Mobilization of native peoples arrives in Buenos Aires in protest against constitutional reform

 Mobilization of native peoples arrives in Buenos Aires in protest against constitutional reform

 
Columns toured the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba and Santa Fe

Gabriel Vera Lopes
Havana (Cuba) |
August 03, 2023 at 11:36 am

Source: Brasil de Fato

Activists traveled nearly 2,000 km to reach the city of Buenos Aires - Telám

 

 

Coinciding with the festivities of Pachamama Day, an ancestral celebration of the Andean peoples of South America, a caravan of demonstrators made up of almost a thousand representatives of peoples originating from the north of Argentina arrived in the city of Buenos Aires on Tuesday, August 1st.

It is the Third Malón of Peace . Supported by various social organizations, the demonstration left on July 25 from La Quiaca, a city in the north of Jujuy that borders Bolivia, and traveled almost 2,000 kilometers to reach Buenos Aires.

The intention of the Third Malón de la Paz is to denounce actions contrary to indigenous rights that the people of Jujuy have been suffering for almost two months. Likewise, indigenous peoples are demanding the defense of their territories and natural resources.

The columns toured the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Córdoba, Santa Fé and Buenos Aires, holding assemblies with native peoples and social movements to discuss the problems they are facing and decide together on the plan of struggle to be followed. In the city of Buenos Aires, they set up a camp in front of the Supreme Court of Justice, demanding that the judiciary meet their demands.

"The main demands of the Third Malón de la Paz are the cancellation of the constitutional reform made in the province of Jujuy and the request for national intervention in the province, since the reform violates all the rights of the communities," Sara Choquevilca told Brasil de Fato .

Choquevilca is a member of the indigenous community of Chalala Purmamarca and the  Autoconvocados de Purmamarca group . The space emerged in 2018 in the city of Purmamarca to defend water and common goods in the region against various extractive projects in the region. When mobilizations broke out in Jujuy in mid-June, the group took on an important role in organizing neighbors in the region. Today, she is one of those who traveled to Buenos Aires on the Malón de la Paz .

"The idea of ​​the camp is to put pressure on our national representatives to give visibility to our demands. We want people to realize the serious political situation and human rights violations that we are suffering", he adds.

The Invasion of Peace

The name Tercer Malón de la Paz (Third Malón of Peace) refers to two previous marches that the indigenous peoples of northwest Argentina held in the capital, Buenos Aires. The first was in 1946, during the presidency of Juan Domingo Perón. Sixty years later, in 2006, the second Malón de la Paz was held during the presidency of Néstor Kirchner. In both cases, the mobilization required respect for the sovereignty of indigenous peoples over their territories.

The term  Malón de la Paz is a positive appropriation by indigenous peoples of the derogatory ways in which the ruling classes addressed them. Malón  is a Spanish word from the Rio de la Plata area that derives from "Malok", which in the Mapudungun language means "invasion". The idea of ​​the "Indian invasion of civilization" is a very present notion in Argentine literature, a derogatory way in which the oligarchy referred to the return of original peoples to their lands.    

"It is worth noting that, from 1946 until now, the demand has remained the same: the effective delivery of communal territories. This means that community titles are handed over to us", reflects Sara Choquevilca.

The arrival of the Third Malón de la Paz in Buenos Aires comes as the province of Jujuy has been going through a deep crisis and huge popular mobilizations for almost two months. At the same time, several human rights organizations have denounced the provincial government's repressive actions.

The political context

Regional elections took place in Jujuy on 7 May. Governors, legislators and mayors were elected. But, in addition, in this election, candidates were chosen to reform the provincial constitution.

With a turnout of 74% (10% less than in previous elections), Governor Gerardo Morales' ruling party won 49.5% of the vote. In second place, the Justicialist Party (Peronism) obtained 22.43%. In third place were leftist forces gathered in the Frente de Izquierda y Los Trabajadores (FIT).

The results allowed Morales, who belongs to the right-wing opposition grouped together in the Juntos por el Cambio (Together for the Change) nationwide, to finish two consecutive terms with a large electoral majority.

He was elected vice presidential candidate on the ticket headed by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta to run for the national presidency. The repressive and tough profile that Morales cultivated during his years in government added to the ticket the idea of ​​a right "capable of facing social resistance".

Members of the Constituent Assembly took office on May 23 and, less than a month later, on June 16, approved the constitutional reform. There was no prior information for the population that the vote was being held, nor was the debate published in the media. The approval of the new constitution was carried out by the constituents of Morales' governing party and the opposition Justicialist Party. Constituents on the left withdrew from the vote, denouncing the pact between the two forces.  

What does the reform say?

"To understand what is happening in Jujuy, the first thing to understand is that Governor Morales has introduced a series of changes in the judiciary, which means that he controls all public power in the province", says Manuel Tufro, director of the Violence and Security from the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) for Brazil de Fato .

“In this new constitution, there is a very important article that the provincial government says is a new right, but that is a lie. It says that 'the right to peace must be guaranteed.' right to protest. We, as a human rights organization, along with other organizations, have denounced that this goes against the national constitution and the international treaties to which Argentina is a signatory, which guarantee the right to social protest", adds Manuel Tufro.

In addition, indigenous peoples claim that the reform allows the provincial state to make use of the lands that belong to them for various extractive projects, such as lithium mining. And they demand that the right to communal property that these peoples have over their lands be respected.  

The popular rebellion of Jujuy: the Jujeñazo

"The province has been going through a conflict over teachers' salaries for months now. We are the lowest paid teachers in the whole country, with a salary that is equivalent to 1/3 of the basic food basket", said Claudia Pinela, from the board of directors of the teachers' union. high school teachers, to Brasil de Fato .

"The first mobilization of teachers was on June 5. That was the starting point of the protests. At that time, the government had not given any information about the constitutional reform. However, little by little, we learned that the reform was aimed at stifle the right to protest. Throughout his government, Morales ruled with an iron fist limiting the right to demonstrate. That is why, during the teachers' strike, the slogan "Increase wages, lower reforms" began to appear. spread across different sectors that sympathized with the teachers' struggle", adds Claudia.

Finally, in the midst of this climate of social conflict, on June 16, in a closed session and without prior discussion with the population, the provincial government and the Peronist opposition reached an agreement and approved the constitutional reform. Mobilizations against the undebated change multiplied and the government responded with harsh repression, resulting in two people losing their eyes and hundreds being arrested and injured.

"The government's order was to sow fear. They ordered hospitals not to treat people who arrived wounded by bullets from the repression. They also started to arrest people in unmarked vans, without any identification. take them away", reminds Claudia.

The repressive practices in the province since then have been so great that several human rights organizations have begun to denounce the situation. The UN Human Rights Office expressed its concern and the representative in South America of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jan Jarab, made an urgent appeal for the crackdown to be stopped.

"Currently, there are more than 150 people accused of criminal offenses and more than 100 others who received misdemeanors with fines of millions of dollars. The crime of these people was to participate in the protests", adds Claudia Pinela.

The mobilizations continued. Several workers' strikes, roadblocks and mobilizations have taken place since then. In this context, the native peoples gathered in the Third Malon de la Paz and decided to move from Jujuy to Buenos Aires, the center of political power in Argentina.

Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho

Africa stands alongside Russia against imperialism

2nd Russia-Africa Summit
Africa stands alongside Russia against imperialism

In St. Petersburg, African nations gather with Vladimir Putin in defiance of brutal US and French rule over the dark continent.

    Published on: 07/31/2023

Source: Causa Operaria
 

The Second Summit of the Africa-Russia Humanitarian Economic Forum took place on the 27th and 28th of July in Saint Petersburg (Russia) – the first edition of the event took place in 2019. The event was extremely popular, only 6 African countries did not participate, something that expresses the broad tendency of the continent's nations to align themselves with Russia as well as China, a clear opposition to imperialism. Among the highlights is the participation of the president of South Africa and Burkina Faso, as well as several other representatives. The Summit is yet another demonstration of the failure of imperialist domination.

The son of the Congolese Prime Minister assassinated during the 1961 coup d'état, Lumumba Jr, set the tone for the event:

“The relationship between Africa and the West is what we have lived: they colonized us, they enslaved us. If we talk about Russia, then it has never colonized any country, and historically we do not have such a sediment. When Africa became independent, Russia, then the USSR, helped many of us”.

It is a very important point for the petty bourgeois left who consider Russia an imperialist country. Here's the reality, Russia in its clash with imperialism, places itself on the side of African nations.

Another figure who stole the spotlight during the Summit was the nationalist president of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore. He took a clear position on the war in Ukraine: “Russia is now carrying out a special operation. I can guarantee that our people will support you. We support your government.” The nation is in confrontation with France, even decreed an ultimatum for French troops to withdraw from the country. He gave another impactful statement about imperialism in Africa: “A slave who does not rebel is not to be pitied. The African Union must stop condemning Africans who decide to fight their own Western puppet regimes.” In his country, an embassy of Russia will open in the country after 30 years.

The interim president of Mali, Assimi Goita, who promotes a process of total expulsion of the French presence in the country, also participated in the Summit. He stated: “Many countries in Africa, especially Mali, are under unprecedented pressure, as is our country. However, we look forward to partnering with Russia. This is our sovereign choice.” He also thanked Putin for his grain policy: “I would like to sincerely thank you for supplying my country with grain. It indicates the solidarity your country has extended to our country as part of your decision to help Mali.” The presence of both Goita and Traore is a challenge to French imperialism, which is increasingly weakened in Africa.

In total, more than 92 agreements were signed between Russia and African countries. It is something that must be understood in its relevance. In the midst of a war between imperialism and Russia, more than 40 nations oppressed by imperialism challenge their tormentors and participate in an event in Russia itself. Africa demonstrates an enormous tendency to struggle for its liberation. Amidst the enormous pressure to isolate Russia, the country is going through an inverse process, gaining more and more popularity, more allies. It is actually isolated only from the imperialist nations, which are still largely dependent on its gas.

Meanwhile, the Summit was the one that raised a big fuss in the imperialist countries, which immediately began a campaign to try to diminish its importance. CBS stated: “Only 17 African heads of state, according to Russia's own count, attended the summit. This is less than half of the 43 leaders who attended the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019.” Omitting that in this event there was the participation of another 6 nations. Other than that, they couldn't find anything else to attack the Dome with. It's a complete failure. Europe and the US have never been able to hold an event with such a large participation of African countries.

This is because there was still pressure from imperialism to reduce participation in the event, as expressed by the president of Zambia, Fred M'membe: “Many people are being discouraged from coming to Russia [by] those who want to dominate the world, those who think that only their way is the only way, the US”. He highlighted that the US has 29 military bases in 15 countries, and France has a presence in 10. In his words: “It is definitely not to protect the African interest. Is it to project its own power… or to further its own interest”

Putin's speech at the opening of the plenary highlighted the leadership of national liberation struggles: “Russia remembers and cherishes the memory of the remarkable sons of Africa. I will name them, friends. We must remember them, and we must never forget them. I will name Patrice Lumumba, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nelson Mandela, Ahmed Ben Bella, Omar al-Mukhtar, Kwame Nkrumah, Samora Machel, Leopold Senghor, Kenneth Kaunda and Julius Nyerere.” “These ideals of freedom, independence and sovereignty are also very important now in the difficult period of international turmoil, when an official multipolar world order is growing and the era of domination by one country or group of countries is coming to an end.”

Putin's exaltation of the liberation of African countries is a sign that a huge struggle is about to be waged. The multipolar order is not a real path, as imperialism will not allow it. However, clash over the domination of imperialist monopolies is inevitable, and their defeat will come sooner or later. At the present stage, the nations are starting this uprising, but when the world working class starts to move, events like the Russia-Africa Summit, which are impacting today, will be just a detail in the grandiose history of the struggle for the liberation of all mankind.