SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1st
7:00 pm at the Flying Squirrel Community Space
285 Clarissa St
Rochester, NY
Suggested donation: $5-$10
Chile has a long history of working class struggle in shanty towns, factories, mines, community organizations, and schools. In the 20 years after the US supported coup which overthrew Salvador Allende’s government, much of the organizing was done underground. However after the fall of the dictatorship in 1990, there was a new rise of mass popular organization in the country. Anarchists have been a major force in the social movements, strategically organizing to build power. This has manifested in solidarity for the Mapuches, anarchists winning the student union elections at the University of Chile, militant pro-abortion actions, and radical labor organizations.This national tour brings two individuals involved in these struggles to talk about the lessons learned and to create solidarity across hemispheres. From January to the end of February, the speakers will be traveling throughout the country and we hope that you can spread the word and hear about the important work that is happening in Chile.
The Speakers:
Gabriel has been a militant of FEL (Frente de Estudiantes Libertarios) as a high school student since 2004 (aged 16). In 2005, he helped organize support from secondary students for the ongoing university student strikes against the new university credit system. During the large scale high school movement in 2006, Gabriel participated in the ACES (Asamblea Coordinadora de Estudiantes Secundarios) as part of the propaganda brigades.
In 2008, he joined with other comrades to form the UMLEM (mural brigade) of Santiago, and the subsequent Muralista Luis Olea(MLO). He also participated in the CAE (Convergencia Anarquista Específica), in Chile as part of an attempt at forming a nation-wide anarchist organization. Later, studying in Argentina, he organized with the feminist group “Mujeres en Búsqueda” and the community organizing group “Construyendo Puentes”. He also helped form a MLO group in Argentina
In 2009 Gabriel was a participant at the ELAOPA VII (Encuentro Latino Americano de Organización Populares y Autónomas) in Argentina, a gathering of libertarian and anarchist organizations involved in social struggle. He later returned to Chile and coordinated university student participation in a popular student-run school in Renca, Santiago (La Nueva Escuela de Renca)
Gabriel continued his involvement with the ORA (Organización Revolucionaria Anarquista)[formerly the CAE]. The organization along with the Santiago organizations: EL (Estrategia Libertaria) and CAL (Corriente de Acción Libertaria) would form the FCL (Federación Comunista Libertaria). In 2010, he was elected as a delegate of the MLO to ELAOPA VIII in Uruguay. In 2011, he became the spokesman of the science faculty during the great national mobilizations, and a facilitator in the CSPPE (Congreso Social por un Proyecto Educativo, Santiago). In 2013, he was a participant in the formation of AFL (La Alzada, Acción Feminista Libertaria), the new anarchist feminist organization.
Pablo was a founding member of Librería Proyección, a social center and bookstore in downtown Santiago. Librería Proyección is a space where many social and political organizations meet, including student collectives, feminist groups, unions, artists, etc. For several years Pablo has been giving introductory workshops on anarchist history and politics in social spaces and universities. Pablo is also a member of the editorial board of the libertarian communist journal Solidaridad.
Pablo is also an English-to-Spanish translator and works mostly on academic projects (journals, publishers, etc.). In addition to several translations published as chapters in books and articles in journals, Pablo has translated Death of a Discipline by Gayatri Spivak (published in 2009) and Remaking Society by Murray Bookchin (published in 2012). Pablo is currently working on a Spanish translation of Black Flame. The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism, written by South African authors Michael Schmidt & Lucien van der Walt (AK Press, 2009).
Pablo received a B.A. in Philosophy (Universidad ARCIS) and a M.A. in Philosophy (Universidad de Chile). His undergraduate thesis explored Hegel’s influence on the thought of the young Michael Bakunin and his Masters’ thesis deals with the social ontology of anarchism as a critique of liberal individualism, particularly in the works of M. Bakunin and P.J. Proudhon.
Radicals, Students, Labor organizers and others can learn an enormous from the work being done in South America. Please join us for a discussion about on the ground organizing within social movements in Chile.
This is a fundraising tour. We suggest a donation ($5, $10) at the door.
Co-sponsored by Rochester Red & Black and the Rochester Committee on Latin America