From the open publishing newswire: Something smells different in Cuba
author: Movimiento Libertario Cubano
 movimientolibertariocubano@gmail.com

With respect to the situation in Cuba these past few weeks, the Cuban Libertarian Movement - MLC (affinity group of Cuban anarchists in exile) speaks up to answer the unknowns and the challenges facing Cuban society. Ours is the voice of uncompromising commitment to freedom, equality and solidarity that has always been the sound of the Cuban anarchists. Something smells different in Cuba, yes; but not enough to harbor too many illusions about the strategy for change that seems to guide the steps of the fossilized "vanguard". In our view, the current flexibility is due to certain basic political and economic reasons.

The first thing we have to say is that self-management is not a cosmetic nor a band aid but rather an integral conception totally against private or state capitalism; an idea that rivals any other model of production, distribution and trade and which exists as a whole, without impediments or caveats, only as much as it can be generalized to all spheres of society. In short, self-management can not be understood as a test tube baby, as some practice worthy only of minimalist and isolated experimentation but as a model for relations between free, equal beings in solidarity, capable of deciding, individually and collectively, the affairs of their lives. Self-management is not a decoration but a principle, is not a model for the occasion but a liberating and revolutionary project by which people can re-invent Cuban society.

Cuban Libertarian Movement - May 2008
 movimientolibertariocubano@gmail.com

From the open publishing newswire: Andrew Flood is an active anarchist organizer and writer, with twenty years experience in Ireland, most of that time as a member of the Workers Solidarity Movement. More recently, he has been become a member of the Northeast Federation of Anarchist Communists and is a founder member of Common Cause, Ontario

His publishing record includes well over one hundred articles, translated into over nine languages, chapters published in three books, and articles in seven English language anti-authoritarian magazines and newspapers.

As well as numerous events in Ireland he has been the speaker at meetings in Britain, Italy, Canada, the Czech Republic and the USA and attended conferences in the Netherlands, France, Spain and Mexico. The tour is sponsored by Class Action Alliance, a new organization being built in Washington and Oregon which identifies with the specific international anarchist traditions recognizing four main tenets of anarchist organization. The core of these traditions are the need for anarchist political organizations that seek to develop theoretical unity, tactical unity, collective action and discipline, and federalism. We are loosely based on the Anarkismo editorial statement

[Portland:] Saturday, May 3rd at 3pm,
Portland State University, Smith Building, Cascade Room 236

[Eugene:] Sunday, May 4th at 7pm
Apocalypse on Broadway, 2100 W. Broadway

classactionalliance

Related: 22 more US dates for Irish Anarchism tour

From the open publishing newswire: * The Collective Editorship of El Libertario, www.nodo50.org/ellibertario, expounds its vision of which path to follow in the current situation in Venezuela, summed up in the slogan, "Against the (B)oligarchy, demagoguery and corruption: Autonomous struggle of the underdogs!

Positive transformations in society are produced by the actions of popular movements and not by governments. As has been clearly illustrated in the case of Venezuela, as well in other parts of Latin America, the will for change of the majority has been channelled and co-opted by a new bureaucracy which tries, by all available means, to tighten its grip on power.

From the open publishing newswire: The International Anarchist Conspiracy (IAC) is a fictitious organization. The IAC does not exist in the real world. The IAC only exists in the virtual world known as the internet. The virtual world of the internet is not the real world. The internet is a part of the spectacle controlled by this system, the spectacle which keeps people detached from reality. If people are detached from reality, they cannot understand it well enough to know how to act in it. The function of the fictitious organization known as the IAC is to reveal the wide variety of control mechanisms keeping people shackled to the illusions spawned by those in power. The fictitious organization known as the IAC has attempted to accomplish this in many ways and for many reasons....

From the open publishing newswire: Walking into the Disjecta, one could not help but feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the dark cold empty warehouse located underneath the Burnside bridge. But given the dire circumstances of the planet and the "times", it was also somewhat appropriate even in the holiday season. Looking out the west windows of the building, you could see the skate park under the bridge and hear the buzz of traffic. Despite asking $15 to $18 a head , a crowd of approximately 100 people filled one side of the warehouse. A representative for Disjecta informed everyone that this would be the last event at the warehouse and that we were really not supposed to be there and were essentially "squatting" on the property.

From the open publishing newswire: Once again we must consider the dilemma of whether to participate or not in the electoral contest (referendum), this time with the difference that it is not a case of choosing a candidate but rather constitutional norms for the government of collective life. In addition to this is the clear opportunism by which, bypassing proper electoral norms, the Government conducts its 'Yes' campaign, forcing the support of public sector employees and everyone else who is dependant on public finance... We believe that with or without voters the Reform will be passed. However through abstention and the absence of the electorate it is possible to make it illegitimate, even when it is legal. Faced with this panorama, those of us who don't renounce liberty and social justice must prepare ourselves to confront a general increase of coercion and collective control... we know that we are not faced with the military government of Myanmar but rather an expression of neo-militarism as an efficient model for maintaining the despotic domination of Venezuelan society, in the service of, we repeat, the global energy market.

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Venezuela's revolution for humanity

Comrades from Venezuela, you are the continuators of the Cuban Revolution ... you are giving the small, besieged island the reward it deserves, you are giving our Fidel, ill though he may be, the reward he deserves. The streets of Caracas should shake with the cry of "Socialism YES, capitalism NO!" Let the goals of these reforms be clear to everyone. Let the traitors, the rats and the fence-sitters come out. There were traitors and renegades in Lenin's Russia, in China, and also here in Cuba.

That's why the rallying cry is "Yes to the socialist revolution". We in Cuba were shouting it to imperialism a mere two years after the triumph [in 1959]: "That's what the United States can't forgive, that we've made a socialist revolution right under their nose", said Fidel in front of an impassioned crowd [in 1961]. A few hours later there was the Bay of Pigs [US-backed invasion of Cuba], and a few more hours after that we kicked them out

The continuity of this revolution of Fidel and Che Guevara relies on the Venezuelan revolutionaries. Let the "Yes" to the reform of the 69 articles in the constitution become a "Yes" to the socialist revolution! Every factory, school and revolutionary household in Venezuela must stay awake. Let's all unite against those who think it's possible to snatch the dream of a Bolivarian Venezuela out of the world's hands.

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From the open publishing newswire: Well here we are boys and girls. Still stuck in the same rut. Generation after generation. We have won some battles and lost some battles throughout history. But we are still losing this war, miserably I must say. The Empire is still growing. The Constitution is only alive in our hearts, not in practice. We have not achieved real change. I fear the climax of our situation, Americas, and the rest of the world... is rushing up beneath us, and its going to hit us like an explosion of a volcano and shock like an earthquake.

So I am here to discuss two main points. Two points that I think are most important to us in this era of, one may call, depending on your view points - a new world order. So please, think about these following words and leave your thoughts and comments. I only ask that we keep this civil amongst us, no bickering and arguing and trash talking opinions and ideas. Let's look at this from an educated/learning point of view. I am here to talk about problems and solutions among "the movement" and this country.

From the open publishing newswire: In 2004, in Olympia, a few people materialized into a crowd, bolt cutters at their side. The fence was cut and pulled down. Beyond the fence lay a load of Strykers, ready to aid in the murdering of Iraqi's. Ready to barrel down streets, firing into houses and crowds, turning people into meat. Ready to run over children. The fence came down and then a few people ran forward, into the police. Those few people were taken down. The crowd remained where it was, standing behind an imaginary line. In 2006, in Olympia, the fence came down again. A few people ran in and were taken by the pigs. Others sat down down and went through agony while they were being arrested. The night before a fight to take down the fence lasted hours, numerous people disabled by pepper spray. Just as they did in 2004, the Strykers left Olympia for Iraq. The poor suckers stuck in them were torn to pieces. In 2007 a liberal, pacifist group began heavily pushing its agenda on those who did not wish to conform to it. When the Strykers came through Tacoma the response was minimal for the first week. People who did not want to sit idly by as the Strykers rolled through the port struggled to organize a large response on Friday night. Surrounded by hundreds of riot cops, the fence came down. Numerous people were shot with rubber bullets. The crowd left and headed towards one of the police blockades. Half the group pushed forward, on the verge of overtaking a police cruiser and pushing the line back. The other half sat down. Sang "Give Peace A Chance." And went through agony. Enveloped in tear gas, shot with rubber bullets, beaten with clubs, those following non-violent principles allowed themselves to be brutalized. Some people said we provoked the police, that our violence created violence. On Monday night no one pushed against the police. That night the police shot and gassed a completely non-violent crowd.
In Tacoma, in 2007, people were struggling against each other more than working together. It takes the willingness of multiple parties to cooperate. We have been willing in the past and we will be willing in the future. But other people have not, time and time again. The Strykers went right through the port. There was no chance of stopping them then, but a lot of the people there were not even trying. Do we want to stop the things we say we want to stop?

From the open publishing newswire: Instructions for a riot(Black Block).

I: The Black Block is not a group. The Black Block is a tactic. Not a group. We understand the appeal of identifying with what you believe in and finding some solace in a world bent on its own destruction. On the street however, the color Black is there for your protection and to aid you in your quest of attacking the capitalist system, authority, hierarchies and control.

The state supplicating media has played a large role in spreading the myth that the Black Block is a tightly run group similar to the IAC. It is not. The first step you must take is to eradicate the last remnants of that tired illusion. Once that has been done, the true beauty of the magical Black Block can become clear.

From the open publishing newswire: My partner sold her property in Multnomah County in June, 2004 and moved in with me in Washington County.

Recently, she received a letter from Multnomah County requesting that she provide "proof" she was not a resident in 2005. This got my dander up - what if every government organization chased you around with this kind of crap when you moved? I sent them a letter that said that if my partner had been a resident in 2005, she would have paid her taxes (which is true); and that here in these United States, we don't have to prove our innocence and we don't have to show the government our papers.

Now they have sent a tax bill for 2005. It's completely bogus, of course; neither of us was a resident of Multnomah County in 2005, not for even a single day, not in any way, shape or form, through presence, property ownership, or any other conceivable definition.

From the open publishing newswire: the 8th issue of The Super Happy Anarcho Fun Pages, a free seasonal comics zine, has been released, to much fanfare and rejoicement.

Including an introduction to the gift economy, critiques of capitalism, communism, and pretty much everything that comes across our path. The Super Happy Anarcho Fun Pages can be downloaded freely from our website,  http://www.tangledwilderness.org and printed out and enjoyed and distributed.

From the open publishing newswire: I went to see Star Wars when I was in high school, which seems about the right time to see it. I liked it a lot. I wasn't one of those people who saw it a hundred times or anything. I wasn't that much of a nerd. Besides, I was too busy playing Dungeons and Dragons. I saw it again recently. It's not so good as I remember. In fact it's pretty bad. The characters are flat, the dialog hokey, the acting nondescript. But I still loved the ending, where Luke remembers to "use the force" to blow up the Death Star. For those of you who may have forgotten, the Death Star (according to the official Star Wars website) "was the code name of an unspeakably powerful and horrific weapon developed by the Empire. The immense space station carried a weapon capable of destroying entire planets. The Death Star was to be an instrument of terror, meant to cow treasonous worlds with the threat of annihilation. While the massive station is evidence of the evil that was the Galactic Empire, it was also proof of the New Order's greatest weakness-the belief that technology and terror were superior to the will of oppressed beings fighting for freedom." That's all pretty interesting stuff, and of course applicable to the discussion at hand: civilization as Death Star.

From the open publishing newswire: This FRIDAY at 7pm ANARCHIST author JOHN ROSS will speak at laughing horse books (12 ne 10th 503-236-2893) He is the author of MURDERED by CAPITALISM and his NEW rad book ZAPATISTA'S making another world possible- chronicles of resistance 200-2006!

I have seen him speak before and it was AWESOME.