Yesterday, May 25th was a nationwide day of protest in Ecuador against the new legal package introduced by the government of Lenin Moreno, cynically dubbed the “Humanitarian Aid Law”, which under the pretext of the coronavirus crisis in the country, cuts wages, justifies massive layoffs and increases the price of gasoline (the last of which was the catalyst for the massive revolts in October of last year which shook the whole region and also set the precedent for the subsequent revolts in Chile) Here is the translation of a flyer that was distributed by some comrades in Quito during the demonstrations there. Also it’s worth mentioning that the blog Fever has recently published a translation done recently, written by one of the same comrades (of the blog Proletarios Revolucionarios) about the recent international “app” couriers’ strike. That article can be found here: https://feverstruggle.net/2020/05/22/couriers-protests-in-ecuador-proletarian-resistance-in-the-midst-of-precarization-and-pandemic/
The plaintext version of the flyer follows, and you can click here for a print-ready pdf.
Against the new “paquetazo”
of this exploitative and murderous government,
Let’s make a new proletarian revolt!
The new“paquetazo“ of the government is already a done deal in this country: a reduction in salaries and of the workday, massive lay-offs, budget cuts in education and health care, privatizations, and an increase in the price of gasoline, and thus, of all basic goods. all this, in the middle of the current sanitary and economic crisis. Therefore, the ordinary people that can’t eat if they don’t work (the majority of the population) must rise up against these measures just as they did in October. Indeed: We must make a new revolt, folks, because these measures are worse than the ones from October: they precaritize and impoverish us to an even greater extent than the condition we’re already in, while the businessmen and their politicians continue to accumulate more wealth and power at the cost of our exploitation and domination; that’s to say, at the cost of robbing us, cheating us, and repressing us.
Furthermore, everything that has been done in these recent months by the business-driven, mafioso and murderous government of Moreno – Sonnenholzner – Martínez – Roldán – Romo – Jarrín, taking advantage of the pandemic and the obligatory quarantine, is much worse and condemnable than what it did in October (thousands of people fallen ill, dead, imprisoned, and laid off). For this very reason, in the last few weeks and days, our working class (which includes the informal and unemployed workers) has already reacted by protesting in the streets, despite the coronavirus and the sanitary dictatorship imposed by the State. And it’s most likely that they will continue to protest in the coming days and weeks, as they must. But it’s not known until when and up to what point.
In the case of the occurrence of a new revolt in this country, it’s possible that, just as how in the Revolt of October of last year the repeal of Executive Decree 883 was fought for, this time the repeal of Executive Decrees 1053 and 1054 will be fought for. Everyone on the left here, or the majority of them, will be in agreement on that. Nevertheless, this time we must not content ourselves with legal and institutional crumbs, folks. This in itself was and would be a defeat, although it appears to be the opposite. That’s to say, we must not content ourselves with struggling for the “unconstitutionality” of such laws to be recognized, nor to fantasize about presidential elections and a “workers’, peasants’ indigenous and popular government“, as the organizations of the left-wing of Capital do. Because laws, elections, and institutions are weapons of the State of the rich and powerful against us, the exploited and oppressed. This system cannot be fought and destroyed on it’s own terrain and with its own weapons. That is to “give more power to Power”. On the contrary, the slogan that was heard in the streets during the last protests must be made real: “through the force of the workers, smash the laws of the exploiters”; and smash all their economic, political, military, mediatic and ideological power.
Proletarian revolts must criticize themselves, learn from their own errors, stress and overcome their own contradictions, in order to not remain trapped on the terrain of the exploitative and dominant class, but to break with the established order and transform themselves into the social revolution that today is more urgent and necessary than ever, given the current total crisis of the capitalist system that is destroying humanity and nature. The social revolution, not in order to put any leftist political party in power, but to defend and regenerate Life itself which is now at risk.
Obviously in order to achieve something like that it’s needed to fight for some minimum demands (for work, health care, housing, education, free time) and a minimum of collective self-organization (bio-safety, sustenance, transport, communication and self-defense). But it’s also needed to go further than that: the limits of the revolt themselves must be overcome. In the end, the revolution is the generalization and radicalization of all the demands or necessities of the exploited and oppressed in order to cease to be so. And organization is the organization of the tasks demanded by the class struggle to abolish class society. In which mutual aid and solidarity have been, are, and will be our greatest weapons.
Therefore, if we come out to protest in the streets in spite of the risk of contagion, the curfew and the threat of legal repression on part of the government, it won’t be just because of rage, hunger, desperation, and in memory of the Revolt of October (which is totally legitimate and valiant). We come out to protest in the streets with some clear ideas and self-critiques, folks: we won’t fight for those democratic crumbs of the State of the rich and powerful that are called “rights”, nor as the flocks of any leftist party or union that claims to to be our “leader and savior”. We fight with our own head and hand as the nobodies that want everything. Because the nobodies, that’s to say the proletarian men and women, have produced everything that exists and, therefore, we can destroy it all (we don’t fear ruins) and we can create something totally new and better than what was destroyed, by and for ourselves, without the need for bosses, representatives or intermediaries.
All of this is not a question of political ideology; it’s a question of life or death in these times of economic, sanitary, ecological and civilizational crisis. Sooner or later, even the “apolitical” and “neutral” people who believe themselves to be “middle class” will come out to protest in the streets for this reason. Everything said here, furthermore, applies not only to Ecuador and for the local moment that is opening up, but to the entire world (from Chile to China) and for this whole era. Thus, we make a call to unleash the proletarian revolt with no turning back here and everywhere.
DOWN WITH THE PAQUETAZO, THE GOVERNMENT, CAPITAL AND THE STATE!
WE WON’T FIGHT FOR CRUMBS OR FOR PACTS!
WE WILL FIGHT WITHOUT BOSSES, REPRESENTATIVES OR INTERMEDIARIES!
AGAINST THE EXPLOITATION AND DEATH, LET’S MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS LIFE!
THE REVOLUTION IS LIFE!
Some angry proletarians of the ecuadorian region
for the anarchic and communist worldwide revolution
