About the AAP
Over the last few years an incredible wave of social protest and action has engulfed argentina. in the midst of a severe economic crisis there have been massive street protests, over 200 factory under workers control, more than three hundred coordinated microenterprise cooperatives organized by unemployed women and men, countless neighborhood associations formed, and many other autonomous popular initiatives. Yet, little is heard about this in the United States or in europe.
The purpose of the argentina autonomista project is to bring news about events in argentina to North america and europe, through people-to-people exchanges and the internet (web and email) and to facilitate non-hierarchical communication within argentina, especially among groups with a minimum of resources.
Recently, the the AAP coordinated delegations of students, artists and organizers to Buenos aires, argentina, where they collaborated with unemployed workers movements (piqueteros); the popular neighborhood assemblies, street artists, FEAS, autonomous feminist, and University of Buenos aires radical faculty and students. During three weeks the artists lived with these communities and participated in the organization of a 5,000 people interactive artistic and cultural gathering in demand for human rights in argentina.
The AAP is coordinated by Graciela Monteagudo. Graciela is an argentine human rights activist and community artist. Graciela holds an MFA from Goddard College and has worked internationally with diverse communities both on her own and with Bread and Puppet Theater. Some of her work has included co-ordinating puppet and street theater actions at protests in Buenos aires, Vieques, Puerto Rico and throughout the US, at the School of the americas in Columbus, Georgia, the april 20th, 2002 protests against the war in Washington, DC, the January, 2002 protests against the World economic Forum in New York City, as well as the G8 protests in Calgary, alberta (Canada) and many others. as a member of Bread and Puppet Theater since 1994, Graciela performed and coordinated units in parades and marches throughout the US and Latin america.
Tax-deductible contributions to the AAP can be made by sending a check to the following address, with a note that it's for the AAP:
Green Valley Media
300 Maple Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Note: Please also email the AAP about any contributions sent via Green Valley Media so that they can be properly traced.
Contributions can also be sent directly to:
Graciela Monteagudo
188 Barre St.
Montpelier, VT 05602
Graciela can be reached via her cell phone in Buenos aires at 011-54-9-11-4156-5847 or, when she's in the US, via her home phone at (802) 223-8445 or her cell phone at (802) 272-5606.
The economy is in awful shape, even worse than it was in 2001, when it collapsed. on December 19th, in response to the government's implementation of martial law, people spontaneously rose up, banging pots and pans, and four presidents fell in three weeks. The middle class lost most of its savings to the rapacity of the bankers, and today 60% of the population lives under the line of poverty, while 20% are unemployed. The dropout rate in the elementary schools is massive, as the whole family needs to pick up cardboard for recycling and thus support themselves. Children are dying of starvation in the northern province of Tucuman, one of argentina's poorest areas, while many die of malnutrition throughout the country. along with these grim aspects of the crisis, the most inspiring movement since the Zapatista uprising in 1984 is being created.
On June 26th, 2001, Dario Santillan, an unemployed organizer, and Maxi Kosteki, an artist, were killed by the police during a "piquete" (road blockade). I arrived in Buenos aires three weeks after this. The neighborhood assemblies -- horizontal, grassroots, pot-banging organizations created spontaneously during the December uprising -- were taking over buildings and empty lots, including two abandoned banks and an abandoned clinic. The unemployed autonomist organization anibal Veron, to which Dario and Maxi were linked, was now preparing for a day of street protest against state-sponsored terrorism. We all got together with people from the assemblies to create a giant puppet street theater piece. Sharing our meals and sometimes spending the night with Mary, Grillo, Mariano and other friends of the anibal Veron affected me tremendously. I could not get out of my mind the picture of Dario Santillan, agonizing, being dragged out of the train station by the same cops that executed him. I felt I had to commit more time to the social movement in argentina and help establish links between the argentinian activists and the anti-corporate globalization movement in the United States.
Back in Vermont, I started the argentina autonomist Project in order to support the grassroots organizations of argentina. in November, I went back to Buenos aires to prepare for the delegations of students and activists who are arriving in Buenos aires as I write this article. There have been massive protests and road blockades on the 26th of every month in Buenos aires against the repression of June 26th and the kidnapping and shooting of social activists during the last months. Every time the "piqueteros" tried to enter the city, they were searched by the police. This time, the "piquetero" organizations decidedin their local assemblies that they would not be searched, since they decode this police action as criminalization of their protest.
At 10 AM David Rovics, an american singer-songwriter, and I arrived at the train station where Dario and Maxi were executed by the cops. We stood by their memorials and honored their life and their struggle. The avellaneda train station was crowded with "piqueteros" grouped under different movements, students and middle class assembly neighbors.
Around 11 AM, we started walking towards the Pueyrredon bridge that connects Buenos aires with the industrial Gran Buenos aires. As we turned a curve and started climbing up the highway, we were confronted with the vision of 500 police in riot gear, with dogs, fire hydrants, small tanks and big guns. As we looked over our shoulders, however, we found that thousands of people kept pouring in. As it turned out, 15,000 people blockaded one of Buenos aires major access highways during rush hour until 7 PM, when they were finally allowed to go into the city without being searched.
The "piquete" was the reply of the unemployed workers to the violence of the state. Their horizontal discussion and refusal to be searched is a show of dignity by those who have nothing, who lack food, appropriate housing, health care, clothing, basic needs...but have the strength of their dignity and the conviction of their needs and their rights. at the Pueyrredon Bridge, the "piqueteros" prevailed, in a peaceful way, over the local armed representatives of corporate globalization.
The "piqueteros" organize "piquetes" to force the government to pay them the unemployment subsidies that are always about to be cut. As Pablo and Florencia of the anibal Veron explained to us, when the unemployed workers had a job, they would strike for their right to a salary to support their families. Today, deprived of that job, they block roads to stop the circulation of goods. In that way, they call the attention of the multinational corporations and the government that is responsible for their plight. Pablo said that the "piqueteros" are not willing to starve to death because of their greed. along with organizing and protesting, they run "ollas populares" (soup kitchens), feed children at their daycare centers, build bricks to be sold at discount prices to their membership and grow organic gardens.