A-Infos (en) Brazil, CAB: ANARCHIST JOURNEYS 2023 "JUAN CARLOS MECHOSO" (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Once again, the continent's specific organizations are meeting in person for 
these Days. Today, with the sad news of the departure of comrade Juan Carlos 
Mechoso last October, comrade founder of FAU and propagator of Especifismo in the 
region. Our modest homage is to name this edition of the Journeys after him. ---- 
The urgent need for political organization ---- Our region is going through a 
very complex situation. Increase in misery and poverty, reinforcement of 
neoliberal policies, growth of reactionary and extreme right ideas and weakening 
of popular projects that confront the system. This scenario is not new, it has 
been developing since the end of the Cold War, and the rise of progressivism in 
government has had a direct impact on institutionalizing the majority of the 
left, on reducing the political horizon to what is possible within the margins of 
the capitalist system and political-ideological conceptions have faded. All this 
to the liking of the bourgeoisie of each country and the multinationals. On the 
other hand, the right wing is advancing at a steady pace, especially the 
ultra-conservative conceptions are advancing aggressively.

In this context, which has some differences with the Latin American context of a 
decade ago, the organized anarchist militant presence is fundamental. First, to 
offer a political perspective different from reformism and "progressive" 
currents, to endow popular struggles with the necessary classism and class 
independence. But, above all, to strengthen these struggles and to bring to the 
political-ideological level a conception of revolutionary rupture, not just as a 
distant political horizon, but as a daily perspective of social construction. It 
is the task of the Political Organization to influence the people with a 
revolutionary intent perspective. We understand that this perspective is the only 
one that can stop the advance of the extreme right and raise the fight for a 
different society. That is why, as militants, we must make every effort to build 
organizations, support them, reinforce their development, establish coordination, 
in order to increase the presence and influence of our ideas and strategic 
proposals in the region.

The Political Organization that we need to develop must have two principles or 
axes of operation and concern: on the one hand, social insertion. Living the 
people's drama on a daily basis, organizing socially at the territorial, trade 
union, student, peasant, black, indigenous, female, etc. levels, in order to 
develop in these spaces a political practice that develops our grassroots 
approach. Without an organized insertion in the heart of the people, our ideas 
become sterile and vain words, other currents organize themselves and influence 
the people that we are interested in freeing once and for all.

Second, a strong political organization, with the necessary political, 
ideological, theoretical and technical development at each stage. Without this, 
insertion may not bear the fruits we expect or receive correctly, at the 
socio-political and political level, all the efforts made in the areas of 
insertion. The Political Organization has as its task the political struggle 
against the system of capitalist domination and promotes a revolutionary 
perspective and broad popular protagonism among the people.
Federalism and People Power

We conceived the future society based on a federalist organization. We also 
understand how our organizations work on this basis. Federalism is far from 
favoring particularisms and transforming any sphere into a barren one due to the 
impossibility of reaching an agreement, since each one takes care of his own 
"house". Federalism is based primarily on grassroots participation, responsible 
and committed participation, and the articulation of decisions and resolutions at 
a more global level. From the bottom up, as Bakunin spoke, a society organized 
from below with global instances that unify and contemplate the different 
proposals for solutions to collective problems.

Our Political Organizations must prefigure in a small way what we want from the 
future society. That is why we call this federalism functional federalism, a 
federalism that articulates organized anarchist militancy and allows an agile, 
dynamic and decisive operation. Evidently, the time needed for the discussions 
must be fixed by the Organization and there are a number of issues that cannot be 
discussed all at once, which must be processed. But neither should we fall into a 
sterile debate, which makes it difficult for the Organization to function.

Such federalism goes hand in hand with our conception of Popular Power, of the 
process of building the capacity and strength of the people and of the organisms 
that will replace the structures of the capitalist system, once a revolutionary 
process has triumphed. The fate of the revolution is being played out from today 
onwards, since the popular capacity that we can build today will be at stake at 
the moment of rupture. If there is no prior process of building Popular Power, it 
is likely that a revolutionary process will be led or co-opted by those parties 
with an avant-garde, centralist orientation and a "strong party" conception, 
leaving the people relegated to a passive actor and subject back to the rule of 
the Party-State, as happened in several historical processes.

The guarantee that this will not happen is the Anarchist Political Organization, 
with a finalist strategic line, but also with a strategy in the strict sense, 
adequate to each situation or period, and that allows us to advance towards the 
objectives outlined in the finalist strategy: revolution and libertarian 
socialist society. Tactics, whatever is punctual, adjustments for each specific 
moment, fall within the framework of strategy in the strict sense.

That is why our federalist conception of Popular Power is an intrinsic part of 
Especifismo. It is the unfolding of our conception and our political project of 
the future society that we desire, but they are also horizons that must be 
implemented in everyday life. We must practice Federalism and promote it as a 
form of organization in all spheres; in addition to the political organization, 
we must promote it in insertion. If we want to dispute sectors of the people and 
militancy, we must show that it is possible to work differently than the system 
proposes and reproduce in all spheres, including leftist parties and social 
movements.

Popular Power together with Federalism as a way to strengthen popular 
organizations and their development at this stage. It is the people taking their 
destiny into their own hands in libertarian terms.

A path traveled and yet to be traveled

Specificism in Latin America has come a long way, especially in the last 30 
years. We have developed organizations in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia. All 
with their own rhythms, difficulties, but also with advances and giving a 
different stamp to Anarchism, which in the region had been relegated to a museum 
piece by the anarchists themselves, concentrating on sterile debates in small 
circles, militating between anarchists and without contact with the people.

This was, to some extent, broken. Today, especifista anarchism is present in the 
region and is the protagonist of important popular struggles. There is still a 
lot to do, but let's go step by step. We left the previous Journeys with a series 
of resolutions, some of which we were able to fulfill or move forward. It seems 
relevant to us to continue working on them, in order to continue the collective 
effort that has borne fruit. Undoubtedly, a new stage for the coordinated work of 
our Organizations is beginning.
-
- Federacion Anarquista Uruguaya, Coordination Anarchist Brazilian, Federación 
Anarquista de Rosario en CALA (Coordinación Anarquista Latinoamericana).
- Anarchist Organization of Córdoba (Argentina).
- Anarchist Organization of Tucumán (Argentina)
- Anarchist Organization of Santa Cruz (Argentina)
- Anarchist Federation of Rio de Janeiro (FARJ- Brazil)
- Anarchist Organization of Libertarian Socialism (OASL-Brasil)
- Colectivo Mineiro Popular Anarquista (COMPA - Brazil)
- Rusga Libertaria (Brazil)
- Roja y Negra (Argentina)
- Federación Anarquista de Santiago (Chile)
- Grupo Libertario Vía Libre (Colombia)
- Lima Anarchist Youth (Peru)
- Nucleo Anarchista de Asunción (Paraguay)
Observer organizations:
- CGT Spain

https://cabanarquista.org/jornadas-anarquistas-2023
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