants. Pedro Jose Rada Igama,
Speaker 2: the Minister of Government and Police at the time blamed
Speaker 2: these uprisings on known agitators. He claimed that these agitators
Speaker 2: were convincing the indigenous people that they road conscription law
Speaker 2: and other municipal laws were designed to oppress them, even
Speaker 2: though the indigenous people could see themselves the effects of
Speaker 2: the law. Both the anarchists and the indigenous organizers had
Speaker 2: laid the crown work, but it was the people themselves
Speaker 2: who chose not to accept such state impositions. Uprisings broke
Speaker 2: out across Cusco and Puno District. Authorities had to suspend
Speaker 2: the conscription in several provinces due to the intense resistance.
Speaker 2: The shaer force of the crackdown was so extreme that
Speaker 2: the city mayor and the municipal council had to appeal
Speaker 2: to Presidentallyguya for the suspension of the law, and they
Speaker 2: succeeded at least temporarily until July nineteen twenty six, and
Speaker 2: as soon as the laws reinstated, the Popular Assembly reignited
Speaker 2: the resistance. They even went as first issuing direct threats
Speaker 2: the officials enforced in the law, noting that they had
Speaker 2: the home addresses of the conscription Council and was not
Speaker 2: responsible for any potential consequences of their actions.
Speaker 1: That's definitely a threat.
Speaker 2: That's definitely out there. Yeah. They also said, delegates to
Speaker 2: Lima to organize a nationwide campaign against the law, which
Speaker 2: led to their arrest and sparked even more protests in
Speaker 2: Atkeeper and Lima throughout late nineteen twenties. Despite increasing state repression,
Speaker 2: the anarchists anarchisyndicalists did not let up for as long
Speaker 2: as they could, so over the first three decades of
Speaker 2: the nineteen hundreds, anarchist syndicalism in Peru spread thanks to
Speaker 2: a mix of factors, the distribution of radical ideas through publications,
Speaker 2: the influence of activists from other countries, and most importantly,
Speaker 2: the work of local organizers, most prominently in Lima Kalau.
Speaker 2: Despite facing immense challenges and a significant decline by the
Speaker 2: end of the nineteen twenties, the movement laid the groundwork
Speaker 2: for future labor politics. Former Arachas cynicalists joined new political
Speaker 2: parties in an effort to carry forward their ideas, compromising
Speaker 2: a long way, so the influence didn't fully disappear, but
Speaker 2: it did transform. Still, their spirit lived on somewhat in
Speaker 2: the ongoing fight for justice and equality in Peru, one
Speaker 2: that continues to this day.
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