Libertad! Speech In Chiapas

To the participants in the International Encounter for a Humane
Society and Against Neo-Liberalism in Chiapas, Mexico, from July
27-August 3, 1996:

     Dear comrades from near and far, from the mountains and the
cities, from rich and poor countries. We represent the Libertad!
Intitiative. We greet all those who had the possibility to take
part in this meeting. We also greet all those who could not
attend, either because they did not have the means or the
opportunity, or because they were prevented from doing so by
those in power. We especially greet all those who are in the
hands of the enemy: the political prisoners of the world!
     What do all of us want here in the Lacandon jungle? To
breathe in the air of revolution and aura of Marcos? Don't we all
have enough to do at home in the struggle against the imperialist
blood-suckers? Those of us from Germany at least can say that
seldom in the past few years has there been a struggle like that
of the Zapatistas, which has so quickly and completely worked its
way into the various leftist media of our country. Everything
from the smallest note to the latest EZLN communique can be read
and discussed in Germany within the shortest period of time. So
why did we come? The reasons are as simple as they are
complicated: We need an international understanding of how we can
best combat the enemy, the international corporations, the state
apparatus, the bureaucrats and people behind the scenes. It's
obvious that we must do this, but just how we go about doing it
is more complicated. This is especially true in the metropolitan
countries. But nonetheless: Yes, more than ever we need an
International of insurrectionary movements in the mountains in
the cities, the partisans and organizations and committees, the
political base movements and the guerrilla groups. So the time we
are spending here is very valuable. We seldom have opportunities
such as this to carry out international discussions, and rarely
do they take place at the site of an actual uprising. So we don't
wish to spend too much time on introductions.
     We live and work in Germany. After 50 years, Germany is once
again the strongest power in Europe. We fight against this
imperialist power and laugh in its face. Not always so
effectively, but at least with continuity. Our initiative,
Libertad!, was founded to create international ties outside our
country and to build solidarity for political prisoners.
Libertad! is a grouping of leftist forces in Germany; today we
are still more of a committee than an organization. We see closer
cooperation as being increasingly necessary to counter capitalist
exploitation and imperialist oppression. One of our concrete
goals is to organize an international day of struggle for the
freedom of all political prisoners.
     The idea for this arose during another international
conference, the 1992 International Congress against the G-7
Summit in Munich, Germany. Representatives of various liberation
organizations and base movements from all around the world met
there. One starting point was the banal realization that
everywhere where people are struggling against oppression there
is the threat of repression. Another point was that solidarity,
support, and a common struggle with our prisoners cannot simply
be a national or regional concern.
     Just as the Mexican government is seeking to weaken the
uprising by jailing opposition activists, all across the world
there are political prisoners from base and liberation movements.
These prisoners are part of the international struggle "for a
humane society and against neo-liberalism".
     In order to avoid confusing concepts, we would like to avoid
a deep analysis and opt for a simple definition: For us,
neo-liberalism is one form of capitalism which is the most
prevalent in wide areas of the world. The "free market", placing
all of humanity and nature at the disposal of the capitalist
value process. The result is the destruction and alientation of
people. Of course, the primacy of profit is opposed to all social
relations which see things from a different perspective. The
"neo-liberal" offensive robs the poor and, in Germany, erodes the
welfare state. It is the transformation from a welfare state to a
state of war. Of course, the security state remains, the power of
police truncheons and laws, without which the brutal "belt
tightening" measures could not be enacted. The crisis in the
capitalist economy is being pushed off onto us. But was all this
any different 10 or 20 years ago? The attack of neo-liberalism on
means of existence accomplishes the same as other modes
capitalist accumulation: the domination of a few over the
majority of humanity. And it also remains true that this
domination can only be fought if we struggle together at the
global level.
     Of course, the project of liberation, which we all envision,
must be newly developed. In our country, at least, it has no
realistic perspective at the present time. But would so many
people have come to Chiapas if things were any different anywhere
else? Or does anyone here have a program in mind which can give
us the exact blueprint which we need? We simply state that we are
skeptical of "simple models". In a world who's face changes
daily, we needly to continually redefine our tactics, strategic
goals, and relations, and we must learn from the experiences of
others. The Zapatista uprising did not first begin on January 1,
1994. Rather it also drew on the experiences of the Latin
American guerrilla, and the independence struggle of Emiliano
Zapata. This struggle embodies the experience of struggles all
over the world, from all periods of time.
     Comrades, like we said, one of the aims of Libertad! is to
appeal for solidarity and a common struggle with the prisoners
from our struggles. That's why we would like to discuss with you
all at this meeting what possibilities there are for doing this
and what steps could be taken.
     First of all, the struggle to free our political prisoners
must be international. The fact that they were and are part of
our struggles has made them political prisoners. The struggle for
their health, their survival, and their freedom is a struggle
about basic human rights. It is crucial, because this is about
support and immediate aid. It is revolutionary when it abandons
the level of appealing to those in power and instead attacks.
     International solidarity and mutual aid despite all
differences is an important foundation for this. This has always
been an important experience for political prisoners in
capitalist Germany.
     The recent history of revolutionary struggles in our country
will soon be 30 years old, and it is closely tied to the question
of the life and freedom of the political prisoners. This history
has been marked by too few break-outs, liberation actions, or
successful campaigns, and rather more by decades of struggle by
prisoners behind walls of concrete and steel bars, several
hungerstrikes, and mobilizations against isolation torture and
inhuman conditions.
     The "Model Germany" which was installed after the war and
reformed by social democrats in the 1960s was never a democratic
paradise, as people abroad were led to believe. It was much more
a highly-developed repression apparatus, a state with several
special laws which were first turned against the communists who
had survived the years of fascism. Then in the 1960s they were
utilized to combat new movements of opposition. In line with
Germany's old tradition, all obstacles to achieving imperialist
power had to be removed. Among these were the political
prisoners. New forms of torture, including the so-called "white
torture", long years of isolation detention, were introduced and
a new extra-legal state security apparatus was created.
     Because of this development, we have had to redefine
fascism. Fascism in Europe stems from the state apparatus, from
there it takes over the society, not the other way around. A
system of "preventive counter-revolution" has been established,
in order to prevent any sparks from starting a fire. This
collusion between reform and repression also exists within the
neo-liberal social state. The reaction to all attempts of
resistance has been burned into the collective consciousness of
the society, for without this, things would not go so smoothly as
they do now.
     The political prisoners in particular were and will be shown
this, namely that it is futile to struggle in a land such as
Germany against the dominant conditions, to struggle, as we say,
in the belly of the beast. But long years of struggle by
prisoners from the Red Army Fraction and other resistance groups
showed that prisoners, too, are part of the revolutionary
process, and that even from within the prisons they can initiate
political campaigns by means of their resistance. The political
prisoners were shown strong solidarity during these struggles.
But their goal, unconditional freedom, has by no means been
reached. And the price until now has been very high, many
imprisoned comrades did not survive the months of hungerstrikes
and isolation. Some of them were held prisoner for more than 20
years. No one who fought in the urban guerrilla will ever get out
of prison in less than 20 years.
     In preparation for the Intercontinental Encounter, we took
part in the European meeting in Berlin at the end of May.
Libertad! organized a working group there under the name of
"Political Prisoners, Human Rights, Internationalism". Comrades
from various European, Latin American, North American, and Asian
countries were represented. We heard reports on political
prisoners in the various countries and recognized many
similarities with the current situation in Germany. We discussed
many questions, for example, What do we mean when we say
"political prisoner"? We summarized the results of our
discussions and came up with some suggestions for this meeting in
Chiapas. We will get to those in just a moment. But first, here
are some of the results of our discussions in Berlin.
     In Germany, the official line is that "there are no
political prisoners". The German state tries to deny the social
and political character of the revolutionary struggles which have
taken place since the 1960s. On our side of the barricades as
well, the concept is also not without controversy. Some exclude
social prisoners, some include Nazis, others only recognize those
people who did not use violence. But we say: Solidarity cannot be
divided or hinged upon the means of struggle which the comrades
employed in their struggle against oppression and exploitation.
Solidarity with all prisoners from the resistance, liberation
struggles, and social movements! These are the prisoners from the
class struggle who seek to abolish the class society. Solidarity
must have as its goal an orientation towards all those who
struggle to abolish oppression and the prison system.
     State repression affects not only the prisoners and their
families. It is directed against the society as a whole. The
system of torture, the disappearances of people, and long years
of imprisonment are designed to create a climate of fear. No one
should question the exisiting conditions or stand up in radical
opposition to them.
     The struggle for humane and just development requires that
we support those who are faced with repression. During the change
from dictatorships to formal democracies, albeit in Latin America
or South Africe, a central demand was made: No freedom from
punishment for the torturers, or for the type-writer bastards!
     This call for justice is not simply moralistic. It's about
combatting the mindset which torture inflicts upon a society and
seeking to prevent it from happening again. That's why this 
demand met with such resistance from those in power, because they
did not want to lose any of their control.
     From the experiences of the history in our country, we know
the significance of realizing this demand: If society had
concerned itself with this question after the end of Hitler's
fascism, if our people had spoken out with more courage and
honesty about their own guilt, then maybe it would have been
possible to make a change.
     Instead, a means of collective forgetting was installed. If
many are guilty, then let us all be innocent; the perpetrators
became the victims. Some of the more famous fascist pigs were
punished by the Allies, but the majority remained in their
positions of power. The real victims, those who suffered for
years in concentration camps or who returned from exile to
Germany, instead of experiencing compassion or concern were
treated to just the opposite. These people were seen as
disrupting the process of forgetting. Even today, 50 years later,
many people are still fighting for financial compensation, many
more have given up the fight, and some are forced to justify
their resistance against the fascists. So the victims have been
made the perpetrators. Germany is once again a world power.
     We would like to propose the following to this assembly:

1. Organizations, groups, and committees should form an
international solidarity network for political prisoners. It
should serve to inform comrades faster and better about the
situation of prisoners, in order to make aid and support
possible. Joint international campaigns could also be initiated.

2. As an expression of unity with our prisoners, an international
day of action for the freedom of political prisoners all across
the world should be initiated. A statement should be drafted and
published, one which is aimed at all revolutionary, radical, and
democratic persons and organizations. Everyone will be called
upon to organize joint solidarity actions on this international
day.

     Comrades, we are here with the hope and desire to strengthen
international contacts and cooperation. This assembly is a part
of that. But we would be pleased if all of here would be able to
show some unity and solidarity with our imprisoned brothers and
sisters across the world. This meeting should send a signal: Let
us call for a joint international day of struggle and solidarity!
Let's decide on a date for 1997. Of course, we must bear in mind
regional considerations, but let us for the first time organize a
variety of actions with the shared demand in 1997:

"For a humane society! Freedom for all political prisoners across
the world!"

We send our greetings to all those being detained on death row,
in torture chambers, or in prisons.

Never forgive! Never forget!

P.S. We would like to mention the urgent situation of Mumia
Abu-Jamal. He is a former Black Panther, a prisoner on death row
in the USA. Despite international petitions and several actions
to protest his scheduled execution and for the abolition of the
death penalty, the only victory thusfar has been to delay his
killing. His situation is exemplary of that of other prisoners in
democratic America. Support the struggle against the execution of
Mumia by a variety of actions and activities!

Libertad!
c/o "3.Welt" Haus
Westerbachstrasse 47
60489 Frankfurt
Germany
E-mail: libertad@link-f.rhein-main.de