CENTRAL NEWS
Last year saw a sharp increase in the numbers of Serhildans (rise ups) around the globe, with stronger demands of a free and just life. Mass mobilizations were witnessed in the common fight against the neo-liberal austerity measures imposed by the capital against already fragile and poor communities – not to mention, the fight against fascism alone turned into full-blown wars between the people and the state in countless cities. Mass demonstrations were held regularly by millions of people (specifically the youth) against climate change, demanding ecological reforms.
The footsteps of a revolution were heard loud and clear from Paris and La Paz to Prague and Port-au-Prince, Beirut to Bogotá and Berlin, Catalonia to Cairo, and in Hong Kong, Harare, Santiago, Sydney, Seoul, Quito, Jakarta, Tehran, Algiers, Baghdad, Budapest, London, New Delhi, Manila, and even Moscow.
These moments of international revolts, although they are not officially connected or well-organized in most cases, demonstrated a united struggle between societies against a common enemy: the capitalist system.
Though, this moment was very conveniently blocked by the coronavirus outbreak. Activists and people across the world returned to their homes, only to watch their rights be trampled on uninterruptedly by the nation-state. World’s billionaires became richer during the pandemic, while the rest of the population were left facing even more poverty.
According to the World Bank projection, the economic crisis of this year could push between 88 million to 115 million people into extreme poverty. On the other hand, more than 2,000 billionaires around the world managed to amass fortunes totalling around $10.2 trillion (€8.69 trillion) by July, surpassing the previous record of $8.9 trillion reached in 2017. This illustrates the dynamics of the world order and how inhuman the capitalist system is.
Even during the worst pandemic of our century, the nations-states did not stop their inconsiderate greediness for their own interests… and the problems we face within society; the misogyny, xenophobia, fascism and police violence, is only a trickle-down of this brutality.
The numbers of women being beaten inside their own home increased drastically, just like the number of people who were killed by police. All of this combined lead to a new wave of mass demonstrations across the world in the recent months, the reaction of the people became clear: “ENOUGH!”
CHILE
Recently, on the 18th of October, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Chile to commemorate the one-year anniversary of revolts that have being taking place in the country.
The protests started in October of last year against the increasing prices of public transportation and soon flourished into a fight against the neo-liberal agenda of the country.
This led to the initiation of a referendum process where the Chilean people will decide next Sunday, if they should have a new constitution. The current constitution in Chile is the leftovers of a military dictatorship: a period which took the life of 70,000 people.
Since the beginning of these protests, at least 36 people have being killed by police officers, 12,000 were injured (more than 300 of them lost the vision in at least one eye) and 30,000 were detained.
INDONESIA
It has been a long time since Indonesia witnessed the mass mobilization that are taking place right now in the country. Millions went out to demonstrate against the job law presented by government. A national strike was called by workers unions and students. Around the country, the strike has been largely peaceful, although protesters clashed with the police in some cities. Organizers said protests were held in more than 60 locations, stretching from Aceh Province in the west to Papua Province more than 3,000 miles east. They estimated that about one million people joined the marches each day, though the figure could not be verified.
THAILAND
The ongoing 2020 Thai protest are a series of protests against the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, which have included demands for reform of the Thai monarchy, unprecedented in the contemporary era. Currently, in the country, if someone critiques the monarchy, the person would respond to crime charges and could take up to 15 years in jail. Some demands of the students mass mobilizations, include abortion rights; end of authoritarianism in Thai schools (including hazing); education reform; labour rights (trade unionism); military reform (ending conscription and reducing the defence budget’s), end of monopolies, and women’s rights.
NIGERIA
Nigerian people are taking the streets demanding an end to police brutality, only to be met with more state brutality. Protests over a now-banned police unit – the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) – have been taking place for two weeks, with demonstrators using the social media hashtag #EndSars to rally crowds.
Recently the governor of Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos imposed a state-wide curfew and deployed riot police on Tuesday in response to growing protests. SARS was banned on October 11 and a new police unit to replace it will be trained by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Reuters reported Monday.
Protesters are demanding further protections against the police, including independent oversight and psychological evaluation of officers. Despite the state-wide curfew, eyewitnesses have told CNN that multiple demonstrators have been shot by soldiers.
MEXICO
Last month, women in black balaclavas lined the upstairs balconies of the 19th-century building – and speaker after speaker expressed their fury at the country’s crisis of violence against women. One middle-aged woman whose niece and sister have both disappeared, brandished a fistful of documents from their CNDH case files. “I did this correctly. I sat here for hours and nothing happened,” she shouted, before shredding the papers and tossing them from the balcony – “The institutions can go to hell, because they don’t respect people’s human rights.”
In August 2019, feminist protesters set fire to a police station and a bus terminal in the heart of Mexico City after news broke of rapes committed by police officers in the capital.
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has sought to mirror itself in various processes of struggle and resistance that are “below and to the left,” as they say. For this reason they have decided to travel beyond Mexico, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and against the backdrop of irregular or low-intensity warfare that is becoming more acute not only in Zapatista lands but across the Indigenous territories of Mexico and Latin America. In a communicated published on October 8, the Zapatistas emphasize that it is time for mutual listening and exploration with other resistances and rebellions. In the midst of the pandemic, which “demonstrated not only the vulnerabilities of human beings, but also the greed and stupidity of the national governments and their supposed opposition groups,” they announce that they will travel to countries at the other end of the continent.
BOLIVIA
After 11 months of political turmoil that bitterly divided the nation, two independent surveys late on Sunday showed Luis Arce, the candidate for Morales’s Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party, with more than 50 percent of the vote – well above the second place centrist rival Carlos Mesa, who had slightly over 30 percent, and far more than the requirements to avoid a run-off.
During the end of the last year, the country was hit by a military coup financed by companies and racists movements that lead to the renunce of Evo Moreales and attacks against indigenous people; several died in few days of chaotic instability.
During the last months, the people have taken to the streets in many forms to oppose the coup, with blockades, actions, mass demonstrations and confrontation with fascists…at the end, the people’s will surpass the coup.
AMERICA
The recent Black Lives Matter protests peaked on June 6, when half a million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States. That was a single day in more than a month of protests that still continue to today.
Four recent polls — including one released this week by Civis Analytics, a data science firm that works with businesses and Democratic campaigns — suggest that about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks.
During these demonstrations, fascists supporters of Trump attacked people and organized demonstrations defending the police under a campaign by the name “back the blue”.
Under their new slogan “Bi hev re serhildan!” (Revolt together), the TCŞ and TEKO-JIN organizations called for all Kurdish and anti-fascist youth living in Europe to act together. This initiative should also reach the revolutionary youth all around the world to rise up for a free and just life, for social ecology, women’s right and real democracy.
NC// Sara Dorşîn
