Category Archives: English

Nikos Maziotis: Greece’s default and exit from the EMU

The SYRIZA-led government is collapsing. The Greek default and exit from the Eurozone, as choice of the lenders, is a process that started in 2010 and currently marks the beginning of the end of the SYRIZA government. The implementation of the memoranda from 2010 was one phase in the process of orderly default that the supranational economic elite had chosen, in order to ensure the sustainability of the Euro and to cut off one member that due to the debt crisis is considered gangrened and has to be expelled. Essentially, Greece’s default has always been regarded by the supranational economic elite as a prerequisite for its salvation, without even breaking the country’s obligations to the lenders, something that was ensured by the inclusion of the country into the power of the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission. Since 2009, Greece was already a bankrupt country and this was something known by both the then government of Georgios Papandreou and the European Union. The supranational economic elite, from 2010 onwards, followed an orderly default tactic so as to safeguard the lenders, the then holders of Greek bonds, the French, German, British and American banks.

The first aim of the memorandum was that it prohibited unilateral suspension of debt payments on the part of the debtor. On that basis, all of the Greek state-owned assets were frozen to ensure the repayment of the debt.

Additionally the debt passed from Greek to Anglo-Saxon law, prohibiting its conversion from Euro into any undervalued national currency. The Greek state gave up national sovereignty over its assets, all of which were transferred to the jurisdiction of the lenders. By granting the prior loan of 110 billion euros and replacing the old debt with a new one, the second objective of the memorandum was the repayment of the then holders of Greek bonds and the transfer of debt to the international organizations, the IMF, the ECB, and the European Union member states. With this process of extension of Greece’s default, the holders of Greek bonds, who investment-wise had junk bonds on their hands, were able to get rid of them with the least possible losses.

This process continued with the PSI in the debt restructuring that took place in March 2012, where the big winners were the foreign banks, and the big losers were Greek banks, Greek social security funds and small bondholders.

Parallel to this, the supranational economic and political elite turned the country into ruins, and using the dilemma “austerity or bankruptcy and disaster” for five years launched a policy of societal genocide and euthanasia for sections of the population, leading to thousands of deaths and poverty, hunger and immiseration.

The ultimate objective of the lenders is to create a two-track European Union, with powerful and big-surplus countries on the one side, and weak, indebted countries on the other.

As we mentioned as imprisoned members of Revolutionary Struggle, in December 2010, in our text Let’s Make In Greece the Beginning for a Global Social Revolution: “Our exit from the EMU [Economic and Monetary Union] is now considered a given to ensure the viability of the Euro. However, as the debt crisis is deepening, and one European country after another will collapse financially in the near future, it is difficult not only for the EMU to survive but for the European Union as well. The most optimistic scenario for the future of the Union is to create a formation where powerful and big-surplus countries will lead and bankrupt countries of the European periphery will be transformed into protectorates, as they will cede entirely their economic and political sovereignty to the political and economic directorates of Europe. This condition is being promoted in the European Union by establishing an orderly default mechanism.”

Almost five years later, this process takes shape with Greece’s default within the European Union and its exit from the EMU. Through the process of orderly default, Greece was slated to become the first country to inaugurate the two-speed European Union. All Greek governments, from 2010 until today, faithfully served these aspirations of the supranational elite.

The SYRIZA government is collapsing in a much shorter time than its predecessors, the Samaras and Papandreou governments. Despite the fact that within 5 months they renounced the plan for which they were elected, that they accepted the repayment of debt, and signed the extension of the existing memorandum No. 2, despite stepping over many of their red lines in the negotiations with the aim of signing a new memorandum agreement with the creditors – an agreement they admitted themselves was much harsher than the measures proposed by [ex-finance minister] Hardouvelis – the lenders decided on Greek default and exit from the EMU, with the debt obligations of course to remain intact. In five months in power, SYRIZA proved how impracticable was their program, how inapplicable were their Keynesian reforms pursued in a globalized neoliberal environment within the framework of the European Union, how contradictory it was to accept the debt repayment while seeking to increase the basic salary, to agree to privatizations and want the state to be represented in the privatized enterprises, to request financing from the lenders while not wanting to apply the terms of the loan agreement that they themselves agreed to extend on February 20, 2015, to engage in hard negotiations while stepping over red lines by agreeing to memorandum measures and indirectly, with the new taxes and VAT increase, to a further reduction of people’s income, layoffs and unemployment increase; to think they blackmail the lenders by threatening not to pay the loan installments while on February 20 they’ve agreed to sign that there cannot be a unilateral breach of debt payments and that the Greek state-owned assets are frozen and can be sold off unless they pay.

It is certain that all the while the lenders thought the SYRIZA-led government to be an unreliable partner and administrator of the Greek crisis. The July 5 referendum decided upon by the government, to accept or reject the proposals of the lenders, is nothing else but the communications management of its political shipwreck, accompanied by conspiracy theories and suspicions of a political coup and “new Iouliana” [in reference to July 1965 events] aiming at its overthrow.

But, in reality, the SYRIZA government collapses under the weight of its own contradictions and its own deadlock. The referendum has no material basis because 5 days before the vote, on June 30, the austerity program expires and the country is already in default status, so there’s no such thing as a new negotiation or a proposal for an agreement with the lenders. Furthermore, the outcome of the referendum whatever it is will have no influence on the country’s bankruptcy and exit from the EMU, both of which are unavoidable, nor will it avert the eventual collapse of the government.

In the case of “Yes” in the referendum on the proposal of the lenders, the collapse of the government will be much more immediate, given that they formally drafted it in favor of the “No”.

If indeed the majority who participate choose “No”, it is possible for the government to gain a bit of time, but it is completely incapable and unprepared to deal with the consequences of bankruptcy and exit from the EMU, so sooner or later its fall is given.

Regardless of the outcome though, the referendum is misleading because what really is at stake, namely the Euro or Drachma dilemma, does not provide any solution to the problems of the people.

As we have said as Revolutionary Struggle, Greece’s exit from the EMU and the adoption of the Drachma in the European Union framework leaves the problem of debt untouched, and does not invalidate the memorandum-related commitments. Since a term of the memorandum prohibits the conversion of the debt from Euro into any undervalued national currency, not only the adoption of the Drachma would not reduce the debt, but it would increase it.

Also, the adoption of the undervalued Drachma would lead to further devaluation in the purchasing power of workers, and thus deterioration of living standards, which will further increase poverty and immiseration. Therefore, the question of currency alone does not solve the problem. Those who think that the exit from the EMU inside the European Union is a radical solution are grievously mistaken. Currently Greece’s exit from the Eurozone is being sought by the lenders themselves to downgrade a country to a protectorate within the framework of the European Union so it can be sold more easily to repay its debts.

Only action from below, only the action of a Revolutionary Movement that will overthrow the capital and the state, will erase the debt, will pull the country out of the European Union itself, NATO and the market economy, would give a radical solution while proposing the reorganization of society on the basis of Libertarian Communism, based on a confederation of communities, workers’ councils and popular assemblies. Right now, the political bankruptcy of SYRIZA, the country’s bankruptcy and exit from the EMU – the consequences of which are unknown even to the lenders themselves – open up a range of opportunities for revolutionary forces, so that we advance the prospect of overturn.

Abstention from the referendum.

No to the Euro or Drachma dilemma.

The only solution is social revolution and the people in arms.

Nikos Maziotis
Koridallos prison

[June 28, 2015]

Quelle: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/07/01/revolutionary-struggle-member-nikos-maziotis-text-ahead-of-referendum/

YPG: Statement by Kobani Command (June 28, 2015)

KOBANI, Rojava – In the small hours of June 25, 2015, a group of terrorists consisted of 80-100 striker elements penetrated into northern part of the city of Kobane with the aim of completing a brutal massacre against civilian population, including elderly, women and children.

This group of terrorists had crossed into Kobani region from the Sarrin area (southern Kobani) through secret routes and in distinct vehicles – reaching a joint point in a vacant land. There, the terrorists were able to disguise in uniforms used by the Free Syrian Army and pass Asayish (Security Forces) checkpoints using FSA flags; ultimately infiltrating into the city of Kobani.

According to the information attained by local ground sources, other groups of the terrorists entered Kobani through Turkish border, as witnesses have seen that several group of the attackers had crossed into Kobani having open access to the border with Turkey.

As just as entering the city, the terrorists committed worst crimes against humanity by killing unarmed children, women and the elderly; capturing tens of civilians at the same time.

Along this assault inside the city, the terrorists in the south, southwest and west of Kobani attempted to take positon in the countryside of the city by numerous quick attacks.

After accessing Kobani’s northern center, members of the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), alongside Asayish forces, did launch a major operation against those attackers. Simultaneously in the rural district of Kobani, our forces successfully led their operations against the terrorists. Most of the assailants were killed on the 3rd day of this operation, a member of the group also captured alive.

Of the terrorists who entered northern portion, 7 elements managed to escape to Turkey, 8 others fleeing towards southern suburbs. Insistently following the terrorists in south of the city, our Units killed two of the attackers in Termik area and the remaining 6 in Korpîngarê extent.

Except for those 7 who fled to Turkey, all members of the terrorists who gain access to Kobani were ultimately killed, their weapons and ammunitions likely destroyed or seized.

The reason for the rescue operation to last long was to act tactical in order to ensure security of those civilians taken hostage by the attackers. From the beginning of the operation, tens of civilian captives were saved by our YPG/YPJ Units in a professional task process.

Over the course of conducting the stated operation, seven of our comrades inside the city, three comrades in Berkhbotan village and eleven of combatant comrades in the countryside of Kobane – fought a heroic fight and were martyred on the fields of battle.

The brutal massacre inside the city led to death of 210 innocent civilians inside Kobane while taking lives of 23 others in Berkhbotan village, leaving a total of 233 victims of that vicious act of terror – also injuring 273 people. It was during that cruel attack that 14 members of the Asayish, a member of TEV-DEM (Democratic Society Movement) and a member of Rojava Youth Union were martyred.

One of our Turkish friends, comrade Rifat (Karker Kobani), of Albanian origin who expressed a selfless sacrifice during the Kobane Resistance, and later contributed to rebuilding efforts in the city – he was martyred in June 25 massacre in Kobani, speaking a symbol of nations’ brotherhood among Kurdish, Turkish and Albanian people.

We as the People’s Defense Units and the Women’s Defense Units repeat our promise to our people that we shall ask revenge for all of our fallen martyrs, to act strong in face of the terrorists and bring those responsible for the cowardly act to justice.

YPG Kobani Command

June 28, 2015

Quelle: http://ypgrojava.com/en/index.php/statements/740-statement-by-kobani-command-june-28-2015

Marco Camenisch: Psychiatry as a weapon of repression against a radical prisoner – en/gr/de

Marco Camenisch: ROS – psychiatry assumes the power to define the execution of probation and correctional law

The office for probation and corrections services of the cantonal Office for the Execution of Penal Sentences and Justice sabotages all efforts aiming at easing the situation of imprisonment of Marco or to grant parole for him. The office for enforcement 3 (SMV3) uses a clearly political argumentation: As an unbroken anarchist he can not be released from prison, and by drawing up an ROS report (risk-oriented sanctions enforcement), a kind of “Materials Testing Institution”, they acquire new arguments.

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Μάρκο Κάμενις: η ψυχιατρική πτέρυγα των ΡΟΣ λαμβάνει την αρμοδιότητα να
καθορίσει την εκτέλεση της αναστολής και του διορθωτικού νόμου.

Το γραφείο αναστολών και διορθωτικών υπηρεσιών των καντόνιων Γραφείων
Εκτέλεσης Ποινών και Δικαιοσύνης σαμποτάρει όλες τις προσπάθειές που
αποσκοπούν στην ελάφρυνση της κατάστασης κράτησης του Μάρκο η της
χορήγησης αναστολής. Το γραφείο εφαρμογής 3 (smv3) χρησιμοποιεί
ξεκάθαρα πολιτικά επιχειρήματα: Ως αμετανόητος αναρχικός δεν μπορεί να
αφεθεί ελεύθερος και χρησιμοποιεί μια αναφορά των ΡΟΣ (περί εφαρμογής
κυρώσεων λόγο ριψοκίνδυνου προσανατολισμού) που είναι ενα είδος “Θεσμού
υλικού τεσταρίσματος” προσθέτοντας νέες ενστάσεις.

Full text: http://325.nostate.net/?p=16185 and http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/05/23/swiss-prisons-marco-camenisch-denied-conditional-release-update/

 

Update zum “Revolutionärer Kampf” Prozess (22.5.)

Der Berufungsprozess in Ahten vom Fall des “Revolutionären Kampf” begann heute, 22.5., wurde aber sofort bis zum 10. Juni verschoben, damit Nikos Maziotis mit seinem Anwalt kommunizieren kann. Nikos und Kostas Gournas wurden erst gestern (21.5.) von Domokos nach Korydallos in Athen verlegt.

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The court of appeal of the trial in Athen of Revolutionary Struggle began today, 22.5.15, but was immediately stopped until the 10th of June, so that Nikos Maziotis can communicate with his lawyer.. Nikos and Kostas Gournas were transferred from Domokos to Korydallos prison in Athens just yesterday (21.5.).

Greek prisons – Revolutionary Struggle case: Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas transferred to Koridallos prison ahead of second-instance trial

On May 21st 2015, the Solidarity Assembly for political prisoners & imprisoned and prosecuted fighters reported that the anarchist prisoners Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas were transferred from Domokos prison to the dungeon in Koridallos women’s prison ahead of the second-instance trial on the Revolutionary Struggle’s first-period action (2003-2010).

Gournas and Maziotis are currently separated from other prisoners convicted as members of armed revolutionary organisations, who are also being held in the basement of Koridallos women’s prison (i.e. four CCF anarchists, and the convicted 17N member Iraklis Kostaris).

The appeal trial in the Revolutionary Struggle case (first-period action) will begin on Friday, May 22nd 2015, at 9am. The Solidarity Assembly for political prisoners & imprisoned and prosecuted fighters call everyone to express their solidarity with the comrades on trial and attend court proceedings at Koridallos prison.

The comrades who were sentenced in the first-instance court ruling are the prisoners Kostas Gournas and Nikos Maziotis, as well as the fugitive Pola Roupa, who have assumed political responsibility for their participation in the organisation, but also the conditionally released Vaggelis Stathopoulos and Christoforos Kortesis, who have denied their involvement.

A few notes on the Revolutionary Struggle case:

The anarchist urban guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Agonas) has carried out direct actions in Athens since 2003, targeting structures and organs of the State and the Capital, defending armed and class struggle, and aiming towards social revolution. Their revolutionary action includes a rocket propelled grenade attack, car bomb explosions, bombings and gunshots, among others, against the Finance and Labour ministries, the United States Embassy, the Athens Stock Exchange, anti-riot cops, police stations, court buildings, multinational corporations, banks, as well as a politician implicated in high-profile scandals.

In March 2010, anarchist Lambros Foundas was killed in a shootout with cops. A month later, Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis and Kostas Gournas (in pretrial incarceration at the time) claimed political responsibility for their participation in the Revolutionary Struggle and explained that Lambros Foundas was also a member of the same organisation.

In no way does the claim of political responsibility mean that these anarchists accept criminal charges such as ‘terrorist association,’ and so forth. Below are short excerpts from a letter of the three members on their reasons for undertaking responsibility after they were caught by police:

“By claiming political responsibility, we wanted to defend the armed struggle, and to highlight its timelessness and importance within the broader struggle for the overthrow and social revolution. (…) Also, by undertaking political responsibility we wanted to restore the memory and honour of our comrade Lambros Foundas, who was a member of the Revolutionary Struggle and was killed in an armed battle with cops in March 2010 during an attempted expropriation of a car —a preparatory act of a wider action plan of our organisation.”

The first trial on the Revolutionary Struggle’s first-period action (2003-2010) started in October 2011 and reached its end in April 2013. Out of 8 defendants, only three were self-admitted members of the Revolutionary Struggle: Pola Roupa, Nikos Maziotis (both of whom became fugitives in the middle of the proceeding) and Kostas Gournas. The three members received sentences of up to 50 years imprisonment.

Two other accused comrades, Vaggelis Stathopoulos and Christoforos Kortesis, were sentenced to (a little over) 7 years, even though they have denied their participation in the organisation. They were then taken to prison alongside Kostas Gournas. In July 2013, Kortesis and Stathopoulos were granted conditional release and walked out of Koridallos prison under restrictive conditions.

In July 2014, Nikos Maziotis – who had gone underground along with Pola Roupa two years earlier – was seriously injured after a shootout with cops in the area of Monastiraki, central Athens, and taken captive. A few days later, he was transferred to a prison in northern Greece. The comrade was the first prisoner to be moved, on December 30th 2014, to the (then) newly-inaugurated ‘type C’ maximum security prison in Domokos.

Nikos Maziotis faces another trial, accused of the bomb attack against the Supervision Directorate of the Bank of Greece at Amerikis Street in Athens, in April 2014, the shootout in Monastiraki, and bank robberies. As a member of the Revolutionary Struggle, Nikos Maziotis assumed political responsibility for the bombing at the Bank of Greece, which marks the second period in the ongoing action of the organisation.

Already in 2009, the anarchist urban guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle was designated a ‘foreign terrorist organisation’ by the U.S. Department of State, in the aftermath of a rocket propelled grenade attack against the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007. Recently, in April 2015, the State Department issued ‘terrorist designation’ against anarchist prisoner Nikos Maziotis, member of the Revolutionary Struggle.

Beginning May 22nd 2015, the appeal trial on the Revolutionary Struggle case (first-period action) will be held in the special court of Koridallos women’s prison. In Athens, trial sessions in cases regarding so-called ‘terrorist’ organisations take place at courtrooms inside the prison. Each time that visitors and lawyers enter the specific courtrooms, their identity cards are kept upon entry, with all that this entails.

Solidarity with the urban guerrillas Kostas Gournas and Nikos Maziotis, members of the Revolutionary Struggle, and the comrades Vaggelis Stathopoulos and Christoforos Kortesis, who stand trial in the same case.

Solidarity with the wanted comrade Pola Roupa, member of the Revolutionary Struggle.

Quelle: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/05/21/greek-prisons-revolutionary-struggle-case-nikos-maziotis-and-kostas-gournas-transferred-to-koridallos-prison-ahead-of-second-instance-trial/

Greece: Statement of Revolutionary Struggle member Nikos Maziotis about the U.S. State Department list of international “terrorists”

In 2009, the anarchist urban guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Agonas) was designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. Department of State, in the aftermath of a rocket propelled grenade attack against the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007.

On April 21, 2015, the State Department issued “terrorist designation” against one of the members of Revolutionary Struggle, anarchist prisoner Nikos Maziotis. The next day, the comrade issued the following statement in response:

“Whoever is not with us is against us”
– from a speech of U.S. President George W. Bush after September 11, 2001

“We are not with you, we are against you”
– from a statement of Nikos Maziotis to the special court in Koridallos prisons on June 11, 2012 regarding the Revolutionary Struggle attack on the U.S. Embassy

The State Department admittedly did me great honor by including me in the list of international “terrorists”. This is the second time that the planetary killers honor me as a Revolutionary Struggle member, since they had placed a one-million-dollar bounty on me along with other members of the organization after the Revolutionary Struggle attack against the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007.

Obviously this move signifies the pressure exerted on the Greek government in response to the recent passing of the justice ministry’s bill, which includes a provision whereby prisoners with disabilities of over 80% like Savvas Xiros, from a point onwards, may be placed under house arrest on electronic monitoring for the remainder of their sentence, what the U.S. ambassador to Greece described as a hostile act.

This move is a sign of lack of confidence towards the Greek government, and sends a strong message; that the U.S. government – which does not recognize any court precedent in another State in case of an attack on U.S. targets – may arrest and prosecute any armed fighter and revolutionary who have attacked U.S. targets anywhere in the world, even if they have stood trial and have been incarcerated in the country where this attack was perpetrated. But the State Department has nothing to worry about. The SYRIZA-led government, despite deviations, will present themselves as consistent with the united front in the war on “terrorism”, just as they are being consistent with their debt repayment obligations to the creditors of the supranational elite. Besides, they stated that they “are doubly sensitive to issues of terrorism, since many attacks were carried out in the name of the Left.”

Regardless of how many years I have to spend in prison, regardless of the price I pay, I will always be filled with joy remembering how we as Revolutionary Struggle humiliated them that morning of January 2007, when we struck the facade of the U.S. Embassy with an anti-tank RPG, and I will always remember with satisfaction the words of the then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who woke the then planetarch George W. Bush, saying: “Mister President, we are under attack in Athens.”

Nikos Maziotis, member of the Revolutionary Struggle
Domokos prison

Source: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/04/23/nikos-maziotis-response-to-the-state-department/

Nikos Maziotis for the event of the RHI for the first of May

Text by Nikos Maziotis, member of Revolutionary Struggle for the event organized by the International Red Help for the first of May

The events of May 1886 that took place in Chicago are a turning point in the history of the revolutionary labor movement. It was not only the fight of the workers to reduce working hours to eight hours daily that featured in this fight and led to the global fight of the proletariat for an 8 hour work day, but it was also a response of the workers to the crackdown of bosses, and the murder of workers at the McCormick factory.

This response was “Workers in arms” which called for a reaction of the working class to the killings of the bosses. It was the armed reaction of the workers when police ordered the dissolution of the Hay Market Square protest that was called against the killings of the strikers at the McCormick factory. The armed tradition of the working class and revolutionary movement was at that time closely related to unionism and the struggle for an 8 hour work day, better working conditions, wage increases, social security. And all this was seen to some extent, as a stage on the way to the abolishment of the capitalist system. Such struggles, which were inspired by the events of May 1886 in Chicago erupted in many countries over the next years in France, in Italy, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Argentina and they were characterized by the use of armed violence on the part of workers.

Unfortunately a large part of the labor movement adopted an approach that considered armed practices as “provocation” and practices of? “individual terrorism” that harm the labor movement and were therefore condemnable. There is the view, for example, that the events of the Hay Market Square with the throwing of? a bomb and the armed scuffle against the police that followed were an intentional provocation to justify the murder of several of the assembled workers, but also the conviction and execution by hanging of the organizer of the Hay Market Square protest.

The events of May 1886 in Chicago became an annual anniversary in later years to remind the world working class of the beginning of the struggle for an 8 hour work day and the sacrifice of those who gave their blood for this fight. It eventually developed into a painless celebration for compromised and sold off reformist unions that distorted the meaning of the events in May 1886, because what was sought after was the empowerment of the capital and also to continue to have/ also keep/maintain? the privileges of the middleman in the sale of the worker’s labor to the capitalists. Especially after the Second World War unions played a crucial role in the class compromise between the working class and the capital holders in order to revive capitalism from the ruins the war left behind it and to jump start get the engine of accumulation. They also played a crucial role in the enforcement of the social democratic and Keynesian model of management that is characterized by state intervention and the welfare state. They also played a leading role in the defeat of the working class from the 1970s onwards, when they adopted a defensive approach to the attack of the capital in the form of liberal Reforms that were brought in to overcome the inflation crisis by means of obliterating and taking back all the gains of the working class that had been gained over the previous period.

Today capitalism in response to the crisis we are experiencing and which erupted in 2007 – 2008 has unleashed an unprecedented attack even on the people of developed countries of the capitalist center in the US, and the EU. This attack turns people back to living conditions of the 19th century and the boundaries between the so-called Third World and developed countries of the capitalist center become increasingly blurred. So today, the struggle for the overthrow of the capital and the state, the struggle for revolution have become more timely than ever. If we want to honor the struggles of the Chicago innovator workers in 1886, then we should continue and develop the struggle for the overthrow of both capital and state. Under the current conditions, away from the illusion of trade unionism and parliamentarism of bourgeois democracy, the struggle must be conducted outside institutions, trade unions, political parties and it must be founded on the social base, the poor, the workers, the youth, the semi-employed the unemployed, the immigrants, the metropolitan proletariat. The conditions have changed since the days of primitive industrial accumulation.

Capitalism today because of the global economic crisis does not need armies of unskilled workers as it did in the 19th century. Instead due to the inability of reproduction of the capital, because of the inability of capital accumulation the system throws more and more workers to the street, outside/out of the labor market because they are no longer necessary to them. Because of the crisis and the policies pursued in countries like Greece with agendas imposed by the IMF, the ECB, the European Commission there is a fierce class war stemming from the capital with financial means and methods, a class war that as Revolutionary Struggle has said consists of a social policy of genocide and liquidation of the surplus population in Greece that has caused thousands of deaths/ murders, suicides, deaths from poverty, illnesses, shortages of basic goods. The crisis and the capital’s incapacity to reproduce has unleashed -particularly in countries affected by the debt crisis like Greece- a massive social robbery for the redistribution of social wealth from the bottom to the top of the social hierarchy. Salaries and pensions are cut, millions of people have been laid off, businesses close due to debts, thousands of homes and businesses are seized by banks due debts and are auctioned. The transnational elite in order to cover their huge losses and depreciation of their capital proceeds have gone to violent robbery of peoples and the social base. This is what has been happening in Greece at least over the last five years. Today a struggle for an 8 hour work day, like the one of the workers of Chicago in 1886 makes no sense at a time when capitalism is in crisis and does not need armies of unskilled workers as it did in the 19th century and up to the mid-20th century.

The legacy of the struggle of Chicago workers is no longer the demand for an 8 hour day or improving our way of life, since the crisis has rendered capitalism unable to do but to fight to overthrow capitalism and the state without a mechanism of class domination. This is not a time for reform. Under the present conditions it is impossible to hope for any reformist policy. Overthrow and revolution is the only realistic solution to the crisis. A revolution cannot be limited to one country. In Greece, despite the favorable objective conditions for a revolutionary attempt, ie. the economic crisis, the political crisis and the depreciation of the parliamentary parties, what was lacking was the objective factor, ie. A revolutionary movement to take advantage of these favorable conditions.

As a result, on the one hand we have the rise of the parliamentary far-right, neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn that came was elected third party in 25th January elections, despite the persecution of the majority of its deputies accused of running a criminal organization after Pavlos Fissa’s assassination a year and half ago, and on the other hand the rise of the center-left party SYRIZA that won the elections and took over both the government and the management of the capitalist crisis substantially accepting the agreement of the euro group on the 23 February, the payment of the debt, the agreements made during the previous period and the Troika of the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission and their assessment of the Greek economy.

Due to the debt crisis, Greece is currently the weak link in the Eurozone and the EU. Although it accounts for 1.9% of EU GDP, potential action on the part of Greece that would lead to denial and total debt cancellation, to the withdrawal from the Eurozone and further to exit from the EU with a break from the market economy and capitalism would create serious tremors not only in the EU but also in building of a global economy, since due to globalization there is a complete interdependence of system functions. But Greece is a country in the periphery of the EU region and not part of the capitalist center.

A revolution in Greece, a regional EU country could be the beginning of the destruction of the EU structure, although there is the risk of extreme right euro-skeptics forces that are on the rise now and are pushing for the return to the status of the nation state, the restoration of national sovereignty and therefore the defunct rivalries between nation states.

Revolutionary Struggle believe that a revolution in Greece could be an example, the beginning of a social revolution. Marx was proven wrong in his prediction that coming revolutions of his time would break out in developed industrial countries. Instead revolutions broke out in underdeveloped countries like Russia and Spain. Today in these times of crisis of the system that is the most serious of all the foregoing, it is more imperative to hit the heart of the beast, the capitalist center. Revolutions should break out in countries of the capitalist center, in developed countries, the US and the EU, where the headquarters of the transnational elite are in the City of London, in Paris where the annex of the IMF in Europe is, in Brussels where the center of the EU and NATO are located, in Frankfurt that is the center of the ECB, in New York the capital of world capitalism and in Washington where the headquarters of the IMF are.

The legacy of the labor movement of the past, such as the workers of Chicago in 1886, is not to fight today to simply improve the conditions of our lives or to defend against the attack of the transnational elite that retracts all the conquests of the old labor movement such as the 8 hour day, social security, the welfare state with its whirlwind of neoliberalism. Its legacy is to attack. It consists of the proletarian counterattack and complete destruction of capitalism. Attack its very strongholds: the seats of the central banks and stock exchanges. Where decisions are made that affect the fortunes of billions of people around the globe. The seats of the World Bank, the IMF, the World Trade Organization. It is the proletarian counterattack in each country for the overthrow of the ruling classes, governments and states. And for this counterattack it is necessary to resort to arms and guerrilla warfare. In this counterattack it has become necessary to rethink the revolutionary movements in each country that will analyze the conditions and will select the action strategies and forms of struggle within a framework designed solely for social revolution both in individual countries and globally. Fight for a global social revolution. This is the legacy of the workers of Chicago in 1886.

HONOR TO THE DEAD WORKERS AT THE MC CORMICK FACTORY AND HAYMARKET SQUARE.

HONOR TO THE EXECUTED FIGHTERS AUGUST SPIES, ALBERT PARSONS, ADOLPH FISCHER, GEORGE ENGEL AND TO LOUIS LINGG WHO COMMITED SUICIDE A DAY BEFORE HIS SCHEDULED EXECUTION

HONOR TO THE THREE ANACHISTS STRUGGLERS WHO WHERE CONVICTED IN LIFETIME SENTENCES, SAMUEL FIELDEN, OSCAR NEEBE AND MICHAEL SCHWAB.

HONOR TO THE REVOLUTIONARIES AND STRUGGLES WORLWIDE

Nikos Maziotis, member of Revolutionary Struggle
Domokos prison

Greek prisons: Words from 8 hunger strikers of the Network of Imprisoned Fighters (DAK)

Below is an excerpt from an open letter released in the small hours of April 11th 2015 by hunger strikers of the Network of Imprisoned Fighters.

[…] When we started the hunger strike, we knew it would be an uphill struggle that would stretch us to our limits. And it’s true that some of us, after 40 days of tough struggle, run the risk of developing serious health problems. Nevertheless, we’re not going to concede any ground to anyone who’s taking advantage of the government’s strategy in their attempt to wear us down and annul the effectiveness of our struggle. Therefore, we reiterate that we continue the hunger strike until the fulfillment of our demands, despite the visible risks to our health. We owe it to all the comrades who’ve felt we are giving a joint struggle against the state of exception, but above all we owe it to our own selves and to the means of fight that we have chosen. We invite all comrades to reflect on the cruciality of the situation (four comrades have been on strike for more than 40 days) and turn Every Day of Hunger Strike into A Day of Action.

Every fight exhausts its potential only when we give up, and this fight has neither exhausted its potential nor completed its cycle.*

PS.1: Yesterday [April 10th], our comrade Tasos Theofilou stopped the strike as well. We walked together this far, and remain united in our common struggle. Tasos, we wish you a good recovery.

PS.2: We send our solidarity to the revolutionaries from Turkey[incarcerated in Greek prisons], who stand beside us in this battle. We wish Giorgos Inglessis [who suspended hunger strike] a good recovery.**

PS.3: Solidarity with the migrants who went on hunger strike at the concentration camp in Paranesti, near Drama.***

Until the End – Until Victory
Not One Step Back

Network of Imprisoned Fighters
_

Translation notes:

* A reference to the opinion expressed by imprisoned comrade Nikos Maziotis.

** According to our information so far, the prisoners who remain on hunger strike are eight anarchists of the Network of Imprisoned Fighters (DAK), Andreas-Dimitris Bourzoukos, Antonis Stamboulos, Argyris Ntalios, Dimitris Politis, Fivos Harisis, Giorgos Karagiannidis, Grigoris Sarafoudis and Yannis Michailidis, as well as communists from Turkey & Kurdistan incarcerated in Greek prisons.

*** On April 10th, the No Lager Assembly in Thessaloniki, having established ties of solidarity and constant communication with the imprisoned migrants, reported that only one migrant is still on hunger strike in Paranesti camp, also noting that comrades from various collectives in Thessaloniki, Drama, Patras, Athens and other places supported and publicised the strike.

Quelle: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/04/13/greek-prisons-words-from-8-hunger-strikers-of-the-network-of-imprisoned-fighters-dak/

Greek prisons: Hunger strike termination statement by Revolutionary Struggle member Nikos Maziotis

After 35 days of struggle, I terminate the hunger strike that I began on March 2nd along with other comrades. I have decided to do so not owing to the fact that I have reached the limits of my endurance but because I believe that, considering the developments regarding the requestive context, this fight has completed its cycle and has exhausted its potential, taking into account also the solidarity acts that have taken place. I have chosen to suspend the hunger strike now, after the justice ministry’s bill introduction, seeing no point in waiting at least 10 days until it’s voted on, after Easter has passed. I however remain extremely cautious over any modifications that the ministry is supposed to present in relation to the hoodie law or DNA legislation; because the government has already demonstrated how unreliable it is in fulfilling its proclamations.

I participated in the hunger strike with a broken arm, having been injured during my arrest, a fracture that will take some time, perhaps months or over a year, to recover from. The demands which I supported alongside other imprisoned comrades are of a purely political character, because they are aimed against the “anti-terror” and repressive core of the State. I had no illusions from the outset that all of the demands, such as abolition of the 187A anti-terrorism law and the 187 law on criminal organisation, are “realistically” achievable, but they had to be put forward for political reasons.

The course of events showed that the SYRIZA-led government found itself in a very difficult position, but at the same time it’s not as vulnerable to political pressure from the struggle of political prisoners and people in solidarity as some would like to believe. Instead, it is more vulnerable to pressure exerted by the right wing, where there’s a greater sensitivity toward issues of “anti-terror” and repressive policy. Those who, while in opposition, claimed to have “fought” for the rights of prisoners, those who declared themselves against the “anti-terror” laws, such as the current ministers of justice and public order, those who declared themselves against the hoodie law, and have now come to power and lead the government, were faced with the first hunger strike of political prisoners aiming at a vindication of all that.

While in power, having within a very short time refuted everything they had proclaimed before elections regarding the memorandum and the debt, it is expected that they will leave the anti-terrorism legislation intact. Having accepted everything – the memorandum, the debt, the troika, the evaluation – they used to denounce while in opposition, having accepted the dependence on the International Monetary Fund and, by extension, the US – which means that it is impossible to repeal anti-terrorism laws – they chose to employ delaying tactics against the struggle of hunger striking political prisoners, and submitted an already proclaimed bill with whatever amendments only after one month, risking damage to the health and the lives of imprisoned comrades, as demonstrated in the case of comrade [Michalis] Nikolopoulos, who came close to death and may have suffered permanent damage. If this proves out, then this fight will come at a heavy cost; furthermore, it’ll be an “achievement” of the leftist government led by SYRIZA, leaving an indelible mark because no other Greek government in the past let a hunger striker suffer permanent damage.

I will not speak in terms of victory or defeat. Regardless of its outcome, the struggle of political prisoners is of great importance and value. It is the first hunger strike of political prisoners, and as I’ve said before, this struggle goes far beyond its requestive context. It is the only combative political mobilisation that the SYRIZA-led government was faced with so far. This struggle has dispelled the illusions of a leftist facade of Power, a leftist crutch of capitalism, a leftist administration of the crisis. This is the great political legacy left behind by this struggle, and in this respect, we have definitely come out winners.

Nikos Maziotis, member of the Revolutionary Struggle
Domokos [type C] prison

Greek prisons: Medical report about 8 anarchist hunger strikers, participants in the Network of Imprisoned Fighters (DAK)

Eight anarchist prisoners of the Network of Imprisoned Fighters (DAK) are still on hunger strike in different hospitals and Greek prisons, demanding the abolition of type C maximum security prisons; abolition of the antiterrorist legislation (articles 187 and 187A); abolition of the anti-hoodie law; abolition of forcible taking of DNA samples, abolition of analysis of DNA samples that contain a mixture of genetic material from more than two individuals, access to DNA samples for analysis by a biology expert witness trusted by the accused; and the release of the polytrauma patient, 17N prisoner Savvas Xiros. According to the latest medical report, all comrades are in critical condition.

:: ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE 2/3 ::

Fivos Harisis has lost 22% of his initial body weight; currently treated under police guard in the hospital ‘Attikon’ in Athens, in life-threatening condition.

Antonis Stamboulos has lost 20.5% of his initial body weight; currently treated under police guard in the hospital of Larissa, in life-threatening condition.

Argyris Ntalios has lost 18% of his initial body weight; currently treated under police guard in the hospital of Nikaia in Piraeus, in life-threatening condition.

Giorgos Karagiannidis has lost 17% of his initial body weight; currently held in Koridallos prison, in life-threatening condition.

:: ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE 9/3 ::

Grigoris Sarafoudis has lost 16% of his initial body weight; currently held in Koridallos prison, in very critical condition.

:: ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE 16/3 ::

Dimitris Politis has lost an average of 10% of his initial body weight; currently held in Koridallos prison.

Andreas-Dimitris Bourzoukos has lost an average of 10% of his initial body weight; currently held in Koridallos prison.

:: ON HUNGER STRIKE SINCE 23/3 ::

Yannis Michailidis has lost 8% of his initial body weight; currently held in Koridallos prison.

see related updates

Quelle: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2015/04/09/greek-prisons-medical-report-about-8-anarchist-hunger-strikers-participants-in-dak/