Spain: Madrid mobilizations and police repression move to university: 50 arrested

Yesterday there was another popular assembly in Puerta del Sol surrounded by aggressive riot police forces. Eventually they decided to call another assembly for today at 18:00. Some of the members joined the occupation of university grounds by students on strike.

The student strike at the Universidad Autónoma was violently repressed by police forces, who entered at request of the rector, just as happened under Fascism. 

Police occupation of the university (SoliObrera)

At least 50 people have been arrested.

Occupation of the faculties have been called for tonight in solidarity with the victims of police repression.  Tomorrow a festive march ("pasacampus") has been called as well.



Recap: 

1. Police attacked first in order to divert media attention to clashes they provoked

How to make a 2+ million demo into a public order issue where you can criminalize the masses? The reactionary Spanish government decided to send the dogs in just before the news hour. There were no provocations other than some people trying to set camp, although there was indeed self-defense with whatever was at hand. 

By controlling all the mass media via their bourgeois mafia, the government has managed to turn the tables on: they don't almost mention the millions marching and all the support necessary (half the country?) but the "violence". They don't invite march leaders to the media but police agents and reactionary journalists trained to bark in favor of their master. Not a single network escapes this trap, what implies that there is no media democracy in Spain de facto and you need to resort to Internet in order to grasp some of the truth.

2. They are using "Venezuelan" defamation tactics

Just as it became notorious in the Venezuelan fascist "revolt of the posh", where images of repression from around the world were relabeled as if they were happening in Venezuela (Basque victim of Spanish torture became "Venezuelan", Tahrir repression by Mubarak's police became "Venezuelan", etc.), the Spanish authorities are resorting to falsification of information in order to defame and criminalize the masses. 

To the right one such example: a cold case of a weapon hidden in a crutch has now been presented by police as "evidence" of the "hidden weapons" that demonstrators on March  22 carried in their fantasy alt world. 

3. Scapegoating

The case of the latest political prisoner is a clear one of frame-up: Miguel has been sent to prison for allegedly taking part in the incidents of Atocha but he was actually arrested 2 km away in Recoletos, where he was probably among those trying to set up camp.

There is no evidence beyond police declarations. In the Spanish inquisitorial "justice" system, these may be enough (depending on the credibility the judge gives them) but it is well known that police lies almost systematically and the previous example is one of those. 

Freedom for Miguel

4. Tortures

Those arrested were treated worse than animals and subject to practices that can only be considered torture. They were kept for eight hours standing against a wall with their arms up, deprived of water and not allowed to use the toilet, deprived of food for 24 hours, menstruating women were not allowed to change their tampons in the almost two days of their arrest. 

Sources[es]: La Haine (link 1, link 2, link 3), @Acmp.Diginidad.Madrid, @SolidaridadObrera





Evening update: 53 students arrested, protests continue

The last info on the arrested students is that they are 53. The Vice-Rector had the whole building locked and with many activist students locked inside. They could eventually open a door but police had already arrived (on the Rector's request) and rounded up some 25 inside and the rest while they attempted to find refuge elsewhere in the campus.

Much of the focus of the Madrid protests has therefore been derived to the Universidad Autónoma, where road blockades and occupations continue, now also demanding the resignation of the Rector.

The daily assembly at Sol continues but they have by the moment desisted from setting up camp and are also focusing on the students' struggle.

Sources[es]: La Haine, Acamp.Dignidad.Madrid (Twitter). 

 

Spain: Dignity Camp evicted by police

At dawn (7:30 CET) police forcibly evicted the people still resisting at Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. They identified those present and arrested two. 

They also blockaded again the access to the plaza. 

A rally has been called for today evening (19:30) in Sol in support. Earlier (19:00) there is a rally against mysoginist violence (5 women killed in the state last week alone).

Other rallies have been called in several cities, notably Barcelona and Valencia.

Sources[es]: La Haine, Kaos (incl. video of the eviction).

Relatedly, a student strike is ongoing in Madrid today. Clashes have erupted as, again, the only answer by the government to popular demands is repression.

Fire barricades at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (→ Iniciativa Comunista)

See also for background:

• Almost 3 million people take Madrid demanding Dignity in spite of media silence and brutal police repression (Saturday 22)
• Protests continue gripping Madrid in spite of police (Sunday 23)
• Thousands march in Madrid again. Camp set up at Puerta del Sol (Monday 24)

Italy: massive protests against the Troika

Many thousands of students marched this Friday through the streets of at least 80 Italian cities against the class dictatorship of the Troika. 

At least in Milan and Rome there were serious clashes as the youths attempted to overcome the police lines. In Rome they tried to take over the Ministry of Finances. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].


Update (Oct 20): video of the clashes at the Finance Ministry:

USA: violent repression and political persecution against anti-Petraeus protesters

This video shows just some of the violence that police used against demonstrators who protested peacefully against a conference by former Middle East proconsul and CIA chief David Petraeus in CUNY university.

An eyewitness description of police brutality follows:

“As students were chanting ‘War Criminal Petraeus Out of CUNY Now,’ I was shocked to see several police officers grab and brutalize one of the demonstrators,” said City College student Yexenia Vanegas. “This was completely unprovoked, as demonstrators made clear that they were there to defend our university in a peaceful protest.” The attack occured in front of CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, where Petraeus has been appointed to teach a class on public policy. “Protestors were marching in a circle on the sidewalk and chanting, but the police forced them into the street and then charged. One of the most brutal things I saw was that five police officers slammed a Queens College student face down to the pavement across the street from Macaulay, put their knees on his back and he was then repeatedly kneed in the back,” said Hunter student Michael Brian. The student was one of those pointed out by “white shirt” officers, then seized and brutalized. A Latina woman student was heaved through the air and slammed to the ground.

The repression did not stop there. Six students were arrested and now face arbitrary charges.

Sources: Kasama, Webguerrillero[es].

Mexico: teacher and student camp brutally evicted by police

The teacher and student camp in the Zócalo (the major plaza of Mexico City) was brutally evicted by police forces. 12,000 teachers continue on strike in the North American country. 

Source: WG[es].


Update: more than 200 injured reported, almost all civilians. 32 arrested. → WG[es].

Update: more repression: police charge and gas civilians near Arts Faculty after these accused the cops of "assassins" → video at WG[es].

Turkey: more repression against students in Ankara

The police forces of Islamist ruler Erdogan brutally charged with loads of tear gas and other violence against students protesting the deforestation of their campus to build a highway. 

The also Islamist mayor of Ankara, Melih Gökçek, recently announced that the works for the highway to be built right through the Technical University of the Middle East would begin this week. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Greece: police raids two social centers in Athens University

From Form the Greek Streets:

Police raids the historical Athens polytecnic campus in exarcheia, five detained

This morning the police raided the historical Athens polytechnic campus. The two self-organized spaces inside the campus got raided and five people were detained (among them 3 immigrants from whom 1 will be deported).  The rest of the detained were released few hours later.

Source in Greek
https://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1486866

Original entry includes a police video of the raids.

Fascist USA: forced Zionist "re-education" of anti-apartheid students

The Defamation League continues with its attempts to curb free speech on the Apartheid Regime in Palestine. 

From the Electronic Intifada:

Students who walked out of a speech given by an Israeli soldier at Florida Atlantic University earlier this year are being forced by the administration to attend a chilling “re-education” program designed by an Israel lobby group.

This mandatory “training” program is based on curriculum designed by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a lobby organization which has been instrumental in pressuring university administrations to curb Palestine solidarity activism across the US.

As The Electronic Intifada recently reported, the ADL has a lengthy history of spying on Palestine solidarity activists and academics, including Noam Chomsky.

Two of the three Florida Atlantic University (FAU) students being forced to attend this program have also been put on indefinite probation by the administration “for the remainder of our undergraduate careers,” they say in a recent statement.

(...)

As we reported, in April 2012 students at FAU were subjected to administrative pressure and death threats after they engaged in a nonviolent direct action calling attention to the demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces. In a creative effort to raise awareness of Israel’s rampant home demolition practices, students posted 200 fake eviction notices on dorm room doors.

(...)

... read the full article at the Electronic Intifada.

Turkey: student loans to be denied to those who join protests

The fascist Turkish state is again showing its true colors: people who take part in protests will become legally ineligible for student loans.

The new norm, to be applied from 2014 on, has been approved by the Institution of Loans for Superior Education and University Residences on the grounds that such activities are "a violation of the right to education".

The banned activities include painting graffiti, chanting slogans, occupying buildings or taking part in any boycott, be it individually or collectively, inside or outside the university precinct.

The banned activities are described as "acts of anarchism and terrorism".

Hitler himself could not have thought something more twisted. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: police forcibly evicts more than 20 schools occupied by students

In the early hours of Thursday the Chilean military police (carabineros) proceeded to the eviction of more than 20 schools occupied by its students in protest against the commercialization of education. In most of the centers the students were evicted without further incidents but in some there have been denounces of police brutality. 

For example in the girls' school Carmela Carvajal, Providencia, the 16 students were arrested in front of their relatives and have denounced excesses by the police. In the Darío Salas high school students got to the roof and hurled objects against the soldiers that tried to get them down using tear gas. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: workers and students strike together

Miners, teachers, dock and healthcare workers have gone on strike today in Chile, along with high school and university students. The demands are focused on free quality education for all, labor rights, dignified jobs and healthcare.

While the leading force in this strike is the Student Confederation (CONFECH), these have been getting closer and closer to labor organizations in the last several years in the course of struggles against privatizations imposed by the neo-Pinochetist President Piñera. This way the General Union of Dock Workers (UNTP), the Teachers' College, the Confederation of Copper Workers (CTC), the Unitary Workers Central (CUT) have joined student organizations in this strike, bringing class struggle in the Andean country one step ahead. 

Three marches will converge today at the center of Santiago de Chile, while the popular organizations are working in order to express the anger in multiple ways at each location. 

This strike is also a preparation for the General Strike of July 11th. 

Source LINyM[es].

Peru: large protests against fascist control in universities

Some six thousand students marched through the streets of Cuzco against the new University Law, which severely restricts freedom of speech and university autonomy. 

There were clashes between police and students on Thursday and Friday.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: huge student protests (again) - updated: 30 arrested, 20 injured

Hundreds of thousands marched through Santiago and other cities (Concepción, Talca, Los Ángeles, Chillán, Valparaíso) of the South American state in demand of free quality public education for all. 

The president of the Student Federation of the University of Chile, Andrés Fielbaum, declared about the upcoming presidential elections, that:

It would seem that the candidates live in another country and have not hear the demands of the majority of this country and keep believing that education is good business for the majority. 

Similarly Isabel Salgado (ACES) said:

We want to tell the candidates that none of them represents us, that this movement is autonomous. Therefore their proposals are useless for us unless they would dare to promote structural change.

Diego Vela of the Student Federation of the Catholic University attacked the post-fascist constitution of the country, which acts as a lock against change. 

In the main demonstration at Santiago, there were some squabbles between police forces and a fraction of the students but compared with previous occasions this time the mobilization was quite peaceful.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Update: police violence after the march was important again. Some 20 people have been injured and at least 30 arrested.

Some of the worst clashes took place in Mapocho (north of Santiago), where citizens responded to police water cannons and gas canisters with rocks and petrol bombs. Luxury shops and bank offices were attacked as well.

Police also attacked the campus of the University of Chile, where an anti-government meeting was to take place, against the will of the rector, who dubbed it "unacceptable" and "aggression with impunity".

→ Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: 19 universities occupied by students

Some 19 campuses, both public and private, have been occupied by Chilean students, who continue in their indefatigable struggle to secure a public, free and quality education in their country.

While student struggle has been dramatically active in Chile the last several years, the movement felt impelled to give a new impulse to their struggle as the arrogant President Piñera (Christian-Democrat) declared on May 21s that he would not guarantee free public education. 

A new national student strike has been called by the Student Confederation (ConfECh) for June 26th.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Chile: students occupy faculty

Yesterday a group of students occupied the main building of the University of Chile. Their declared intention is to denounce and reject the deterioration  of public education in the South American country.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Italy: students defeat riot police and conquer freedom of assembly (video)

Very impressive:

This happened on May 27. Students had called an assembly at the Piazza Verdi of Bologna and the governor had forbidden it (in yet another example of lack of any real democracy in Europe). The students bravely conquered their right of assembly and police run away. 

That's exactly how Ben Ali was kicked from Tunisia: after many protests repressed by police, one happy day, the protesters, much more numerous than the armed forces, turned around and took their rights, their freedom. 

Source: Madriz Rebelde[es].

Chile: more police attacks against student marches

Chilean military police (carabineros) violently attacked again freedom of expression and protest in Santiago. The student demonstration was scheduled to march to the Heroes Plaza after marching through the Alameda, the city's main street, but was brutally repressed (again) by the police-soldiers, who arrested 600. 

The government had explicitly forbidden the march through the Alameda in a clear attempt to hide the student protests that are the major challenge that the extremist right-winger President Piñera faces. All previous demonstrations have used this major street as avenue to show their discontent.

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Update (Jun 1): video available at Madriz Rebelde[es].

Chile: police repression of student protests

From the larger photo-gallery at Webguerrillero:

Chile: students occupy faculties

Law students in Valparaíso have occupied their faculty in demand of free quality education for all, with emphasis on the increased difficulties to apply for public grants (dozens of students are expected to lose their grants under the new measures of the far-right government). 

They have called to fellow students elsewhere to do the same. 

Economics students have already joined the protest. 

Source: Webguerrillero[es].

Teachers, students and workers violently evicted from University of Barcelona

At 3:45 in the night, police forces evicted violently the students, teachers and workers who were occupying the rectory of the University of Barcelona in protest for the budgetary cuts and the fascist project of a new educative law. 

Source: Webguerrillero[cat/es] (incl. video).