TERESA MAÑE MIRAVENT

 

Teresa Mañe Miravent - Mother of Federica Montseny

     The following is a translation from Spanish. The Spanish original is available at the Biografias anarquistas section of the website of the CNT Puerto Real. Any errors of translation are entirely my responsibility.

     Born on November 29 1865 in Cubelles (Garraf, Catalonia) - until recently believed to be in Vilanova  i la Geltrú- the educator, activist and anarchist propagandist Teresa Mañe Miravent, better known under her pseudonym Soledad Gustavo. Her wealthy family ran the Garden Hotel in Vilanova i la Geltrú, known as the "Three Girls Hotel" as the three daughters of the family were busy attending to customers. Her father was a staunch supporter of federal republicanism and was proud of the relationship he maintained with Pi i Maragall. Teresa began studying teaching in 1883 in Barcelona and in 1886, with the help of the freethinker Bartomeu Gabarro of the Federalist Democratic Centre, opened the first secular school in Vilanova. She was a member of the Confederation of Lay Teachers of Catalonia. During this period she collaborated in El Vendaval with the federalist republican tendency. Through contacts with freethinkers she met José Pujals Lunas, Teresa Claramunt, Tarrida del Mármol, Pere Esteve and other leading anarchist militants. She participated in propaganda tours and public events and collaborated on the libertarian publications they edited (La Tramontana, El Productor, La Tormenta, etc.). In 1889 she won a prize at the Second Socialist Contest in Barcelona for her work 'Free Love' and became a spokeswoman for anarchist ideas along with Ricardo Mella, Anselmo Lorenzo and others. Through a poetry reading at a secular funeral she met Juan Montseny whom she later married in a civil ceremony on March 19, 1891, shortly after such marriages were legalized.

     The couple settled in Reus where Montseny came from, and they opened a coeducational secular school and both became teachers. Teresa's sister Carmen also lived with them in Reus, sharing all the difficulties of their anarchist activism until her death. Montseny wrote a pamphlet in defence of prisoner Paulino Pallas who had been arrested in connection with the September 24, 1893 bombing of the Cambios Nuevos in Barcelona. Montseny was arrested for this, and Mañe began a campaign for his release. Once released, however, he was rearrested in 1896 as part of the 'Trial of Montjuic'. From his cell in Montjuic Montseny wrote letters to the press, with various pseudonyms, proclaiming the innocence of the accused. Mañe was responsible for taking these letters from prison and mailing them to the press. She also made the necessary arrangements to achieve the release of all detainees. It was from one of his signatures to these letters that Juan Montseny became Federico Urales. Montseny was released but was exiled to London, along with Teresa Claramunt and Tarrida del Mármol. Mañe joined him in 1897 and found work as an embroiderer. In order to reopen their case they returned clandestinely on November 28, 1897. Montseny lived in Madrid and Mañe in Vilanova. In a short while she, along with her parents, Lorenzo and Antonia, and her sister Carmen they also moved to Madrid. While they lived there her parents died, and her daughter Federica Montseny was born in 1905.

     While in Madrid the couple edited La Revista Blanca (1898-1905) and later Tierra Y Libertad (1902-1905). Mañe performed the function of administrator even though this was not legally permitted to women at the time. In 1901 she spoke, along with Azorín and Urales in a series of conferences at the Madrid Ateneo on "The Future Society" in relation to anarchist ideas. In addition she actively participated in campaigns for the defendants in the Juarez Trials and the Mano Negro case. She participated in a tour of Andalucia in this defence camaign, staying at the home of Rosa Sanchez. The couple also actively assisted in the defence of Francisco Ferrer i Guardia wrongly accused of responsibility for the events of La Semana Trágica. When a legal conflict with Arturo Soria, the creator of the 'Ciudad Lineal of Madrid whom they accused of fraud and deception, broke out they left for Catalonia in 1912. Their intention was to found an academy in Barcelona's Horta district, but the boycott of local reactionaries led them to devote themselves to living on a farm in Cerdanyola. There Mañe did a lot of translations (Louise Michel, Cornelissen, Labriola, De la Hire, Mirabeau, Praycourt, Sorel, Marguey, Lichtenberg, Lavrov, Donnay, etc.) and copied texts for theatre companies.

     In Catalonia they once more edited La Revista Blanca and Tierra Y Libertad. They also set up various other publishing projects: 'La Novela Ideal'  which published two novels, eventually 600 in  total with a circulation of 50,000 copies; 'La Novela Libre' with more extensive stories and a circulation of 30,000 copies, the monthly 'El Munda al Dia' and a new journal 'El Luchador' which lasted until the civil war. Mañe was responsible for managing these journals while Montseny and her daughter wrote articles, novels, memoirs, etc.. Little by little the leadership of Federica became evident, and Mañe faded into the background. During the Civil War colon cancer began to undermine her life. In 1939 the family crossed the border into exile in France where they parted from each other. Mañe, ill, broke her leg and was taken by ambulance to the hospital of St. Louis of Perpiñán (northern Catalonia) where she died alone of cancer on February 5, 1939.

     Teresa Mañe published numerous articles in La Revista Blanca and in its supplements and extras. Her contributions may also be found in other anarchist periodicals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: 'El Corsario', 'Los Dominical del Libre Pensamiento','El Obrero', 'Redención', 'El Cosmipolita', 'Justicia y Libertad', 'El Trabajo', 'La Tramontana', etc.. Of her works we can highlight 'The Future Society' (1889), 'Las Preocupaciones de los Despreocupados' (1891 with Urales), 'Dos Cartas' (1891), 'A Las Proletarias' (1896), 'El Amore Libre' (1904), 'Los Diosas de la Vida' (1904), and 'El Sindicalismo y la Anarquía: Politica y Sociologica' (1932) among others.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SPAIN:

CONGRATULATIONS ANARCHOSYNDICALISM FROM THE CGT:

As mentioned before on this blog this year marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Spanish Confederación Nacional de Trabajo (CNT) in Barcelona. All of the Spanish anarchosyndicalist groups are planning events to mark this centennial. The CGT have recently published the following congratulatory note in their paper Rojo Y Negro. As can be seen from the article Rojo Y Negro plans to have a continuing series with historical documents and how they relate to the present time. Molly hopes to be following this series and translating at least some of the essays. To my knowledge the article below is the first time that it has appeared in an English translation.

@@@@@@@@@@@@

Congratulations, Anarcosindicalism:

2010 is the centenary of anarcho-syndicalism, that is, each and every one of the organizations. groups and individuals who declare themselves as such. And each and all deserve a fraternal greeting, congratulations for having held to type, congratulations to one of the most rebellious critical and constructive currents for liberty and equality which we could provide to human beings, congratulations to each and every one who in his or her life built anarcho-syndicalism.

And congratulations, then, to all anarchosyndicalist organizations : the first historical CNT of course , and now the CNT-AIT, the Solidaridad Obrera, a splinter or separate CNT in Barcelona, the CNT France but also all sections of the AIT, and other unions outside of Spain that claim anarchist syndicalism (SAC in Sweden, the two USIs in Italy Workers’ Initiative in Poland, the Greek ESE, etc.), and including that this is also the centenary of other anarcho específicos many groups, mainly Latin American, who largely subscribe to the anarcho-syndicalist ideas that emerged from the historic Congress 1910 in Barcelona.

And obviously, despite the current divisions of some anarchosyndicalist sectors , the non-dogmatic anarchonsindicalist backbone, wide and pluralistic, of the CGT, the General Confederation of Labor. Of course.

Its self-organization, its struggles, its popular assemblies, its self critical ability, and its construction of a society open to the horizontal movements of the social base, and especially to all workers , in every sense of the word, testify to a path and a practice that, with its errors and contradictions, is the most genuine expression of anarcho-syndicalism: the constant search for the self-emancipation of the exploited classes.

Rojo Y Negro is reporting the early acts of this anniversary, opening a page that will be revisited over the next eleven months, in which part of an historical text on a specific theme (of the many that have been directly or indirectly been treated by anarcho-syndicalism) will be used for another consideration of the matter and updating of the points made in the historic document. Each page will be accompanied with an original illustration that, with artistic freedom, express an image of what is being "discussed" in the current and historical texts. This is the particular contribution of Royo Y Negro to the centennial.

I cannot but emphasize another fact which was duly reported in the pages of Rojo Y Negro, and coincides with the centennial, and what it means for reflection and updating of libertarian principles, with the formation on the confederal level of the "Jóvenes Anarcosindicalistas-CGT’ (Anarchosyndicalist youth), certainly a historic milestone for the Confederacy, small now but it will hopefully enhance its presence and importance in the not too distant future. That a youth group, affiliated to the CGT, has decided to be called "anarcho" is not trivial. It indicates a clear intention to necessarily follow a path open to innovation, self direction, and self-management of their own lives. The precariousness, both social and in employment, and conditions of manipulation, exploitation and repression in which we live are directly suffered by women and men, and therefore it is up to us to confront this reality, deal with it, and build from solidarity and mutual support an alternative which is urgent and necessary to radically transform the oppressive and unjust world. They are the CGT.

Antonio Carretero,

Rojo Y Negro

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE HISTORY OF NEFAC IN QUÉBEC (CITY) PART 5:
This is another installment of our translation of an article in the Québecois anarchist magazine 'Ruptures'. As previously mentioned, when the full text is translated it will be collated into a complete article. There is a lot to be learned from the experiences of our Québec comrades for all of us who hope to build an organized and effective anarchist movement. The reader will note the change in the title above. A commentator pointed out that what follows is more of a history of NEFAC in Québec City rather than in the whole of Québec. Duly noted.

@@@@@@@@@@
The election of Jean Charest:

On 14 April 2003, Jean Charest won the provincial election. The Liberal Party took this momentum to announce a series of measures designed to "modernize" the state (the famous "re engineering") and make the Québec economy more "competitive". Throughout the fall, we would be on the front lines in the many demonstrations against the government. The culmination of this mobilization would be the day of action on 11 December 2003. That day, tens of thousands of people went out on the streets and paralyzed Québec. We were involved in blocking the Port of Quebec where one of our comrades worked along with the the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Something unexpected was happening before our eyes: as if the labor movement finally woke from its sleep? Unfortunately, the general strike promised after the holidays by the union leadership did not materialize, killing in the bud the movement which was radicalizing. However, this upsurge of fighting unionism vividly demonstrated that the working class has the power to undermine the state and the capitalist system .. Of course it wants and decides to act against the advice of its leaders.







Also in December, the 21st issue of the anarchist newspaper "Le Trouble" came out. Produced entirely in Quebec, it was the culmination of a long process that aimed to merge this journal with the NEFAC newspaper. For several months, we wrote texts and distributed the newspaper in Quebec (up to 500 copies per issue). Members of La Nuit were also involved in the editorial committee. A little anecdote: at a demonstration of the popular movement, a "progressive" priest with whom we were discussing on the occasion pulled $50 out of his pocket for so that we could give out copies of Le Trouble to demonstrators ...






The merger process was going to fail for various reasons. There were several people in the " Le Trouble" collective who disagree with the merger. The arrival of a group of former NEFAC activists in collective definitively ended the process. NEFAC needed a newspaper to fulfill a role that Ruptures could not play : making agit-prop on a regular basis. In March of 2004, NEFAC launched its own newspaper, a 4-page publication entitled Cause Commune . The launch of the first issue took place in Quebec in "Le Lieu" gallery on the rue du Pont. We took the opportunity to show a film on the participation of anarchists in the Algerian resistance and anti-colonial struggles. Some forty people were present, including a small group of Maoists from Montreal and some anars from Saint-Georges-de-Beauce who had organized a new NEFAC collective during the summer of 2004. The federation was now present in four cities in Quebec (Montreal, Sherbrooke, St-Georges and Quebec). South of the border, NEFAC developed rapidly, as well as in Ontario. In Quebec, the collective remained the same: the question of our single sex membership(See Molly Note) had remained entirely the same for nearly two years and we failed to break out of this impasse.
@@@@@@@@@@
Molly Note:
Occasionally, when doing this sort of translation, I come across a word, local reference or figure of speech that completely mystifies me. This was the case with the word "mixité" in the original French of this article. I'd never heard this word before, and my trusty old Larousse (it's a pocket version) gave me no help. Various online translation services gave either null results or the translations "coeducation" or "mixed". I had to wing it on this one and assume that the term referred to a previous observation that there were no women in NEFAC Québec City at that time. Even so I couldn't find a convenient and succinct English word, or even phrase, that would translate the idea exactly. Hence my rather free translation of the last sentence above. If any francophones could suggest a better alternative, or point out where I have made a mistake, I would be happy to edit the above. Another thing that I have noticed while doing this translation is the writer's habit of using the present tense for events in the past. I presume that this is common usage, but I have taken the liberty of rendering the text using the various English imperfect, preterite and past perfect tenses as was appropriate. No doubt the original is more readable in French, but using the proper tense in English makes it more readable in English.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-FRANCE/IRAN:
STATEMENT OF THE CNT-AIT ON THE EVENTS IN IRAN:
If there is anything that clearly illustrates the "translator's dilemma" it is the article that follows. The English language article that follows comes from the A-Infos website. What it actually is is a melding of two previous articles, at least one of which has previously appeared in the original French at A-Infos. I don't know about the second, and apparently older item. Pour les francophones j'ai reproduit les originals ci-dessous. What is the problem here ? First, and foremost, the articles were presented without any introductory context. What I literally did at the beginning was go in search of a Spanish original from the much more well known Spanish CNT. No such luck. It took some searching to find out that this was from the AIT-affiliated French CNT, one of the two anarchosyndicalist organizations in France that claims this name. The other, and larger French CNT, the CNT Vignoles has, as far as I am able to determine released no statement on the events in Iran. It might be a good idea for any anarchist news site to provide at least a minimum of context. Yeah, I know that the "Paris" in the title should have given me a clue, but that was all it was-a clue. it was only when I read the full text in editing it that the idea that the country of origin was France became clear.







The fact that the original was in French, however, was a blessing because of the second matter. The English translation was obviously a 'machine-translation', and the resulting product was, to say the least, clumsy, and at points incomprehensible. I'm a little more comfortable in French than in Spanish, and thus the following item from A-Infos has been edited for English grammar, spelling and simple "sense" better than it would have been if the original had been in Spanish with which I am far less familiar. The second item was much more mangled by computer translation than the first.







I know the time constraints of translation. This particular item took up far more of my time than it may deserve, what with reference to the original and correcting the translation. Still...I think that it shouldn't become an ever present reflex amongst anarchists to rely on machine translations. Occasionally the time should be taken to do the work right. Computers are, after all, "stupid" in that they mindlessly follow instructions. At least to anarchists it should be obvious that sometimes a real human is necessary.







Be that as it may, here is an anarchist statement on the events in Iran.
@@@@@@@@@@
CNT-AIT - Statement in solidarity with the iran's insurgents:

IN PARIS AS WELL AS IN TEHERAN : AGAINST UNLAWFUL POWER, SOCIAL REVOLUTION !:

The dominant ideology, that is of Power, forcibly wants us to believe
that electoral democracy would be the highest expression of popular sovereignty, that elections give Power its legitimacy.
----
The Iranians, however, have just burst this lie. The Iranian elections, like all elections, are only a joke. Elections are acceptable for Power only when they go in its interests. People can express their voice as long as they say what Power desire them to say. When this it is no longer the case, Power uses all the means at its disposal, any frauds and subterfuges, to keep its dominant position. Elections are only an alibi for Power. In Iran, it is a proclaimed result opposed to reality. In Europe since 2005, Power has had reiterated ballots until the results of the referendum(for the new European constitution-Molly) were in conformity with Power’s expectations (and it even sometimes directly passes its projects without new electoral guarantees...).




The Iranian population, young and old young, let forth its anger in front of this flagrant lie of Power, which thus appears in its very raw truth. What occurs in Teheran goes beyond the question of the elections. Everyone knows that the election of one or another politician will change nothing fundamental. All the politicians - without exception – are a part of Power, even if they represent forms of it with different expressions. But regarding their basic principles, they all agree : for them privileges and easy life, for the people, hard work, unemployment, misery and police repression.




Power holds its legitimacy only with our passive submission to its dictatorship over the spirit. To say no, to release oneself from the dominant psychological influence, no longer being afraid and revolting against this submission, is the first step towards an emancipatory rupture, a first step toward revolution. In this direction, the insurgent Iranians who rose, and who expect nothing of the “oppositional” puppet ", show to us the way, that of the street.




In Europe, the electoral results of the last European elections show although Power is not more legitimate there than in Iran: with 60% of abstention, the political parties - all tendencies together – do not represent anything but themselves. Power has no more legitimacy here. These parasites steal our lives. Only a rupture with this system will enable us to find our freedom and our autonomy.




We can rely only on ourselves !
Let us have confidence in our own strength: We are all, we produce all, without our participation the system will collapse!
In solidarity with the Iranian insurrectionists, Freedom for all detainees!
To end once and for all to any dictatorship of murderous Power,
IN PARIS AS IN TEHERAN
AGAINST THE ILLEGITIMATE POWER,
SOCIAL REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST AND LIBERTARIAN!
CNT-AIT (International Workers Association)
..........
FROM IRAN TO GREECE…
LONG LIVE THE INSURRECTION AGAINST MURDEROUS POWER!:
The crowd opens to the police officer's motor bike which engulfs itself in the live mass, the acrobat who drives the humming machine has become accustomed to brutality and so he hits many defenceless unwary people. It does not seem that today the crowd that he charges is the People, a whole People electrified by the word “freedom”.




In the face of the wild henchman of the ayatollah, those – male and female - who draw aside constitute neither a trade-union nor a political group and even less stewards, like in our demos in Europe. A few minutes ago some of these persons did not know each other. And here they are assembled in the solidarity of this massive fight. Actually nobody flees, the retreat they started is a trap which is closed again on the mechanized tough. Men and women, without another weapon than their moral strength, drawn up against the dictatorship, they spontaneously reinvent the erudite tactics of Alexander the Great's phalanges against Darius ‘s scythe tanks.Like in an operation of the Roman legions surrounding Hannibal elephants, the “clubman” is caught by tens of arms and thrown on the ground.




With the Magnanimity and intelligence of revolting people : they saw under the bestial uniform that there was a young man and while his deadly engine of death starts to burn the furious fists become again helpful hands, drawing the defeated enemy aside from the fire and wipe his running blood . And these facts already speak to us more than long speeches.




That which occurs in Teheran and here in France the political commentators say to us that this heroic people would not have other ambition than to change the head of State. (This change of head being what our political economists call “democracy”, showing thereby how much they hold the People in contempt, since it would be only a change of dictator). The Iranian masses, however, daily in the street,and precisely without any leaders, demonstrate the Peoples’s ability to self-organize and to fight against a Power of murderers. This movement which started on the pretext of an electoral discussion put in motion something much deeper.




An element which does not mislead on the state of mind of Iranian people, it is the participation, by their word and by their acts, of the anonymous women who express their will to get rid of the choking headdress of the politicians and the clerics. I saw it on my screen this 14 June : she wears neither scarf nor veil, her hair is dyed blond and she wears a surgical mask to protect herself from the tear gas . She has decided and marches in the middle of her comrades. To be filmed does not matter to her. What really counts for her on this day, is to show the direction and to prompt men; "Down with the dictatorship, long life freedom! "Two days later another woman is a genuine lioness who attacks alone a band of police officers, kicking their legs while they are hitting another women at a bus stop. When the policemen men turned on this attacker, she finds refuge within the small group which reforms itself around her to protect her. All of them stay upright under the blows of the police




...... They and so many others! The young Neda shot down on the 21th of June by a murderer on the theocrats’orders. She paid of its life for the fear which seizes Power when women enter the fight. In large Pantheon of innumerable and obscure State and capitalism’s victims, Neda will remain forever in our memories, associated with Alexandre, this young Greek assassinated this winter by another murderous cop.




At that time our comrades in Athens wrote:




"Our lives do not belong to States and their assassins! The memory of the brothers and of the sisters, assassinated friends and comrades remain living through our fights! We do not forget our brothers and our sisters, we do not forgive their assassins "




So it must be said loudly : the Iranian people's fight is also our fight. What we can see in action, is nothing but this huge universal brotherhood that is gradually rising against the criminals who are ruling the world and who control us. This fight will unite us beyond borders . A fight shaped by what gives it body and which will will make it win : the Idea that one can live free, all together and with dignity, apart from the sordid plans imposed by the ideology of domination.
@@@@@@@@@@
CNT-AIT : A Teheran comme à Paris : contre l'illégitimé du pouvoir, révolution sociale !:
L'idéologie dominante, celle du Pouvoir, nous assène que la démocratie électorale serait la plus haute expression de la souveraineté populaire,que les élections donnerait au Pouvoir sa légitimité. Pourtant, les Iraniens viennent de faire éclater ce mensonge. Ces élections, comme toutes les élections, ne sont qu'une farce. Les élections ne sont acceptables pour le Pouvoir que quand elles vont dans ses intérêts. Le peuple peut donner sa voix tant qu'il dit ce que le Pouvoir aenvie d'entendre. Quand ce n'est plus le cas, le Pouvoir utilise tous les moyens à sa disposition, toutes les fraudes et les subterfuges, pour garder sa position dominante. Les élections ne sont qu'un alibi pour le Pouvoir. En Iran, c'est un résultat proclamé à l'opposé de la réalité. En Europe depuis 2005, ce sont des élections réorganisées jusqu'à ce que les résultats aux référendum soient conformes aux attentes du Pouvoir (quant il ne fait pas passer directement ses projets sans caution électorale ...).




La population iranienne, jeunes et moins jeunes, a laissé éclaté sa colère devant ce mensonge flagrant du Pouvoir, qui apparaît ainsi dans sa vérité toute crue. Ce qui se passe à Téhéran dépasse la question des élections.Tout le monde sait que l'élection de tel ou tel politicien ne changera rien de fondamental. Car tous les hommes politiques - sans exception -font partie du Pouvoir, même s'ils en représentent des formes d'expression différente. Mais sur le fond, ils sont tous d'accord : pour eux les privilèges et la vie paisible, pour le peuple, le travail dur, le chômage, la misère et la répression policière.




Le Pouvoir ne tient sa légitimité que dans notre soumission passive à sa dictature sur les esprits. Dire non, se libérer de l'emprise psychologique du discours dominant, ne plus avoir peur et se révolter contre cette soumission, sont les premier pas vers une rupture émancipatrice, révolutionnaire. En ce sens, ceux des Iraniens qui se sont insurgés, et qui n'attendent rien non plus de la marionnette « d'opposition », nous montrent le chemin, celui de la rue.




En Europe, les résultats électoraux des dernières élections européennes démontrent bien que le Pouvoir n'y est pas plus légitime qu'en Iran : avec 60% d'abstention, les partis politiques - toutes tendances confondues - ne représentent qu'eux même. Le Pouvoir n'a ici non plus aucune légitimité. Ces parasites nous volent nos vies. Seule une rupture avec ce système nous permettra de retrouver notre liberté et notre autonomie.




Ne comptons que sur nous même !
Ayons confiance dans nos propres forces :nous sommes tout, nous produisons tout, sans nous le système s'écroule !
En solidarité avec les insurgés Iraniens,Liberté pour toutes les personnes arrêtées !
Pour en en finir une fois pour toute avec la dictature du Pouvoir assassin,
A TEHERAN COMME A PARIS :
CONTRE L'ILLEGITIMITE DU POUVOIR,REVOLUTION SOCIALE, COMMUNISTE ET LIBERTAIRE !
CNT-AIT (Association Internationale des Travailleurs)
108 rue Damrémont
75018 PARIS
contact@cnt-ait.info
http://cnt-ait.info/
@@@@@@@@@@

De l’Iran à la Grèce:
La foule s’ouvre sur la moto du policier qui s’engouffre dans la masse vivante, le voltigeur qui conduit l’engin vrombissant est tellement habitué à brutaliser et à frapper des gens sans défense qu’il ne se méfie pas. Il ne voit pas qu’aujourd’hui la foule qu’il charge c’est le Peuple, tout un Peuple électrisé par le mot de liberté.




En face du sbire sauvage des ayatollah ceux et celles qui s’écartent ne constituent ni un groupe syndical ou politique et encore moins un "service d’ordre", il y a quelques minutes encore certaines de ces personnes ne se connaissaient pas et les voilà réunies dans la solidarité de cette lutte massive. En réalité personne ne fuit, le recul amorcé est un piège qui se referme sur la brute mécanisée, des hommes et des femmes, sans autre arme que leur force morale, dressés contre la dictature réinventent spontanément les savantes tactiques des phalanges d’Alexandre le Grand contre les chars à faux de Darius. Comme dans une manoeuvre des légions romaines happant les éléphants d’Hannibal, le matraqueur est saisi par des dizaines de bras et jeté a terre.




Magnanimité et intelligence du peuple révolté, sous l’uniforme bestial il y avait un jeune homme et pendant que son engin de mort commence à brûler les poings rageurs redeviennent des mains secourables, écartent l’ennemi vaincu du brasier et essuient son sang qui coule. Et ces faits nous parlent déjà plus que de longs discours.





Cela se passe à Téhéran et ici en France les commentateurs politiques nous disent que ce peuple héroique n’aurait d’autre ambition que de changer de chef. (Ce changement de chef étant que ce nos politologues nomment la démocratie, montrant par là quel mépris ils en ont, puisque ce ne serait qu’un changement de dictateur). Pourtant les masses iraniennes font quotidiennement dans la rue, et précisément sans aucun chef, la démonstration des capacitées du Peuple à s’autoorganiser et à lutter contre un pouvoir d’assassins. Ce mouvement qui a démarré au prétexte d’une controverse électorale a mis en branle quelque chose de beaucoup plus profond.





Un élément qui ne trompe pas sur l’état d’esprit du peuple iranien, c’est la participation par la parole par les actes de femmes anonymes qui expriment leur volonté de se débarrasser de la chappe étouffante du pouvoir et des religieux. Je l’ai vue sur mon écran ce 14 juin elle n’a ni foulard ni voile elle a les cheveux teints en blond et un masque chirurgical pour se protéger des grenades lacrymogénes elle est décidée et marche au milieu de ses camarades. Qu’on la filme ne lui importe pas ce qui compte pour elle en ce jour c’est de de montrer la direction et d’entrainer les hommes : « À bas la dictature, vive la liberté ! » Deux jours plus tard cette autre femme est une véritable lionne qui attaque seule à coups de pieds une bande de policiers occupés à frapper d’autres femmes à un arrêt de bus, agressée à son tour par les soudards elle se réfugie au sein du petit groupe qui se reforme autour d’elle pour la protéger, toutes restent debout sous le coups ...Elles et tant d’autres ! La jeune Neda abattue le 21 juin par un assassin aux ordres des théocrates payera de sa vie pour la peur qui s’empare du Pouvoir lorsque les femmes rentrent dans la lutte. Dans ce Panthéon immense des victimes innombrables et obscures de l’Etat et du Capitalisme Neda restera dans nos mémoires unie à Alexandre ce jeune grec assassiné cet hiver par un autre flic meurtrier.





A ce moment nos camarades d’Athènes écrivaient :





« Nos vies n’appartiennent pas aux états et leurs assassins ! La mémoire des frères et des sœurs, des amis et des camarades assassinés restent vive à travers nos luttes ! Nous n’oublions pas nos frères et nos sœurs, nous ne pardonnons pas leurs assassins »





Et il faut le dire la lutte du peuple iranien rejoint celle de tous. Ce que nous voyons en marche n’est pas autre chose que cette immense fraternité universelle qui se léve peu a peu contre les criminels qui nous gouvernent. Elle nous réunira par delà les frontières autour de que ce qui lui donne corps et qui la fera vaincre. L’Idée que l’on peut vivre libres, ensemble et dignement, en dehors des sordides schémas imposés par l’idéologie de la domination.
Un militant de la CNT-AIT