Agrupación Villera Piquetera: organize workers to struggle against capitalist decomposition, against bourgeois governments and for workers revolution
AVP was founded in 2010 after the occupation of Indoamericano Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina (more than 13.000 people occupied a park in the most important struggle for popular housing in the last decade), with the aim of grouping employed and unemployed workers to struggle for their claims. We oppose sociological views about unemployed workers as ‘out of working class’. What defines a ‘piquetero’ is to be part of a class that struggles against capitalist oppression and fight against attempts of the bourgeoisie to destroy workstations and neighbourhoods. Organizing and fighting, uniting employed and unemployed workers, we re-unite what the capitalists try to separate in order to defeat.
AVP is founded in the tradition of piquetero movement and the Argentinazo (2001 uprising), which organize assemblies in the neighbourhoods in order to struggle for jobs for those who are unemployed, houses for those who cannot afford rent anymore, improve conditions in the neighbourhood (schools, hospitals, sewer and drinking water supply services, etc). Piquetero movement is highly politicized and linked with left parties as it has a direct confrontation with political power and has carried out the most important struggles in the last decades.
On 2010, the Indoamericano struggle was opposite to Macri’s (mayor of Buenos Aires, leader of PRO and probable next Argentine president) and Cristina Kirchner governments, whom unite to send police and Gendarmerie to evict the Park. This fight was part of a national trend of land occupation in claim of popular housing all around the country. This is expression of a very clear situation: the dollars earned by exports (mainly soybeans), were invested in real estate, boosting prices of houses in every city and turning almost impossible to a worker family to rent a house. In the last 10 years, population in slums (villas) rise more than 50% in Argentina, but in Buenos Aires the augmentation was 156% and nowadays 1 in 10 inhabitants lives in a slum. As part of Indoamericano struggle, the widow of one the victims of police and para-police repression (3 people were killed: Emilio Canaviri Álvarez, Rosemary Churapuña and Bernardo Salgueiro) organized in AVP and after more demonstrations and a camp in 9 de Julio (main avenue in Buenos Aires), she get a house to be paid in small instalments.
Since 2012, we built also political collaboration with comrades of Movimiento Clasista y Combativo and Movimiento 20 de Diciembre, the 2 most important piquetero organizations in Chaco (northern province in Argentina), which were expelled from Polo Obrero (piquetero movement leaded by Partido Obrero) in 2011. In 2014, we relaunched the AVP based in common work since former year with one assembly of Polo Obrero, which was also expelled as part of it anti-piquetero turn, and comrades who participated in Indoamericano occupation and were founders of AVP. It hasn't been by chance, but it was related with social and political situation. Inflation has accelerated (it is 40% yearly, hitting working class families income) and layoffs spread all around the industry and even more in informal sector. In 2013, fighting against the right-wing government of PRO, we stopped the closing of a popular kitchen in Buenos Aires (which is organized by the assembly with state supply) and in 2014 we conquered the opening of 2 more: today almost 300 people have a daily meal in one of the AVP popular kitchens. During 2014, with others organizations we struggle demanding jobs for unemployed people and we conquered outsourced workstations as state workers in Buenos Aires. In December, we organize our first Congreso Villero Piquetero with 100 comrades of 7 different neighbourhoods and vote several initiatives. Today we have regular political intervention in 3 neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires while we also develop political activity in the factories and schools nearby, and organize cultural and social activities.
We do believe that this is not an Argentinean particular feature but an experience that should be applied in other countries because it’s rooted in global capitalist tendency to bankruptcy, dissolution of social relations, unemployment and decomposition, which has to be confronted with conscious political organization and workers struggle. We expect that piquetero movement in Argentina helps workers in Turkey, in Europe, in USA and every country to organize and rebuild power of working class against bourgeois attacks.
Lionel Zivals
Tendencia Piquetera Revolucionaria (Argentina)
Pictures/Videos:
Video of the Congreso Villero Piquetero
Pictures of the Congreso Villero Piquetero
Indoamericano Park occupation
MCC and Movimiento 20 de Diciembre (Chaco)
Struggling for sewer system in a Buenos Aires slum (Barrio Fátima)
Developing electoral campaign in Barrio Fátima
Social - cultural activity (Kid’s day)
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