The purpose of this piece is to better understanding of mass media’s relationship to rebels (including anarchists of all stripes), in general as well as in the context of a repressive atmosphere in Bristol. As well as raising local specifics, it hopes to encourage stronger awareness around wider issues of representation and counter-insurgency…
… even in the best-case scenario, on the level of sheer pragmatism, the mass media cannot be made to serve liberatory purposes. It works by systematically removing events, ideas or proposals from their context, to then re-package and re-serve them as fragments so we can consume them while never actually living them. What sense can critiques with the depth of anarchist ones make when presented as a 60-second jumble sandwiched between ten others in contradiction, how can anything meaningful take root in an environment dedicated to keeping everything restricted to surface level only?
The second issue of the insurrectionary / nihilist anarchist newspaper”Blessed Is The Flame”, originally published in 8 July 2024 in Greek, has now been translated in English. By doing so, we hold the ambition that this newspaper can become an international effort, bringing together all the direct action reports, statements and texts of comrades, and news about the struggles of anarchist prisoners that are scattered across the world, divided by language and communication barriers.
We make a call to any willing comrades around the world to assist us in translating the newspaper in other languages as well and diseminate it both digitally and physically; the document was designed to be easily printable as a A5-size booklet. Ideally, we would like to suggest an international collaboration between counter-information projects from all corners of the world, defying the recent repression efforts of various states who want to put an end to the diffusion of the ideas and practices of the anarchy of action.
The current issue includes direct action reports of the last four months (March – June 2024) from around the world, claims of responsibility from Greece, Italy, Germany, Chile and USA, news and statements from anarchist prisoners, as well as some texts with discussions related to organisational and strategic issues and considerations for the anarchist offensive, counter-surveillance and security, and (non-primitivist) critique of civilisation.
A final note: This newspaper is meant to be just a few pages per issue, so that it can be easier to read and cheaper to print. The current issue however is 28 pages long due to the fact that we were absent from the counter-info scene for about half a year and we wanted to cover as much material as possible from the time period that we were missing.
“So, that is my life – the life of a schoolgirl-revolutionary, a student-dreamer, a friend and lover of the great man and poet Aleksandr Iaroslavskii, an eternal wanderer, an itinerant anti-religious lecturer, a writer forRul, a street newspaper vendor, a thief with a long criminal record, and a traveling fortune-teller.” (from My Autobiography, E. Iaroslavskaia-Markon)
The manuscript, completed on February 3, 1931, anticipated by a few months the execution of the authour at the age of twenty-nine, which took place in the courtyard of the isolation block in the gulag of the Solovki Islands. The manuscript – thirty-nine pages written in dense, tight handwriting – was discovered in 1996 in the archives of the FSB headquarters of the Arkhangelsk region. In her autobiography, Evgeniia talks about herself, her life, her comradeand companion Aleksandr Iaroslavskii and their commitment in fighting ’til their last breath against the tyranny of the Bolshevik power.
Evegeniia Iaroslavskaia-Markon, Aleksandr Iaroslavskii
No experience can be summarized with a bit of ink and paper.
Even less the experience of someone who decided to provoke the dominators with every possible way and any place. There are no pages which can effectively illustrate someone who died while fighting against authority. Inside these pages therefore, is not the whole of Mauri’s life.
We do not condense all of his experiences and the moments our paths met.
We honestly desire that this is not the last collection of his writings.
We are not owners of his thoughts, the events he experienced or his analyses.
We hope that more material related to him will come to light, not as a fetish, not as a day on the calendar, but probably as a memory longing its moment.
Once again we find ourselves around the campfire, in another rebellion. Time passes, but reality makes us feel that we are as if we were stopped in time; governments are still here and there, as are capitalism, religions, patriarchal culture, extractivism and individual and social authority. Sometimes it’s like running on a treadmill, we run, we sweat, we have the sensation of moving forward, but we don’t do it. That does not take away our desire and will to keep fighting, to get up and keep trying to break the treadmill, without giving up. Yes, like those stubborn and maladjusted anarchists, from all sides and all times. Comrades of years or new ones that join with contributions to this rebellion, that never tried to serve as a guru, or guide, or “example of perfect life” of anyone, without impositions perfect life” of anyone, without impositions or demands. Rather, it is only to expose our ideas (always debatable), reflections, experiences, feelings and individual or collective sensations; it is a humble contribution to the great flame, which gives warmth and strength to all of us comrades around the world, and that, at this very moment, many of them are prisoners, fugitives, under surveillance, many are persecuted; but, even so, they continue conspiring, propagating and agitating the social revolution against all authority, in all corners of the planet.
In this region another show of “the Democratic elections 2023”, another change of label but not of content. Now a new character leads this town: “Miky Vanilla” (Milei). A super fascist as president. Again, the sad meme, became reality. The ultra right wing, which hypocritically, put itself as a name: “Partido La Libertad Avanza”. And what they want the least, is the freedom of anyone. They even call themselves: Anarcho-capitalists. Another unreal contradiction, like the name of their Party. Anarchy and capitalism are polar opposites. Like calling themselves anarcho-government or anarcho-authoritarian.
And as expected, the scourge of “every man for himself” never stopped. The slope of social inequality became faster and faster, while the increase of everything is all-encompassing. Misery among the people is in free fall. The lethargy in the social rebellion, generates agonies, also micro and macro adaptations, frustration, disappointment, depression, impotence, anger, wild stories and all against all. And the ship, always straight to the iceberg. The fascist and murderer of Santiago Maldonado, Patricia Bullrich returns to power as Minister of Justice. With a tattoo of Bukele. Ready to be the director of the: Mega Penal-Capital. The “war against terrorism”, again legalized by the terrorists of the State. The mafias of power, repressing the “mafias” for not passing them the “prote”. “They didn’t pay their bribe on time again, boys, a couple of lazy bastards are going to have to fall” says Commissioner Bulrich. Laws and reforms. Congresses and “march on the sidewalk”. Unions and police parties and jailers, respecting the “Anti picket protocol”. And eating, renting, traveling, living for the people is slowly fading away. Meanwhile the facho vindicates the massacre in Gaza from Israel. He whores the Pope and then embraces him. Opposition and officialdom. The “quarrels” between the powerful never interested us… we know that they only distract and stretch the show. But the reality can be seen and felt in the street, the advance of weariness. Also the doubt, the fear, the uncertainty, the resignation. And the conformation with “it is what it is”, continues to reign. And like any power that imposes itself, capitalism never forgives. It will continue to wreak avoidable havoc.
The passage of 2023 was so fleeting, amidst inflation, looting, evictions, repression, and to top it all off: the electoral show. In 2024 it seems that the People are starting to wake up little by little, because of everything that happened, like a very bad hangover. In which they went through “las paso”, the presidential elections, the increases that sometimes were little by little or like a cudgel, at other times. This kept them “dizzy” but “awake” when it was time to vote, with faith in the best meme. And now, they deny their hectic night. This is the current feeling of voters and non-voters alike. They wake up little by little with each increase that personally touches their pockets, seeing that their incomes are farther and farther away from their expenses. And the virtual and social war between those who say: “I told you so” and “we have to give time to the new government”, are the daily battles. Meanwhile capitalism and its scythe of social inequality advance rapidly. And we as involuntary spectators, in the middle of the social “menjunje”, having to endure another day of governments, capitalism, religions and cultural authority. But with the same desire intact, to destroy all this empire of authority.
The massacre in Gaza does not rest day or night. Neither does that of Russia against Ukraine. The business continues and so do the dead. The memory of Claudia Lopez on the 25th anniversary of her cold-blooded murder by the carabineros of Chile. And the tenth anniversary of the murder of Cosme and Lukinio, at the hands of a facho. Their fires will always rekindle our barricades, for those of us who do not forget that we are always accompanied by our fallen. The best tribute is always to fight.
Violence “causes and effects” of the tireless comrade: Amanecer Fiorito. It describes what, unfortunately, continues to be reproduced today. The CEAMCE and the struggle of the neighbors of Catan. And all the consequences caused by the contamination of power and its ambition, without ever measuring the inseparable damage they cause in the past, present and future of the inhabitants of the whole world. Extractivism, which never stops. The daily individual and social adaptation. The capital fever and its multiple mutations to cling to continue with social inequality. The stories of Gaetano Bresci, showing us that there is no such thing as an immortal and untouchable tyrant. All expositions from the mind, the heart and the entrails of each comrade. The Esquelas and Esquelas of the subversive and unsuitable comrades of the existing prison system, with their causes and current situation. The permanent struggle of the comrades imprisoned all over the world. The release of Gabriel Pombo da Silva, who is finally on the street. The trial and “exemplary punishment” carried out by the terrorists of power against comrades Francisco and Monica. The struggle for their freedom will not stop. The death of Alfredo María Bonnano and his agitation against all authority until his last breath. Words always of strength and encouragement, not to give up in the face of the imprisoning world, from comrade Marcelo Villarroel. Freedom for Alfredo Cospito and so many other comrades who resist and fight to the end against this system that wants to erase, annul, disappear or bury us so that we do not continue fighting for the world without authority, which we know is possible. May the social revolution against all authority inside and outside of each one of us, not stop. It is a pleasure to continue sharing a new REBELION with all of you, and we hope that wherever you are, you will never give up! We send you health and strength to every unruly and untamed heart!
We leave you with the excerpt of a note, from one of those many stubborn and misfit to authority: Rafael Barrett and “El Oro” (Gold).
“Gold, money… suppress all the gold in the world: has our true wealth diminished by an atom? Imagine the immense and agitated labyrinth of universal traffic: sweating slaves, stubborn caravans, the slow ox and the light horse, sledges and carts, sailing ships, trains, steamers that drag and distribute bread and luxury, life and dreams under all climates through all impossibilities… Why would the absence of gold bring the enormous organism to a halt? Suppress gold: won’t our muscles remain intact, won’t the gas continue to push the wheel? Remove the gold: what obstacle has been introduced into human motion? None: Everything could go on without a shudder.”
Opening the tensions of dialogue, we present the following section of interviews with individuals, collectivities and related spaces that make up the anarchic body in different parts of the world.
The interviews are a valuable contribution to the observation in detail and depth; they come, in a certain way, to broaden the view to give us feedback among comrades and to debate with perspectives and projections, that although they may be different, they converge in the ideas and practices of freedom against all authority.
Without further ado, we have in this first venture of dialogues the comrades of Espacio Fénix.
1-How and when did Espacio Fénix arise, and what projects converge in the space?
Espacio Fénix was born in the middle of the pandemic, at the beginning of 2021, in the midst of a series of ridiculous mobility restrictions and increased police intervention under the excuse of controlling and preventing the spread of covid-19.
Thus, a group of compañerxs got together, seeking to open a crack, a fissure within the asphyxiating panorama that was regulating everything, imposing the rhythm of power and where many seemed to be accommodating or waiting for the authority to give us “permission” to resume our lives.
We embarked on the idea of opening a physical space where comrades could converge, where anarchic material could circulate and where new comradeships could be woven and articulated. Thus in May 2021 we opened the doors of the space, we began to set up its infrastructure and in July we held our first activity in memory of compañero Santiago Maldonado.
Claustrofobia Ediciones, the Biblioteca Antiautoritaria Sacco y Vanzetti and various anarchic individualities converge in the space.
2-The “Ciclos de Cine” (Film Cycles) is the tool you have used the most to carry out activities. What is the significance for you of the screening of films, documentaries, etc.?
We started with the film cycles in October 2021 and we have not stopped every Tuesday, month after month, grouping the films by specific themes, seeking to stress our ideas and nourish our arguments with content, it is the beauty of the feedback between colleagues with diverse experiences and views.
From the very beginning, we proposed the screening of films as an excuse to sit down and converse, because after each screening, the central part of the activity comes to life, which is the discussion about what has been screened. There the words run, without leaders, where everyone can expose their dislikes, their liking or the results and analysis that is made of what we have seen. With this gesture we also seek to break the logic of passive spectators, of consumers, very typical of socially imposed roles.
In this sense, we have screened diverse audiovisual material, industry films, documentaries made by compañerxs, films that we like or dislike, always aiming at the discussion and tension between compas.
We do not seek to fill the cultural gaps of authority, nor to be the free panorama for those who lack resources; we seek, by different means and tools to spread our anarchic and anti-authoritarian ideas/actions, therefore the film cycles are just one more tool we choose.
Ciclo de Cine March 2024Ciclo de Cine November 2021
3-Regarding the written material, what is the importance and power that you perceive in it?
The written material certainly has another power, another depth and transcendence, of course the spoken thought is important, but writing allows the ordering of ideas, so as to be able to reflect more carefully on what is going to be exposed and to assimilate/discuss more deeply on what is read.
In a present where immediacy, image culture, the digestible and pyrotechnical, where almost the medium is the message, emptying of content many of our tools, writing/reading is a weapon, which can also serve as a refuge, where to continue polishing and sharpening our ideas.
The written material is an instrument that impels us to grow, to argue and continually revise our positions, widening our views, shining light where there was darkness.
On the other hand, it is necessary to say that written material has always accompanied anarchists, as propaganda for the dissemination of ideas, it is an effective tool to enter into dialogue with more comrades wherever they are: in the street, in prison, or other territories. It is important because it nurtures individual thinking, as well as possible collective discussions.
The written material as propaganda can bring together comrades and depending on the objectives and projections that we have, we can realize initiatives of various kinds. In the same way that we can find ourselves on the path of anarchic struggle, we can also distance ourselves from people who spread anarchist propaganda of other tendencies, for us those who are called to participate in the electoral circus, appeal to platform organization, dream of unity and large federations and those who reject legitimate political insurrectional violence – to give just a few examples – puts us in another place on the sidewalk and in several cases as enemies.
4-There are political-cultural spaces that coexist peacefully with power, while others attract police attention. Why do you think this happens? Are there more dangerous ideas-practices? If so, what would these be?
We don’t think this was the intention of the question, but it is worth clarifying to avoid pejorative atmospheres. For us, anti-power spaces/ideas/practices (truly anti-authoritarian and anarchic, leaving out and fighting the bullshit of “popular power”) by definition do not coexist peacefully neither with power, nor with authority, nor with the police and their investigators of all kinds.
Police eyes and ears are always there, to believe otherwise is naive and dangerous. They let themselves be seen or directly attack depending on conjunctures or panoramas that mark a change of rhythm.
In this sense, it is not the police harassment that defines our comrades’ ties -it is defined by our ideas, values and projections- because valuable initiatives that are undoubtedly a contribution to the anarchic tide, may not receive the police onslaught in an evident and grotesque way and not for that reason be considered “legal”, “innocent” or in any way aspire to coexist peacefully with the power. For example, at present there are activities that do not receive police interference, but that 3 or 4 years ago were seen as a danger and received harassment; we are talking about common pots or self-defense activities. It does not change the activity or the background, but it changes the perception of power or the effect it seeks to achieve as a chain reaction (fear, disarticulation, etc.).
Now, it is important to emphasize that these types of practices carried out by those in power are part of their work, and must be understood as such. They have always existed and will continue to exist, we do not say this in an alarmist way, much less to call for immobility or to “disappear” from certain spaces. Simply because it must be clear, those who consciously decide to undertake a confrontational path to power and propagate it in multiple ways, may encounter those enemy dynamics, therefore, the consequences must be assumed. Continue reading “Chile: Interview with Espacio Fénix EN/ES”→
In the following link we provide the digital version of the first issue of the newspaper of our project “Blessed Is The Flame“, a project for the diffusion of the theory and praxis of black-flag anarchy* While the newspaper is in Greek, we would like to see it translated in other languages too and be disseminated internationally. If any comrades are interested in this undertaking, contact us at blessedistheflame (at) riseup (dot) net, and we can provide you with an editable .odt version of the file.
In this newspaper we will cover topics like international and local anti-info of the two most recent months, discussions, claims of responsibility, ideas and tips about direct action and anti-surveillance.
Editorial: “The present newspaper is the printed form of the project Blessed Is The Flame, which will be irregularly issued. The purpose of this project is not only to disseminate black-flag anarchy, but more generally to disseminate the radical thoery, praxis and criticism that stems from the act of insurrectionarry armed desire, recognising that the social situation we are in, and which we did not choose, leads our lives to bankruptcy, to the alienation of our Egos.
We do not attempt to persuade anyone, we do not wish to bet on the mass mobilisation of a robotised society. What we are trying to do is contribute in building a communication bridge between those who have chosen to revolt here and now and those who want to revolt. We are what we are because we got courage and inspiration from the rebels who show us what is possible. We do not postpone the insurrectionary and revolutionary action for an indeterminate future because we are liberated from the bonds of hope. We are not nihilists because we are simply pessimists. No, we are nihilists because the situations around us do not allow us to think of future utopias, because we do not wait for freedom to come, but we bring freedom each time we act with defiance and without compromise against society, state, capital, and any other aspect of civilisation. This is the most immediate realisation of anarchy.
Long live direct, anarchist and guerrila action
No resignation, no truce, no peace
For anarchy and nihilism”
*In the terminology used within the Greek radical circles, black anarchy (μαύρη αναρχία) refers collectively to the nihilist, individualist, insurrectionary, anti-social and egoist currents of anarchism.
Between February and March 2020, all over the world, heads of state made solemn and grave announcements in order to prepare their populations for what appeared to be a new era : one of war against the virus. Within a couple months, the sabotage of telecommunication infrastructures had almost become a daily event in France, as well as in other European countries. Simultaneously, a debate sprang up within anarchist and radical ecological publications, in particular about the meaning and efficiency of these acts. How could we undermine technological control ? Could we provoke a tipping point within this situation? What scenarios did these sabotages open up ? How could we consider efficiency, organization and ethics altogether? Nowadays, the situation has evolved, but the problems brought up by the following texts remain unresolved, maybe even more so now, and without obvious answers : what are the links between direct action and social or ecological movements? What strategies emerge when we separate or combine anarchist, ecologist and techno-critical perspectives? How do these strategies integrate a now-decisive element : the war in Europe, which will guide and harden the grip of states on their populations.
