The Argentinean Social Movements and Kirchner
by Graciela Monteagudo
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The petty kings of England, during Arthur's kingship, could only avoid
their internal wars when they were busy fighting against the Saxons. A
strong, bloody, common enemy worked as a charm to keep them from
lusting after each others' lands. When the Saxons' threat diminished,
they would fight against each other. Under the brutal repression of
the De La Rua and Duhalde governments, the Argentinean social
movements behaved like the petty kings of England: they were able to
set aside their differences and struggle against these common and
obvious enemies. Nestor Kirchner, elected in April 2003, is not such an
obvious enemy.
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The Argentineans voted for Kirchner because he was not Carlos
Menem. Although K lost the election by a small margin, it was clear
that come the ballotage, everybody would be ready to vote for him so
that Menem would stay away from power. Menem, always cunning,
decided to withdraw and Kirchner was elected President.
At that time, many of us in the autonomist movement thought that the
Argentinean people were beyond representational democracy. We could
still hear the echoes of the "Que se Vayan Todos!" ("Throw them all out" - politicians, IMF, everybody had to go) ringing throughout the
country. During the December 2001 uprising, people seemed to be
ready to take control of their lives and organized massively through
popular assemblies and unemployed workers movements. However, we
were unable to come up with a clear program and organizational
structures that would enable these masses of people without political
experience to empower themselves beyond the traditional, fossilized
marxist parties. Without a clear alternative, people did the right thing
and voted Menem out of the way.
However, nobody really knew much about K. As it turned out, Kirchner,
who was a leftist peronist in the seventies, had in mind settling some
accounts with the last military dictatorship (1976-1982). One of his
first acts as a statesman was to annul the laws that protected the
military who committed genocide during the seventies from justice. In
March he created a museum of human rights within the ESMA, a Navy
school that was used as a concentration camp during those years.
Although these gestures were quite spectacular, their resonance was
little more than symbolic as most of the military personnel who could
be held responsible for past atrocities if alive, are no longer active.
With this symbolic gestures, Kirchner gained the approval of middle
class people and human rights organizations while enraging and
polarizing the right. Hebe de Bonafini, President of Madres de Plaza de
Mayo, a woman who does not hesitate to attack anyone, from leftist
organizers to politicians to the IMF to church authorities called him
one of her children.
K is the monster child of the December 2001 insurrection. Without
masses of people protesting neoliberal politics, the country would have
certainly collapsed completely. Although it was not possible to create
powerful decentralized popular structures to organize the country, the
rebellion created consciousness about the responsibility of the IMF's
structural adjustment for the economic and social crisis. The mass of
people that fell under the poverty line (from 10% in 1975 to almost
60% in 2002) and the 26% unemployment were clear indicators of what
was wrong, but the political manifestations of those months following
the uprising created consciousness about the deep causes of the social
disaster. Kirchner responded to that clamor, attempting to offer an
institutional solution to those issues, strengthening the state by
coopting the claims of the people and offering what appeared as
peaceful, institutional solutions.
Throughout the Menem years (late eighties-early nineties) the
country's resources were sold at ridiculous prices to multinational
corporations. These corporations immediately downsized their
personnel, in some cases leaving 95% of them jobless. This, combined
with an IMF policy of "opening the borders" to cheap imports, produced
the highest rate of unemployment Argentina had ever experienced. It
turned Argentina, a rich country by South American standards, into a
poor, deeply dependent nation.
Kirchner, for all his leftist rhetoric, is still paying the foreign debt.
Although he said during his campaign he would not pay the debt with the
hunger of the Argentinean people, that is exactly what he is doing.
Since the December 2001 crisis, the economy has improved slightly.
According to Lozano and Raffo [1 http://www.cta.org.ar/instituto/pobindigabril04.html]
from the Central de Trabajadores
Argentinos, CTA, today 47.8% of the population is living under the
poverty line and 20.5% do not have their basic needs satisfied. That
means that poverty has diminished a 6.7%. This is mainly due to higher
rates of unemployment, although many of these jobs are informal.
However, this improvement seems to follow a well known trend: when the
economic crisis hits, unemployment and poverty hit rocket high rates and
later those rates diminish, but the general trend is that of increasing
poverty and unemployment. [2 In 1975 - before the last military dictatorship,
10% of the population lived under the poverty line.]
The debt (roughly of 15 million dollars according to Alan Cibils [3 znet]) has
been paid more than once, a big portion of it is fraudulent and it was
imposed on the people through military dictatorships while they had no
representation. Moreover, 30,000 compañeras and compañeros, who
opposed the policies of the IMF, the US government, and the local sold
out-politicians during the seventies, were forced to disappear so that
these institutions would have a free hand in the country. The same
process was staged throughout Latin America and in other continents
at that time.
The piqueteros and piqueteras
The middle class is doing better in Argentina today. They got back
most of their savings, which had been confiscated in December 2001
and 10% of them are back above the poverty line. The partial economic
recovery, however, has not reach huge sectors of the unemployed
working class.
When unemployment hit the country, there were no welfare plans
(Argentineans called them "plans") in place. The struggle of thousands
of piqueteros doing road blockades forced the Duhalde government to
implement plans. On one hand the "plans" guaranteed that at least
some people would be able to partially cover their basic needs (a family
on welfare receives $50.00 a month). On the other hand they became
a tool for political manipulation by certain social organizations and
generated governmental dependency.
The biggest piquetero organizations, like the Corriente Clasista
Combativa (CCC), and leftist peronist organizations responding to the
Central de Trabajadores Argentinos (CTA) would use the "plans" to
ensure participation in their organizations and actions. In the last
months before the split, unemployed workers who did not show up at
the almost ritual road blockades organized by the Anibal Veron in
Puente Pueyrredon were denied access to their welfare plans. The
Anibal Veron was an autonomous front of fourteen different
movements. One of the reasons for the split was the reluctance of
some MTDs to use the welfare plans in that way.
But perhaps the worst "side effect" the welfare policies generated
was a dependence on the state. Deprived of their dignity, jobless and
many times unable to feed their own families, many workers were
forced to beg or demand a solution from the government. The most
progressive organizations took the money and used it according to their
own criteria. Others did public and many times meaningless work
assigned to them by the government in exchange for the $50.00/month
stipend. The workers were further disempowered by the "plans".
Kirchner's policy towards the unemployed workers shows his leftist
peronist breeding. So far, he has refused to repress the unrest on the
streets, although the traditional marxist organizations have seriously
tried to provoke that. With one hand, he has cut down severely the
welfare plans. With his other hand, he pacifies the leftist liberals with
policy on the human rights issue while making a pretense of offering
money for microenterprises to the unemployed. In many cases, the
first installment is all that the piqueteros get, but that first
installment comes with a lot of publicity and the middle class is quite
convinced that the unemployed are offered help to support themselves
and instead of using that, they blockade roads and demand the
continuation of the welfare plans.
The piquetero organizations have taken different approaches to the K
era. Those responding to the CTA and the CCC [4 In the past few weeks,
however, the CCC has started a struggle plan against the K government. Some
think that this change responds to the rift between Kirchner and Duhalde,
being Duhalde an old ally of the CCC] have been very quiet. That is no
surprise, since they do not respond to their membership but
to big political organizations that are in agreement with Kirchner. The
piqueteros that respond to traditional marxist organizations,
particularly the trotskyists, continue to organize road blockades
without any results, except that of alienating the already partially
alienated middle class.
The Anibal Veron, as mentioned before, split in three major groups.
MTDs Lanus, La Plata and Almirante Brown, among other groups from
the Veron, continue to be very much engaged in road blockades to
demand the restitution of the welfare plans and claim for "real work".
In the past few years, this sector was always oriented more towards
demanding plans from the government rather than strengthening their
microenterprises. Another sector, mainly MTD Varela and Quilmes, is
very much in agreement with Kirchner's policies and has given public
support to the government's welfare cuts . The third sector, MTDs
Allen, Cipolletti, Solano and Guernica have decided to fully engage in
preexisting and newly created microenterprises that help them support
their membership and organize for social change. When they engage in
direct actions -mainly road blockades- it is to demand the support
promised to them for their bakeries, gardens, fisheries, and other
projects that they view as economically viable and self sustaining.
Many of these are in fact profitable and the different MTDs have
discussed how to deal with the money they are able to produce in this
way. MTD La Matanza, a movement that has historically not applied
for plans, has individual appropriation of the profit. Other movements,
like MTD Solano, distribute the profit collectively in the organization,
taking into account special situations. For more info on this check out
www.lavaca.org "Dilemas y novedades en los MTD
El día después de los subsidios."
Another important autonomous organization, the UTD Mosconi is based
in Salta, a province bordering with Bolivia. There is an old folk saying in
Argentina:
"god is everywhere, but he only gives audiences in Buenos
Aires". That seems to be the case also with Kirchner. His influence
seems to die within the limits of Buenos Aires. In provinces like Salta
and San Luis, repression continues as if nothing had changed since the
years of the dictatorship (1976-1982). In San Luis, members of a
antigovernment coalition are forced to sleep in a different house every
night so that government agents can't find them and arrest them. In
Salta, the local government is constantly arresting the leaders of the
UTD Mosconi, throwing them in jail, many times without due legalprocess.
Multinational corporations bought the state owned enterprises during
the eighties under the Menem government, following recipes from the
IMF. These corporations have not only sacked 95% of their working
force but are also polluting the environment. It is believed that 16
people die in this state every month due to environmental pollution.
During the Enero Autonomo (www.eneroautonomo.org) this year, when
organizations from around the world came together to discuss their
practices, we launched the Alerta Salta campaign. This international
campaign is organizing to support not just the piqueteros from UTD
Mosconi but also the 3,000 social activists that are facing trials these
days in Argentina for their direct actions (www.alertasalta.org).
In general, many piquetero organizations are trying out alternatives to
the road blockades, although most of them are not giving up on the
tactic. In the past few months many organizations have focused their
actions against the multinational corporations that bought the national
resources, such as Repsol. Repsol is based in Spain, and has bought
most of the oil industry in Argentina. In most cases, they sacked up to
95% of their working force, as was the case in Salta. Many piquetero
organizations have focused their direct actions on Repsol, taking over
their offices or throwing incendiary bombs at their central
headquarters. In one case, their main office in Salta was burned down
in response to the arrest of the of a piquetero organizer.
The popular assembly movement
Although there are still many assemblies in Buenos Aires and other
cities, most of them have lost their unique characteristic of being the
space for the organizing of people with diverse political orientation.
According to an article written by Ezequiel Adamovsky [5 This article
will be part of a book edited by the Argentina
Autonomista Project, with essays by MTDs, recuperated factories,
art and pictures about the social movements], there are a
number of reasons for the decline of this movement. The very
openness of their structure became a problem, as anybody could just
walk in once and have the same decision power as those who had been
organizing in the assembly for a long time. Another profound problem
was the sectarian culture of the Argentine left, which manifested
itself strongly in the assemblies. Most assemblies opted for voting,
and used it to silent minority dissent. The traditional marxist parties
contributed in no small measure to the diminishing number of neighbors
by staging brutal and in some cases even physical attacks on those who
had little political experience or simply thought differently. However,
the direct democracy and direct action practices established by the
assemblies became a vital experience for many activists, who are now
engaged in other meaningful activities. One example is La Asamblearia
(www.asamblearia.com.ar),
an organization that commercializes the
production of the MTDs microenterprises and recuperated factories,
functioning as a cultural center and activist organizing resource space.
The middle class is now concerned with safety on the streets. The
violent crime rate has shot up since the economic crisis broke out.
There have been massive demonstrations led by Juan Carlos Blumberg,
a man whose son was kidnapped and killed a few months ago. Mr.
Blumberg seems to be more interested in trying to get the government
to use a "strong hand" regarding crime than in working towards changing
the social situation responsible for the environment that fosters
violence. Last week, he visited New York City, in an attempt to learn
from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) tactics to control
violent crime. The NYPD is one of the most violent-trigger happy police
institutions of the US, notorious for their racism and lack of respect
to human rights.
The recuperated factories
The workers of Zanon, a tile factory, remained in the building and
recuperated their working place when the owner decided to close it
down, because he was not making the profit he felt he deserved. This
happened a few months before the December 2001 uprising and
inspired many workers in Argentina to follow the example. In this way,
more than 10,000 working places were saved by the workers who
quickly learned how to manage their own factories. In most cases,
these factories, which some believe to be 200, work without a
hierarchical structure. Decisions such as working hours, salaries,
investments, etc., are made through assemblies of the workers. In
many cases, the payment is equal for everybody, regardless of
experience and qualifications.
There are three main groupings: The "Movimiento Nacional de Fabricas
Recuperadas por los Trabajadores", led by Luis Caro, a lawyer, the
"Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas" (MNER) led by
Eduardo Murua, and the Zanon factory with over 400 workers, which
has become a group in itself and is directed by a number of traditional
marxist organizations.
The political representation of the movement is quite diverse. Luis
Caro, for example, ran for mayor of the small city of Avellaneda with a
list led by Aldo Rico, a former military officer organizer of a coup
attempt after the 1976-1982 dictatorship. The MNER, on the other
hand, forged allegiances with different movements and politicians. One
of them was Miguel Bonasso, a leftist peronist. Murua himself also ran
with the Polo Social, a front of different center left organizations. At
the time of the elections, the traditional marxist parties were calling
the shots at the Brukman factory. As a result of that relationship, one
of the workers, Celia, ran for the trotskyist party Partido de los
Trabajadores por el Socialismo, PTS. Workers at Zanon ran with the
lists of different traditional marxist parties.
However, it is not clear that the workers in the recuperated factories
led by Caro voted for Rico. In most cases, these workers - which now
include the workers of the Brukman factory - need Caro to help them
with legalities connected with running the factory legally but do not
feel politically represented by him. The situation in the other
factories and movements is not clear either, some workers voted for
representatives elected by their leaders and some other did not.
The internal situation of the factories is perhaps the most interesting
aspect of this movement. In most cases the managers and
administrative personnel disappeared when the workers took over the
factory. Although it was a huge challenge, they were able to learn what
they needed to learn in order to keep their accounts in order. The
MNER, for example, has facilitated managing workshops with
University professionals and owners of small enterprises. As one
worker said:
"Our administration is simple and precarious, but it is
transparent". [6 Zibechi, Raul: http://alainet.org/docs/2540.html]
Which is more than what could be said of the
administration of those same factories when the owners were
purposely bankrupting them.
Conclusions
In Raul Zibechi's words [7 http://www.lavaca.org/actualidad/actualidad676.shtml], there are hundreds of autonomous
organizations in Argentina today. We had none of those during the
eighties or nineties. Although those groups are relatively small, they are
working on a different paradigm and were able to sustain that work
throughout the years. They are in Argentina to stay. It seems to be that
every so many years, the Argentineans are able to stage huge protests and
uprisings. So far, however, they have not been able to stabilize that
energy in structures that will enable them to grow and succeed. Perhaps,
if these autonomous groups continue to prosper in the future and are able
to unite in decentralized structures, that will change and Argentina will
finally be free. Unified campaigns, with international support, like Alerta
Salta, might work as the Round Table did for the petty kings of England
in the days of Arthur.
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–
Graciela Monteagudo
Graciela Monteagudo is an Argentinean human rights activist and
community artist. She 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
coordinating puppet and street theater actions in Latin America and
throughout the US. Lately, Graciela has been touring internationally with
multimedia presentations about Argentina as the coordinator of the
Argentina Autonomista Project (www.autonomista.org)
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