COLOMBIAN ANARCHIST STATEMENT

We reject the escalation in the war caused by the breakdown of talks between the government and the FARC. Likewise we reject the official version according to which this breakdown was “caused” by the kidnapping of a senator, because there is evidence that it was planned well in advance: the Plan Colombia required this escalation in order to see through its business in the shape of the arms deal made between the Colombian state and the North American capitalists.

We consider that the best response is a radical opposition to the war which recognizes that the war will not de-escalate without concessions on the part of the state. This opposition includes a generalized civil resistance: not only against guerrilla attacks (1) but also based on actions such as:
Direct action/ desertion from the different armies
Non payment campaigns against the war waged by the state and the bourgeoisie on the population, for example refusing to pay the public utilities bills (2)
Strikes, including a political strike for peace

We reject the way in which politicians and mayors such as the mayor of Bogota Antonios Mockus support “civil resistance” when at the same time they support policies which harm the people. We also reject the biased stance of the media, in particular Colombian TV, who use terrorist acts to spread disinformation and fear among the population, and as a way to improve their ratings.

We support a social revolution which does not have to wait till “after the war”, and which is made by everyone, not just an armed vanguard. Historically it has been shown that an authoritarian, hierarchical opposition only creates a new elite of oppressors, in which exploitation continues despite images to the contrary.

We think opposition to the war should focus on its causes: the defence at any cost of the profits and benefits made by the Colombian state and national and foreign capital from the exploitation of the majority of Colombians. Those who benefit include arms dealers, drug traffickers, politicians, the media, large property owners and financiers, and all those on whichever side who profit from the war and the suffering of the people.

1) Translators note: this refers to the widely publicized cases of unarmed villagers filling the streets of their villages in order to dissuade the guerrillas from launching an attack on the village (usually aimed at the police station but affecting anyone and anything in the way).
2) Translators note: this refers to the way Colombian electricity companies increase their charges, using the cost of damages caused by guerrilla attacks as an excuse but obviously charging the consumer way above what corresponds to the costs of these damages.

Signed: the following collectives:
Revista El Horizontal
El C.A.S.O.
(Medellin)

Colectivo Anarcopunk Contracorriente
Colectivo Los Amigos de Lopez
Colectivo Los Rodillones
Taller de Estudios Anarquistas
El Fundamentalista. Equipo co-gestionado de monopatín
Colectivo prensa estudiantil
Boletín Virus
(Bogota)