São Paulo, Brazil: Carlo Giuliani Cell of M.I.A. join the call for a Black December through fire

Posted on Contra Info:

—We claim responsibility for incendiary attacks against four banks in the city of São Paulo. The attacks occurred at the Santander bank branches in Largo da Batata, another in the Liberdade area, and the other two in the central region and in a peripheral region.—

Manifesto:

The “Carlo Giuliani” cell of the Anarchist Insurgent Movement (M.I.A.) assumes responsibility for the four incendiary attacks that consumed bank branches in the early hours of November 15th 2015 in the central region of the city of São Paulo.

On November 15th the proclamation of the republic is “commemorated”, within large and ironic quotation marks. We have this fetish of commemorating historical dates and personages that remind our massacres and subservience. We do not commemorate the insurgencies of slaves or the Canudos Insurrection, nor do we celebrate the epic past of Marighella, Zumbi, João Cândido, Jesuíno Brilhante, Olga [Benário], or Espirtirina Martins. Going against logic, we buy the canned historical version, told by the winners who still continue to dominate us.

The fetid and corrupt monarchy that parasitised Brazil, deposed after the proclamation of the republic, does not differ in absolutely anything from the elite which nowadays parasitises the so admired democratic republic. Bankers, lobbyists, politicians, corporatists, CEOs, speculators and landlords, all worms that accumulate innumerable richness at the expense of others’ sweat.

Republic, presidentialism, monarchy, or even social democracy. There is no alternative to capitalism that is more “humanised” because the problem is capitalism itself. We will be oppressed and exploited as long as there are capitalism, social classes and exploitation of human by human.

Do not believe in magical solutions proposed by demagogues and opportunists. There is no alternative to the capitalist crisis that looms large on the horizon. Impeachment, coup, elections or any other palliative do not solve the structural problems that the Brazilian State presents. Only the autonomous, free and revolutionary organisation of male workers, female workers and youth can guarantee the construction of a new society towards complete freedom.

We reiterate: there is no way to remain a pacifist in the face of one of the most violent societies ever constructed over the course of history. We not delude ourselves into believing that this gigantic pyramid of hierarchised oppressions can be overthrown or even delegitimised through pacifist actions.

We will continue to violently attack the superstructure of capitalist domination. We will make gunpowder and fire our only voice in the face of injustices, for the construction and propagation of anarchist urban guerrillas that today begin to emerge in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul, in parallel with the struggle of the masses that also emerges with new revolutionary subjects.

The struggle of students in São Paulo against the shutdown of public schools by Geraldo Alckmin’s dictatorial and militaristic regime is extremely heroic and remarkable. Our most sincere solidarity, strength and compassion to all 19 schools occupied, so far, by high-school boys and girls. Continue to resist bravely. Do not be intimidated by the attacks of the police, the media or the judiciary. The people are certainly with you.

Our solidarity also goes out to the feminist struggle of women who marched in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro against the scumbag Eduardo Cunha and the entire reactionary mob that nowadays infest the political and economic scene with their rotten conservative and theocratic agendas. Continue to fight the good fight; the people are with you as well!

Our condolences and sincerest solidarity to the victims, their relatives and all those affected by the disaster [at the Germano mine near the town] of Mariana [in Minas Gerais state], perpetrated by the capitalist trio Vale, Samarco and BHP Billiton. An advance warning: your actions that end up resulting in irreparable damage to the environment and the lives of thousands of people, for the sake of your filthy lucre, will not be left unanswered.

Furthermore, we would also like to salute the General Strike that took place in Greece on the 12th day of this month, against austerity, poverty and repression imposed by Europe’s banking elite. Our most sincere solidarity with the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, especially the comrades who are currently imprisoned in Greece: Gerasimos Tsakalos, Olga Ekonomidou, Haris Hadjimihelakis, Christos Tsakalos, Giorgos Nikolopoulos, Michalis Nikolopoulos, Damiano Bolano, Panagiotis Argirou, Giorgos Polidoros [and Theofilos Mavropoulos].

We will continue to progressively increase our attacks in accordance with the increase in our operational capacity. Wait for more acts of sabotage and direct actions in the coming months.

We call in advance all anarchists and communists to prepare materials and equip themselves logistically for the last month of this year. Black December is being organised by revolutionaries from all corners of the world, seeking multiple, continuous and constant attacks, and if everything goes according to our plan it will be marked by chaos and revolutionary energy that will take good care of São Paulo and other Brazilian states.

Let practice and direct action become the evolution of libertarian theory. In an autonomous and decentralised manner, through small groups of intimacy, anyone disposed and organised can carry out their own actions.

Not a step back.

War on the State and the Capital!

August 10 is Prisoners’ Justice Day: Let’s Bring the BOP’s Plans for a Prison on Mountaintop Removal Site to the Forefront

From Earth First! Journal:

By Panagioti / Prison Ecology Project

August 10 is a day that prisoners have declared Prisoners’ Justice Day. It’s a day to demonstrate solidarity in remembrance of those who have died unnecessarily behind bars—victims of murder, suicide and neglect—at the hands of the police state.

 

It started in Canada in 1975 following the death of prisoner Edward Nalon in a solitary unit of Millhaven Maximum Security Prison located in Ontario, and it has remained most recognized in that country. While there has been some success in calling to use this day as a way to bring awareness to the plights of incarcerated people who suffer injustice worldwide, it still hasn’t quite caught on in the U.S. … yet.

[Check out a collection of reflections from Prisoner Justice Day in recent years here, specifically this “open letter to construction workers at prisons” released in tandem with a 2012 call for blockades of work aimed at expanding the Collins Bay and Frontenac prisons.]

But anti-prison activists in the U.S. and abroad, particularly those with an interest in environmental justice, should note that this year’s August 10 is marked by the proposal to build a new federal maximum security prison in the Appalachian mountains of Letcher County in eastern Kentucky, on top of a former mountaintop removal coal mine.

Just this week, after several years of local debate about the economic failures of building prisons on low-income rural areas, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has announced plans to move forward with another prison in a region that has been dubbed Appalachia’s Gulag Archipelago.

Despite the area’s long history of pollution from decades of blasting for coal, politicians like U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers have insisted on piling prisoners into this remote location which is likely to poison prisoners with tainted water. It also happens to be far from any reasonable transit options for family visitation, not to mention being planned on threatened and endangered species habitat of the incredibly biodiverse region.

What to do about the BOP’s Letcher County plan this Aug 10? 

Prisoners’ Justice Day is fast-approaching, but it’s not too late to plan for action. A quick place to start is sending over a letter to the BOP within this 30-day window telling them that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS )is insufficient, as it does not recognize the civil rights that prisoners have to receive environmental justice protections. This is, of course, in addition to the myriad concerns related to perpetuating the racist and classist mass incarceration system by building more prisons to extract poor people from their communities and warehouse them in toxic places.

Also worth noting is that there is a major PR firm called Cardno who is contracted by the BOP to conduct the EIS study. They are likely representing many more of your corporate and state enemies as well. According to their website, “Cardno now has about 8,200 staff working in 300 offices, on projects across more than 100 countries around the world.”  Their corporate offices are located within the following regions:
Australasia    Middle East    UK/Europe
North America    Africa    Asia
Latin America

 

 

The following text provides some additional history on Prisoners Justice Day becoming international day of solidarity with prisoners:

In 1983, prisoners in France refused to eat in recognition of August 10th, the following statement would be read on the Paris radio station Frequence-Libre:

Why not have on August 10 an international day of solidarity with our imprisoned brothers and sisters,

For here or elsewhere, prison kills,
Whether it be Nalon in Ontario, Bader or Meinhoff in West Germany,
Claude or Ivan in Switzerland, Bobby Sands in Ireland,
Mirval, Haadjadj, Onno, Youssef or so many others in France,
Whether they are serving 53 years like Alexandre Cotte or 16 years like Youssef,
Whether they are considered political or common prisoners,
PRISON KILLS!

By the mid 1990´s prisoners in parts of Germany, England and the United States would join this day of protest.

The number of issues focused on over twenty-five years has been extensive:

Double Bunking
Youth Incarceration
Safe Tattooing Inside
Special Handling Units
The Wrongfully Convicted
Twenty-five Year Sentences
The Right to Freedom of Speech
The Women Self-defense Review
Abolition of National Parole Board
The Right to Vote in Federal Elections
Decriminalization of Victimless Crime
Health Care Needs of Prisoners With HIV & AIDS
Return to Shorter Sentences with 1/3 Time Off For Good Behaviour
Medical Care and the Same Options for Treatment as Outside Prison
The Integration of Protective Custody prisoners into General Population
Decarceration – Release of Prisoners Who Already Served Their Sentence
Alternatives to Incarceration – the Eventual Abolition of Prisons
The Recognition of Political Prisoners in Canada
Early Intervention Programs for At-Risk Youth
Moratorium on the Building of New Prisons
The Incarceration of Refugee Claimants
The Prisoners´ Right to Unionize
Privatization of Food Services
Needle Exchange Programs
Privatization of Prisons
Involuntary Transfers
Education Programs
Gating of Prisoners

The Right to Recognize August 10th Without Reprisals

PRISONERS’ JUSTICE DAY IS…

…August 10, the day prisoners have set aside as a day to fast and refuse to work in a show of solidarity to remember those who have died unnecessarily — victims of murder, suicide and neglect.

…the day when organizations and individuals in the community hold demonstrations, vigils, worship services and other events in common resistance with prisoners.

…the day to raise issue with the fact that a very high rate of women are in prison for protecting themselves against their abusers. This makes it obvious that the legal system does not protect women who suffer violence at the hands of their partners.

…is the day to remember that there are a disproportionate number of Natives, African-Canadians and other minorities and marginalized people in prisons. Prisons are the ultimate form of oppression against struggles of recognition and self-determination.

…the day to raise public awareness of the demands made by prisoners to change the criminal justice system and the brutal and inhumane conditions that lead to so many prison deaths.

…the day to oppose prison violence, police violence, and violence against women and children.

…the day to publicize that, in their fight for freedom and equality, the actions of many political prisoners have been criminalized by government. As a result, there are false claims that there are no political prisoners in north american prisons.

…the day to raise public awareness of the economic and social costs of a system of criminal justice which punishes for revenge. If there is ever to be social justice, it will only come about using a model of healing justice, connecting people to the crimes and helping offenders take responsibility for their actions.

…the day to renew the struggle for HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment in prison.

…the day to remind people that the criminal justice system and the psychiatric system are mutually reinforcing methods that the state uses to control human beings. There is a lot of brutality by staff committed in the name of treatment. Moreover, many deaths in the psych-prisons remain uninvestigated.

Info on Prisoners’ Justice Day courtesy of PrisonJustice.ca.

Santiago, Chile: Anarchist compañero Sebastián Oversluij murdered during bank expropriation

From Contra Info:

Let Alfonso Alvial and Hermes González out in the streets! Active solidarity with the compañeros.

Sebastián Oversluij present! No aggression should be left without an answer!

On Wednesday morning, December 11, 2013, 26 year old anarchist Sebastián Oversluij Seguel was gunned down by a security guard when he and other individuals attempted to rob a branch of Chilean state-run bank BancoEstado, located on La Estrella Avenue in the Pudahuel commune of Santiago. The mercenary killer of the State/Capital fired at least 6 bullets into the comrade.

Shortly afterwards, Alfonso Alvial, 27, and Hermes González, 25, were caught by cops on the streets, while other comrades managed to escape.

On Wednesday night several houses were raided, including the home of Sebastián’s parents.

The two apprehended comrades were charged in the case and moved to the High Security Prison (C.A.S.) in Santiago.

Here’s a small tribute to Sebastián, one of the songs without words by the Palabras En Conflicto, an insurrectionary anarchist hip-hop crew to which the fallen comrade also gave voice:

Respect and insurrectionary memory for anarchist Sebastián Oversluij!
Strength, love and solidarity to his comrades and beloved ones!

Let’s avenge our slain comrade!

Colombia: OAS condemns murder of Indigenous leader

An Organization of American States commission condemned Monday the shooting death last week of a Colombian indigenous leader and human rights proponent.

Luis Alfredo Socarras Pimienta, a Wayuu indigenous leader, dentist and human rights activist, was killed July 27 in the city of Riohacha. The city is located on Colombia’s northern Caribbean Sea coast.

“The information available indicates that the crime was committed by a hit man who shot him in the doorway of his house and then fled,” The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said in a release Monday.

Socarras Pimienta had led several demonstrations by the Wayuu people to protest in favor of better human rights and living conditions, the U.N. panel said. He also had run twice for the mayor’s office for the municipality of Manaure, somewhat akin to a county commission chairmanship in the United States.

The rights commission urged Colombian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring the responsible parties to justice.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous panel created by the OAS. The commission consists of seven independent members who act in a personal capacity, without representing a particular country. They are elected by the OAS General Assembly.

The OAS, with headquarters in Washington, is comprised of 35 independent nations in the Western Hemisphere.

Peru: Lori Berenson Paroled!

Lori and Salvador are Granted Parole!

On May 25, 2010 a Peruvian judge, after carefully studying Lori’s application for what in Peru is termed “conditional liberty” (parole), determined that Lori has earned her freedom. Lori and her son Salvador will be leaving prison in a few days and moving to an apartment in Lima.

Parole requires individuals to live within the city in which they were incarcerated (Lima, in Lori’s case) – we do not know if there are exceptions for foreigners or whether Lori will be permitted to travel to the US while on parole. Parole in Peru is based on good behavior, work and study. In September 2009 Lori officially filed her application under a Peruvian law which established eligibility after serving 75% of her 20-sentence, less time off for work and study.

Six killed in Peru miners strike clashes

Six people were killed on April 5 when police attacked a roadblock set up by miners on a wildcat strike.

Officials claimed that the workers were protesting at the government’s push to impose environmental controls on them, although one observer commented that it was more likely that the government was motivated by financial interests than saving the planet.

Reuters reported that violence broke out on Sunday in the southern province of Arequipa, injuring 20 protesters and nine police near Chala, 600km (372 miles) south of the capital, Lima.

Two of the dead were bystanders, including a taxi driver struck by a stray bullet and a woman who suffered a heart attack.

Venezuela: all detainees released and charges dropped following union march in Maracay

An update on the arrests at the union march in Venezuela, courtesy of libcom.org

All the individuals detained following Friday’s demonstration were released late on Friday night, with all charges forgotten following the apparent intervention from someone from on high. Rafael from El Libertario, who was amongst the detained, filed this report:

Doing away with all elementary journalistic conventions, I write this report in the first person.Following the callout by a group of unions to hold a demonstration in the city of Maracay against [the government’s] economic measures, the criminalisation of protest and for justice in the cases of workers assassinated for demanding improvements in their conditions, three members of [human rights organisation] Provea – of whom I was one – and two members of the El Libertario newspaper – of which I am also a member – made our way with other companeros from Caracas to show our solidarity.

Venezuela: 43 arrests on union march in Maracay

libcom.org:

(12/03/10, 4:45pm local time): 43 people have been arrested in a demonstration for labour and human rights and the return of collective contracts in the city of Maracay, Aragua state, Venezuela. Amongst the detained are three members of the human rights organisation, Provea, and an editor of the anarchist newspaper El Libertario.

Information is still scarce, but it appears that the demonstration – which had been organised by around 30 separate unions and was comprised of more than 200 people – was prevented from moving off by police, who attacked the assembled with tear gas. In the process of dissolving the congregated mass – who were calling for the right to protest, the return of collective contracts and freedom for Rubén González, the imprisoned union leader in Bolívar state – some 43 individuals were detained.

The three detained comrades thus far identified are Rafael Uzcategui (from El Libertario, and there in his capacity as an official human rights observer with Provea), Marcos Ponce and Robert Calzadilla. “Unfortunately, it is to do with our stance against the intolerance of social protest,” commented a Provea spokesman in Caracas. “We hope that our comrades will soon be granted unconditional freedom”.

More news forthcoming as and when, for the meantime, Spanish speakers can check this article on the website of the antichavista daily, El Universal.

Brazil: Two people killed in attack on police station

SAO PAULO – Two civilians were killed and a police station was burned to the ground during a clash between residents and cops in the northern Brazilian state of Para, authorities said.

The spokesman for the state Public Safety Office, Emanuel Villaza, told Efe that two police officers were wounded in the incident in Tracuateua, a town 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Belem, Para’s capital.

Police fired their guns “in legitimate self defense,” he said.

Villaza said that while leaders of the crowd said they wanted police to hand over a suspect in a deadly robbery, the real purpose of the protest was to drive out the cops.

He said drug traffickers paid the mob to attack the police station.

Authorities reached that conclusion based on the use of Molotov cocktails, which Villaza described as unprecedented in a spontaneous protest, and on the failure of the crowd to go after any of the prisoners released from the burning police station.

“The author of the robbery-murder had been transferred to Manituba, 100 kilometers (away). The thing about the lynching was an excuse by criminal groups to make the police station disappear,” the spokesman said.

Police have identified the ringleaders and will soon ask a judge to issue arrest warrants, Villaza said. EFE

Peru: Five Die in Protests March 5th

via Act for Freedom:

LIMA – Five people have died in the northern city of Piura in violent clashes between shopkeepers and police over plans to remove street vendors from the vicinity of a local market, Peruvian media reported on Thursday.

Three people died on Wednesday and two others on Thursday from wounds they received in street battles on Wednesday, radio networks said.

The confrontations have ceased, at least for now, but an atmosphere of great tension persists, police spokesmen in Piura told Efe, but they were unable to confirm the two latest deaths.

For the moment, only three deaths have been officially confirmed, Interior Minister Octavio Salazar said, adding that he also had been informed about the other two fatalities.

The confrontations were precipitated when about 1,000 shopkeepers demonstrated in Piura, which is 1,050 kilometers (651 miles) north of Lima, after they could not meet with Mayor Monica Zapata at city hall and began a street protest, a situation that was taken advantage of by criminals to attack different premises.

The shopkeepers were protesting the city’s plan to remove the street vendors who traditionally set up their stands outside the city market.

“We came upon an activity that the shopkeepers were doing, which was not authorized, and when they began damaging public and private property, we intervened,” said Salazar.

A total of 137 people were arrested, Salazar said. It was not reported whether there were any casualties among the police.

About 500 police officers have been deployed in the city, both those on the local force as well as ones dispatched from other cities, including Chiclayo, Trujillo and Lima, police spokesmen said. EFE