Speaker 1: Colz Media.
Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to ACRAP and here. I'm Andrew Sage.
Speaker 2: I run Andrews on YouTube and I'm here with the voice.
Speaker 3: Of Garrison Davis.
Speaker 2: Hello, Hello, Hello, and today we're going to continue our
Speaker 2: journey through Latin American anarchisms and their histories with a
Speaker 2: sort of a fourth for one.
Speaker 4: Special exciting, exciting, very exciting.
Speaker 2: We talked about Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Cuba
Speaker 2: sofa as well as the Mapouch struggle in Chile and Argentina.
Speaker 4: And now was the time to explore what's going.
Speaker 2: On at the top of the South American continent, the
Speaker 2: territory of the former Grand Colombia, and that is the
Speaker 2: territories of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela.
Speaker 4: But if this is the first.
Speaker 2: Time you're hearing about Grand Columbia, let me give a
Speaker 2: quick and a brief historical context. Rundown Grand Columbia was
Speaker 2: a short lived political entity that emerged in the early
Speaker 2: nineteenth century during Latin America's struggle for independence from Spanish
Speaker 2: colonial route. It was formed in eighteen nineteen and it
Speaker 2: encompassed the territories, like I said, of present day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Speaker 2: and Panama, as well as some parts of northern Peru,
Speaker 2: western Guyana, and northwestern Brazil. The republic was envisioned by
Speaker 2: Simon Bolivar, who are dreamt of uniting the former Spanish
Speaker 2: colonies into.
Speaker 4: A powerful federation.
Speaker 2: They'll be able to resist foreign intervention and secure their independence.
Speaker 2: The Congress of Angostura declared the creation of Grand Columbia
Speaker 2: with Bolivar as its first president. The public was a
Speaker 2: centralized state with a strong executive branch, so unsurprisingly, tension
Speaker 2: soon arose among the constituent regions due to their differences
Speaker 2: in political vision, economic interests, and regional identities. Centralized governance
Speaker 2: had alienated local elites and over federalism us centralism deepened
Speaker 2: existing divisions. Plus Bolivar's increasingly autocratic rule I mean he
Speaker 2: literally tried to push for a lifetime presidency obviously sparked
Speaker 2: internal opposition, so Grand Columbia was facing external threats from
Speaker 2: Spanish royalist forces and internal fractures. By eighteen thirty, Bolivard
Speaker 2: had to resign from the presidency, disillusioned by the failure
Speaker 2: of his vision, and the same year Grand Columbia dissolved
Speaker 2: into three separate nations, Venezuela, Ecuador, and the Republic of
Speaker 2: New Grenada, which later on split into Columbia and Panama.
Speaker 2: Unlike the other countries of South America that we've covered,
Speaker 2: these countries had far less large scale anarchist movements, but
Speaker 2: will still take a look at what little impact anarchists
Speaker 2: did make in the past two centuries in these places.
Speaker 2: This whole series, by the wouldn't be possible of the
Speaker 2: scholarship of Anhill Capelletti, whose research I drew upon heavily
Speaker 2: for this historical review. I suggest reading his book Anarchism
Speaker 2: in Latin America for further details. Let's first take a
Speaker 2: look at the history in Ecuador at the turn of
Speaker 2: the twentieth century. Ecuador was ruined from a liberal revolution
Speaker 2: that had just taken place in the country. The country
Speaker 2: was shifting as industrialization creeped in. The bourgeoisie were on
Speaker 2: the rise, and feuderal landowners were losing their grip on power.
Speaker 4: A new secular cultural.
Speaker 2: Wave was also beginning to take shape as the clerical
Speaker 2: authorities began to lose their power. The workers naturally needed
Speaker 2: a voice in this process, and they found it first
Speaker 2: with the rise of the Partiro Liberal Obrero was the
Speaker 2: Liberal Workers Party in nineteen oh six. Around the same time,
Speaker 2: on New Year's Eve of nineteen oh five, the Confederacire
Speaker 2: Delacuador was founded in Guayaquil, a city there would become
Speaker 2: a hub for worker activity. Both organizations shared a vision
Speaker 2: rooted in social reform and work empowerment. It was also
Speaker 2: around this time that the Cuban anarchist Miguel Albuquerque made
Speaker 2: a name for himself in Ecquador. Originally, he had come
Speaker 2: seeking assistance with Cuba's independent struggle, but eventually found himself
Speaker 2: playing a key role in Ecuador's labor movement. He established
Speaker 2: the side that the e host deale Trabajo or the
Speaker 2: Society the Sons of Labor, and other anarchist groups would
Speaker 2: also begin forming, contributing to the struggles taking place at
Speaker 2: the time. The first recorded strikes with anarchist influence took
Speaker 2: place in nineteen nineteen, where workers in the graphic arts
Speaker 2: industry organized the demand back conditions. By nineteen twenty two,
Speaker 2: Guyaquil was the epicenter of a massive general strike, shaped
Speaker 2: in part by the anarchist Nicolists, who were obviously right
Speaker 2: in the thick of it. The strike was driven by
Speaker 2: dissatisfaction among the workers, particularly among the city's urban laborers
Speaker 2: and dark workers, who were facing really poor wages, long hours,
Speaker 2: and deteriorating living conditions talors all this time. The strike
Speaker 2: culminated in a violent crackdown by government forces, also a
Speaker 2: tales all this time, with estimates suggesting that one hundred
Speaker 2: words of workers we killed when the military surpressed the revolts.
Speaker 2: Most workers returned to their jobs after that, but the
Speaker 2: trolley workers continued their strike until the twenty first of November,
Speaker 2: when most of their demands were met.
Speaker 3: How much like crossover was there between like revolutionaries or
Speaker 3: like you know, workers rights people or anarchists in Cuba
Speaker 3: and places like this, because I assume there was like
Speaker 3: a lot more like growing sentiment in Cuba based on
Speaker 3: how that whole situation turned out in the next like
Speaker 3: twenty thirty years, and I feel like there would be
Speaker 3: a decent, like a decent number of cross or at
Speaker 3: least like some travel between some of these other like
Speaker 3: nearby places for.
Speaker 2: Sure, because Cuba has been gained independence much in theater
Speaker 2: than the rest of its last America neighbors, places like
Speaker 2: Mexico and Central America and Grantit, Columbia and the rest
Speaker 2: of South America. They all gained the independence, and Cuba
Speaker 2: was still under the Spanish Thumb and their remain under
Speaker 2: the Spanish thtumb until they ended up having to struggle
Speaker 2: with the Americans as well and eventually to gain their
Speaker 2: win independence. I mean, it's all one one big pond.
Speaker 2: I like to see the Caribbean Sea. So there would
Speaker 2: have been a lot of transfer and communication between these
Speaker 2: independent Latin America and republics and Cuba, which was still
Speaker 2: at the time of colony.
Speaker 4: That was really interesting to see.
Speaker 2: What when you know, these Cuban characters sort of show
Speaker 2: up in other parts and then I've stirring up some trouble.
Speaker 3: Totally well, and it shows just how like popular the
Speaker 3: nineteen twenties were kind of like everywhere, Like yeah, whether
Speaker 3: looking at like labor movement in the United States or
Speaker 3: like everything that you've been talking about these last few
Speaker 3: episodes about Latin American anarchism. Like always in like the
Speaker 3: nineteen twenties, there was always just like crazy shit going
Speaker 3: down consistently for sure.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, nineteen twenties is also the time of a lot
Speaker 2: of decline for a lot of the anarchists movements because
Speaker 2: nineteen twenties follows, you know, the rise of the USSR,
Speaker 2: and a lot of people ended up abandoned in anarchism
Speaker 2: and following that sort of popularity at the time.
Speaker 3: Well, and similarly, once we start getting into like the
Speaker 3: early thirties, I remember in the last few episodes that
Speaker 3: you've done, you see the resurgence of like right wing populism,
Speaker 3: like really hard.
Speaker 4: Yes, we tend to see a lot of resurgences.
Speaker 3: And like all this like revolutionary potential that's been growing
Speaker 3: the past few decades all gets like co opted or
Speaker 3: channeled into like right wing nationalism and right wing populism,
Speaker 3: and like that's a whole whole other pivot that happens,
Speaker 3: not just the more like you know, communism's statust one.
Speaker 2: In like the twenties, do see a resurgeons. We do
Speaker 2: see a resurgions in the writing populism. Yes, we also
Speaker 2: see a resurgions in the anarchist politics. Remember the thirties
Speaker 2: was also the time of the Spanish Civil War, sure,
Speaker 2: and so in that time you had the anarchists picking
Speaker 2: up steam again and you also had fallen that Civil War,
Speaker 2: a lot of the anarchists from Spain spread out into
Speaker 2: a lot of the former colonies in lastin America.
Speaker 3: I think part of that rebirn is just because of
Speaker 3: how tied anarchism and anti fascism is.
Speaker 4: That's true.
Speaker 3: I think inadvertently, the rise of fascism, they actually give
Speaker 3: birth to the rise of more anarchists as people get
Speaker 3: involved in anti fascism because of these things are so like,
Speaker 3: you know, sister movements in many ways. I think that
Speaker 3: may be a contributing factor. That's certainly how I kind
Speaker 3: of got into this sort of stuff was through anti fascism,
Speaker 3: and and I suspect that that may have also been
Speaker 3: the case even one hundred years ago.
Speaker 4: For sure.
Speaker 2: For sure, I think every story needs a good villain, unfortunately,
Speaker 2: and this is the story of anarchism. I mean, the
Speaker 2: fascists tend to make really, really impactful antagonists.
Speaker 4: I think.
Speaker 2: Indeed, at the same time, we also had an ecuador
Speaker 2: as to how these strikes going on oldiny anarchists doing
Speaker 2: you know that thing that anarchists like to do, which
Speaker 2: is a study group.
Speaker 3: Many such cases.
Speaker 2: Many such cases, many such cases. But I mean it
Speaker 2: is an important aspect of struggles. That's sort of consciousness raison.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 2: So these anarchists, in particular in Guyaquille, they founded these
Speaker 2: Centro their Studio Socialists, which was a libertarian study.
Speaker 4: Group in Guayaquille, and then a.
Speaker 2: Decade later, in nineteen twenty the anarchists also established a
Speaker 2: Centro Gremial Sindicalista or the Synicalist Guild Center, which had
Speaker 2: a mission to an end liberate all the oppressed of
Speaker 2: the earth by bringing them into a libertarian syndicate that
Speaker 2: will replace the present system and opposing all political and
Speaker 2: religious doctrines as destructive and prejudicial to the rights and
Speaker 2: aspiration of workers endcode. As in the rest of the region,
Speaker 2: their publications played a key role in spreading the ideas
Speaker 2: again early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, the anarchists were
Speaker 2: making papers.
Speaker 4: Yeah, use people's newspapers. Newspapers.
Speaker 3: I mean it is a bit of a blueprint for
Speaker 3: what anarchism continues to be in many ways, even with
Speaker 3: like the rise of destroyism in the in the past
Speaker 3: past decade or so, in like popular anarchism, less newspapers,
Speaker 3: more more zines being held together by possibly one or
Speaker 3: fewer stables.
Speaker 4: And I like to think that I also continue that
Speaker 4: tradition and you and I as well by creating this
Speaker 4: kind of totally what do you and visual content.
Speaker 3: I am a zine enjoyer, I have I have many zines,
Speaker 3: but we also have to evolve with the times in
Speaker 3: some ways. Not everyone's going to be reading newspapers, not
Speaker 3: everyone's going to be reading booklets. Unfortunately, as much as
Speaker 3: I encourage people to do so, I do think there
Speaker 3: is value in attacking the information ecosystem that people more
Speaker 3: more often use. That includes you know, podcasts, that includes
Speaker 3: your fantastic videos on YouTube. Thank you, thank you, and yeah,
Speaker 3: I agree for sure, for sure.
Speaker 2: But they didn't have things like like YouTube or the
Speaker 2: interidet at the time. Instead, they had, at least in Ecuador,
Speaker 2: their newspapers like El Proletario and El Cacajuerro and Bandera Roja,
Speaker 2: which were carrying these syndicalists anarchismiclist ideas to the workers
Speaker 2: across Ecuador. They also the first truly anarchist papers that
Speaker 2: hit the country were Rendencion and Lose the Axion in
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty two, nineteen twenty nine, respectfully. But as we
Speaker 2: were anticipating in the nineteen thirties brought some challenges. Marxist
Speaker 2: Lennis Thought began to dominate leftist circles, and figures like
Speaker 2: Jose Carlos mariette Gui and his General Amota ended up
Speaker 2: wielding significant influence in the worker's struggles, and by the
Speaker 2: end of the decade, anarchist groups found themselves vastly overshadowed
Speaker 2: as Marcus Lenists consolidated power through unified political parties. But
Speaker 2: despite these shifts, anarchism and Acuador was really never entirely extinguished.
Speaker 2: It actually continues to influence workers organizations like the Ferracio
Speaker 2: and La guayas well into modern times. But now let's
Speaker 2: make our way north to Columbia as a similar story
Speaker 2: and foolds of anarchism taken route in hearly twentieth century.
Speaker 2: And this is actually a fun factor because both Eli's
Speaker 2: Recluse and Mikhail Bercunan visited Columbia recluses there for research purposes,
Speaker 2: and Bercunan wasn't an anarchist at the time, so they
Speaker 2: didn't directly contribute to the anarchist movement as far as
Speaker 2: we know, in the country. By the nineteen tents, anarchist
Speaker 2: ideas were definitely spreading finding a home among students, artists,
Speaker 2: writers and workers. And this wasn't just idle philosophizing. They
Speaker 2: also got to work building workers societies and organizing mass
Speaker 2: actions at the May fifteenth demonstration in nineteen sixteen, which
Speaker 2: of course met with brutal police repression. From there, the
Speaker 2: movement came momentum. In nineteen twenty, port workers in Katahina
Speaker 2: went on strike and by the following decade and I
Speaker 2: guess we're the forefront of workers militancy all across the
Speaker 2: Caribbean coast, which was more connected to global struggles. In
Speaker 2: the rest of Columbia, I was thus a hotbed of
Speaker 2: organizing unrest. If you know the geography of Columbia, you'd
Speaker 2: know that there's a lot of jungle and mountainous region
Speaker 2: near the middle of the country. There's the coast where
Speaker 2: you tend to have more of the activity and connection
Speaker 2: with the neighboring countries and the Cribbean Sea. Fir the
Speaker 2: fact there's actually a lot of people in the English
Speaker 2: speaking Caribbean aren't aware of the fact that there are
Speaker 2: people in the Spanish speaking Caribbean who consider, you know,
Speaker 2: coastal Columbia and coastal Venezuela to be part of the Caribbean,
Speaker 2: but as like the sort of niche discourse which you
Speaker 2: get an r slash ass Caribbean. The few anarchists wu
Speaker 2: present in Colombia were part of nearly every major uprising,
Speaker 2: including the Baranquila Strike of nineteen ten, the labor wave
Speaker 2: that swept Baranquila and Santimurar year nineteen eighteen, the first
Speaker 2: strike against the notorious le bloody United Food Company in
Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen, the hero Dot Railroad strike and the Artisans
Speaker 2: and Labor strike in Bogota nineteen nineteen. The oil strikes
Speaker 2: in Baron Kabirmeha during the nineteen twenties, including one against
Speaker 2: the Tropical Oil Company nineteen twenty seven, which cost twelve
Speaker 2: hundred workers their jobs and painted the targets on the
Speaker 2: backs of the organizers because how dare you mess with oil?
Speaker 2: And then finally there was the famous Santa Maria Banana
Speaker 2: strike of nineteen twenty eight, where workers demanded fair wages
Speaker 2: and better treatment, and the government responded at the behest
Speaker 2: of the United Fruit Company by claiming hundreds of lives
Speaker 2: after the massacre. The anarchist movement in Columbia was heavily repressed,
Speaker 2: and because of how small it was, it didn't quite
Speaker 2: pick back up. As historian Max that Lao noted, publications
Speaker 2: like Organization in Santa Marta and Via Libre and Baranquilla
Speaker 2: disappeared at late nineteen twenties. This crackdown on anarchists, coupled
Speaker 2: with the rise and influence of Bolsheviki unions, shifted the landscape,
Speaker 2: and by the nineteen thirties anarchist organizing was all but
Speaker 2: silenced in Columbia. But it's a part of Columbia that
Speaker 2: we're missing. She At one point Panama was considered part
Speaker 2: of the country, So there must have been stuff happening
Speaker 2: on that little sliver of land, right. It'd be surprised
Speaker 2: if we rewind to the mid nineteenth century. Between eighteen
Speaker 2: fifteen eighteen fifty five, Panama saw the construction of a
Speaker 2: trans isthmus railroad, and this massive project was followed by
Speaker 2: two phases of canal constructure, the first by the French
Speaker 2: between eighteen eighteen and eighteen ninety five and the second
Speaker 2: by the US from nineteen oh forty nineteen fourteen. These
Speaker 2: projects brought tens of thousands of workers from Europe, Asia
Speaker 2: and the Caribbean. Effe actually turned in Panama into her
Speaker 2: melting part of laborers who brought their skills, their culture,
Speaker 2: and their ideas. Bijian workers, for example, that is people
Speaker 2: from Barberos. If I recall correctly, there was a time
Speaker 2: in Barberos' history where it was some massive number.
Speaker 4: I was sure if it was like a full quarter
Speaker 4: of the.
Speaker 2: Country's income was just coming from remittances from people who
Speaker 2: had had family members sending their money from the canal
Speaker 2: project back home. And it's not just the Cribbean that
Speaker 2: was impacted obviously, as workers from Europe and Asia also
Speaker 2: part of this project. And it's the workers from Europe
Speaker 2: and particularly Spain that brought many of the ideas of
Speaker 2: class consciousness and anarchist cynicalism that had been brewin in
Speaker 2: that region of the world. And such ideas were of
Speaker 2: course solely needed in the horrific working conditions of death
Speaker 2: and disease that marked the Panama Canal construction project. Workers
Speaker 2: organized some successful strikes in both the French phase and
Speaker 2: the American phase of construction, both before and after Panama
Speaker 2: gain its independence from Colombia nineteen oh three, but it
Speaker 2: was just before the transition to American control of a
Speaker 2: canal construction that Panama officially banned anarchists from entering the country.
Speaker 2: For the anarchists that were left well when the Americans
Speaker 2: took over the canal, Governor of the Canal So in general,
Speaker 2: George W. Davis actively suppressed the anarchist workers that remained.
Speaker 2: In nineteen oh seven or whatever, despite that repression, two
Speaker 2: thousand Spanish workers went on strike for better wages. In
Speaker 2: nineteen twenty four, a prodominently anarchist syndicalist group founded the
Speaker 2: Sindicato Heneralist Rabbaha Daughters, which was Panama's first central workers union.
Speaker 2: It grew to thousands of members and brought together a
Speaker 2: mix of ideologies anarchists and Marxists alike, even those who
Speaker 2: would later found the Communist Party and the Socialist Party
Speaker 2: of Panama in nineteen thirty. But on such a small
Speaker 2: sliver of land were so many people mixed in there
Speaker 2: there was bound to be a vibrant mix of ideas.
Speaker 2: And not all of the anarchists in Panama were of
Speaker 2: the syndicalist flair. Believe it or not, they were actually
Speaker 2: workers within Panama who aligned themselves with Max Stunner's philosophy.
Speaker 2: It had egoists and anarchist egoism. Interesting in Panama, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: This blew my mind as well. You know, they don't
Speaker 2: expect to see them in such contexts.
Speaker 3: Were they reading Sterner in Panama?
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if they were reading Sterner, I'm assuming so,
Speaker 2: because otherwise how would they have come to identify with
Speaker 2: his philosophy. But they did launch a paper called Eluniko
Speaker 2: in nineteen eleven.
Speaker 3: That's what I was wondering is if instead of like
Speaker 3: widely Distributing's actual books, like, was there like some like
Speaker 3: Sterner influence like newspaper that people were running.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, because like that makes sense exactly exactly. So
Speaker 2: I assuming some of the people either would have read
Speaker 2: Sterner abroad or they brought still the Inn, and they
Speaker 2: were obviously inspired by it, and they were skeptical of
Speaker 2: this sort of mass movement syncho those popular at the time.
Speaker 3: Sure many people are.
Speaker 2: They were questioning its effectiveness as a strategy for anarchy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so.
Speaker 2: If they were focused primarily on organizing sort of smaller
Speaker 2: affiarency groups, yep. And one of those groups ended up
Speaker 2: launching that paper e Lunico to spread the ideas and
Speaker 2: obviously called itself an individualist publication.
Speaker 3: That's so funny, that's so emblematic of where we still
Speaker 3: are with an archism. Oh that's good, that's good.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I to think that this kind of diversity of
Speaker 2: thoughts and strategy is really really beautiful, and I'm glad
Speaker 2: to see it in the most unconventional and surprise enough contexts.
Speaker 2: It's why I consider myself an anarchist without adjectives, you.
Speaker 3: Know, I really absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2: I think we benefit greatly from conversation between these traditions
Speaker 2: and between these strategies, and so seeing that there were
Speaker 2: more than one form of anarchism in such a small context,
Speaker 2: it's really quite inspiring.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I am with you there.
Speaker 2: By the way, for those listeners who may not be
Speaker 2: familiar with the anarchist egoist tradition, I know that we're
Speaker 2: ego and egoism.
Speaker 3: Might conjure up some psychoanalytical Freudian Yeah, it might bring
Speaker 3: some some some sort of feelings about capitalistic individualism or
Speaker 3: like extreme selfishness and that kind of thing, kind of
Speaker 3: like screw everybody except me.
Speaker 2: But it's actually a much deeper philosophical bent to anarchist
Speaker 2: egoism than I think everyone or you should give a chance.
Speaker 2: I actually recently read what is considered the first manifesto
Speaker 2: of anarchism, and it was written by this French anarchist
Speaker 2: named Anseel and Bella Garide, and he was actually an
Speaker 2: individualist anarchist, and you're actually, in reading that end up
Speaker 2: seeing a lot of the influences that would later sort
Speaker 2: of develop further into anarchist individualism from the very beginning,
Speaker 2: you know, I highly recommend reading it. It's called Anarchy
Speaker 2: a Journal of Order. It's available on the Anarchist Library.
Speaker 2: It's a surprisingly contemporary piece in my opinion. It was
Speaker 2: translated by Sean Wilbows, another anarchist scholar who I'm really
Speaker 2: inspired by lately, and it really gets into some of
Speaker 2: the ideas that I think we've forgotten in terms of
Speaker 2: what it takes to achieve the complete liberation of all people.
Speaker 3: So that's Anarchy a Journal of Order.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Anarchy a Journal of Order.
Speaker 2: He ended up not publishing more than two suits due
Speaker 2: to low readership, but that's what happens, I think when
Speaker 2: you have any such cases, many such cases, many such cases.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I will pull that up on the Anarchist Library
Speaker 3: and give that a raid myself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it happens when you're ahead of the times in
Speaker 2: a sense, and he actually ends up becoming at least
Speaker 2: partially relevant to the next episode I'm going to do
Speaker 2: on the Latin American Anarchism series, because he ends up
Speaker 2: making his way to Latin America at one point in
Speaker 2: his life. In fact, he dies in Latin America, but
Speaker 2: we'll get to that in time. Finally returned to Venezuela
Speaker 2: as late nineteenth century refugees from the field of Paris
Speaker 2: Commune arrived in Caracas, bringing with them the radical spirit
Speaker 2: of the International working Men's Association. From a few of
Speaker 2: these immigrants, small anarchist cells emerged, but they were stifled
Speaker 2: by the brutal dictatorship of Juan Vincente Gomez from eighteen
Speaker 2: ninety nine to nineteen thirty five.
Speaker 4: So few in number.
Speaker 2: The anarchist immigrant efforts to form mutual societies, organized strikes,
Speaker 2: and spread propaganda gained them a notoriety that put a
Speaker 2: massive bullseye on them. For Gomez's persecution, he had a
Speaker 2: mister Oppression. A few sparks of anarchism did survive in
Speaker 2: the cultural fabric. Writers like Migueli Guardo Parlo portrayed anarchists
Speaker 2: as spiritual revolutionaries, lacking them to saints. Sounds familiar, does
Speaker 2: sound very familiar, yes, if you know, back in the
Speaker 2: days of Saint Andrew's There You Go. But his novel
Speaker 2: Toto and Pueblo described anarchists as apostles of justice, which
Speaker 2: is a really fire title, I must say, as they
Speaker 2: carried the flame of liberty into the streets.
Speaker 4: But it wasn't all pros.
Speaker 2: The early twentieth century also saw a spike in industrial strikes.
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighteen, for example, of it all strike involving
Speaker 2: transit workers included at least one known Italian anarchist named
Speaker 2: Vincenzo Kusati. Although defeated, the strike left to mark in
Speaker 2: the country's consciousness. Inspired by such as Strive for Freedom,
Speaker 2: workers united through various mutual aid societies which they were
Speaker 2: disguised as religious skills, the anarchist influence quietly spread among bakers, bricklayers,
Speaker 2: and oil workers. Truly, it was the oil boom of
Speaker 2: the nineteen twenties that reshieved Venezuelan society, and of course
Speaker 2: continues to affect it today. While anarchistiniclust maintained underground networks
Speaker 2: in the grown oil sector, state and corporate power proved
Speaker 2: to be too much by the mid twentieth century. After
Speaker 2: the fall of Gomez's regime, the rise of political parties
Speaker 2: like Accion Democratica cooperted many of the workers who might
Speaker 2: have otherwise embraced anarchist syndicalism and anarchist ideals became increasingly marginalized,
Speaker 2: eclipsed by party politics and steed repression between nineteen thirty
Speaker 2: six to nineteen forty five. In fact, anarchist repression also
Speaker 2: gained a constitutional footing in the form of the Lara Law,
Speaker 2: which band strikes, associations meeting through a permission from the state,
Speaker 2: political propaganda, and basically all the.
Speaker 4: Usual digatorial stuff.
Speaker 2: After the Spanish Civil War and the rise of Franco
Speaker 2: more Spanish anarchist immigrants came to Venezuela. You see, I
Speaker 2: said they would be relevant, Yes, yes, but they didn't
Speaker 2: end up impacting Venezuela so much.
Speaker 4: As immigrants.
Speaker 2: They ended up creating a mostly self contained scene. Pararly
Speaker 2: through the founding of the Federacion Obrera Riqunal Venezuelana in
Speaker 2: nineteen fifty eight, which was affiliated to the International Workers Association,
Speaker 2: but as I said, didn't make to much of a
Speaker 2: splash in the port of Venezuelan population. They mostly affected
Speaker 2: other Spanish immigrants. So ANARCHISTKNOV developed into an explicitly mass
Speaker 2: movement to Venezuela, but elements of it did persist, and
Speaker 2: the unield in pursuit of freedom were still felt even
Speaker 2: in the harshest of conditions. To looking today at the
Speaker 2: countries that composed the former Grand Columbia, I would argue
Speaker 2: that this spark of anarchism still hasn't died. You know,
Speaker 2: ecuador uprisings continue to challenge distractive economies and demand autonomous
Speaker 2: control over rendigous territories as some anarchist collectives are active
Speaker 2: in solidarity, providing logistical support during protests and pushing horizontal
Speaker 2: forms of organizing in the broader social struggle. After the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one national strike in Colombia, some anarchist practices
Speaker 2: have begun to infuse movements against police brutality, privatization, and
Speaker 2: austerity measures. Mutual aid networks have all same emerged inspired
Speaker 2: by anarchist practice to support the community's hit hardest by
Speaker 2: economic crises. In Panama, anarchism exists on the fringes, but
Speaker 2: it has the potential to provide inspiration to those who
Speaker 2: are actively confronting the liberal policies, advocating for workers' rights,
Speaker 2: and engaging in anti corporate actions. Finally, in Venezuela, economic
Speaker 2: collapse and authoritarianism of created space for anarchist ideals to
Speaker 2: spread through grassroots initiatives. Neutral aid and self organized community
Speaker 2: groups have stepped in. The state has failed across these countries,
Speaker 2: and gas ideas still have potency. And really, my hope
Speaker 2: is at these places continue to explore the creativity and
Speaker 2: solidarity that are necessary for liberation, that they continue to
Speaker 2: struggle and they go through this still you know Viva
Speaker 2: I labored that, or power.
Speaker 4: All the people Peace.
Speaker 1: It Could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
Speaker 1: Coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can
Speaker 1: now find sources for it Could Happen here listed directly
Speaker 1: in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.