The Neighborhood Assemblies, born in early January 2002 from the December cacerolazos, are almost a half a year old. Despite repeated rumours that the assemblies are "dying out", the opposite seems to be true.
Though the individual assemblies are smaller in number than they were in January, and some are still beset by problems in organizing and learning to work together, they continue to be an important force making "politics without politicians" in Buenos Aires and other major cities.
One assembly is actively participating in the administration of a local hospital, another is working with the streetside recyclers to help them maintain their source of income in the face of city government threats to turn over the recycling to private business, and others have continually showed up en masse to support the efforts and actions of their neighbors. Three weeks ago two pot-banging assemblies showed up to help a retired couple get their savings back in Colegiales (see article below), and assemblies in Pompeya and San Telmo have gathered in large numbers to support workers who took over factories in those neighborhoods.
Julio Tamae of the Pompeya assembly says new participants are showing up every week at the meetings in his barrio. Another resident of Pompeya, Hernan Gonzales, says: "The assemblies continue to be the red line that is drawn before repressive government policies, the line that says "Here, and no further."
The Interbarrial
The profuse and enthusiastic chaos of the early "interbarriales", the inter-neighborhood assemblies, has been replaced by a structured delegate voting system in which each assembly sends two delegates to the interbarrial with a mandate to vote on particular issues from the neighborhood assembley. This was done because some assembly members felt the assemblies were being taken over by organized left wing political parties, and they wanted to restrict voting to people who were actually participants in the assemblies. Proposals currently being discussed include the organization of an interneighborhood press committee and actions against the raising of prices by the private utility companies.
Threats and Harassment
A few months ago stick-wielding supporters of President Dualde descended upon the assembly of Merlot and beat up several members. In other assemblies people have been followed by unmarked cars as they walked home. Assembly members continue to receive threats and harassment.
Many members, who rely on emails to keep up their connections with fellow asambleistas, have received repeated computer virus attacks, some of them disabling. One virus-laden email message had a title that said: "assemblies go".
One neighbor in Saavedra received the following telephone threat: "Stop messing around with the assemblies, because if you don't, you,re dead meat."
Others have received threats via email.
One group of asambleistas who were distributing invitations to a party in the Saavedra train station were threatened with jail by federal police.
Three people who were getting out of a car after a demonstration at economy minister Lavagna's house were asked for identification by police in a car.
Four neighbors who were leaving a bar in their neighborhood were intercepted by police who asked them what they were doing inside the bar and asked them for identification.
In Saavedra park one man made death threats to a group of asamblistas and other people who were enjoying a fair.
La Trama
Despite the threats, and the onset of winter chill, assembly members are still meeting on streetcorners and inside buildings, continuing their experiment in solidarity, organization and direct democracy. Last weekend, the assembly of Palermo organized an event called La Trama ("The Weaving") which consisted of music, dance, encounters and other cultural events in which local businesses and neighbors participated. Here is what one asambleista, Eduardo Coiro, had to say about La Trama:
"Yesterday, I lived the closing event of La Trama, a beautiful and powerful exprience that went beyond listening to ideas and proposals. I heard the sounds of soul and communion in each participant, each drumbeat, each fire juggling, each dance to bossa nova, afro, folklore or rock. I watched people thoroughly enjoying themselves, living with the intensity of those drumbeats that echo in your chest, the rythms of a shared heartbeat. I felt a strange pride in knowing that among the originators of this assembly, born the 17th of January, there were friends with whom I had banged on pots in front of Congress, with whom I had demonstrated against the Supreme Court.
Today they, these doers and sustainers, are a part of the collective miracle that is The Weaving and that speaks of how in the neighborhood assembly we have managed to overcome internal differences in an action that was real, shared and open to everyone.
(It) was overflowing with people, it was a fountain, a force full of impact. There were kids dancing with their moms and dads, all ages, all stories, lots of different political ideologies. Everyone of us on the same ground, one made of dreams and hope.
In this profound wound that is Argentina, it is not easy to get organized, go out onto the street, and recognize in each one of us the seed of what is human and equal despite our differences. We have to overcome the prejudice and terror that has destroyed time and again the collective body, the continual crises that have left us without bread or illusions, that have stripped us of words, of the capacity to love, of the capacity of the direct and transparent human encounter.
We have been forced to retreat into immobility, into the defense of our own entrenched solitude, into a culture of desperation. For the profound wound that is Argentina, I see no remedy that is more healing than the collective action of the people, whether it be a roadblock, an assembly, a cacerolazo, or this indefinable collective creation of The Weaving, a beautiful experience of initiation into political life for whole families.
With a certain difficulty in describing experiences that go beyond mere reason, I can't stop tellling you of my admiration for The Weaving, for the work of the wonderful and honest people of the Assembly of Palermo Viejo.
Hasta La Victoria Siempre
Eduardo Coiro
Senators Accused of Taking Bribes to Defeat Law of Economic Subversion
The Law of Economic Subversion, which protects the country against economic damage by banks and other businesses, was repealed last week after a bitter struggle and a walkout by one senator which enabled the law to be annulled by a single vote. Angry demonstrations broke out in front of the Congressional building after the repeal.
The repeal of this law was one of the demands of the IMF for resuming aid to Argentina.
Journalist Gabriel Fernandez of the Revista La Senal, said national deputies who voted to repeal the law received an "incentive" of 30,000 to 50,000 dollars each. His source, who Fernandez says is someone "reliable" inside the National Congress, made the statement that "this is not the first law that has been bought". Fernandez' source said the money came from the businesses who would benefit from the repeal of the economic subversion law. The source added, "All you have to do is look at the list of businesses who will benefit from the law and look at the deputies who voted for the law to put two and two together."
May 29: Roadblocks and Demonstrations Throughout the Country
A massive protest and strike called by the CTA (Centro deTrabajadores Argentinos) on May 29 resulted in more than 1,000 roadblocks throughout the country, as well as demonstrations, marches, and streetcorner potlucks.
It was estimated that half a million people,composed of workers, teachers and human rights activists, participated in the activities.
"This was a natural rebellion against humiliation and decadence, against hunger, unemployment and capitulation," said CTA leader Victor de Gennaro. "But it also represented a step forward in sharing our anguish and being a part of a new and organized working class."
Route Three was closed by about 30,000 people. "We turned Route Three into the largest pedestrian walkway in the world," said Piquetero leader Luis D'Elio.
Savers to Get Money Back...
(Well, some of it. Someday. Maybe)
President Dualde's administration is attempting to ease the restrictions of the banking freeze by converting depositor's money into bonds with three to ten year maturity times.
Since the depositors won't be able to use the money in their accounts, and the bonds will decrease substantially in value, this new plan has not been welcomed by savers.
Crowds of people continue to bang pots and chant slogans in front of banks throughout the city. In many areas, the ubiquitous pot has been replaced by metal hammers which savers are using to bang on the armored steel facades that have been erected to protect the banks.
Last week, bank demonstrators were beaten and arrested by police in Buenos Aires, and five banks were attacked and vandalized by small groups of people between midnight and five a.m. in Rosario and Villa Urquiza.
Future Leaders Solve the Problems of Argentina
A high school English class in Lugano was given an assigment last week to identify and come up with solutions to one of Argentina's problems. All ten students in the class agreed that the primary solution to the Argentine crisis was "learning to work together" and "learning to think about us instead of me".
Other solutions proposed and approved were cutting inflated pensions of privelege in half, and building self-sufficient factories. All students agreed that the country needed to renogiate the external debt, with half the students proposing a complete moratorium on paying the debt .
All students agreed that they were ready to take on the responsiblity of guiding the country that would fall on their generation's shoulders in the next few years, but only one said she wanted to be a politician.