For several weeks, the artisanal fishermen of Aysén have protested for fishing quotas on hake extraction, the administration of codes that secure those quotas, fulfillment of the projects committed to by the authorities, the establishment of satellite locators for boats in the tenth region and thus control access to those waters within adjacent regions, among other historic demands.


What has been happening? Hundreds of artisanal fishermen are taking the Presidente Ibáñez bridge of the city of Puerto Aysén, leaving the region’s main port, Chacabuco, unconnected, as well as being the symbol of the port city. The battles that have been fought on and around the bridge have been strong, with injuries on both sides; where the police have received help from Santiago and elsewhere to contain the incontrollables who multiply with each passing day, the proletarian rage that emerges from the shell of the capitalist myth and its command. The proletariat’s strength in the struggle for control of the Ibañez bridge has been notable, here you can view images, stories and videos.
Clearly, this strength can be bottled up in any ideology, but its expression demonstrates that it is possible to create rupture without separation of the practice/theory relationship, but rather feedback into it.

On this point it is necessary to explore the potentiality of this movement which appears in its first instance as “citizen”, clinging to the institutional to find a solution…in other words, a reform, a restructuring of one sector of the totality of capital that is partially seen, that is: the solution is a question of political will (we’ll delve into this in a few paragraphs). Clearly the state responds to the demands first with force, but in accordance with what is happening must act fast, before the “demonstrators” radicalize their positions, what is meant by the practical understanding of a conflict of partial visibility but that in the same struggle is reconstituted as whole, precisely where its truth lies.

The “partial” demands are represented by groups close to parties or other social democratic organizations, something which is almost “normal”. By their method, a demonstration aims to reach an agreement with the authorities, to make them acquiesce to the demands. What they’re looking for is obviously the immediate solution to an issue, a situation which has become intolerable. It is a sign that capital has failed to control a particular situation and so must take action there. The contradiction expressed has this double vision: it radicalizes the conflict, or it is an alert to capital to resolve something.

What is often called for is something that the state and capital can hand over, or in other cases would affect their entire logic. Clearly it won’t be given immediately, if things get ugly; then they sit down to talk. The immanent contradiction of capitalism that leads to these conflicts, is solved ideologically: the political authorities offer something and the proletariat accepts it where the problematic appears to be only one of distribution by state, rather than the logic that governs capital, to reform part of the system so no “injustice” occurs. And so pass the years, the decades, and the problem reappears, is solved again, etc etc.

We won’t criticize that the Aysén revolt is “yellow” because it does not demand the abolition of capitalism. That would be ludicrous. It is a moment within social war that brings direct confrontation with the state and capital, creating situations which escape the everyday logic that the spectacle has accustomed us to. This is where an experiment with a different way of life brings with it the potential to recognize something else. It’s a turning point where we’re not saying that insurrection or communism will happen, but that marks a point where even though demands are granted, it opens a situation created by the workers themselves that can be understood almost as an anecdote or as the capacity to construct situations that regain us control of our lives while those are conditions for the growth of communities of struggle which create the possibility of their own emancipation.

What we speak of sounds beautiful. But we intend to go into specifics to describe what this turning point is, this moment of social war that could keep fueling the contradictions and tearing apart the ideology and mysticism of capitalism or simply remain as “a necessary struggle to later go back to work.”

This is expressed diffusely, outside the abstraction we described earlier. Through a letter from an Aysenina one can comprehend what we’ve been expressing a little bit more…we find a rejection of proletarian violence as “vandalism” but another that supports that which is within the movement…also a description of what goes on precisely when the proletarians clash with the State/Capital and how their logic is altered. Again, the explained abstract is a reference, the concrete fact, precisely, is the story, experimenting with all the contradictions it can bring like the joy of the sight of solidarity between class comrades (without naming them as such) mixed with the maintenance of certain power relations (for example, employers who are open later) as well as the gift or sale of used goods…and a kind of demand of authority to get back to normal. All of this is a moment that might mark a turning point, not the only one, not a directive of what is to follow, but a development of consciousness within capitalism and the valorization of action by its use for the community. It isn’t the end of what there is to say, maybe it is the beginning. Maybe someday we’ll find a growth of the rebellions of these letters where the commune is experienced…But nothing will be of any use if it cannot come together as a whole with other struggles, not as a summation, but as a partial critique which becomes critical of all the exists.

Beyond that, this is the letter taken from Metiendo Ruido:

“From Aysén and for the knowledge of everyone:

Yes it’s true. It is irrefutable that there are acts of violence, on the part of the demonstrators and on the part of the government (lowercase). The people have been throwing rocks in the streets, barricading the highways and cutting off the cities’ supplies for several weeks. The government for its part, establishes repressive laws with dictatorial shades that will last for decades, allows private interests to get rich selling water, light, and fuel and hides, protects, endorses and finances the authorities who make seven figures at the end of the month so they can speak with authority about how we should feel about living in these lands which have been ignored for years.

Yes, it’s true. Many people in the streets respond to acts of vandalism that the leaders of the movement did NOT call for, and that the media capture and the government uses to its advantage to criminalize just and transversal demands.

But today, I want to talk about those people who respond to acts of solidarity, that the leaders of the movement didn’t call for either, but happening organically, as I have seen, heard and learned these days.

I've seen people moving others Balmaceda and other locations. That they mobilize people within the city, towing vehicles without gasoline to the stations. All for free, investing time, strength and limited fuel.

I’ve seen my people descending and climbing the streets on foot. Many being accompanied and talking about the movement, taking grandparents by the arm to help them on their slow path. Others watching with complicity as though saying “yes, it’s a sacrifice, it’s uncomfortable…but when this movement wins, it will be for everyone.”

I’ve seen bosses opening places later and closing them earlier, understanding their workers’ difficulty getting from one part of the city to the other.

I have seen my people offering services and selling wares at the same prices as always.

I’ve seen business people giving materials, clothing, food to sustain the struggle.

I have seen my people buying two meters of black cloth, and making four flags. One to put on their house and others for the neighbors, so they too support the cause in a symbolic way. Likewise, people who make more than one banner, more than one bandanna, and pass them out in the marches that the public has called for. And…for free. I’ve heard people call the radio, to tell them about some unbridled attack by the police forces, with the intent of looting, to warn anyone using any public service in repudiation of the government’s response, to offer words of encouragement to all Patagonians, to express their disappointment with the authorities… all this, at the cost of making the phone companies just a little richer.

I’ve seen my people banging on pots and pans to make a little noise, visiting different areas encouraging their neighbors to protest in some simple way. I’ve heard entire communities making music with the sounds of those pots and pans that are so difficult to fill.

I have seen people in line at the gas stations. Making fires, sharing food and conversation while waiting for some fuel to arrive. Watching vehicles while they take turns eating something or going to the bathroom. Warning when the line moves, or as has happened these days, to say definitively that no truck is coming to fill the pumps.

I’ve seen people building barricades, to support the movement, so that everyone knows about the struggle, that they don’t sleep, going hungry, getting wet. People who contribute tires, to help keep the fires under control, who bring playing cards, who offer mate or other hot drinks to wait for the day and make the night warmer.

I have seen people raise money to buy medicine and first aid materials, collect clothing, donate food and organize soup kitchens.

I’ve seen people on social networks talking nonstop about the truth about what is happening. Sharing photos and statuses on Facebook, creating and inviting people to events of peaceful demonstration, RT-ing as well as creating and popularizing hashtags on Twitter, and asking those of us here how we are and what we need. Clicking through the websites of regional stations for even five minutes to hear how we experience the conflict.

I heard one person say, alluding to the isolated acts of vandalism we’ve heard about “that’s how Aysén demonstrates”.

I wrote this letter to tell all those people who think and say the same, that no; that’s not how Aysén demonstrates. They demonstrate returning to the same customs and values as always, that I have heard so many others say, “Where are they?”

They are here, this is how Aysén demonstrates. This is how Patagonia is heard.

But like always the acts of solidarity and convivial love have been sold, no one speaks of this in the mass communication media.

In spite of intransigence, cynicism and the violence of the authorities, I sign off with a full heart, infinitely grateful and hoping that those small acts that I have seen flooding this region of late, continue to nourish the spirit of struggle that, for everyone‘s information, does not fade away."


See also some anarchist sites in Chile:

 http://liberaciontotal.lahaine.org/
 http://vivalaanarquia.espivblogs.net/
 http://materialanarquista.espiv.net/
 http://hommodolars.org/
 http://rojoscuro.blogspot.com/
 http://feartosleep.blogspot.com/
 http://contrainformate.blogspot.com/
 http://marginadxs.blogspot.com/
 http://metiendoruido.com/
 http://periodicoelsurco.wordpress.com/
 http://ourwar.org/