Podcast: Mass movements in Latin America

international | history | link to audio Sunday May 24, 2020 21:07 by Libertäre Aktion liberaereaktion at immerda dot ch

Where do they come from? Where do they stand? What's next?

A member of the Anarchist Federation Rio de Janeiro tells about the developments and incidents in Latin America over the last 30 years. To be discussed are the "socialism of the 21st century", the renewed rise of neoliberalism, the current wave of uprisings in the region and an outlook into the future.

The podcast was recorded at a public presentation by a member of the Anarchist Federation of Rio de Janeiro, held in English on 24 January 2020 in Bern, Switzerland. The event was organised by the Libertäre Aktion (libertaereaktion@immerda.ch).

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Download-Link: https://wolkig.ch/index.php/s/6iwS3JFFQWBbxpF

After the military dictatorships fell in the late '80s, Latin America went through a turbulent decade in which the political semi-freedom and the aggressive neoliberalization made space for renewed social movements, like the revolutionary Zapatists in the '90s and the massive riots in Argentina in 2001.

In many cases, this conjuncture led to the rise of the so-called '21st century socialism': progressive governments with leaders coming from the movements that aimed to redistribute wealth and develop their countries, therefore creating a 'third-world pole' opposing the US-hegemony.

Over the last few years, almost all of these governments have fallen because they've been involved in corruption scandals or pushed by military pressure and, in some cases, by street protests. A renewed, aggressive neoliberalism has replaced these governments, and it has brought extreme far-right ideas and figures with it.

In recent times a new wave of uprisings has spread through Latin America – the people are organizing themselves and taking to the streets against this destructive economy, claiming their rights with their own voices.

What happened? Did the '21st century socialism' fail? Or did it not even exist in the first place? And what is happening now? Will the popular organization overcome the fascists, the bourgeoise, imperialism and the bureaucrats?

The news reproduced by mass media is chaotic and confusing, but we had a chance to talk to a member of FARJ/CAB* about these questions and to help us understand what autonomous and auto-organized revolutionary organizations in Latin America are doing and thinking.

*
FARJ = Federação Anarquista de Rio de Janeiro (Anarchist Federation Rio de Janeiro)
CAB = Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (Anarchist coordination Brazil)

Podcast on mixcloud.com