Also media, Hello and welcome to It could happen here.
I'm here with Mia. How are you doing?
It's it's abominably early, which not even podcast early. It's like eight am here, So it's gonna be where we're We've done the caffeine.
We're holding on for dear life sake.
I feel you. I feel you.
I have to ask, have you noticed that the continents are dripping a little bit?
Continents are dripping?
Yeah, yeah, And I don't mean like blinged out.
I mean like if you take a look at the map and you assume that north is up and southeast down, it'll find it kind of looks like our major landmass is melting a little bit.
Oh you know, Okay, now, no, not that you say it. I can kind of see it.
Hmm. Yeah.
This is a concept known as continental drip. And I'm not tripping on anything. I'm not the first person to notice all.
You can look it up.
There's a whole Wikipedia page of what we've seen in everything, and well, South America is alongside India. They're kind of seen as the quintessential examples of this continential trip. And this is a very odd way that I've decided to segue into the next nation in our exploration of Latin America and anarchist history. It's right to the east of
Chile and south of every other country near Temisphale. That is, of course, the Argentine Republic, more commonly known as Argentina, which is derived, by the way, from the Latin word for silver. My name is Andrew Sage. You can find me on YouTube as andrewism and thanks to the scholarship of Chuck Moss, Jeffrey la Focad, and Ahil Capileetti, we're going to take a journey into the history of anarchism in Argentina.
Also got to do the shout out for Calculates Anarchism in Latin America. Great book, also great cover, got a big bird on it.
Good stuff.
Yeah, shout out of course, of course, So I suppose the best place to start us in the beginning. So there's this thing called the Big Bang, right.
Universe expanded extremely fast like Peaco second.
Large expansion of matter.
And yeah, but seriously, Argentina has been peopled since the Paleolithic period, in particularly fine evidence of ancient people's butchering the meat of an armadillo relative as early as twenty one thousand years ago.
Geeze.
So you know we've been around.
We've been around from then on as far as we can tell for now, at least, because you know, the timelines are constantly getting updated with new information, as it should be. The area to be known as Argentina was pretty sparsely populated by a variety of divus cultures with diverse social organization, including foragers and farmers. To take a
long and largely unknown history of indigenous co existence and conflicts. Short, people continue to live and the earth continue to spin for the next few millennia until a few ships on the horizon spelled doom for all to see. These are, of course, the Europeans who first arrived in the region with the fifteen oh two voyage of Amerigo Vespucci, with the Spanish navigators Juan Dias de Solis and Sebastian Cabo in particular, visiting the territory in fifteen sixteen and fifteen
twenty six respectively. Then in fifteen thirty six Pedro de Mendoza founded this small settlement of Buenos Aires, maybe avarid of it, but it was a band that in fifteen forty one, thanks to continuous indigenous resistance and had to be refounded in fifteen eighty. As for the rest of would be Argentina, the Spanish Empire that was run in most of the continant was busy looting the silver and gold mines in Bolivia and Peru, so Argentina was kind
of seen as a backwater. It wasn't as much of an interest by comparison, Argentina stayed under the Viceroyalty of Peru and to the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata in seventeen seventy six with Buenos Aires as its capital. After two field the British invasions in eighteen oh six and eighteen oh seven, and as you could see, the British and Argentina have had a.
Bit of a scuffle for some time now.
The Buenos Aires capital would be the stage of revolution, as the eighteen ten May Revolution replaced the viceroy Baltassar hidl Gorya Cesniros with the First Junta, a new government made by and for the locals, and then there was a royalist counter revolution, some anti colonial alliance with the then Spanish Philippines, Divisions between centralists and federalists over the newly formed Argentine state, proposals to crown a Sapper Inca as a monarch of an independent Argentina and the official
declaration of independence for a republic on the ninth of July eighteen sixteen. Just to go back a bit to be clear, there is an alternate history scenario in which Argentina was briefly or continuously under an Incan monarchy that would have ripped literally I believe it was a cousin of Tuba Kamaru. The food incredible was being considered for the position. Incredible, incredible, incredible.
Indeed.
See, people tend to see South America as just like you know, it's just the extra continent. I mean, I don't think people think about how much has gone on down there, or rather it's not really present in the English speaking world's imagination.
You know.
We tend to focus on more of the Northern Hemisphere side of things, which have a specific region we find ourselves in, whether it be the Caribbean or Australia, New Zealand, UK US Canada. We tend to think about English speaking colonial history. But Latin America had a lot going on in its time. I mean come on, they had an
alliance with the Spanish Philippines. Yeah, rips, Yeah, so I mean civil war go per, as they say, between the centralists and the Federalists, and that would continue for a while after the Declaration of the Republic in eighteen sixteen, and it was only resolved.
In eighteen thirty one with a Federalist victory.
Basically, it was a division over how they should organize the state, whether it should be in a federal manner or more centralist unitary manner, so the Federalists, one which would lead to the War of the Confederation between eighteen thirty six eighteen thirty nine, the establishment of the Constitution in eighteen fifty three, and a temporary secession of Buenos Aires, which was forced back into Argentina by eighteen sixty one.
And as in much of that in America, anachism would establish itself fairly early on thanks to the waves of migration from Europe and particularly from France, Italy and Spain.
So many Italians, so many, just.
An absurd amount of Italians.
These folks fled political repression and poverty in their home countries, refugees from the Paris Commune and anarchist literature from the aforementioned lands would find themselves in the streets of Buenos Aires City and the countrysides of Buenos Aires Province.
They circulated anarchist.
Ideas through group meetings such as the group Elmeserabel in the port city of Rosario, and publications like The Rivolte, which was founded by Kropotkin all the way back in Switzerland. Kropotkin's Words of a Rebel would also make frequent appearances throughout Argentina, and his Conquest of Bread received a translation
by Catalan carpenter Juan Villa. As with the splits internationally, the First International's local section in Buenos Airis, which was founded in eighteen seventy two, would split between the supporters of Marx and the supporters of Acunan. The former were
predominantly French, the latter predominantly Spaniard an Italian. Three decades of substantial migration started in the eighteen eighties, which sparked significant growth in the anarchist movement, as the migrants found Crussian economic deprivation and repressive governance where they'd hoped they'd find prosperity and liberty. Over three million people arrived, leading to the country having a foreign born population of thirty
three percent by nineteen fourteen. Nowadays, as in much of the world, unfortunately that once foreign born population some percentage of them and now unfortunately anti migration.
Yeah, and violently.
So it's a cruel irony that we find ourselves with just mere decades ago, their own ancestors were migrants.
Among the migration.
Wave came the likes of Hecto Mattae and Italian anarchists who helped publish a Socialista, which is a weekly paper. And of course, believe it's or not, the one and only Ara Kamana tester who keeps making guest appearances in these lastin American anarchisms. Yes, he's just like all over the places, traveling everywhere. If I recall correctly, he made an appearance in Cuba. He made an appearance in the Egypt episode as well. Yep, she just keeps showing up.
He's really truly a globetrotterer in a mold that we haven't really seen.
Hey, I mean move aside football, you know, he's the real mister worldwide so at a commana tester. He actually fled Italy in eighteen eighty five after escaping imprisonment, and he helped establish the Circulo the Studio Socialists, where he and others give public speeches promoting anarchism, and he worked to organize the society Dad Cosmopolita, the Obereros Panaderos, an anarchist Baker's Union. I didn't know he could bake, maybe he could make, maybe he could and he was just there,
you know, helping them set up. But in my head, I'd like to imagine that he was pretty good at bacon, bread and making cookies.
You know, I'm pretty sure he.
Was like an ice cream salesman too. At one point, I might be getting that confused with like some other anarchist who was going around everywhere who was also so like ice cream.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised.
I have vague memories of there being a story about like him having an ice cream cart and trying to make money and he couldn't do it because he kept giving ice cream the children.
I think I remember that story. I think it's so biger. I had a video on it. You know that those ads used to show on TV A couple like about a decade ago, the most interesting man in.
The world, yeah he was.
He was based on our kamat.
Yeah so man Testelater returned to Europe in eighteen eighty nine, yet he left a lasting legacy in helping to organize workers and sow the seeds for a powerful anarchist movement in Argentina. In the early eighteen nineties, the anarchist paper El persic Wido became one of the most popus popular
and prominent voices of anarchist communism in Argentina. Despite ongoing repression and government censorship, the anarchist press continued to expand during this period, with publications like Lavoris de la Mochere and Anarchist Feminist People emerging in Rosario. The eighteen eighties and early eighteen nineties also involved significant internal debates, particularly
around the role of workers unions and revolutionary tactics. Some groups embraced anarchist cynicalism, while others believed smaller affinity groups as catalysts of social revolution with a way to go. While in the midst of a massive rapid industrial growth and dealing with the worst than economic situation for the working class, such a society was ripe for transformation of
the anarchist variety. Initially, the anarchists have been focused on countercultural concerns, particularly in the field of education, but as their ranks swelled in number, the stage was set for the debut of a mass anarchist movement among Argentine workers. In eighteen ninety seven, the anarchist workers were found that protester Humana later shortened to lap Protester, which would become an enduring anarchist paper throughout Latin America. But the anarchists
didn't just stick to papers though. In nineteen oh one, anarchists were instrumental in the founding of the Argentine Workers Federation or the FOA, which is Argentina's first labor federation. Federation was founded in a congress that assembled some fifty delegates representing thirty to thirty five workers organizations from both
capital and interior. The aim of the Federation was an entity that included all workers without regard to their races or beliefs, based on a solid foundation of direct action and economic struggle, so initially including Marxists. Those would later depart to found the General Workers Union or the UGT, which was more meanable to party interests, of course, which left the fo way in anarchists hands. The FOA stood at the forefront of the struggles, advocating for higher wages
and better working conditions. At the time, typical workday was ten hours or more, with wages barely covered essential needs. Strikes broke out across industries with notable successes. Painters and larder Plata secured an eight hour workday and dark workers in minos aires one and nine hour workday, along with a wage increase. But despite the oppression, the workers movement
continued to grow stronger. The FAA's membership surged with forty two unions and over fifteen thousand members in nineteen o three, rise into sixty six unions and nearly thirty three thousand members a year later. In nineteen oh four, at its fourth congress, the group was renamed the Regional Workers Federation of Argentina or the FARE or FOURA. The reasoning was ideological.
By adding the adjective regional, it made plain that Argentina was not considered a state or political unit, but a region of the world in which workers struggled for their liberation. This fourth Congress also approved of solidarity pass that proclaimed the est iblish ones of a class less society with neither state nor private property as the ultimate aim of their struggle. The anarchist influence was clear, but it gets
even more explicit in the following year. The UGT had been subordinated to the Marxist Socialist Party, but even their third Congress in nineteen oh five had a syndicalist emergence. A preferred workers associations to political parties. Basically, even the non anarchist workers organizations would be an influenced by the anarchist wave, so much so that the UGT wanted to form a solidarity pact with FURA. The anarchists and four
didn't quite trust the parliamentary socialism of the UGT. Still, they did work with them to call a general strike in nineteen o seven in solidarity with car drivers and Rosario, joined by some one hundred and fifty eight thousand workers from around the republic. That strike ended in victory for
the workers. In nineteen oh five, two years before and as fifth Congress FORA made its commitments to revolutionctionary anarchist communism explicitly known quote the advice and recommend to all our followers the broadest possible study and propaganda with the aim of insterning workers the economic and philosophical principles of anarchist communism. This education, not content with achieving the eight of our workday, would bring total emancipation and consequently the
social evolution we pursue end Quote four. Was among the largest federations of workers organizations, and it was officially anarchist communists. The nineteen o six ninety over seven general and tenant strikes gone a greater favor, and in response, Buenos Aires police head Colonel Falcones swore to a finish ser of the anarchists. Nineteen oh seven saw fora and ugt attempt a merger, but since the majority sought adherence to anarchist communism,
the merger could not be achieved. For her was militant and effective in achieving many of its schools, including wage increases, reductions and the length of the workday, and farious rights of association. Port workers, crown transport workers, seamen's unions, bakers, metalworkers, construction workers and ship workers were all prominent in the federation and were well positioned to paralyze the Argentine economy and win their demands. In the first decade of the
twentieth century. These unions led six general strikes and many more partial strikes, and women were more involved than in any other radical movement of the time, taking part in consumer boycotts and rent strikes as well. But the anarchists knew the ruptures in the capitalist economy wouldn't be enough. It could never be enough to merely confront the system and refuse to corporate the system as it is. The social revolution, or so demands consciousness, solidarity, and the prefiguration
of an enlightened progressive society in social organizations. Thus, anarchists engaged in counter culture, multiple papers in multiple languages, theater and poetry, may day marches, social centers, popular education centers, popular libraries, and discussion circles. All of these efforts were ceded throughout the cities and linked to various unions to create a veritable and dynamic network of revolutionary causes. And since the government understood the anarchist threat, they tried their
best to raise the cost of revolutionary activism. The actions included petty police harassment, the humiliated and inconvenient searches, and protuitors demands for identification, which were a familiar experience for the anarchist militants.
There was also the out law and.
Of radical publications, the suppression of the right to public assembly, mass arrests, martial law declared for a total of eighteen months between nineteen o two and nineteen ten, and of course, outright violence to the police, the army and other formal forces. In addition to thugs acting on their behalf, the governor also attempted to undermine the anarchists movement through legislative means.
The Resident's Law in nineteen oh two granted the government the right to deport foreigners that are deemed undesirable without trial. After the lord had been in effect for a few years, Foura called a general strike against its oppressive conditions. For as leadership condemned the law as a violation of human rights, labor it as a tool by the state to suppress free thoughts.
And working class movements. The government did not budge.
On May Day, nineteen oh nine, police violently attacked a peaceful protest organized by transport workers and anarchists, killing eight people and wounded many others.
Colonel Falcone, the recurrent villain.
Who ordered the attack, later became the target of a retaliatory bombing by young anarchists Simon Radowitski in November nineteen oh nine. This act of defiance shook the whole country. In the meantime, the anarchist cause also resonated internationally. In response to the execution of Francisco Frere, a Spanish educator and anarchist, Fura led a series of strikes in Argentina,
joining global protests against his death. Nineteen ten marked Argentina's preparations for the centenary celebrations of its first national government, portray itself as a beacon of prosperity. But oh, here come the workers with their unrest and protests to sour the vibes and demand the release of political prisoners and
the abolition of the law of residents. Naturally, the government responded by declaring a state of internal war, arresting hundreds of anarchists, including foreigner leaders, and imposing extreme censorship and restrictions on civil liberties, shutdowns of publications, and the declaration
of a state of emergency. The government also introduced the Social Defense Law, which levied a series of penalties against anarchist activities, specifically as a centennial celebrations unfolded Argentina had transformed into a heavily military rise state, with more than two thousand anarchists arrested or deported, so much for a
grand celebration of their free democracy. Despite the repression, the workers move once continued to grow forest general strikes forced the government to make in sessions and release jailed workers, but divisions began to appear within the movement after deal with so much repression for their radical ideas. A split occurred in nineteen oh nine with the formation of the syndicalist group CORA, which adopted much of for As structure and retained some anarchist ideas, but leaned towards a less
radical approach, hoping to be less of a target. The anarchist took yet another hit when in nineteen twelve the Science Pennier Law made vote in secret and obligatory, thus making anarchist abstentionism as a tactic illegal. The range of possible actions was being intentionally closed. While deli were these external pressures, anarchist also had to deal with the pressures from within the workers' movement by even more folks wanted
to compromise the revolutionary goals. Another split between the synicalist
anarchists occurred the fors Ninth Congress in nineteen fifteen. Unions were increasingly led by reformists, social democrats, and uncommitted anarchists, which led to the thesis of a neutral cynicalism focused on winning workers' rights becoming the dominant position within fur her The cynicalists dropped their commitment to anarchist communism and claimed the name the Fora of the Ninth Congress, while the minority of anarchists that maintained their commitment anarchist communism
took the name the Fora of the Fifth Congress. The timing of the split was impeccable, though you see, as has been a recurring theme in this series, the Russian Revolution of nineteen seventeen had a significant impact in Argentinian anarchism in a sense it reignited the revolutionary further within the movement and led to the reformist and cynicalist for an nine lose an influence, but revolutionary ideas once again
gain momentum. For a brief moment, there was hope, but the Bolsheviks will waste little time in crushing that hope. By nineteen twenty Argentinian anarchists, like their European counterparts, began to distance themselves from Leninism. They began to recognize the authority in nature of the Bolsheviks, took notes of Kropotkin and Lenin's correspondences, and soon came to reject the idea
of the dictatorship of the proletaria. On his part, alongside his mass loads of the anarchists in Cronstad then also ordered the confiscation of anarchist texts which he saw us influence in the conflict within the Bolshevik ranks. Tale as old as time. Anyway, next time we'll see if and how the anarchist Argentina managed to navigate the tumultuous twenties, thirties and beyond to leave a lasting mark on Argentine history. But things on looking too good for them right now.
Until then, Well, Paula, to all the people, this has been. It could happen here, It could happen. Here is a production of cool Zone Media.
For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can now find sources for it could happen here, listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening.