Greece: Nazis murder musician with full police complicity

Nazi terrorists murdered antifascist hip-hop musician Pavlos Fyssas (aka Killah P) in Piraeus. One of the criminals is Georgios Roupakias, 45, already arrested, but it was a well organized murder with many culprits, including the cops, who allowed it. 

According to the victim's father:

Pavlos’ friends made a remark against Golden Dawn inside a cafe where they were watching a football match. Somebody from a nearby table overheard them and made a phonecall to Golden Dawn members. Golden Dawn squads arrived almost simultaneously with DIAS motorbike police. Pavlos tried to help his friends evade the scene, but he was ambushed by another Golden Dawn squad and surrounded. Then another Golden Dawn associate drove with his car opposite in an one-way street, stopped and stabbed him to death, while the DIAS policemen did not intervene. One girl asked them to help but they didn’t. They only approached afterwards to arrest the man with the main suspect.

As reaction demonstrations have been called through the country for this evening. In some cities like Patras, morning protests of teachers (on strike) were joined by antifascists angry for the crime and its outrageous impunity. At least one Nazi see has been attacked.

Let's face it: Greece is already a Nazi state and Golden Dawn rules with the Samaras government being nothing but a transitional puppet, which does not want nor can oppose the Nazi terror, equally targeting immigrants, Roma, reds or the last honest judges. Police is completely in Nazi hands and that means that they control the state altogether. Democracy is not anymore for real at any meaningful sense but the situation is almost identical to Italy at the ascent of Mussolini: it popular self-defense is not urgently organized and exerted, the Nazis will soon march to Athens and take out the last pretense of freedom. 

This surely does not only apply to Greece but to much of Europe, as the fascists are growing everywhere in arrogance and boldness, usually with complicity of the bourgeois governments, police forces and secret services, as well as the upper bourgeois class, which sees in them the last line of defense of their privileges in societies that are quickly collapsing.

Source and more details: From the Greek Streets (link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5).

Mexico: teacher and student camp brutally evicted by police

The teacher and student camp in the Zócalo (the major plaza of Mexico City) was brutally evicted by police forces. 12,000 teachers continue on strike in the North American country. 

Source: WG[es].


Update: more than 200 injured reported, almost all civilians. 32 arrested. → WG[es].

Update: more repression: police charge and gas civilians near Arts Faculty after these accused the cops of "assassins" → video at WG[es].

Colombia: national farmer strike continues

More than 2500 farmer and indigenous delegates rejected the proposal by President Santos, dubbing it of "more of the same" and clearly not enough. 

The popular mobilizations were expected to continue yesterday in Colombian cities as the government is obviously unwilling to meet the demands by the People of guaranteeing land rights to indigenous and Afro-Colombian groups and to make a proper land reform that dismantles the large properties and guarantees that the land belongs in essence to the farmers (workers).  The suppression of the FTA with North America is also among their demands, because it forces them to import food, what is plainly absurd when you can produce it.

In parallel there is a teacher strike whose participants are again not satisfied by the agreement reached between the Government and FECODE (a union).

Source: WG[es].

Colombia: police murders four, including a child

Four more Colombian citizens were murdered by the police forces in the context of the farmer strike that shatters the South American country. Other 35 people were injured. 

The massacre took place in the village of Mojarras, in the department of Cauca, SE of the country. 

The exact number of victims is yet provisional but it is known that a boy aged six was killed by inhalation of tear gas. Among the injured there is a human rights activist: Deivid de Jesús Hurtado. 

The latest informations said that the victims were arriving to the hospital San José of Popayán (departmental capital), where there was a growing concentration of people, mostly students. 

Besides tear gas police forces used live fire and even explosive devices. Many of the victims were caused by these.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Colombia: tens of thousands protest in the South-West

In spite of militarization, the popular uprising in Colombia is far from over. Yesterday a 10,000 strong march of Native Americans took over the city of Popayán (Cauca) blocking a major road in solidarity with the National Strike led by the small farmers.

Also it has been known that the government sent the infamous riot police squad (ESMAD) to the city of Florencia (Caquetá), also in the SW of the country, where more than 15,000 farmers have been protesting since August 19th.

Source: Webguerrillero[es] (link 1, link 2).

Colombia: protests and clashes reach the capital Bogotá

The National Strike initiated by farmers and miners in Colombia has finally reached that islet of relative calm that is the capital Bogotá, as well as Cali and Medellín. 

Thousands marched through the streets peacefully yesterday... until hell broke loose. Clashes left many injured, police shot live fire.

The reaction of President Santos has been to militarize the city. Curfews are already active in several towns but this really looks like a Turkish uprising more and more, particularly as the government has very little legitimacy in a country shattered by decades of civil war and when it is clearly guilty of massacring protesters and not respecting the most basic human rights. 

The seriousness of the popular uprising can be gauged by the fact that Santos had to acknowledge for the first time that the farm sector has been abandoned.  

However he and his ministers appealed to the ghost of the guerrilla, whom they call "terrorists", in order to demonize and divide the protesters. 

But the real issue, the real terrorism is the brutal reality of Capitalist accumulation:

"My purchase power is zero, it's only enough to survive," said Orlando Pamo, 50, an indigenous father of six from central Tolima province who earns less than the minimum wage farming citrus and other fruits. "The government wants us off the land so it can be given to big business. We don't get the benefits companies get."

Sources: Reuters, NBC (photo gallery), Euronews (video), BBC, Webguerrillero[es] (photo gallery and video). 


Update: nice synthetic and musicalized video of the protests (comments in Spanish only but mostly images from the demos and some of the repression):

Colombia: video-compilation of police brutality (national farmer strike)

Beatings, shootings, invasion of private homes, destruction of property and documents... not Attila but the Colombian riot police.

Many testimonies require understanding some Spanish but many other images are self-explainatory.

Colombia: police kills another farmer

Juan Camilo Acosta Acosta was killed by a gas canister thrown directly against his chest by the Colombian riot police (ESMAD) in the village of Fusagasugá (Boyacá department). 

When his comrades attempted to collect the body, the police impeded it, charging again with more tear gas and stunning bombs. The citizenry then concentrated in the local park but they were almost enclosed by the police. A massacre is feared. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Colombia: major protest in Tunja against repression

A pot-banging demonstration took the city of Tunja (Boyacá, Central Colombia) in protest for the disdain and brutal repression that President Santos is adopting against the General Strike, already a week long. 

They demand a comprehensive agrarian policy that takes in account the small farmers, as well as a stop to repression. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Colombia: generalized uprising and brutal police repression

The local (much less the international) media is not reporting on the farmer strike, much less the brutal repression taking place against this uprising, every day more generalized. However the information is leaking via the Internet, including many striking videos, for example:

They do not just repress but also steal food and other produce to farmers:

Source and more videos: Webguerrillero[es].

USA: fast food workers on strike

US fast food workers can barely bring food to their families because of the very low salaries ($7.5 per hour) they are paid. Therefore they have gone on strike demanding a 100% pay rise with important demonstrations taking place in all the major cities of the USA.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Tunisia: protests and riots after second murder of Left leader

Protests and riots took over Tunis and the mining towns of Sidi Bouzid and Meknassi after Mohamed Brahmi was murdered by Islamists. In February another communist, Chokri Belaid, was also murdered with the same weapon, it seems. 

These crimes aggravate the confrontation between the revolutionary opposition and the reactionary Islamists (Enhada) in power, which practice brutal neoliberalism. 

The protesters in Tunis demanded the resignation of the government and new elections but the Prime Minister Ali Larayedh rejected this possibility, although he announced presidential elections for the end of 2013.

The main labor union, the UGTT, called for a general strike and warned that these murders will lead the country to a bloodbath.

In Sidi Bouzid the demonstrators set fire barricades and also burned down the see of the ruling party, something that also happened in the nearby town of Meknassi. Police attacked them with tear gas. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es] (link 1, link 2).

Colombia: two miners killed by police during strike

Police attacked miners in the district of Irra, epicenter of the indefinite mining strike in Colombia, murdering two with gases. At least 40 children are hospitalized for the same reason. 

Miners in all Colombia are blocking railroad routes as part of the sectoral strike in demand of legal protection for small-scale mining. 

The farmer uprising in Cataumbo continues as well, with some 16,000 people taking part in road blockades and demonstrations. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Egypt: an Anarchist vision of the 2013 revolutionary movement

Waging Nonviolence published recently an interview with Egyptian Anarchist Mohammed Hassan Aazab in the context of the massive revolutionary uprising of these last days. I reproduce here some excerpts:

(...)

Who called for the general strike? Are there particular unions involved?

No. The unions are totally ineffective.

So how is the strike organized?

Tamarod [the Rebel Movement] called for the general strike. Actually, it has not been organized in advance; it has been a spontaneous development. It will work by people believing in and supporting it.

Do you think people will follow through?

Port Said will start the general strike tomorrow. I have no idea to what extent people will follow through on it, beyond that. But it’s clear people are absolutely determined to force Morsi out.

(...)

How are anarchists organizing within this particular moment. I got the sense that some of you were involved with Tamarod, but are you playing a particular role?

No, anarchists didn’t sign onto the Tamarod declaration. Tamarod is not revolutionary at all. It was just obvious that the movement connected with millions of Egyptians, so we joined the protests. The protesters yesterday were against the idea of an Islamic dictator, but at the same time, most of them are okay with a civil or military dictator. Fuck any dictator. We’ll never forget. We’ll never forgive.

And you’ve got an anarchist tent in Tahrir, right now?
Yes. We’ve got four tents, actually.

(...)

How can people here best support you all?

By spreading the word that Obama and U.S. government are actively supporting the formation of religious states in the Middle East. The U.S. ambassador said that Egyptians should learn the meaning of democracy! Who the fuck is she to say that?

Full interview at Waging Nonviolence.

Basque Country: IKEA workers on strike

The strikes in IKEA Barakaldo have been a very clear success, with most workers joining them. The Swedish multinational has responded with illegal measures firing striking workers (totally illegal) and replacing them by new staff. 

The strikes come as result of new working hours schedules that would force employees to work six days per week (instead of five) and reduce the number of yearly free saturdays from 17 to just 8. All workers would be obliged to work as much as nine hours per day, even those with half-journey contracts. 

The company tried to minimize the impact of the strike putting their managers to work as provisional cashiers, as every single cashier had joined the strike. This is illegal and contravenes the right to strike, reason why the Company Comitee (worker representation) has sued them. 

Further negotiations have not reached any deal. 

IKEA Norte is making ridiculously high profits and there is absolutely no objective reason to make such brutal demands to workers, much less in a context of widespread unemployment, where new workers can be hired almost overnight.

Source: Herri Kolore[es].

Kashmir: general strike and curfew after Army kills civilians

Indian-occupied Kashmir was paralyzed by a general strike on Monday after the Army murdered two civilians this weekend.

The occupation forces murdered one protester in a demonstration in repulse of the murder of another civilian just hours before. As reaction the independentist movement called for a general strike that had massive following. 

The occupant power declared the state of emergency.

Source: Gara[es].

Costa Rica: massive protests and strikes take over the country

Not everything is alright in Costa Rica anymore, especially since the government began privatizing everything and making outlandish concessions to multinational corporations. 

Schools, harbors and health services have been paralyzed in total or partial manner. 

In the capital, San José, thousands marched peacefully but shouting out their anger: "We are not sheep", "no more chorizos [thieves]", "death to the sell out by the government", "no to suppression of the right to strike". 

There were also large marches in all the other provinces of the small country, as well as road blockades and worker strikes. 

In the main port, Limón, workers closed the docks altogether and blocked the only road access to the harbor.

President Chinchilla has made some very unpopular decisions in the last months, selling out the country's wealth and utilities to the private sector, while also falling to many corruption scandals. 

One of these highly controversial decisions is the concession to a Dutch company (ATM) of a new harbor in Limón, which would ruin the publicly-owned current one. Another is the preparation of a law that would severely restrict the right of strike. The corruption scandals are so widespread that the opposition talks of "looting the country".

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: workers and students strike together

Miners, teachers, dock and healthcare workers have gone on strike today in Chile, along with high school and university students. The demands are focused on free quality education for all, labor rights, dignified jobs and healthcare.

While the leading force in this strike is the Student Confederation (CONFECH), these have been getting closer and closer to labor organizations in the last several years in the course of struggles against privatizations imposed by the neo-Pinochetist President Piñera. This way the General Union of Dock Workers (UNTP), the Teachers' College, the Confederation of Copper Workers (CTC), the Unitary Workers Central (CUT) have joined student organizations in this strike, bringing class struggle in the Andean country one step ahead. 

Three marches will converge today at the center of Santiago de Chile, while the popular organizations are working in order to express the anger in multiple ways at each location. 

This strike is also a preparation for the General Strike of July 11th. 

Source LINyM[es].

Turkey: Erdogan, against the ropes, threatens now to deploy the Army

Turkish PM T. Erdogan, cornered by the indomitable revolutionary stand of the People and facing today a General Strike, has threatened to bring out the Army (which was already present at some key points this weekend).

Unlike police, which is made up of mercenaries only, the Turkish Army is based on conscription, what makes it at least possible that one unit after another rebel against the government and the officialdom. Maybe I am daydreaming but that is exactly what happened in the Russian Revolution, completely dismantling the Tsarist state almost overnight. 

What seems clear is that if soldiers conscripted from a very angry People are forced to shoot against their fellows, they will face serious contradictions and nobody knows where that may end.


Update: mainstream opposition (CHP) leader Kemal Kiliçdaroglu has spoken in the same line, warning that Erdogan is bringing Turkey to a civil war. (→ Webguerrillero[es]).

Chile: 19 universities occupied by students

Some 19 campuses, both public and private, have been occupied by Chilean students, who continue in their indefatigable struggle to secure a public, free and quality education in their country.

While student struggle has been dramatically active in Chile the last several years, the movement felt impelled to give a new impulse to their struggle as the arrogant President Piñera (Christian-Democrat) declared on May 21s that he would not guarantee free public education. 

A new national student strike has been called by the Student Confederation (ConfECh) for June 26th.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].