Next Saturday, October 19, 2019, at 18h, the CNT-AIT Catalunya will organize on the Angels’ Plaza in Barcelona, ​​an informative and solidarity action with prisoners on hunger strike and with Antoine Nieto Galindo. Antoine, a social and anarchist rebel, is the oldest political prisoner in Europe (and perhaps the world oldest political prisoner, a sad record …) He has been imprisoned for more than 50 years for not having given in to the injustices of the penitentiary system. Although seriously ill, these same prison injustices prevent him from getting out of prison, thus not respecting the bourgeois laws themselves.

These long days of mobilization have shown us that mutual support exists, and that the anarchist utopia is still alive, because for a few days the park of “El Arbolito” and its surroundings became that place, that place where the people defended itself, fed, cared for, cured and attended the people. Food, medicine and clothing arrived without stopping, while in the barricades the popular guard resisted the advances of the police and cleared any tear bomb that could affect the brothers who were inside the park.

By another side, many hands were still available to prepare the food that arrived, the food was never lacking, the bread was never lacking, in each corner someone offered you water, juice, fruit or a “tarrina” (tub) of food, while congratulating you and encouraging you to continue in the fight.

Long chains of people could be seen moving stones to build and supply the barricades, while at the shouting of « Medico ! » the brigade was attending to mobilize and assist the wounded comrades in battle.

Thus, each of us brought and contributed, on the battlefield, in the chain, in the shelter, in the kitchen, in the medical brigade, and in each of the places that allowed this mobilization to be possible.

In 1978, the CNT’s reformist fraction who created the spanish CGT, led by Enric Marcos (first CGT-e general secretary), were visiting the US embassy in Madrid to explain that « CNT » (later CGT) supported democracy and was a good alternative to « communism » for workers and avoid any developpment like in Italy …

Also they explain clearly why they sould be authorized to participate to professional elections and why it is so important as it would give a clear evidence that – according to their point of view – the « CNT » (which will became CGT) has abandoned the revolutionary path …

 »Friday, August 28, 2009 »

I would like to discuss an interesting communiqué from the French Anarchist Federation (FAF) (June 2009) which values ​​ »… practices based on the Amerindian habits and customs and tradition of direct democracy [which] not are not only developped into the « original » (native) peoples communities, but also expading outside those communities.  » Because « These values are joining some anarchist proposals : autonomy from the state and political parties, collective decisions, federalism. »

Anarchists realize that people in the Amazon rainforest are implementing principles that are dear to them, fine ! Although, contrary to what an unrepentant Westerno-centrism makes them write, it is not the Native Americans who « join us » but we who are getting our bearings : after all, their practices pre-exist a few centuries before the creation of the FAF (and of the CNT-AIT) !

The notion of « habits and customs / traditions » remains to be discussed. Presented as it is, it gives the impression that all this is respectable! But seniority does not make quality, and in the Americas, as in Europe, there is obviously a sort to be done in all the traditions ! Finally, the notion of « original (native) peoples » seems to me to be racialist (if not racist).

« The Sarajevo assassination » is known in history as the assassination perpetrated on Sunday, June 28, 1914, against Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife, Sophie Chotek, Duchess of Hohenberg1, by the group Young Bosnia (Mlada Bosna). Gavrilo Princip was the author of the fatal shots. This event is considered as the trigger of the First World War, which resulted in the defeat, fall and dismemberment of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, German and Ottoman empires, as well as the outbreak of the Russian and German Revolution.

But who were these Young Bosnia? Were they Serb nationalists, as the Serbian Government is now pretending, in an attempt to rewrite history?

Our anarchosyndicalist companions of Anarchosyndicalist Initiative (ASI) of Belgrade set the record straight at the History’s time …

(Translation of an article published in the July 2019 issue of « Direktna Akcija », Action Directe)

« Every night, I dreamed that I was an anarchist, that I was fighting with cops. »
Gavrilo Princip, a member of the Young Bosnia, talking about his life before the assassination of Sarajevo.

Today, on August 24, 2019, the mayor of Paris, a member of the Socialist Party (the one of the non-intervention in Spain in 1936 and much more bullshit since …), The Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Spain (put in place by the military rebellion led by Caudillo Franco) ), the Ambassador of the […]

Currently, since beginning of summer 2019, a huge movement of strike is hitting the Health care industry in France, and especially the Nursing homes for elderly (EHPAD in French) and the Hospitals’ Emergency unit.

This movement fights for dignity for workers and for hospital patients.

What is new is that this movement emerged from the workers themselves, inspired by the dynamic of the Yellow Vests, outside from the trade-unions (even if unions are running after the movement to try to catch it and canalize it)

To understand what is at stake, we republish below an article we issued 10 years ago exactly … when we supported struggles and strikes of staff from different retirement homes. But at that time those strikes ran only localy, in isolated movements, so it didn’t last enough for a global change.

While the overall situation has not changed from what we described in our article (apart the name of the Ministers that has changed, but policy stays as ever .. ), maybe the generalized awareness of the workers in this industry will lead to a general strike (and not isolated struggles) that would achieve a balance of power sufficient ?