Report from Arica, October 29th, 2019
Breaking away with CP and Concertación,
the strugglers of Arica have self-organized
The situation in the city, as in the rest of the country, is quite radicalized. Despite the attempts of union bureaucrats, gathered in “Social Unity”, of stopping demonstrations, the masses do not leave the streets and barricades. A few days ago in the “Cabildo” led by the CP and former “Nueva Mayoria” (New Majority), a sector of their rank and file rebelled against the leadership. Several people there spoke telling members of the CP and other bosses parties that this struggle was despite and against them; that they had no authority to be there, trying to manipulate their struggle; those parties were denounced as responsible of previous defeats and that they had taken workers’ energies to impotent demonstrations which did not question anything. The answer of the “Red Pacos” (police, TN) of the CP was violent, trying to hit those who criticized them. As a response to this incident, the rank and file members broke away with union bureaucracy and CP and organize an “open assembly” to re-group the struggling sectors. Despite the anti-bureaucratic struggle there are still conciliating voices, who do not call to unify with CP and former Concertación publicly, but they pose the unity with those sectors who are struggling and those who are in favour of a “Constituent Assembly”, among them those who had been previously denounced.
Yesterday, October 28th, there was a massive demonstration. Thousands workers, students, inhabitants and members of native peoples marched around the main avenues of the city. Rebel working youth took to the streets, spreading their class hate. Army’s barracks were surrounded, where people shouted denounces of the murders committed by Pinochetist Armed Forces. Then, the demonstration walked to the city center. There protesters met a violent response of the murderous pacos, who shot tear gas causing chaos. They also shot small live ammunition hurting two girls; one of them remains with an iron bullet in her head. Answering this attack, the youth re-grouped and confronted the repression with barricades, stones and cocktail bombs. The pacos were not strong enough to disperse the youth, since in a different place in the city hundreds of youth confronted the repression. Before this scenario, pacos threw tear gas making protesters withdraw and move to other parts of the city. There the youth attacked AFPs’ offices, banks and pharmacies; there were lootings and barricades were set up with furniture taken from those buildings. Since pacos were not enough, the other police started repressing, the hatred PDI, with armored cars and shooting everywhere they managed to disperse the crowd.
The center of the demonstrations is “Rotodan Tucapel”; everyone who confronted the pacos re-grouped there.
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