Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 12:12:58 -0800 (PST) From: Thomas Seay <entheogens-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: AUT: How Barcelona Protestors outwitted the state,Mar 24 > Originally published in Spanish by La Jornada > Translated by irlandesa > > > Masiosare > La Jornada > Sunday, March 24, 2002. > > > How Barcelona Defeated Violence > > > Jesu's Rami'rez Cuevas > > Today Barcelona is the new reference point for the > global movement. > Following the mobilization of more than 500,000 > persons, it will be > difficult to discredit protests against economic > policies in the world as > something which has to do with "radical and violent > minorities." > > The significance and dimension of what took place in > the City of Marvels > must be assessed from the perspective of the last > few years. Seattle was > the surprise, the birth of the new movement, the > break in the world > consensus in favor of globalization. Governments > did not know how to > react to the novel dissidence. Afterwards came the > protests in > Washington, Davos, Prague and Quebec. New actions > and new reactions were > tested at each summit. After Gothenburg, last year, > a new strategy was > launched which involved making the police cordon > around the demonstrators > more effective, and the repression more open and > brutal. Genoa > represented the climax of this policy. Even though > the convocation was a > success, it also demonstrated that governments had > decided to finish off > the globalphobes at the cost of violating democratic > liberties. The > assassination of Carlo Giuliani by the Italian > police was a clear > message. > > Added to this is the atmosphere which has been > created following the > September 11 attacks, which has been used to > stigmatize and criminalize > demonstrations, by comparing them with terrorism. > There was widespread > paralysis in many sectors. In this context, > Barcelona represents a > change which broke with the tenets of the previous > marches. > > Walking Out on the Prepared Script > > The task was not easy. In addition to media > demonization and the Spanish > government's political harassment, there were the > difficulties of > coordination and of understanding inside the > movement. The government > placed the entire city under a state of military > siege, and the media > discouraged participation in the anti-summit > campaign. > > I~aki Garci'a, a member of the Solidarity with the > Zapatista Rebellion > Collective, and one of the organizers of the > "Against the Europe of > Capital and Against the War" events of March 15 and > 16, explained to > Masiosare: "We understood that there was a lot at > stake in Barcelona, > and even more so after Genoa. The climate was > strained because of last > June's experience (the march against the World Bank > that had been heavily > crushed). It wasn't easy confronting the > organization of the protests > against the European summit, and there was fear > concerning the huge > police intervention that was being developed." > > Some activists warned in assemblies that "the > repressive machinery" could > make many of them try and hide instead of thinking > about protesting. > > "Despite everything," I~aki recounted, "there was > agreement to promote > it." The organizers were clear about one thing from > the beginning: "We > didn't want the terrain they were preparing for us, > the direct > confrontation where we had to lose," she said. > > "We began with many doubts, and things were > advancing until we had lots > of initiatives. It was a tremendous amount of work > in very little time, > but there was a lot of enthusiasm. The differences > and tensions had been > quite strong, but the campaign was able to be put > together with a radical > and innovative content." > > The majority of the people and collectives who were > participating wanted > to do something quite different from confronting the > police and > destroying banks. The main challenge was conquering > fear and claiming > the street. There were groups tied to the Okupa > movement and the > Independent Catalans and Basques who were insisting > on direct violent > action. But a consensus won out in favor of actions > that would nullify > the government's belligerent strategy. > > "We agreed, all of us I think, to avoid blockades > against the summit, > because they would have been suicidal," recalls > I~aki. Decentralized > mobilizations, fiestas, concerts, mass > demonstrations and acts of civil > disobedience were promoted. > > The CGT (anarchist union) called for carrying out > "everything that occurs > to us and which demonstrates the diversity and > vitality of the social > movements. We called for walking out on the script, > for using direct > action and civil disobedience as mechanisms for > struggle that go beyond > violent confrontations with the police. We have to > regain the furiously > festive and subversive nature of our activity, > breaking military > frameworks (summit-blockade-clash with police) the > powers want to confine > us to." > > They opted for decentralized actions, "as many as > the people proposed," > under the idea of convergence and mutual respect. > During one of the many > meetings, it was argued: "We are not afraid. The > entire police strategy > is based on creating a state of exception, where > people stay inside their > houses, and an activist elite confronts 10,000 > police. Given this > reality, the movement should go back to using its > creativity and > decentralization. Achieving, through that, a more > complete visualization > of the resistances, of their diversity, beyond the > framework of a > medieval joust, which is what the police are > proposing." > > This is how the city's local struggles were > involved. Hundreds of > liberation associations, human rights, labor, > women's, gay, ecologist, > Okupa, student and immigrant associations promoted > more than 25 > decentralized demonstrations and actions throughout > the city. > > They even invented forms of protest like "the first > mass participation > action, a very media-friendly and entertaining > choreography that > represented the symptoms of turbo-capitalist Europe, > presented as the > first global-animal experiment in the world of > demonstrations." > === message truncated == ===="The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living" -Karl Marx __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.yahoo.com/ --- from list aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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