DEM VOLKE DIENEN

Comrades from the Association New Democracy have compiled a list of press snippets on the still ongoing protests that highlight, how the current situation in Arequipa in the south of Peru develops. There the struggle that originated around the protest against the Tía María mega-mining project is continuing for close to 60 days and, instead of the protests cooling down, the masses again and again find new ways to raise their protest.

As was reported in various news sources in the end of last month / the beginning of this month, mayor parts of the FARC announced their return to arms in a video they published, after the peace agreements made after a referendum in 2016. Comrades from Ecuador, that shares a border with Colombia to the north, have published an important document on that matter, that has found widespread circulation in the ICM. In the following we document the (unofficial translation) of their statement.

The FARC: The return to arms

“Everything is illusory except power!”

On August 30, residents of the Escadão community in Carapicuíba have received their eviction notice, the repossession for their land is scheduled for the 12th of September. Their area, in the close vicinity of São Paulo, is owned by the Metropolitan Housing Company of São Paulo (abbreviated "Cohab"), who filed a request with the state to have its right of possession of the property of the area named “Cohab-5” imposed on the interests of the people occupying it and living there.

In the past two weeks, the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) has again carried out several actions against the old state in the ongoing People's War.

At the end of August, there was fierce fightings between Central African migrants and the National Guard in the southern city of Mexico, Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala.

For the 2nd of September the highest representative of Yankee-Imperialism – Donald Trump – announced his visit in Denmark. This brought progressive and anti-imperialist forces in Copenhagen to organise demonstrations. Although Trump cancelled just before his visit, at this date two demonstrations were conducted. They had an anti-imperialist character and were aimed against the main enemy of the peoples of the world – Yankee-imperialism. Slogans in support of the oppressed peoples of the world were shouted, like “Viva, Viva Palestine” and “Up the international solidarity” in Danish. At the autonomous demonstration signal-flares were burned, this highlighted the combative character of the demonstration.

Called for by the James Connolly Flute Band several hundreds of protesters gathered in Glasgow, Scotland, at the end of last week demanding Irish unity and the withdrawal of the crown forces, particularly out of the occupied north of the country. Despite multiple attacks organized by loyalist and chauvinist forces who outnumbered the protesters, they successfully were fended off and the march victoriously was pushed through.

With the plan of allowing hundreds of loyalist attackers, solely mobilized and equipped to violently block the march, to crack down on Irish Republicans, antifascists, anti-imperialists or other sympathetic activists Scottish police (although deploying hundreds of policemen, dog units, helicopter support and horses) on Friday withdrew from defending the March that was attended by Families with Children and letting them defend themselves. From the very beginning, at the starting place at Elder Park, counter protesters carrying British flags, a banner of a paratroop regiment and shouting slogans against Irish independence were able to block the entrances to the park to prevent the march from commencing, throwing bottles and pyrotechnics at the gathered crowd.

However, when they gathered enough courage to directly confront the protesters for Irish unity, there were met by an outnumbered but combative group of activists that took on themselves the duty to defend the just protest and to thwart off the reactionary attackers. Without letting the march get dispersed multiple attacks where pushed back until in the end, the manifestation could successfully break through the encirclement and trash the barricade erected by the loyalist mob. With only minor scuffles to follow, the march victorious marched to its designate ending point.

A month ago, on the 3rd of August, fascist Patrick Crusius drove to the US-Mexican border town of El Paso only to kill 22 people at a Walmart in what he called the “response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas”. In the face of this murder, many US politicians such as Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick not even paid lip service to antifascism (before, of course, stating that this can only be done in the most toothless way imaginable to, in the next breath, denounce real, combative antifascism) but went directly on the offensive, warning all antifascists to “Stay out of El Paso” and the state of Texas in general. Also Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, was quick to turn the table, announcing at the funeral celebration of the victims of the mass shooting to create a new Task Force against Domestic Terrorism - whose target however will not be to stop fascists or planned massacres against people perceived as Mexicans immigrants but to combat “Hate crime and extremism” in Texas. One must not think very hard who the principle target of such an organization will be - the revolutionary forces in Texas – it is enough to remember, that in the aftermath of the shooting and in the face of anarchist protests the very same Dan Patrick also called for classifying “antifascists” to be “terrorists”. This was  a question directly picked up by Trump.