A statement by the anarchosyndicalist CNT of Spain on the May protests and occupations which have swept the country.
The countless demonstrations and occupations that are taking root in
the main squares of cities and villages since the 15th are a clear
example of the organizational capacity of the people when they decide to
be the protagonists of their own lives; overcoming apathy, resignation,
and the absence of a self-awareness with which to articulate solutions
to take on and construct alternatives to the many problems that today
face all of us: workers, the unemployed, students, immigrants, retirees,
the precarious…
The organizational formulas developed in these mobilizations prove
the viability of direct participation through assemblies for taking
decisions that channel our aspirations and demands and make us overcome
individualism. We become protagonists, rather than spectators of a
system based in representation and delegating authority, which erases
our individuality. Assemblies, a rotating microphone, working groups,
responsibility, capacity, organization, self-responsibility,
coordination, involvement and visibility are the collective teeth that
move our gears, capable of challenging the institutions and provoking an
expectation and public debate that have eclipsed the electoral campaign
and the recurring contents of the national and international press.
The illusions generated by the massive mobilizations shouldn’t allow
us to forget that this situation will be an object for
instrumentalization, distortion, and management by political, social,
and union groups; these groups are even more afraid than the government
of losing the small amount of legitimacy that they have left in the
minds of some citizens. Likewise, the proposals and messages emanating
from these mobilizations must be analized in-depth. Overcoming the
two-party system and gaining a modification to the Electoral Law will
not make us freer, nor will it favor individual sovereignty. We must
state that the demands are centered in the necessary sociopolitical
changes; but there is a lack of denunciations or proposals discussing
the world of work – clear and explicit denunciations of the
collaborationist role of the institutional union federations, of the
Labor Reform currently in force, and of the wide legal margin for
implementing layoffs and destroying jobs…
Disobedience is the fundamental element that, since the 15th, has
characterized all of the mobilization and expressions of protest. It is
challenging and defying once again the repression and the attempts to
hold back the occupations that are coming from various offices of the
government and the Electoral Commissions; it is further strengthening
the participation, involvement, and self-awareness of our need to
organize ourselves. Disobedience is a collective pulse that demonstrates
our overwhelming force when we work together and decide not to give up
on our demands. It is a throb in our hearts that fuels an awakening of
consciences that will allow us to react, and to extend our mobilization,
our solidarity, and the overcoming of the fear that neutralizes
struggle.
“Cualquier noche puede salir el Sol” [“Any night the sun could rise” –
a line from a popular rock song about revolution, also a reference to
Madrid’s ‘Puerta del Sol’], and in Madrid’s central square we’ve already
spent a week avoiding the sunset. We have materialized our practice,
that it is not only possible but necessary to work together, unite, and
fight to change our immediate present and to outline from our
self-organization the pillars of a society without power, inequality,
repression, and delegation of authority. On May 22 [Election Day], more
consciously and visibly than ever, we will respond with abstention,
because we ourselves have demonstrated that the politicians do not
represent us, nor do we need them.
From the CNT, we will continue participating and calling for a
permanent mobilization and struggle, as a means to resolve the problems
in all spheres of our lives.
We continue to build at the same time as we disobey. The protest continues!
Night or day, the struggle is ours!
Secretaría de Acción Social del SP del Comité Confederal- CNT
