From the Greek Streets

The struggle in Thessaloniki by the workers of ‘Banquet’ restaurant and other workers than stand in solidarity continues after the end of the summer. The employers have re-opened the place, as this month is normally one of the best for this luxurious restaurant, due to the International Fare of Thessaloniki, that takes place next week in the city. We remind that after constant protests (almost every day there was a gathering) in front of the restaurant, the boss decided to close it for the summer, in order to destroy economically the workers and force them to stop the struggle. Now, though, they will not hire the workers that mobilized the last months, protesting against the firing of one worker for syndicalistic reasons. Some gatherings outside of the shop have taken place the last days, and the police has arrested one worker (G.K.) in Tuesday 31st of August. After protests and a gathering outside a central police station, where it was believed he was held, they set him free and his court will take place in 5 months. Today (2nd September) another worker, Vassilis Goutas, is arrested, after legal actions of the employers.

The ‘Solidaity Commitee to the workers of Banquet’ has published an announcement and calls for a protest gathering tomorrow, on Friday3rd of September at 9.00 am at the courts of Thessaloniki, and also calls to participate to the demonstration that will take place the same day, and will end to the restaurant. The gathering for the demo is planned in Kamara square at 7.00pm.

Banner placed in Patision Avenue in the center of Athens.

The prisoner Vaggelis Pallis was found severely wounded in his cell a few days ago. The guards came after more than an hour, after the whole prison was yelling, and claim that Vaggelis was wounded with glass by himself, a claim that is not easily believed by most people that know him. Now he is in the intensive care unit of the hospital of Trikala in a critical, but stable, situation. The rest of the prisoners are enraged and many put fire to their mattresses.

Sofoclis Nigdelis, another prisoer that lived in the same cell for long, has published a note that talks against the journalists, that have published false information about the case of Vaggelis Pallis, and send his regards to the recently murdered journalist Socratis Giolias and his family. “Solidarity and comrade collectiveness are our destructive weapons. Regards and strength to the comrades in solidarity of Vaggelis Pallis, inside and outside the walls” ends his note.

Vaggelis Pallis is a prisoner that in in jail not for political actions and is not anarchist, but was one of the first prisoners that has taken part in revolts inside the prison, and has faced unbelievably hard charges and penalties, while he was already inside the prison. The last years many actions of solidarity have taken place by the anarchist scene towards him.

On 4th of September a gathering and demonstration towards the hospital were he is held is organised by comrades in the city of Trikala.

The night of Saturday 28th of August attacks occured against 5 diplomatic vehicles in Thessaloniki. The action was claimed by a group named “Diplomatic Body of Arsonists (for the intensification of international solidarity)” and is dedicated to the comrades in chile that are prosecuted, with 8 of them being imprisoned and 6 more facing charges.

Check the website of the festival for up-to-date info.
in the path of freedom against the crisis of the bosses

WITH DIRECT DEMOCRACY
FOR SOCIAL ANTIAUTHORITY

Wednesday 8th of September

CRISIS
the outlet from the crisis

18.00 : Crisis in the workplace. From the traditional trade unionism to
the autonomous workers’ struggles.
Lars Rφhm (Freie Arbeiterinnen-und Arbeiter-Union, FAU, Germany)
Thodoris Theodoropoulos (antiauthoritarian newspaper “Babylonia”)
Kostats Haritakis (newspaper “Drasi”)

20.00 : Global Crisis and Economical crisis. A crisis in the meaning of
capitalism.
Epaminontas Skiftoulis(Antiauthoritarian Movement of Athens)
Peter Bohmer (Economist, ZNet, Evergreen State College, USA)
Jelle Bruinsma (Griekenland is overall, Netherlands)

Thursday 9th of September

EXODUS FROM CAPITALISM
antiauthoritarian economy

18.00 : Agriculture & Energy of emancipation. Horizontal relationships in
production and consumption process.
Federico Demaria (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain)
Giorgos Foufas (Libertarian Movement of Corinth)
Κ. Hatoupis (Farmer, Zemeno of Corinth)
Claudio Cattaneo (Occupied Farm Can Masdeu, Barcelona, Spain)

20.00 : De-growth, Antiauthoriatarian Economy and the Exodus from
Capitalism
Dimitris Konstantinou(publisher of the magazine “Nihtegersia”)
Peter Bohmer (Economist, ZNet, Evergreen State College, USA)
Μarisa de Fatima Luz(Secretary of the landless movement in Brazil, MST)
Spiros Marketos (Asst. Professor of History, School of Political Sciences
AUTH)

Friday 10th of September

DIRECT DEMOCRACY
local self-institutions

18.00 : From the local self-institutions to the generalised
self-management.
Nikos Ioannou(Nationwide movement against the diversion of the river
Achelous)
Eirik Eiglad (Editor of the journal Communalism, social ecologist, Norway)
Marc Tomsin (Editions Ludd and Rue des Cascades, France)
Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo (Mayor of Marinaleda, Andalusia)

20.00 : Direct Democracy and Social Overthrow.
Sergio Ghirardi (Essayist, editor and translator, Italy)
Berhouz Safdari (Sociologist, Iran)
Grigoris Tsilimantos(Antiauthoritarian Movement of Thessaloniki)
Raoul Vaneigem (he will be present and will intervene by text)

The public meetings/discussions that begin at 18:00 will take place in the
ampitheatre of the new wing of the Philosophy Department and the other ones
which start at 20:00 will take place in the Theology Department of the
Aristotle University.

MARCH
SATURDAY 11th OF SEPTEMBER 2010
RALLY
18:00 SINTRIVANI SQUARE
(intersection of Egnatia Str. – Aggelaki Str. – Ethnikis Aminis Str.)

The website of the festival:
<<< http://www.ablocfest.gr/?lang=en >>>

More updates in english will be posted here as well
<<< www.resistance2003.gr >>>

The IMF Resistance network has issued the call-out below. Please translate and disseminate!

(Scroll down for Spanish version.)

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have a well-deserved reputation for being the loan sharks of global capitalism. Both institutions are infamous for forcing poor countries in the global south to ruin their own economies in order to further enrich Western corporations. Nations who decline to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates and then beggar their populations to pay it back (or worse, default on their existing debt), are subjected to trade sanctions that have been described as “the economic equivalent of nuclear war.”

The neoliberal regime represented by the IMF has generated intense, and largely successful, resistance across the world. In Argentina a popular revolt in response to the 2001 economic collapse, caused by strict adherence to neoliberal policies, saw three governments toppled in a month. Piqueteros threw up barricades of burning tires on the highways, workers took over their factories, and “Que se vayan todos!” became the rallying cry for an entire nation. After the passage of NAFTA in 1994, the Zapatistas established their own autonomous territory in the Mexican state of Chiapas that survives to this day, in spite of continuous government repression. In North America and Europe massive protests greeted neoliberal elites at every summit, including Seattle in 1999 when the World Trade Organization meeting was completely shut down. In Barcelona in 2001 the World Bank canceled a summit entirely for fear of protests.

More recently, world leaders have attempted to re-establish neoliberalism under the guise of recovering from the economic collapse that they themselves caused. The IMF has been recapitalized with 1.1 trillion dollars from the G20 group of nations. Employers everywhere are slashing wages, as governments cut social services correspondingly, all justified by calls to “share the pain.” Resistance has intensified accordingly. Wildcat strikes in Bangladesh have periodically crippled the garment industry there, as workers demand safety improvements and back wages. Protesters in Romania have held huge demonstrations against government-imposed austerity measures. The entire country of Greece has been virtually ungovernable since the riots over the police murder of a 15-year old in December 2008. Riots, general strikes and insurrection are common occurrences. Farmers blockade the Bulgarian border with their tractors and banners are dropped from the Acropolis. The announcement in April that the Greek government would be instituting austerity measures as part of an IMF/European Union bank bailout sent 200,000 protesters into the streets in Athens alone.

Here in the US, ground zero for neoliberalism, reaction to the financial collapse has been comparatively muted. Recent protests have not approached the size and intensity of those of the antiglobalization era. The IMF Resistance Network exists to help change that. We are an East coast-based antiauthoritarian group dedicated to organizing demonstrations against IMF and World Bank summit meetings in Washington, DC. The next one is on October 9 – 11 of this year.

You’re all invited. Details will follow shortly.

See you in the streets,
The IMF Resistance Network

–

El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI, o IMF en ingles) y el Banco Mundial (WB) tienen una reputación muy merecida por ser los “tiburones de préstamo” del capitalismo global. Ambas instituciones tienen fama de forzar a países pobres en el Sur Global a arruinar sus propias economías para enriquecer las corporaciones y las bolsas del Norte Global. Naciones que rechacen el dinero prestado a tasas de interés muy exorbitantes y rechacen el rogar a su pueblo que repongan la deuda (o peor, naciones que decidan suspender su deuda), son sujetas a sanciones de intercambio que han sido descritas como “el equivalente económico a una bomba nuclear.”

El régimen neoliberal representado por el FMI ha generado intensa, y largamente exitosa resistencia a través del mundo. Justo después de la aprobación del tratado de la NAFTA, lxs Zapatistas tomaron su propio terreno autónomo en el estado Mexicano de Chiapas que sigue hasta hoy día, resistiendo represión continua del gobierno. En Norteamérica y en Europa, protestas masivas se encontraban con la elite neoliberal en cada cumbre, incluyendo Seattle en el 1999 cuando la reunión de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (WTO en ingles) fue completamente parada y cancelada. En Barcelona en el 2001 el Banco Mundial canceló una cumbre enteramente por temor de protestas. En Argentina, una revuelta popular en respuesta al colapso económico del 2001, causada por la adherencia estricta a la política neoliberal, vio la caída de tres gobiernos en solo un mes. Piqueterxs alzaron barricadas de llantas en fuego en las carreteras, trabajadores tomaron sus fabricas, y “¡Que se vayan todos!” se convirtió en el grito de una nación entera.

Más recientemente, “líderes” mundiales han tratado de restablecer el neoliberalismo con la excusa de recuperar de la crisis económica que ellos mismos causaron. El FMI ha sido recapitalizado con 1.1 trillones de dólares de parte del grupo de naciones llamado el G20. Empleadores por todas partes están tajando sueldos, mientras los gobiernos cortan servicios sociales a la misma vez, todo siendo justificado como formas de “compartir el dolor.” Justamente, la resistencia se ha ido intensificando. Huelgas salvajes (huelgas sin respaldo sindical) en Bangladesh han debilitado la industria de ropa periódicamente, mientras lxs obrerxs demandan seguridad y sueldos. Protestantes en Romania han llevado a cabo inmensas demonstraciones en contra de los medios de austeridad impuestos por el gobierno. La entera nación de Grecia ha sido virtualmente ingobernable desde los motines en respuesta a la muerte de Alexis Grigoropoulos, un joven de 15 años asesinado por un policía en Diciembre del 2008. Motines, huelgas generales y ataques insurgentes son ocurrencias comunes. Campesinxs bloquearon la frontera de Bulgaria con sus tractores en respuesta y pancartas fueron atadas a la Acrópolis. El anuncio en Abril de que el gobierno griego estaría instituyendo medios de austeridad como parte de un rescate monetario del FMI y la Unión Europea se encontró con 200,000 obrerxs, inmigrantes, anarquistas y radicales en las calles de Atenas.

Aquí en los EU, zona cero para el neoliberalismo, reacción a la crisis ha sido relativamente débil. Protestas recientes no han tomado el tamaño ni la intensidad de las de la era de anti-globalización. El IMF Resistance Network existe para ayudar a cambiar tal cosa. Somos un grupo anti-autoritario basado en la costa Este dedicado a movilizar y demonstrar en contra del FMI y el Banco Global y sus reuniones en Washington DC. Su próxima cumbre será en Octubre 9-11 del 2010.

Todxs están invitadxs. Visiten imfresistance.org para más información o para contactar.

Los vemos en las calles,

IMF Resistance Network