Solidarietà Internazionale Libertaria

1. Developing direct democracy and peoples' self-organization

In countries which have all known dictatorships, the question of democracy is not obvious. But the needs of democracy, the desire to be heard and to have one's own destiny in one's own hands are stronger in those mainly disadvantaged layers of the population. And it is for this reason that projects are being developed which are concerned with the strengthening or the building of places where people can express themselves and live together.

Uruguay: There already exists a cultural association in Colon. It is a place for collective debate and decision regarding social struggles - workers' or students' struggles, ecological battles, anti-corruption, struggles for the development of medical care and education, and so on. But these spaces are not enough and the cost of land prohibits expansion. Our support is vital in order for this place of direct democracy and self-management  to continue to develop.

Brazil: A similar project to that in Colon was launched across the border in the village of Sepe Tiaraju which lies at the point where Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay meet. Through direct action, 483 families of landless peasants occupied an area of 16 hectares. However, they need a community hall, a social and political meeting-place where all the inhabitants can meet in assembly.

 

2. Developing the spread of libertarian ideas.

All over South America, as in other parts of the world, libertarian ideas have been suffocated. The conditions for promoting and encouraging them are also very difficult.

Uruguay: The FAU requires a van which is vital for carrying out propaganda on the streets in a country where the means of comunication and the methods of demonstration are totally alien to our own.

Brazil: It is fiendishly difficult to publish a newspaper or even flyers. The FAG is trying to set up a libertarian printshop which could be used by all the movements they are connected with.

Argentina: The economic and political collapse is making it very difficult for the OSL to produce its journal "En la Calle" ("In the Street"). We are financing this indispensable tool in the politicization of the popular revolt.

 

3. Supporting self-management experiences

The recovery and recycling of refuse is often the only means of support for thousands of dump dwellers, organized in the scrap metal and garbage recycling cooperatives of Gravatai. Some months ago an arson attack destroyed the shed which belonged to this workers' cooperative. These workers urgently need to restore this building.

These projects are a possibility for all of us. We contrast, here and now, capitalist globalization with concrete and direct solidarity.

Building another world also means, concretely, building a meeting hall or a printshop. They will be the bricks of a new experience, of the acceptance of collective responsibilities and self-managed experiments. We promote development from below and direct action against the capitalists and against those who would wish to provide the international movement of resistance against capitalist globalization with some project for a single society which is totally unconnected with reality and which has been worked out around a table by high-flying intellectuals or by self-proclaimed leaders.

Supporting South American projects means demonstrating our dedication in practice, not just talking about it.

Militants for another future: FAG, FAU and OSL.

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The projects support by SIL were jointly presented by the Federação Anarchica Gaucha (FAG, Brazil) and the Federacion Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU, Uruguay) and successively completed with support to the Organisacion Socialista Libertaria (OSL, Argentina).

The FAU, which has recently celebrated its 45th anniversary, is an organization which was born from the resistance to dictatorship.

The FAG, a much younger organization, works within the social movements in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The OSL has been developing recently in the context of the popular revolts in Argentina, with the piqueteros and factory occupations.

These organizations are linked to the Chilean militants of the Congreso de Unificacion Anarco-comunista (CUAC).