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