Speaker 1: Also media, Hello and welcome to It could happen here.
Speaker 2: I'm here with Mia. How are you doing?
Speaker 3: It's it's abominably early, which not even podcast early. It's
Speaker 3: like eight am here, So it's gonna be where we're
Speaker 3: We've done the caffeine.
Speaker 4: We're holding on for dear life sake.
Speaker 2: I feel you. I feel you.
Speaker 1: I have to ask, have you noticed that the continents
Speaker 1: are dripping a little bit?
Speaker 4: Continents are dripping?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And I don't mean like blinged out.
Speaker 1: I mean like if you take a look at the
Speaker 1: map and you assume that north is up and southeast down,
Speaker 1: it'll find it kind of looks like our major landmass
Speaker 1: is melting a little bit.
Speaker 3: Oh you know, Okay, now, no, not that you say it.
Speaker 3: I can kind of see it.
Speaker 2: Hmm. Yeah.
Speaker 1: This is a concept known as continental drip. And I'm
Speaker 1: not tripping on anything. I'm not the first person to
Speaker 1: notice all.
Speaker 2: You can look it up.
Speaker 1: There's a whole Wikipedia page of what we've seen in everything,
Speaker 1: and well, South America is alongside India. They're kind of
Speaker 1: seen as the quintessential examples of this continential trip. And
Speaker 1: this is a very odd way that I've decided to
Speaker 1: segue into the next nation in our exploration of Latin
Speaker 1: America and anarchist history. It's right to the east of
Speaker 1: Chile and south of every other country near Temisphale. That is,
Speaker 1: of course, the Argentine Republic, more commonly known as Argentina,
Speaker 1: which is derived, by the way, from the Latin word
Speaker 1: for silver. My name is Andrew Sage. You can find
Speaker 1: me on YouTube as andrewism and thanks to the scholarship
Speaker 1: of Chuck Moss, Jeffrey la Focad, and Ahil Capileetti, we're
Speaker 1: going to take a journey into the history of anarchism
Speaker 1: in Argentina.
Speaker 3: Also got to do the shout out for Calculates Anarchism
Speaker 3: in Latin America. Great book, also great cover, got a
Speaker 3: big bird on it.
Speaker 4: Good stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, shout out of course, of course, So I suppose
Speaker 1: the best place to start us in the beginning. So
Speaker 1: there's this thing called the Big Bang, right.
Speaker 3: Universe expanded extremely fast like Peaco second.
Speaker 2: Large expansion of matter.
Speaker 1: And yeah, but seriously, Argentina has been peopled since the
Speaker 1: Paleolithic period, in particularly fine evidence of ancient people's butchering
Speaker 1: the meat of an armadillo relative as early as twenty
Speaker 1: one thousand years ago.
Speaker 4: Geeze.
Speaker 2: So you know we've been around.
Speaker 1: We've been around from then on as far as we
Speaker 1: can tell for now, at least, because you know, the
Speaker 1: timelines are constantly getting updated with new information, as it
Speaker 1: should be. The area to be known as Argentina was
Speaker 1: pretty sparsely populated by a variety of divus cultures with
Speaker 1: diverse social organization, including foragers and farmers. To take a
Speaker 1: long and largely unknown history of indigenous co existence and conflicts. Short,
Speaker 1: people continue to live and the earth continue to spin
Speaker 1: for the next few millennia until a few ships on
Speaker 1: the horizon spelled doom for all to see. These are,
Speaker 1: of course, the Europeans who first arrived in the region
Speaker 1: with the fifteen oh two voyage of Amerigo Vespucci, with
Speaker 1: the Spanish navigators Juan Dias de Solis and Sebastian Cabo
Speaker 1: in particular, visiting the territory in fifteen sixteen and fifteen
Speaker 1: twenty six respectively. Then in fifteen thirty six Pedro de
Speaker 1: Mendoza founded this small settlement of Buenos Aires, maybe avarid
Speaker 1: of it, but it was a band that in fifteen
Speaker 1: forty one, thanks to continuous indigenous resistance and had to
Speaker 1: be refounded in fifteen eighty. As for the rest of
Speaker 1: would be Argentina, the Spanish Empire that was run in
Speaker 1: most of the continant was busy looting the silver and
Speaker 1: gold mines in Bolivia and Peru, so Argentina was kind
Speaker 1: of seen as a backwater. It wasn't as much of
Speaker 1: an interest by comparison, Argentina stayed under the Viceroyalty of
Speaker 1: Peru and to the creation of the Viceroyalty of the
Speaker 1: Rio de la Plata in seventeen seventy six with Buenos
Speaker 1: Aires as its capital. After two field the British invasions
Speaker 1: in eighteen oh six and eighteen oh seven, and as
Speaker 1: you could see, the British and Argentina have had a.
Speaker 2: Bit of a scuffle for some time now.
Speaker 1: The Buenos Aires capital would be the stage of revolution,
Speaker 1: as the eighteen ten May Revolution replaced the viceroy Baltassar
Speaker 1: hidl Gorya Cesniros with the First Junta, a new government
Speaker 1: made by and for the locals, and then there was
Speaker 1: a royalist counter revolution, some anti colonial alliance with the
Speaker 1: then Spanish Philippines, Divisions between centralists and federalists over the
Speaker 1: newly formed Argentine state, proposals to crown a Sapper Inca
Speaker 1: as a monarch of an independent Argentina and the official
Speaker 1: declaration of independence for a republic on the ninth of
Speaker 1: July eighteen sixteen. Just to go back a bit to
Speaker 1: be clear, there is an alternate history scenario in which
Speaker 1: Argentina was briefly or continuously under an Incan monarchy that
Speaker 1: would have ripped literally I believe it was a cousin
Speaker 1: of Tuba Kamaru. The food incredible was being considered for
Speaker 1: the position. Incredible, incredible, incredible.
Speaker 2: Indeed.
Speaker 1: See, people tend to see South America as just like
Speaker 1: you know, it's just the extra continent. I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't think people think about how much has gone on
Speaker 1: down there, or rather it's not really present in the
Speaker 1: English speaking world's imagination.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: We tend to focus on more of the Northern Hemisphere
Speaker 1: side of things, which have a specific region we find
Speaker 1: ourselves in, whether it be the Caribbean or Australia, New Zealand,
Speaker 1: UK US Canada. We tend to think about English speaking
Speaker 1: colonial history. But Latin America had a lot going on
Speaker 1: in its time. I mean come on, they had an
Speaker 1: alliance with the Spanish Philippines. Yeah, rips, Yeah, so I
Speaker 1: mean civil war go per, as they say, between the
Speaker 1: centralists and the Federalists, and that would continue for a
Speaker 1: while after the Declaration of the Republic in eighteen sixteen,
Speaker 1: and it was only resolved.
Speaker 2: In eighteen thirty one with a Federalist victory.
Speaker 1: Basically, it was a division over how they should organize
Speaker 1: the state, whether it should be in a federal manner
Speaker 1: or more centralist unitary manner, so the Federalists, one which
Speaker 1: would lead to the War of the Confederation between eighteen
Speaker 1: thirty six eighteen thirty nine, the establishment of the Constitution
Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty three, and a temporary secession of Buenos Aires,
Speaker 1: which was forced back into Argentina by eighteen sixty one.
Speaker 1: And as in much of that in America, anachism would
Speaker 1: establish itself fairly early on thanks to the waves of
Speaker 1: migration from Europe and particularly from France, Italy and Spain.
Speaker 4: So many Italians, so many, just.
Speaker 2: An absurd amount of Italians.
Speaker 1: These folks fled political repression and poverty in their home countries,
Speaker 1: refugees from the Paris Commune and anarchist literature from the
Speaker 1: aforementioned lands would find themselves in the streets of Buenos
Speaker 1: Aires City and the countrysides of Buenos Aires Province.
Speaker 2: They circulated anarchist.
Speaker 1: Ideas through group meetings such as the group Elmeserabel in
Speaker 1: the port city of Rosario, and publications like The Rivolte,
Speaker 1: which was founded by Kropotkin all the way back in Switzerland.
Speaker 1: Kropotkin's Words of a Rebel would also make frequent appearances
Speaker 1: throughout Argentina, and his Conquest of Bread received a translation
Speaker 1: by Catalan carpenter Juan Villa. As with the splits internationally,
Speaker 1: the First International's local section in Buenos Airis, which was
Speaker 1: founded in eighteen seventy two, would split between the supporters
Speaker 1: of Marx and the supporters of Acunan. The former were
Speaker 1: predominantly French, the latter predominantly Spaniard an Italian. Three decades
Speaker 1: of substantial migration started in the eighteen eighties, which sparked
Speaker 1: significant growth in the anarchist movement, as the migrants found
Speaker 1: Crussian economic deprivation and repressive governance where they'd hoped they'd
Speaker 1: find prosperity and liberty. Over three million people arrived, leading
Speaker 1: to the country having a foreign born population of thirty
Speaker 1: three percent by nineteen fourteen. Nowadays, as in much of
Speaker 1: the world, unfortunately that once foreign born population some percentage
Speaker 1: of them and now unfortunately anti migration.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and violently.
Speaker 1: So it's a cruel irony that we find ourselves with
Speaker 1: just mere decades ago, their own ancestors were migrants.
Speaker 4: Among the migration.
Speaker 1: Wave came the likes of Hecto Mattae and Italian anarchists
Speaker 1: who helped publish a Socialista, which is a weekly paper.
Speaker 1: And of course, believe it's or not, the one and
Speaker 1: only Ara Kamana tester who keeps making guest appearances in
Speaker 1: these lastin American anarchisms. Yes, he's just like all over
Speaker 1: the places, traveling everywhere. If I recall correctly, he made
Speaker 1: an appearance in Cuba. He made an appearance in the
Speaker 1: Egypt episode as well. Yep, she just keeps showing up.
Speaker 3: He's really truly a globetrotterer in a mold that we
Speaker 3: haven't really seen.
Speaker 1: Hey, I mean move aside football, you know, he's the
Speaker 1: real mister worldwide so at a commana tester. He actually
Speaker 1: fled Italy in eighteen eighty five after escaping imprisonment, and
Speaker 1: he helped establish the Circulo the Studio Socialists, where he
Speaker 1: and others give public speeches promoting anarchism, and he worked
Speaker 1: to organize the society Dad Cosmopolita, the Obereros Panaderos, an
Speaker 1: anarchist Baker's Union. I didn't know he could bake, maybe
Speaker 1: he could make, maybe he could and he was just there,
Speaker 1: you know, helping them set up. But in my head,
Speaker 1: I'd like to imagine that he was pretty good at bacon,
Speaker 1: bread and making cookies.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm pretty sure he.
Speaker 3: Was like an ice cream salesman too. At one point,
Speaker 3: I might be getting that confused with like some other
Speaker 3: anarchist who was going around everywhere who was also so
Speaker 3: like ice cream.
Speaker 2: You know, I wouldn't be surprised.
Speaker 3: I have vague memories of there being a story about
Speaker 3: like him having an ice cream cart and trying to
Speaker 3: make money and he couldn't do it because he kept
Speaker 3: giving ice cream the children.
Speaker 1: I think I remember that story. I think it's so biger.
Speaker 1: I had a video on it. You know that those
Speaker 1: ads used to show on TV A couple like about
Speaker 1: a decade ago, the most interesting man in.
Speaker 4: The world, yeah he was.
Speaker 2: He was based on our kamat.
Speaker 1: Yeah so man Testelater returned to Europe in eighteen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: yet he left a lasting legacy in helping to organize
Speaker 1: workers and sow the seeds for a powerful anarchist movement
Speaker 1: in Argentina. In the early eighteen nineties, the anarchist paper
Speaker 1: El persic Wido became one of the most popus popular
Speaker 1: and prominent voices of anarchist communism in Argentina. Despite ongoing
Speaker 1: repression and government censorship, the anarchist press continued to expand
Speaker 1: during this period, with publications like Lavoris de la Mochere
Speaker 1: and Anarchist Feminist People emerging in Rosario. The eighteen eighties
Speaker 1: and early eighteen nineties also involved significant internal debates, particularly
Speaker 1: around the role of workers unions and revolutionary tactics. Some
Speaker 1: groups embraced anarchist cynicalism, while others believed smaller affinity groups
Speaker 1: as catalysts of social revolution with a way to go.
Speaker 1: While in the midst of a massive rapid industrial growth
Speaker 1: and dealing with the worst than economic situation for the
Speaker 1: working class, such a society was ripe for transformation of
Speaker 1: the anarchist variety. Initially, the anarchists have been focused on
Speaker 1: countercultural concerns, particularly in the field of education, but as
Speaker 1: their ranks swelled in number, the stage was set for
Speaker 1: the debut of a mass anarchist movement among Argentine workers.
Speaker 1: In eighteen ninety seven, the anarchist workers were found that
Speaker 1: protester Humana later shortened to lap Protester, which would become
Speaker 1: an enduring anarchist paper throughout Latin America. But the anarchists
Speaker 1: didn't just stick to papers though. In nineteen oh one,
Speaker 1: anarchists were instrumental in the founding of the Argentine Workers
Speaker 1: Federation or the FOA, which is Argentina's first labor federation.
Speaker 1: Federation was founded in a congress that assembled some fifty
Speaker 1: delegates representing thirty to thirty five workers organizations from both
Speaker 1: capital and interior. The aim of the Federation was an
Speaker 1: entity that included all workers without regard to their races
Speaker 1: or beliefs, based on a solid foundation of direct action
Speaker 1: and economic struggle, so initially including Marxists. Those would later
Speaker 1: depart to found the General Workers Union or the UGT,
Speaker 1: which was more meanable to party interests, of course, which
Speaker 1: left the fo way in anarchists hands. The FOA stood
Speaker 1: at the forefront of the struggles, advocating for higher wages
Speaker 1: and better working conditions. At the time, typical workday was
Speaker 1: ten hours or more, with wages barely covered essential needs.
Speaker 1: Strikes broke out across industries with notable successes. Painters and
Speaker 1: larder Plata secured an eight hour workday and dark workers
Speaker 1: in minos aires one and nine hour workday, along with
Speaker 1: a wage increase. But despite the oppression, the workers movement
Speaker 1: continued to grow stronger. The FAA's membership surged with forty
Speaker 1: two unions and over fifteen thousand members in nineteen o three,
Speaker 1: rise into sixty six unions and nearly thirty three thousand
Speaker 1: members a year later. In nineteen oh four, at its
Speaker 1: fourth congress, the group was renamed the Regional Workers Federation
Speaker 1: of Argentina or the FARE or FOURA. The reasoning was ideological.
Speaker 1: By adding the adjective regional, it made plain that Argentina
Speaker 1: was not considered a state or political unit, but a
Speaker 1: region of the world in which workers struggled for their liberation.
Speaker 1: This fourth Congress also approved of solidarity pass that proclaimed
Speaker 1: the est iblish ones of a class less society with
Speaker 1: neither state nor private property as the ultimate aim of
Speaker 1: their struggle. The anarchist influence was clear, but it gets
Speaker 1: even more explicit in the following year. The UGT had
Speaker 1: been subordinated to the Marxist Socialist Party, but even their
Speaker 1: third Congress in nineteen oh five had a syndicalist emergence.
Speaker 1: A preferred workers associations to political parties. Basically, even the
Speaker 1: non anarchist workers organizations would be an influenced by the
Speaker 1: anarchist wave, so much so that the UGT wanted to
Speaker 1: form a solidarity pact with FURA. The anarchists and four
Speaker 1: didn't quite trust the parliamentary socialism of the UGT. Still,
Speaker 1: they did work with them to call a general strike
Speaker 1: in nineteen o seven in solidarity with car drivers and Rosario,
Speaker 1: joined by some one hundred and fifty eight thousand workers
Speaker 1: from around the republic. That strike ended in victory for
Speaker 1: the workers. In nineteen oh five, two years before and
Speaker 1: as fifth Congress FORA made its commitments to revolutionctionary anarchist
Speaker 1: communism explicitly known quote the advice and recommend to all
Speaker 1: our followers the broadest possible study and propaganda with the
Speaker 1: aim of insterning workers the economic and philosophical principles of
Speaker 1: anarchist communism. This education, not content with achieving the eight
Speaker 1: of our workday, would bring total emancipation and consequently the
Speaker 1: social evolution we pursue end Quote four. Was among the
Speaker 1: largest federations of workers organizations, and it was officially anarchist communists.
Speaker 1: The nineteen o six ninety over seven general and tenant
Speaker 1: strikes gone a greater favor, and in response, Buenos Aires
Speaker 1: police head Colonel Falcones swore to a finish ser of
Speaker 1: the anarchists. Nineteen oh seven saw fora and ugt attempt
Speaker 1: a merger, but since the majority sought adherence to anarchist communism,
Speaker 1: the merger could not be achieved. For her was militant
Speaker 1: and effective in achieving many of its schools, including wage increases,
Speaker 1: reductions and the length of the workday, and farious rights
Speaker 1: of association. Port workers, crown transport workers, seamen's unions, bakers, metalworkers,
Speaker 1: construction workers and ship workers were all prominent in the
Speaker 1: federation and were well positioned to paralyze the Argentine economy
Speaker 1: and win their demands. In the first decade of the
Speaker 1: twentieth century. These unions led six general strikes and many
Speaker 1: more partial strikes, and women were more involved than in
Speaker 1: any other radical movement of the time, taking part in
Speaker 1: consumer boycotts and rent strikes as well. But the anarchists
Speaker 1: knew the ruptures in the capitalist economy wouldn't be enough.
Speaker 1: It could never be enough to merely confront the system
Speaker 1: and refuse to corporate the system as it is. The
Speaker 1: social revolution, or so demands consciousness, solidarity, and the prefiguration
Speaker 1: of an enlightened progressive society in social organizations. Thus, anarchists
Speaker 1: engaged in counter culture, multiple papers in multiple languages, theater
Speaker 1: and poetry, may day marches, social centers, popular education centers,
Speaker 1: popular libraries, and discussion circles. All of these efforts were
Speaker 1: ceded throughout the cities and linked to various unions to
Speaker 1: create a veritable and dynamic network of revolutionary causes. And
Speaker 1: since the government understood the anarchist threat, they tried their
Speaker 1: best to raise the cost of revolutionary activism. The actions
Speaker 1: included petty police harassment, the humiliated and inconvenient searches, and
Speaker 1: protuitors demands for identification, which were a familiar experience for
Speaker 1: the anarchist militants.
Speaker 2: There was also the out law and.
Speaker 1: Of radical publications, the suppression of the right to public assembly,
Speaker 1: mass arrests, martial law declared for a total of eighteen
Speaker 1: months between nineteen o two and nineteen ten, and of course,
Speaker 1: outright violence to the police, the army and other formal forces.
Speaker 1: In addition to thugs acting on their behalf, the governor
Speaker 1: also attempted to undermine the anarchists movement through legislative means.
Speaker 1: The Resident's Law in nineteen oh two granted the government
Speaker 1: the right to deport foreigners that are deemed undesirable without trial.
Speaker 1: After the lord had been in effect for a few years,
Speaker 1: Foura called a general strike against its oppressive conditions. For
Speaker 1: as leadership condemned the law as a violation of human rights,
Speaker 1: labor it as a tool by the state to suppress
Speaker 1: free thoughts.
Speaker 2: And working class movements. The government did not budge.
Speaker 1: On May Day, nineteen oh nine, police violently attacked a
Speaker 1: peaceful protest organized by transport workers and anarchists, killing eight
Speaker 1: people and wounded many others.
Speaker 2: Colonel Falcone, the recurrent villain.
Speaker 1: Who ordered the attack, later became the target of a
Speaker 1: retaliatory bombing by young anarchists Simon Radowitski in November nineteen
Speaker 1: oh nine. This act of defiance shook the whole country.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, the anarchist cause also resonated internationally. In
Speaker 1: response to the execution of Francisco Frere, a Spanish educator
Speaker 1: and anarchist, Fura led a series of strikes in Argentina,
Speaker 1: joining global protests against his death. Nineteen ten marked Argentina's
Speaker 1: preparations for the centenary celebrations of its first national government,
Speaker 1: portray itself as a beacon of prosperity. But oh, here
Speaker 1: come the workers with their unrest and protests to sour
Speaker 1: the vibes and demand the release of political prisoners and
Speaker 1: the abolition of the law of residents. Naturally, the government
Speaker 1: responded by declaring a state of internal war, arresting hundreds
Speaker 1: of anarchists, including foreigner leaders, and imposing extreme censorship and
Speaker 1: restrictions on civil liberties, shutdowns of publications, and the declaration
Speaker 1: of a state of emergency. The government also introduced the
Speaker 1: Social Defense Law, which levied a series of penalties against
Speaker 1: anarchist activities, specifically as a centennial celebrations unfolded Argentina had
Speaker 1: transformed into a heavily military rise state, with more than
Speaker 1: two thousand anarchists arrested or deported, so much for a
Speaker 1: grand celebration of their free democracy. Despite the repression, the
Speaker 1: workers move once continued to grow forest general strikes forced
Speaker 1: the government to make in sessions and release jailed workers,
Speaker 1: but divisions began to appear within the movement after deal
Speaker 1: with so much repression for their radical ideas. A split
Speaker 1: occurred in nineteen oh nine with the formation of the
Speaker 1: syndicalist group CORA, which adopted much of for As structure
Speaker 1: and retained some anarchist ideas, but leaned towards a less
Speaker 1: radical approach, hoping to be less of a target. The
Speaker 1: anarchist took yet another hit when in nineteen twelve the
Speaker 1: Science Pennier Law made vote in secret and obligatory, thus
Speaker 1: making anarchist abstentionism as a tactic illegal. The range of
Speaker 1: possible actions was being intentionally closed. While deli were these
Speaker 1: external pressures, anarchist also had to deal with the pressures
Speaker 1: from within the workers' movement by even more folks wanted
Speaker 1: to compromise the revolutionary goals. Another split between the synicalist
Speaker 1: anarchists occurred the fors Ninth Congress in nineteen fifteen. Unions
Speaker 1: were increasingly led by reformists, social democrats, and uncommitted anarchists,
Speaker 1: which led to the thesis of a neutral cynicalism focused
Speaker 1: on winning workers' rights becoming the dominant position within fur
Speaker 1: her The cynicalists dropped their commitment to anarchist communism and
Speaker 1: claimed the name the Fora of the Ninth Congress, while
Speaker 1: the minority of anarchists that maintained their commitment anarchist communism
Speaker 1: took the name the Fora of the Fifth Congress. The
Speaker 1: timing of the split was impeccable, though you see, as
Speaker 1: has been a recurring theme in this series, the Russian
Speaker 1: Revolution of nineteen seventeen had a significant impact in Argentinian
Speaker 1: anarchism in a sense it reignited the revolutionary further within
Speaker 1: the movement and led to the reformist and cynicalist for
Speaker 1: an nine lose an influence, but revolutionary ideas once again
Speaker 1: gain momentum. For a brief moment, there was hope, but
Speaker 1: the Bolsheviks will waste little time in crushing that hope.
Speaker 1: By nineteen twenty Argentinian anarchists, like their European counterparts, began
Speaker 1: to distance themselves from Leninism. They began to recognize the
Speaker 1: authority in nature of the Bolsheviks, took notes of Kropotkin
Speaker 1: and Lenin's correspondences, and soon came to reject the idea
Speaker 1: of the dictatorship of the proletaria. On his part, alongside
Speaker 1: his mass loads of the anarchists in Cronstad then also
Speaker 1: ordered the confiscation of anarchist texts which he saw us
Speaker 1: influence in the conflict within the Bolshevik ranks. Tale as
Speaker 1: old as time. Anyway, next time we'll see if and
Speaker 1: how the anarchist Argentina managed to navigate the tumultuous twenties,
Speaker 1: thirties and beyond to leave a lasting mark on Argentine history.
Speaker 1: But things on looking too good for them right now.
Speaker 1: Until then, Well, Paula, to all the people, this has been.
Speaker 1: It could happen here, It could happen. Here is a
Speaker 1: production of cool Zone Media.
Speaker 5: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
Speaker 5: coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 5: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can
Speaker 5: now find sources for it could happen here, listed directly
Speaker 5: in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.