a short update from the INDY MEDIA CARAVAN in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires 17-02

The international indymedia caravan (indyArgentina,Peru,Brazile,USA,Germany, 
Italy are rapresented)after being in the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre 
is now in Buenos Aires till the next week, documenting the argentinian 
political and social process after the revolt of the 19 and 20 decembre and 
taking active part in the process of Argentina Arde ( a countre information 
project that meets different medium and alternative media groups that 
includes also indymedia argentina). We will stay here till the end of next 
week and then we will move to Bolivia. The idea of the caravan is to help 
strenghtening the alternative media network in South America building  up a  
sustainable network of independent media and to create as space of exchange 
of skills, resourches and information with the local activists networks in 
south america. During the caravn we are setting up meetings with local 
activists and independent media workers, video screenings, skils sharing 
workshops and informal discussion to exchange information and to plan 
concrete project with south american activists.
 We got here in Buenos Aires the 8th of february and we have been working 
inside the Argentina Arde project that is a very exiting platform of artists, 
media activists, students and researchers that are producing a weekly 
newspapers(Argentina Arde) with : articals written by the activists and 
social movements representatives themselves,a weekly calendar of all the 
meeting and mobilization here in Buenos Aires and in provinces, articles that 
don't relate directelly to the to the mobilizations based more on cultural 
and educational issues, art design and media subvertising....The Argentina 
Arde platform is producing  a video-zine with the collection of footage from 
different  alternative media collective that have been active during the days 
of the revolt. Are also active in the platform a group of photografers 
setting up pictures exibitions around the city and a  creative direct action 
group.
The indymedia ativities in Argentina are mainly focused in supporting the 
struggle of the piqueteros ,a movement of unemployed composed by many 
different organizations and comunities that are fighting for a decent life, 
education, food, land , water, jobs...
The piqueteros after the revolt of the 19 and 20 december become here in
Argentina  a fondamental poltical subject for the collective social struggle. 
The blokkings of the main oil factories of the countries , of the main access 
to the city of BuenosAires next week are all actions of the piqueteros. The 
stategies of the piqueteros and the strenght of their physical and direct
exposition against the power gave to their political revendication legitimacy 
and consensus from the main of the argentinian people. Ther 70% of the 
piqueteros are weman and in the direct actions there is a big partecipation 
of kids and old people .In their comunities(both rural and urban)they are 
organized in an anti-authoritarian and horizontal way and inside their 
comunities they are developing alternative economic and educational systems 
(they calle them talleres productivos). During the actions they are all 
masked, because they want to stay anonimous for securityureasons (many of 
them are in prisons and persecuted) but also because they rapresent the 
collective body of the unemployed workers..they remind me the zapatistas, but 
they prefere to be associated with their friend, the Brazilian Sim Terra 
because they estabilished with them an ungoing cooperation and because their 
movements have a big affinity. Yesterday 16 of february was an historical day 
for the piqueteros and for the all Argentina, because there was the national 
assembly of the workers where we saw the piqueteros together with the 
employed workers, together with the popular assembleys of vicinos and Las 
Madres de Plaza de Mayo..all the different social struggles were united in 
Plaza de Mayo because everybody here now understand that what's needed is a 
concrete and comune political project to couter-power the existing corrupt 
argentinian power
PIQUETES AND CAZEROLAS LA LUCHA ES UNA SOLA!

Francesca (indymedia Italy)

Argentina | www.agp.org