Interview with Rebelión Animal

1) Tell us in which consists this project.

Well, the collective Rebelión Animal was created because of necesity of difussion about animal liberation and veganism(from a liberty and liberation point of view for all the animal species, human and non human as well) prtending ,through many ways and actions to occupate, in the common places and in the alternative places , a space that many times is ignored or relegated.

In the everyday places it is ignored, in the "alternative" ones it?s not very spread, and many times it?s rejected.

We startde by the dffusion of the idea in many works in social forums, and then we started participating in an organized way in the wide spectrum of the social fight, (popular vegan food twice -on the last may day, in regard of the "Argentinazo" on december 20th in the capital of Uruguay in 2002), in cultural activiteis such as recitals, punk recitals, participation in the Communitarian Radio of our city(th communitarian radios are illegalized by the government) with a program that has got the same name of the collective, and by now an argentinian mate is helping us with a web page www.rebelionanimal.cjb.net

Some time ago, some of us participated in other collective which dindn?t last much time, and vegan people from that time decided to leave the way of liberation to pass the way of opression. We also were participating individually making the diffusion of animal liberation through hardcore punk bands, by giving printed pieces of paper, fanzines, pamphlets, giving vegan food free,etc(which is usual in someone considers himself to be an animalist and practices it conscientius).

At the moment, we participate in many activities in the cultural scene, where we actively participate by inserting this fight through propaganda tools as the use of charts and giving free food.

The name that we gave those work activities was: The veganism as a social-political practise.

We also participated elaborating our own analyses and articles from the vegan-libertarian point of view.

To every place we go we take diverse animal liberation material, to take the diffusion of the counter-culture.

2)What happens over there with the theme of animal liberation between anarchists and libertarian?

Nothing, 0 below 0, "unknown", refused, neglected, set apart, rejected, mistreated, and all kind of metaphores that you can imagine in relation to the denial of the debate about animal liberation as a away of cultural political resistance.

We can say that the libertarian , anarchist movement concentrates in Montevideo(the capital of the country), but the movement of animal liberation in an organized way mostly develops here, where some time ago ther was participation in certain meetings(anarchist, anarchopunx,etc) but in a spontaneous way.

If we take anarchism and libertarian life as something that essencially refuses cultures, traditions and imperative, oppressive ways, we see that is necessary to set up that in this country, the issue of "the meat culture" (taking it as use, abuse, exploitation and death of non human animals), it is also a strongly rooted tradition in a big part of the libertarian group, leaving for the time "after the revolution" the political-alimentary change, which could be developed and proposed since the present movement, knowing that while stopping oppressing animals we are not takin time off from ous social militancy.

Here is where we find much incoherence and specism pure and hard in people consider themselves as "illuminated" by books, feeling allmighty for belonging to the oppressive species, both to the planet as to all the species that live it.

We want to make it clear that we conjugate the fight for animal liberation as a whole thing, declaring ourselves as a pro-animal liberation collective in all its sense(human and non human species), against sexism, racism, and with anticapitalistic posture in our daily behaviour, integrate by vegan people.

We conceive veganism, libertarian life in its conception, as a way of liberation. We don?t agree what it is said, that are ?fascist vegans?, or ?anarchy-fascists?. Veganism and animal liberation are the denial of any way of authority.

Vegan alimentary way of life has nothing to do with oppressive attitudes.

3)Do you think tha anarchist thought or liberation thought must be linked to a vegan attitude or you don?t need to be vegan to be anarchist or libertarian?.

Part of this answer is in the last answer , we find it incoherent that someone considerates himself an anarchist and could be have an omnivore diet.

They need to go politically attached, not only as a achange that pays attention to the diet but in what it is considered an everyday practise, which is political in its substance.

4)Over here, in the world are being produced some acts of the ALF(liberations, farms sabotage). Do you support the direct action or do you find it is against veganism's diffusion?.

We find it absolutely necessary; let's ask the animals if it would be negative for them to be free and savage. Any direct action is always used and observed by the state, the democracy and its means of dis-information as some kind of terrorist act, pretending by this to keep their status of class and species.

We are against crimes of one species and for the actuality of a fight, the animal liberation.

5)One of the premises of the ALF is that no animal get hurted in the ALF's actions, (non human animal as human animals as well). This puts a lace to the theory of the book Declaration of War" (killing people to keep the environment and some animals). The physical damage to the exploiters... do you think it would be a goodway or on the other hand, do you think that the premises of the ALF are better?.

In the collective there are different theoretical positions, but we consider that the animal liberation as a topic is valid with many means; and we know that there ae circunstances that can be expressed in very many ways; the organizated way is always necessary, and is valid as the spontaneous.

6) Why have you focused your efforts on the animals?

If you don't...who?, if we only focused on non human animals, we wouldn't do what we do. It may sound to something different because ther are a few people that care about it it's a fight that must get together, non fragmentate, as it happens with anti-sexism, anti-fascism, if it isn't now...when?.

8) How is it to be vegan in Uruguay...and not dying trying to?

as members of an exploited social class (we are unenmployed, emloyees), in spite of what it is commonly thought, being vegan is cheaper than being omnivore in this place (where the main economical source from exportations comes from killing and torturing animals).

Some of us base the economy of our homes (with sons and daughters, relatives) on the daily salary, the wages, or the monthly salary, but we also auto-gestionate oour food: cultivting organically, grinding seeds at home, buying things in a cooperative way.

This has got two big items: one of them is the daily one, trying to fulfill the needs that we have because of belonging to the class that must sell its strength of work, and the other item is to practise here and now our ideals of doing things by ourselves, trying to find other ways of auto-explotation (non waged, work stinks!!).

though we have money only for the basic needs, we recicle materials at the time of making the diffusion, like chrts, using part of our time for the animal liberation.

You can send any kind of help or support, diffusion material, pictures, etc to:

 rebelion_animal@yahoo.com

or to

Roberto Lemes

Casilla de Correo 52.278

Correo Maldonado

C.P. 20.000

Uruguay

8) To finish, what would you like to say?.

Thank you for including this in an Heartattack. for the diffusion of this resistance to the dictatorial way of eating and life, and we incite to invite those who pretend a real social and animal transformation, to get organized by the diffusion of the fight for the total liberation of the animals and the planet, pointing to the destruction of the explotation way of the capitalistic and specistic production, havingas an objective the construction of a real freedom.

Animal liberation without human liberation is explotation. Human liberation without animal liberation is specism, oppression.

www.rebelionanimal.cjb.net