INDYMEDIA CARAVAN in Buenos Aires
Francesca | 19.02.2002 18:57
The international indymedia caravan (Indymedia Argentina, Peru, Brazil, 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 counter information project that meets different medium and alternative media groups that include 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 Latin 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: articles 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 fundamental poltical subject for the collective social struggle.
The blockings of the main oil factories of the countries, of the main access to the city of Buenos Aires 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 women and in the direct action there is a big participation 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 call them talleres productivos). During the actions they are all masked, because they want to stay anonimous for security reasons (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 prefer to be associated with their friends, the Brazilian Sim Terra because they estabilished with them an ongoing 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 assemblies of vecinos 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)
political and social process after the revolt of the 19 and 20 decembre and taking active part in the process of Argentina Arde (a counter information project that meets different medium and alternative media groups that include 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 Latin 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: articles 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 fundamental poltical subject for the collective social struggle.
The blockings of the main oil factories of the countries, of the main access to the city of Buenos Aires 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 women and in the direct action there is a big participation 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 call them talleres productivos). During the actions they are all masked, because they want to stay anonimous for security reasons (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 prefer to be associated with their friends, the Brazilian Sim Terra because they estabilished with them an ongoing 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 assemblies of vecinos 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)
Francesca