Right to the source

So from talking to the anarchists old and young we learn that there are not that many assembablies, that they are all run differently, although it seems mainly still horizontal. Althought it seems with the new government who is paying attention to human rights has won over loads of support. And once radical groups of women angry about the "disappeared" people, their sons who were "disappeared" during the dirty war, are now a government funded organisation. During 2001, 2 and 3 the area we were staying in was very active and very radical. This shows still today with four seperate assembablies in the area that are still active.

There was one that was just around the corner from where we were staying. It seemed closed to the public much of the time. during the day they sold crafts out the window, and they seemed to be open a few times in the week for a populoar kitchen. We also noticed that on sundays there were showing a film series about aboriginal peoples from argentina.

On a quest to find glue for reddy´s broken glasses we stumbled upon there sunday movie afternoons and walked right in. The offered us seats, mateand bread. The first time we say someone drinking mate, reddy and I both thought it was a bong, of course it was beeing drunk and shared by punks, then I noticed that everyone drinks and shares it.

The films were in spanish but its not hard to understand that the spanish came and colninised south america and they sysematicly tried to distroy the tribes. And it does take a genious to understand the films were made and been showed to try and bring awareness to a dieing history. There was this one sad film where the whole film showed the women making crafts then going out to the train tracks in hopes that the tourists would buy there products and in the end the train doesn´t stop that day.

One of the guys in the assemably spoke great english and chatted with us a bit, he gave us bus dirrections to the party we were going to that night, and gave us his email address. When we emailed him, asking about doing an interview, he responded with saying it was the duty of the people here to share there stories. As we hung out and we share stories, we were just waiting for him to come out as a trot.

Turns out that he is not a trot, very politically aware, but not with any party, the work he does is with the assembably and in his work he is involved in the union. He got a high level position there because they knew he was involved in assembalies and therefore knew how to organise.

the first assembably shut down like many of them due to political groups taking over and argueing amongst themselves. After his got shot down a friend told him about this one and he ahs been coming ever since. The popular kitchen is not a cafe but rather an open kitchen where the food is provided and people who need it can cook themselves. Its is mainly single mothers and the elderly.

Other then the movie nights and the kitchen the work they do know is mainly education, with younge children in the neighbourhood who either don´t go too school at all or are not getting a good education.

the guy we met manual was very interesting. He was born in mexico since his parents who were journalists were being percicuted in argentina and had already been held in prison. He spent his child hold moving around, living in cuba, in nicagraua in 90 after the election when his father who was speaking english helped build back the knowledge of planes as one of few who could read english. He also lived in the middle east before moving back to argentina.

Possibily because he spoke english or that he didn´t live in an arachist ghetto he was very frindly and took us out for another night politics asside. except we met a women doing her thesis on the zanon, the tile factory that Naomi Klein's “The Take“ is based on. He took us to a traditional Tango club, heres us dreading it, thinking it was going to be dancing, the kind that is over dramtic all over the streets near up tryign to get tourists to take their photo with the dancers. But we were happily surprised to find out it was spanish blues. It was like giong to listen to trad music in dublin but everyone was really into it. The singers were telling stories of broken hearts and dark lives. Actually it was really beautiful and there was nothing cheesy or touristy about it at all. So says the outsider ;)