Mexico: Challenges & Difficulties of Urban Territories in Resitance

by Raul Zibechi

Autonomy is the political form that communities in resistance have adopted in order to change the world. To illustrate these hypotheses I propose to reconstruct a small segment of the vast urban popular movement in Mexico since 1968, with the understanding that autonomy is a never-ending process: one of comings and goings that are visible not in declarations or programs, but in the traces left by daily life. The Comunidad Habitacional Acapatzingo is one of the most important urban autonomous experiences in Latin America, for the depth of its construction of community, for its duration, for its vocation of transforming the whole of society, and for its fierce resistance to state power at all levels. I will highlight some aspects that contribute to an understanding of this singular experience—how it came to be what it is, and the paths taken and not taken. In short, I will examine the exhausting uphill climb involved in any autonomous process that seeks to avoid subordination by existing institutions.

Attachments


Raul Zibechi on the politics of urban land struggles in Mexico

Statement for the Human Rights Commission Hearings Relating to Access to Housing, Local Government and Service Delivery

Yesterday Abahlali baseMjondolo presented to the Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg. This is the statement that was sent to the Commission in advance of the hearings.

12 February 2015

Abahlali baseMjondolo

Statement for the Human Rights Commission Hearings Relating to Access to Housing, Local Government and Service Delivery

We first met on the 5th of January 2015 to begin the process of developing a response to the questions asked by the Human Rights Commission and we concluded the process on the 12th of February 2015.

We note that we have been invited to the hearings as a civil society organisation. We would like to begin by stating that we do not identify ourselves as a civil society organisation. Mostly when people talk about civil society what they mean is NGOs. Most NGOs have no members and no mandate to represent anyone. When NGOs are taken to represent the people in the name of civil society this is one more way of excluding oppressed people from important spaces and discussions. Some NGOs are as hostile to democratic membership based peoples’ organisations as the worst elements in the state. We are also not a political party. We are a democratic membership based movement of shack dwellers and other poor people (umbutho wabantu). We currently have twenty two branches in good standing in KwaZulu-Natal, and one in Cape Town, and just over 11 000 individual members in good standing. The government, and some NGOS, have always been saying that our movement will not exist in a year’s time. They are always excitedly announcing the death of our movement. But this year we will be celebrating ten years of our existence. Continue reading

Privatising ‘influx control’? KZN land invasion tender raises many questions.

http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2015-02-18-privatising-influx-control-kzn-land-invasion-tender-raises-many-questions.#.VOWZPPmUdxh

A tender for specialised security services for an anti-land invasion squad in KwaZulu Natal has raised questions about the legality and constitutionality of the proposed unit. The private company will be expected to – among other functions – predict the occupation of government assets and land by “political opportunists”, “hold fort” in the absence of government security agencies as well as gather intelligence on private citizens. By MARIANNE THAMM.

Government Tender Bulletin, 16 January, Volume 595, Page 139:

Between routine calls for suppliers for water quality analysis, plumbing, building, stationery and printing supplies, it is an “invitation for proposals” by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements for “specialised security services for an anti-land invasion unit” that alarmingly pops out on page 139, mostly for the securocratic flourish of its language. Continue reading

How Bandile Mdlalose betrayed us in Mandela Complex until we were evicted from Newland West flats

Mandela Complex in Newland West Community press statement

Monday, 29 December 2014

How Bandile Mdlalose betrayed us in Mandela Complex until we were evicted from Newland West flats

We the community of Mandela Complex have come from different back grounds before occupying these flats in Castle Hill, Newland West. Some of us came from Parlock, after we were removed for the road reserved and relocated into Polokwane transit camps. Some of us came from Siyanda and we were also removed to make way for Dumisani Makhaye Road. Some of us came from the surrounding shack settlements in the area and were authorized by a local councillor Lubhede to occupy these flats. When we got into transit camps the councillor told us that the city does not have land for us but we were going to live temporarily on the transit camps. Immediately after that we saw the construction of flats taking place but we were surprised because we were told that there was no land. We went to ask the local councillor Mr Lubhede if the flats were being built for us but Lubhede did not want to answer us and chose to distance himself from us and from the questions we have asked. Continue reading

An Old Snake in a New Skin – From Raymond Masondo to Heinrich Bohmke and Bandile Mdlalose

6 February 2015

Abahlali baseMjondolo Statement

An Old Snake in a New Skin – From Raymond Masondo to Heinrich Bohmke and Bandile Mdlalose

In 2006, when we made it clear that we would not give up our autonomy to the NGOs and walked out of a meeting at the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) at UKZN, some NGO workers, such as Mondli Hlatswayo, rushed to call us criminals on emails and in the press. At the time we could see no difference between how these NGOs responded to our insistence on our right to organise ourselves, to think for ourselves and to take our own positions and how the state responded. They both declared that we were criminals under the control of a white man.

As everyone who is familiar with the history of our movement knows since then we have been subject to constant defamation from a small group of people, all linked in different ways to CCS. These same people have never said a word when we have faced evictions, arrests, beatings, torture and murder. We continue to see very strong parallels between how the state responds to our movement and how some NGOs respond to our movement. Continue reading