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anarchist activity in Brazil


Antimilitarists from eight countries in Latin America came together
 for the Latin American Conference of Conscientious Objectors from 
the 8th to 14th May in Paraguay. Brazil was represented by SERPAJ.
 The meeting allowed participants to exchange information and share
 experiences of the realities in each country. It also allowed for 
the planning of joint activities and concrete actions relating to
 the two major themes of antimilitarism and conscientious objection.
 During the five days various themes related to that of conscientious
 objection were also discussed including freedom, civil disobedience,
 social justice and solidarity.

Since June 94 the Brazilian Anarchist Movement has organised a 
national campaign for the liberation and against the execution of the
 anarchist Katsuhisa Omori who has been condemned to death by the
 Japanese state. Omori has been in jail for 18 years now for a crime
 he did not commit. During the first week of August letters, telegrams
 and a petition with more than 4,000 signatures calling for Omori's 
liberation were sent to the Japanese embassy in Brazil. In addition
 some cities saw public demonstrations against Japanese state
 terrorism.

As the Brazilian elections came up various parts of the country 
saw activities against politicians and the elections in general. In
 Campinas (central Sao Paulo) some anarchists burnt their ballot
 forms on the public square protesting against the electoral farce
 and the system of compulsory voting.

From the 8th to the 17th July the Festival of Art and Culture 
without Frontiers and Libertarian Education was held in Florianopolis.
 Lectures, exhibitions, performances, films and a workshop on 
computer networking were some of the attractions at this important
 event which brought together comrades from Portugal, Spain and
 Brazil. In addition to this the second southern conference of
 anarchist groups and individuals was held. The comrades who 
attended this conference decided to come together for propaganda
 purposes relating to common struggles and with the future objective
 of forming an anarchist federation.

To mark the 49th anniversary of the American bombing of Hiroshima 

anarchist groups in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Londrina and Salvador came
 out onto the streets to protest against military expenditure, war
 and the militarization of society.

The historian, film director and anarchist Valencio Xavier recently
 produced his latest short film: Pao Negro - Um Episodio da Colonia
 Cecilia. It was 40 minutes of emotion, passion and anarchy. The 
film deals with the testimony of descendants of the colony and the 
story of Rossi and two colonies that were bought as pieces of land in
 Palmeira. A book will soon also be published about Valencio and the
 history of this anarchist experiment in Brazil.

The University of Ceara saw anacho-punks from the north and 
north-east come together for a conference (15th/17th July) The 
meeting brought together individuals and groups from five separate
 states to discuss various themes.

The anarcha-feminist group in Sao Paulo (CAF) organised an anti
 homophobia event in Espaco Vadiagem on 30th July. 10 anarcho-punk 
groups performed to young audiences. The event was marred by the 
infiltration of Nazi Skinheads who were exposed and removed by some
young libertarians. Since that time some members of CAF have been the 
target of intimidation by these troublemakers.

At the university of Campinas - UNICAMP organised from 24th to 26th
 August a seminar: 20 years of the Archives of Edgar Leuenroth - one
 of the best libertarian archives in Latin America. Workshops were
 organised on the history of the left, the workers movement, 
industrialisation, human rights, culture and politics. There was also
 an international workshop discussing archives and social history. 
This was accompanied by a photographic exhibition. The conference 
closed with a talk by Professor Rudolf de Jong of the International
 Institute of Social History in Amsterdam with the title: The Spanish
 Civil War and the Anarchist Revolution. Professor Martha Ackelsberg
 also gave a talk on the women's liberation movement and the anarchist
 movement in Spain.

'The Adventures of Joao Pao an Abandoned Youth' is the title of the 
latest book by the anarchist writer Roberto Freire, published on 25th
 August by Casa da Soma in Sao Paulo. The book is a fictional account
 for young people about the adventures of street children in Brazil.
 It is all written from an anarchist perspective.




