Montréal Contre-information
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Montréal Contre-information

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Mexique : Des prisonnières se solidarisent avec les quatre anarchistes en grève de la faim

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Oct 092014
 


Vendredi dernier dans la nuit, un énorme graffiti est apparu sur le mur de la salle à manger du dortoir C de la prison de San Marta dans laquelle nous sommes séquestrées. Le graffiti exprime notre solidarité avec les compagnons anarchistes Abraham, Fernando, Mario et Carlos en grève de la faim indéfinie. Depuis ce vendredi, nos camarades prisonnières ne cessent de commenter l’œuvre bien visible.

Ça change des « je t’aime » peints habituellement dans les couloirs de la prison ! Il y a un caractère de confrontation, en rupture avec la passivité quotidienne.

L’objectif a été atteint ! C’est une manière de lancer le débat et ainsi créer des espaces de réflexion à l’intérieur de la prison. C’est une des façons que nous avons ici à l’intérieur pour attaquer la paix sociale et la pacification. Dans notre perspective, il y a de nombreuses manières de lutter et de prendre une position de refus de l’autorité.

L’intention n’est pas de réclamer l’innocence de qui que ce soit, mais bien de générer des contextes de conflit et de rupture avec l’ordre établi. De plus, nous savons que l’initiative des compagnons en grève de la faim a été médiatisée dans le contexte du 2 octobre dans les moyens de communication de masse, mais nous savons que ce n’est pas l’intention des compagnons, car nous refusons d’utiliser les réseaux des médias de masse, encore moins pour y exposer un discours d’innocence.

En solidarité avec les compas en grève de la faim !
Ni coupables, ni innocents

Prison pour femmes de Santa Marta

Mexico City: Explosive solidarity with anarchist prisoners

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Oct 022014
 

From Contra-info

As part of activities in solidarity with prisoners, we decided to attack those who have collaborated in the detention of several of our comrades. The espionage work carried out by the security bodies of the university in collaboration with the Mexican judicial system is all too known.

In relation to the events that occurred in the University City [UNAM’s main campus] on September 30th, 2014, we just want to say that we will not stop taking to the streets to propagate the antiauthoritarian action until our comrades walk out to the streets again and we destroy this society of exploitation in its entirety.

Freedom for anarchist prisoners! Freedom now!

Mario González, Abraham Cortes, Fernando Bárcenas, Carlos López [on hunger strike since October 1st], Amelie Pelletier, Fallon Poisson

If their laws limit our freedom, our actions shall limit their lives!

Mexico : 4 anarchist comrades begin hunger strike

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Oct 022014
 

From cna mexico via 325:

To free media
To the peoples of the world
To all those oppressed

Driven by a sense of rebellion and a declared rejection and true repudiation of all control mechanisms, including the prison system, we, anarchist and libertarian individuals, in our condition as prisoners abducted by the Mexican government, have decided to exercise one of the few tools of struggle which we can assert from inside prison: the hunger strike. From today, October 1st, a year after the arrests on October 2, 2013, 10 months of the kidnapping of Fernando Barcenas and 9 months after the detention of Amelie, Carlos and Fallon.

For us the hunger strike is not synonymous with weakness, much less do we seek to fall into a position of victimization; however, we assume it as an alternative of fighting that we consider conducive in a logic of protest and disobedience to the imprisonment of our bodies and the humiliation, isolation and frustration it means to be held in these centers of terror. We opted to take action rather than accept prison as “normal”.

The State seeks to train docile and servile citizens to maintain their established “social order” and thus be able to support the structure of capitalist production only beneficial to the ruling class. Prisons have a key role in shaping these good citizens. It is to the bourgeois society that the prison actually seeks to readjust.

We reject the assumed role of resocializing that prison can bring to our lives. We not only do not consider it useful, but widely detrimental- that´s why we have decided to continue with our struggle to destroy it, starting with small acts of denial and ignorance of its influence on our lives.

We declare this hunger strike, without any request or demand. We do not seek improvements in jail or in our conditions. It is simply to ignore its role in our lives, acting in coordination and solidarity. With this action we accompany the protest on October 2nd, 46 years after the genocide in Tlatelolco, without forgetting or forgiving and making war until the end of oppression.

We will never stop to aspire for our freedom!
We will not abandon the fight for it!

Jorge Mario García González (Medical Tower Prison Tepepan)

Carlos López “El Chivo” (Eastern Prison)

Fernando Barcenas Castillo (Northern Prison)

Abraham Cortes Ávila (Northern Prison)

Anti-industrial sabotage in the Eastern Townships (Qc)

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Oct 012014
 

From antidev:

So the other night on September 21, we’ve set fire to a railroad telecomm cable linking Brigham to Sherbrooke (Qc) to the US, thinking about the Algonquins people recently evicted from a resistance camp and detained in Gatineau. We took the time to select a railway bridge in the middle of nowhere near Waterloo, so we’d not have to dig to get to the cables or attract too much attention. Some fuel was dropped through an opening in the steel casing of the cables, then set on fire. Nothing fancy. It worked better than we’d guessed, as a few seconds later it already smelled of burning rubber a few meters away. The enclosed air in the conduit apparently turned the fire into something like a blow torch. Kind of an easy game to be reproduced elsewhere by others, we told ourselves… so that’s a reason to let others know.

Of course it didn’t cause the whole techno-industrial system to collapse! Society is still pretty much functional today. But you gotta start attacking it somewhere. Though it did feel as if an important nerve deep below society had been severed. And this felt good getting off our asses in the middle of the night for this.

It is noteworthy that this railway line is the exact same on which the tar sands train used to pass, taking the lives of a hundred people last year. It is again used to transport oil from the West to the US, though at much smaller rate. Soon it will be replaced by the equally parasitic and devastating pipelines, unless a serious opposition to it rises out from the current apathy so widespread in southern Quebec these days. As the sheep put their trust in the bureaucrats and the “experts” with all their “moratoriums”, legal challenges and “environmental assessments”, the popular beast is tamed and kept in line, the same line that led us to a disaster last year, and keeps destroying the wild life around…

Hence, as bonus, during the following days, panels for rural residential developments were vandalized, each in the name of prisoners Amélie, Fallon and Carlos imprisoned in Mexico, two of which are from Montreal.

Two panels were spray-painted in Sainte-Etienne-de-Bolton (ot very far from that sabotage) where “Ecocide” was written, and a large panel by the highway 10 that ties Montreal to Sherbrooke.

Those gestures are far from the intensity of the attacks those three persons are accused of, but they target another end of the same social machine that destroys and rapes the living, here as in northern Alberta, Mexico and elsewhere.

We take the opportunity to pass on our shared view on fighting the progress of techno-civilization: This fast-growing type of visual pollution plays a key role in the destruction process paving way to the invasion of techno-industrial society, but also are very worthy alternatives to the classic urban vandalism. There’s no geopolitics of vandalism, what matters being just the sensitivity of the target to the infrastructure behind, and this one is sensitive as fuck. Though as countless graffiti in the City will at least express a critique and give a virtual impression of disorder, at best defame the fascists and the cops and capital; suburban sprawl can be stopped or slowed down in direct result from vandalism against those spectacular outlets of capital (in this case, the gangster construction industry and all its parasites who just wanna pay themselves a yatch with easy money out the sale and destruction of fictionally-owned land, who’re pretty much the same fuckers who pay themselves summer residences here with gentrification money in the city. Get the picture?). We have proof of this, by experience… we have seen major real-estate corporations withdrawing from developments, just because of panels being recursively vandalized. We thought that this kind of tactic, no matter how low-scale or boring it may look like, deserves to be brought back in the attack menu, at least as appetizers. So, tons of opportunities for subvertive art at the tip of the civilizational spearhead. A good field for spreading anti-civ memes too!

For all the creatures killed or evicted by the death machine of society that keeps sprawling.

For the wild!

– King Ludd and his army of Fenians, from the darkness of the forest

Mexico, 5E: “That which stagnates rots”, by the compa Carlos López “Chivo”

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Sep 072014
 

from contrainfo, transl. waronsociety:

For anyone who has decided to pass from words to insurrectionary action, and carry this in every scope of life, it is necessary to prioritize engagement by continual reflection; and in this way reconsider again and again your thoughts, tools, and strategies of fighting. This is in order to not fall into the passive dynamics which are sterile and counterproductive when it is time to attack.

From here comes our necessity to revisit important themes that because we do not consider them something fixed, should always put up for debate and discussion.

In a manner of personal capacity and humility I take the work of re-positing what is understood by informality and insurrectionary anarchism-in a brief manner- with the intention that those who can identify can contribute and from their place, give it more depth and debate. At the same time I will make a small critique towards those anarchist currents who have been determined to treat us as “pyromaniacs without ideas”.

Around the world conflicts and tensions continue to be generated by anarchist compañerxs against the complex apparatus of domination, those whose struggle coincides with us do not stop filling us with inspiration, seeking in this way to extend and generalize the conflict in a manner of decided and destructive attack. The efforts of the compas who decide to start their projects based in the coherency of theory-practice and practice-theory (understanding that each complement the other) should be taken into account, not leaving them to be forgotten and putting them up for debate and discussion in a critical-constructive manner seeking in this way to learn from mistakes and successes to later take to the battlefield: social war.

This makes clear that the confrontation against all power and authority is not an idea of lunatics and stooges, but a real and palpable form of seeking in an incisive manner our total and definitive freedom.l

We speak of an Anarchy that for us is not an ideology (a struggle which is based in fixed ideas which dictate to us how to act), but a form of shaping life and living it in accordance with our theses, analysis, and criticisms arising in reflection of the struggles that reflect our reality which are always in search of new methods, strategies, and forms of attack; this is why we claim ourselves as insurrectionary anarchists and organize in an informal logic.

We understand insurrectionary anarchy as an action born from individuality, like the rupture that everyone carries with themselves, transforming the entirety of what surrounds them, from the nuclear family, social and political, which much of the time we maintain in this prison/society from which it is not so easy to escape. In this way we transcend the conflict. If something identifies with the insurrectionary struggle it is precisely that which carries it farther away from illusion and words, of taking the initiative in the conflict of classes and breaking with the passive attitude of resistance to go into action, without limiting oneself to waiting to be repressed, to therefore have justification to attack; but rather doing it already, here and now. Permanent conflict, we carry it in our daily life, in our heads and hearts, always seeking to generalize it in the neighborhoods, colonies, towns, and beyond; to come to organize ourselves -through base nuclei- along with people who are not anarchists who wage heavy battles, for example, to stop government projects which put their well being and /or lives at risk. It is important to not situate the insurrectionary struggle in a minimal structure of “specific organization”, as it goes beyond clandestinity, as I previously explained.

Even though this struggle is nothing new, it has been rekindled, we can cite old struggles of peasants and indigenous people who revolted with dignity against rich landowners and landlords, but in another historical context, thus, we see past struggles as reference points not as methods to follow.

It is necessary to stop only remembering past combat forgetting that it is in the here and now that we should actualize them.

Understanding informality as the organizing structure of insurrectionary anarchists as the more or less stable relation of people, groups, or movements which are maintained in a constant approach seeking to deepen the knowledge gained in struggles, without bureaucratic structures nor delegation of responsibility and rejecting possible hierarchies which give way to relations of power. Here within -we say- the part that we “insus (insurrectos)” talk so much about and defend which is the constant reassessment and rearrangement of the forms and methods used to bring the destructive attack to the battlefield.

Informality is not something static and is in constant restructuring (we never forget that “that which stagnates rots”), on the contrary it would not be informal.

The affinity groups who are inspired by this organizational form meet in general in small groups, connected by a mutual personal knowledge. Study and critique of social problems are also important to generate affinity, not only of partial struggles, but as debates taken to the most profound in order to understand from the roots that which is confronted; and above all it is the same destructive urge towards all of the existent which makes us feel affinity. In this way we reach complicity. Affinity is not the same as friendship, although they can go hand in hand or separately,that it is to say, to be in affinity without being in friendship and vice versa. This way these groups build and learn with those they can count on when it is time to take action. These small groups are intended to disappear after completing the objective for which they were formed and from this new ones will arise, retaking the aforementioned “that which stagnates rots”. The union of diverse affinity groups is also part of this informal form of organization.

It is from here, this small contribution, trying as I said, to see that it is deepened.

Now it is time for me to deal with a small critique of some groups, platforms, federations, and some “insus” compas, about a behavior I consider worthy of attention that I do not share. Although anarchism is antagonistic towards every form of structure and relation of power- that which we commonly know as “the system of domination”, – there also exists within the same movement different currents that discredit with a serpentine tone the action of some which go beyond simply words and decide to leave the monotonous passivity that they themselves bear. Currents which extol “preaching” that things should be this or that way like grand cafe theories, just like that, without more. For some time I have felt certain refusal to accept said anarchist doctrine where passionately talking of “searching for” freeing oneself of every imposition, to form fraternity and love horizontal amongst equals almost departing to christian idealism which prays the phrase “eradicating the sins of the world”, but… without doing anything more that getting together to talk, talk, and continue idolizing their perspective of a life in freedom!!, but forgetting themselves or leaving to the side that said life is in the hands of a powerful enemy which is necessary to attack in a permanent and destructive manner.

By themselves rabid and ingenious ideas- theories don’t do much. I consider propaganda and contra-information as something important, but not when they are only use to move the masses; especially if this “moving” carries implicitly waiting for the ideal moment” to launch the offensive, like someone who waits for their messiah, and in this waiting they will dedicate themselves to proselytizing to swell their ranks and fall into quantitative positions.

Therefore, while not agreeing with those who decide to put into praxis direct action, without waiting for the mediation of the State and Capital, they decide to act without solidarity to silence their struggles and consequences, acting like “nothing is happening here” and continuing with their talks and populist indoctrinations -like one who gathers sheep for their flock-

I think that through the means of marches, meetings, and, talks of anarchism, congresses, great and pompous recitals of liberty -by themselves- will not change much less will they destroy the enemy they say they fight.

Finishing this writing, if its true its only a ton of things I have already said, they are also things that I have lived and reflected on closely, leaving it to the criticism and debate of whoever sees fit.

Lastly, I do not want to miss the opportunity to send a warm and friendly embrace and all of my solidarity to the compas: Nikos Maziotis in greek prison and Pola Roupa on the run, Mónica Caballero and Francisco Solar in Spain, Felicity Ryder on the run, Fredy, Juan and Marcelo in $hile, strength to compañera Tamara Sol; Mario “Tripa” on the run, Gianluca Lacovaca and Adriano Antonacci in Italiy; Gabriel Pombo da Silva, and in México Mario González, Abraham, Fernando, Fallon y Amelie.

To all of them and those I am unaware of, my love, rage, and solidarity.

Always irreducible and unyielding, because the struggle is not about winning privileges nor a comfortable future, but is a condition-act seeking to destroy every form of domination; to therefore rise from the ruins and then be free.

Carlos López “Chivo”                                                                                                                         Eastern Penitentiary, México D.F.


 

Olympia, Washington: Nissan Dealership Attacked

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Aug 032014
 

In Solidarity with 5E3 Prisoners Resulting in $100,000 Worth of Damage

In the early hours of Friday, July 18th, we attacked the Nissan Dealership in the Olympia Automall by spraying brake fluid on and slashing the tires of new yet-to-be-sold cars. We did this in solidarity with Amelie, Carlos, and Fallon (Better known as the 5E3 Prisoners.).

These three were arrested in Mexico City in January 2014 in alleged connection the firebombing of a Goverment Building and Nissan Car Dealership in the center of the city. Whether these three be innocent or guilty, we know they desire a world that is free from domination, a world where anarchy has a potential to flourish and our enemies are forced to deal with consistent attacks. We know that Amelie, Carlos, and Fallon are brave individuals who will be able to handle whatever any state-force chooses to throw at them. We are inspired by their courage, and their confinement only make us wish to continue our attacks on institutions of domination, support for each other, desire for a world free of prisons and capital.

We attacked this dealership to let our comrades know that they are not alone, that despite their imprisonment the anarchist struggle still continues on. We hope to see more actions like this occur.

Remember; It’s Easy To Attack!

P.S. – According the Mainstream Media (link below) windows at the dealership were also smashed. While we wish we could say that we take credit for this, we are slightly puzzled how this action occurred, because all we used was brake fluid and knives. Perhaps the dealership was hoping to get more insurance

Mexico, 5E: New letter from compa Carlos López “Chivo”

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Jul 082014
 

From contrainfo, translation waronsociety:

I start this letter by sending a sincere greeting to the compas outside these walls, hoping that the unisonous rhythm of rebellion continues to beat in their hearts and that this is reflected in their daily actions.

Last week I was very happy to receive a small but important detail which the compañerxs got to me in prior warning. Amidst the monotonous and heavy daily life of imprisonment, one hopes that “something” outside of the routine will happen, and this is why at more or less  the indicated time I set my gaze on the sky and the greeting arrived in the form of fireworks. In each one that exploded I could feel your greetings and care. It was impossible to physically see them, but I could feel them close by, and in that moment I could feel complicit in your solidarity-action, to the point of imagining your smiling and mischievious faces, laughing to yourselves at any possible risk, and it left me clearly feeling that when a compañero or compañera is kidnapped by the state, the fight is extended from both sides–inside and outside–of the walls, and each side, from their possibilities uses attacks which can make the fight more effective (here I want to make it clear that for me attack does not only signify the destruction of something material, but also the iconoclastic disobedience of that which is imposed within a system).

It also became clear to me that when there is an arrest the prisoner is not the only one affected, depending on how hard the blow is, it can extend to other compxs who can have the same thing happen to them, and even something more harsh than the confinement itself.

So, while watching and listening to the exploding fireworks, I thought that I would like to share the joy I was feeling with some compañerxs, specifically Bruja, Tripa, the Skin, Benja, and Justine–being the only ones I know of–who in way one or another, may be going through difficulty for having been associated with the 5E (January 5th) case that concerns Amelie, Fallon, and me.

I take advantage of this letter to send a great embrace to the 5 and to everyone who has sustained raids and harassment during the investigation process, full solidarity for you, and to reiterate we do not forget you here and we always keep you present. You are not alone, we are not alone!!

I have a bit to say on the topic of organization…

– As revolutionaries we feel the need to always be in conflict in every place where domination seeks to set its disgusting presence, not only in prison but in every place where there are relations of power and authoritarianism. This is why it isn’t necessary to be an ardent mass desiring change, I believe that with small organized groups there can be satisactory results… But what happens when instead of striving to be truly troublesome to the enemy we entangle ourselves in personal fights, unconstructive polemics and betrayals between revolutionaries ourselves? Well the result is obvious: division, not only between groups but between compañerxs in affinity, rupturing of projects, non-solidarity from some toward others, the “judge” that some carry inside comes to light and they start to look for the guilty ones in the movement, confusion, etc, etc, and even more obvious is that we practically do the “job” of the state to debilitate something that was surely on the rise.

And it’s not that anyone is trying to be a little angel and not cause problems among compañerxs–there will always be problems–and I do consider it necessary to pay attention to them in their moment, and it is necessary to break the relation completely, but not to do it when the rope is around your neck and diminishing the spirit of the rest.

There does not exist, as I said before, a magic recipe to solve something, but I still think that the immediate conscience is the first phase of the attack.

At times like these I am struck by a question, perhaps somewhat stupid, but it seems logical to me: If we say we are so antagonistic and do not keep quiet before injustices, then why do we do it among compañerxs? It falls to each one’s conscience, but faced with situations of this magnitude, there are many things to do, restructuring is always possible and projects go forward again.

This is why I keep betting on informality as concretely anarchist organization, and it is through tensions, debates and deepenings (of personal character and of social problematics) that we identify ourselves to our affinities, that is, to the people with whom we gain mutual knowledge and surely carry out some project(s). I see it as rather complicated to carry something out with someone who you don’t have affinity with. A friend asked me once, “and how does one measure affinity?” I answered her that with greater deepening and mutual knowledge, greater confidence, greater actions together and so, greater affinity.

Finally I take this opportunity to send a friendly greeting to the Mexicali gang, for the support I receive, ¡¡Fierro Cabronxs!!

That is all for now, I look forward to being in contact with some of you (though I would prefer with all of you, but it cannot be) and I send kisses and hugs to all.

Mexico, 5E: Trial update

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Jun 232014
 

Translated from Spanish by sabotagemedia

On Monday June 16 the last hearing was held against Amelie, Fallon and Carlos, the three anarchists arrested Jan. 5 on charges of damages and attacks on public peace. For now, judicially we have to wait for the conclusions by lawyers and judges on the sentencing in the local trial which our compañerxs are facing. As for the federal trial, on Wednesday June 25 will be held the next hearing. While there are set times for the last two stages of the trial, we know that judges may delay the delivery of the sentencing. It’s important to continue to show our solidarity with the comrades kidnapped by the state.
Freedom for All!

Mexico, 5E: Carlos López “Chivo” writes about his situation in prison

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Jun 072014
 

translated from Italian by act for freedom now!

Greetings, comrades!
I’m writing this letter driven by a strong need to communicate with the comrades outside. I’m convinced of the importance of being updated on all the episodes of struggle against what we normally call ‘the enemy’, that is the State and capital, from their miserable institutions to their fascist methods of control.

Anti-prison struggle is important and it is precisely for this reason that I feel the need to talk about my situation as an anarchist prisoner, while making it clear a priori that I have never tried to pass myself off as a victim because of what I’m going through, because as I have said (or written) in the past: I don’t believe in nor do I accept concepts of guilt or innocence in relation to the crimes I’m accused of, and I consider myself an anarchist with his insurrectional and revolutionary projectuality, an anarchist kidnapped by the State (and not the ‘victim’ of a kidnapping, as I read in a communiqué), and the reason why I want to talk about my condition in prison is only to publicly denounce some aspects of the way this disgusting institution functions. ‘If you don’t see it, it doesn’t exist’, and within my limited possibilities, to make my denunciation under censorship is part of my anti-prison struggle.

About a month ago (mid-March), while I was still detained in a temporary cell, the first foul deed took place. At around 7pm I was with a cellmate, then all of a sudden a shady guy, whom I certainly didn’t know, came over and started provoking me by insulting me and barging into me; a common event in prison is to beat one another up when one’s ‘reputation’ (which I think it’s a curse) is at stake, but due to the harsh words and the stress of imprisonment I fell into the trap.

After an exchange of blows, two guards appeared as if by magic (it is rare that police turn up in the corridor of the cells) and caught us fighting. Normally they tend to calm tempers with slaps and punches in order to subdue those engaged in a fight, and so they did with me and the massive guy I was fighting with (it’s great impotence not being able to defend oneself against these fucking shit cops because one ends up facing another trial for assaulting the bitch authority), and I thought it would end there, but it was not to be.

After humiliating us in front of the other prisoners present, they pushed us up the stairs; all of a sudden I no longer saw my initial aggressor, and I was the only one being taken away. So far I haven’t heard anything about him. When we got into an office, they beat me again; I couldn’t take any more and started shouting insults at them, ready to pass to physical insult, but they didn’t give me the chance because they were hitting me so hard.

I don’t remember how we got there, but I was taken into a dark room. Before we got there they stripped me and gave me a bottle of water, then they beat me again (I will never forget them) and left me there.

It was a cold night, they had taken all my clothes away, the floor was wet, I had been badly beaten all over my body and the room was completely dark. You can imagine what a night that was…
I was scared, angry and felt helpless. Allow me to call it physical and psychological torture.

I had never been afraid of the dark till that night; about 10 hours looking (and not seeing) all around and waiting for something to happen, till dawn broke and I was taken out of there. Obviously by other jailers.

I was taken to the cell and warned not to say anything about what had happened, and when I was in the cell I chose not to speak to anyone, not because of their warning but because I was still in shock.

By chance, that very day I was transferred to the extermination centre called Reclusorio Oriente, and during the night I entered the C.O.C. (Centre of Observation and Classification), whose 150 prisoners had been welcomed with the usual ‘psychological terror’.

I was expecting some other surprise at the C.O.C. Almost immediately we were called for the well-known ‘fajina’, which is cleaning the building, or allegedly so, in fact it is a pretext for extortion. In giving us directions, they said ‘al chile’ (an expression used a lot here). Who is going to go against it and pay $ 2,500 pesos not to do the fajina? This so that each one would take their responsibilities and pay up; some accepted their request. But some of us decided to face the fajina. I remember them saying: ‘you’d better pay, guerriero, you need money, don’t do anything stupid, otherwise we’ll have them beat you up.’

On that first day I did the fajina, which is an almost inhuman ‘exercise’ aimed at breaking your body so that you are forced to pay, a gorilla behind you all the time demanding that you be quick and hitting you if you don’t comply. This happens twice a day, about 3 hours of torture.

The next day they said again: ‘the best punches are for you’. After half an hour of fajina, while I was doing a sort of ‘carritos’, keeling down and cleaning the floor with a wet cloth at high speed, I fell then I was pulled up from the back of my trousers.

I have some problems with my back, so I can’t move fast. The pain was too much and I remember turning round to see my aggressor (a prisoner sheep who works for those of the fajina) and I wanted to retaliate, but again I couldn’t fight back because only two days had passed since the beating in the dark room, and with my back pain that was not the case.

As I had to restrain myself I went to the one in charge of the fajina, who said ‘if you can’t make it, then pay up’. That’s how I fell into this extortion.

I had to call someone who paid in $ 2,000 pesos for me. While I was speaking with this person I couldn’t help crying because of my feeling of impotence and the pain, but I never gave them the pleasure doing it during these disgusting fajina.

I’ll stop for a moment to point out that in spite of everything I don’t consider myself a victim. Insulted, yes, because they tried to trample on my dignity.

As a ‘coincidence’, two weeks later my mother was refused a visit, the only visit I got, on the pretext of some identification problems at the C.O.C.

The bastards ‘search’ you and steal money and phone cards. I didn’t have any money but they took my phone card along with my diary with my telephone numbers. I was in isolation for these two weeks, a strange isolation. I could only make one telephone call to ask for money …

I never thought of complaining to the ‘authorities’ of the institution, given that they are all part of the same gang of snakes in total complicity. Even less did I consider appealing to ‘human rights’ because their rights are a convenience I don’t believe in.

As for the question of extortion, I want to clarify: when I say extortion I mean pressure exercised by someone on someone else in order to obtain results, even against your will, which for a given reason is beyond your control; I don’t mean ‘extortion’ in the sense of someone wanting money from you and you give in out of fear of being beaten.

And a person very dear to me once said: ‘cya, don’t give them any money’, as if I had a choice or it was for a different kind of extortion. That’s not what he meant, but I understand some people can get that idea.

As far as concerns extortion in this context, prison and anti-prison struggle, I say that here they make you pay for anything, in reality for everything and this seems strange to me and it worries me that nobody says anything. And I know that what I’m saying here doesn’t change anything, but I don’t intend to be one of this flock of sheep.

They make you pay for using the toilet (the cell toilet is not enough for all the prisoners locked up in a small cell), for using tap water, which is much needed in the cells, drafting a request list (believe me, only for getting your list through), going to court, seeing your lawyer, cashing your cheque, and apart from the use of the table, for going downstairs on visiting day, getting out of the cell (they call it desapando); in the common cells they seize the locks, to be able to go from the cell to the dormitory, they charge (entrance, kitchen and common cell), for stuff like brooms, soap, bins, cloths and I don’t know what else.

This is a business!

And be careful! If you refuse to pay you come up against a heavy hand.

I can’t avoid mentioning the lay people, who, like the white lice, bedbugs and cockroaches, are part of the prison! They hit hard.
Another aspect I don’t like, actually no one does, is overcrowding.

Arrivals and the common cells are very small, at least in my experience when I arrived in a tiny cell about 3 x 2,5 metres, we were about 23 prisoners when I was taken to the temporary cell we were about 23 prisoners, and in the common cell there were 17 of us.

It’s very uncomfortable and also dangerous for your health the way you sleep, if you sleep, particularly for the new ones, they sleep on planks placed over the toilet.

Overcrowding in Mexican jails is worrying, at least I can see that at Oriente.

And even if there are so many of us, nothing ever happens. Here the methods of domestication are remarkable, as in the case of religion, it’s unbelievable how many people say ‘maybe we are here by the will of God, this is a sign and we must respect his will’; they sing and pray and hope to get out soon.

When they know I’m an atheist and I think they seem ignorant and blinded by dogma, they keep away from me or start asking all kinds of questions, but that’s another story.

Another way of keeping prisoners passive is drugs. I’ve always thought that each one is free to choose how to live their own life, to take or not take drugs, and which drugs, but I’ve also maintained that their use is often a barrier that prevents the individual from carrying on his revolutionary goals, deviating him into a lethargic state of artificial happiness; especially with so-called heavy drugs. This along with everything else.

Prison denigrates the prisoner, humiliates him, tramples him and tries to kill his dignity, turning him into human waste without any will, servile and obedient; assigning the role of ‘sheep or snitch’ to those who are faithful to the system, crushing, isolating and punishing those who don’t follow its idiotic rules and disobey its terroristic practices.

So I declare myself an anarchist prisoner in struggle against prison. We look power in the face from inside and push to preserve our identity as people who feel a love for freedom, our dignity and to defend what we are, it is necessary to liberate our wildest impulses and in the face of such humiliation it becomes necessary to go right to the most destructive of our being.

I consider myself a free person, also inside prison, and so it will be even while they try to destroy my individuality; their methods of control and domination will never succeed in piercing my black heart, as long there is the solidarity of free comrades towards prisoners in the clutches of whatever prison, whatever extermination centre and every institute of subordination.

Prison tactics of terror and fear cannot stop this hurricane of creative passion, constructive passion and destructive passion, this liberatory project; and even if confronting its authority leads to a result of greater repression, here no one falters, no one takes a step back against the hated enemy.

The prison system wants us to believe that its violence against us is something normal, it wants us to get used to it and think this is what prison must be; personally I don’t let myself be domesticated, I don’t fear retaliations, I’m not one of those who claim they are enemies of the State and at the same time try to make their lives ‘normal’ and smooth, this doesn’t convince me. I’m not one of those who turns the other cheek when they are struck, I am not like those who are waiting for ‘conditions to be right to act’, no!

On the contrary I think that their violence must be sent back twice over, an eye for an eye, to their violence our antagonistic violence, acting without waiting for the times to be ripe because often this happens too late, responding to a flame with a raging fire.
I haven’t finished writing everything, but…

Down with the prison walls!
Fire to the prisons!
For anarchy!

Carlos ‘Chivo’, Oriente prison.

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