A-Infos (en) Uruguay, fAu: FAU Opinion Letter / October 2025 - In the 21st Century, We Are Living Through a Genocide (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel against the Palestinian 
people takes us back to the worst periods of our recent past as 
humanity, but it is a present that exposes the reality of the capitalist 
system in this era. Israel, with the support of the US and the European 
Union, is perpetrating an unprecedented genocide in this century, in the 
face of the passivity of international organizations and many states in 
the region itself. ---- The Palestinian people, made pariahs after the 
creation of the State of Israel in 1948, following the partition of 
Palestinian territory by the UN in 1947, have suffered every possible 
atrocity ever since. A second Nakba ("Catastrophe") is what this people 
is experiencing, due to the economic and political-messianic interests 
of the Zionist collective that has governed the State since its founding.

This Zionist state has worked all this time to objectify Palestinians, 
to turn them into "trash," into disposable material, therefore liable to 
be mass murdered without anyone saying a word. The genocidal mechanism 
that Nazism applied to the Jewish people is being repeated. Now the 
State of Israel has managed to make a large part of the Israeli 
population accept the murder of children and women without question in 
order to expand its "Greater Israel" project. There are large investment 
projects underway to create large hotel complexes in Gaza, along the 
Mediterranean coast, and to expand Israeli settlements into Palestinian 
territory.

The genocide has already claimed more than 67,000 certified lives; some 
organizations put the number tenfold. For two years now, we have been 
receiving images of dismembered children, children killed in piles, 
malnourished children carrying water or food, women and men weeping for 
their children, families decimated and torn apart, hunger... The Gaza 
Strip has been devastated.

All of this is done with the complicity of the Arab monarchies (Saudi 
Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, among others) that have major 
business dealings with Israel and political alliances mediated by the 
US. Many interests are at stake when it comes to importing the lives of 
millions of human beings... That is the mentality of the ruling classes, 
those at the top, in that region and in Israel, the US, and Europe.

But in different parts of the world, people are demonstrating against 
this genocide, holding massive marches and boycotting Israeli companies 
or those that support Israel. The flotilla of ships carrying supplies 
that attempted to break the blockade-and which was captured in a true act of

Piracy and international terrorism perpetrated by Israel-including the 
kidnapping of its crews-and mobilizations of Jews against this genocide, 
both inside and outside Israel, clearly demonstrate that it is the 
people and popular organizations that are confronting this attempt to 
exterminate the Palestinian people, who are denied even the most basic 
rights, including the right to life and existence. These mobilizations 
are becoming increasingly widespread, even here in our country.

But it seems the Uruguayan government still struggles to recognize that 
this is genocide. It fears the Zionist lobby will act against the 
Uruguayan state, and Orsi kneels submissively before those with blood on 
their hands. The Uruguayan state must sever relations with Israel now!

To close this chapter, two points should be noted: first, this genocide 
being perpetrated against the Palestinian people is not an isolated 
incident, the sole product of Zionist aberration and the delusions of 
conquest of Jewish fascists. No; it is part of a model being implemented 
globally for "surplus populations," those who happen to be settled in 
territories deemed valuable for their resources or other reasons that 
make them important to transnational and imperialist capital. This is 
not the only instance of genocide in the last 30-odd years: we can look 
back to the genocide between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, sponsored by 
imperialist powers, the war that dismembered the former Yugoslavia, the 
invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, among others. Furthermore, these 
genocides were not thoroughly investigated, much less were their true 
perpetrators punished, and at the international legal level, the 
groundwork was laid to justify new genocides and ethnic cleansing.

In Latin America, various Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples have 
suffered genocidal policies on different scales for over 530 years. But 
what is being established here with Gaza is the possibility for the 
system to carry out mass human extermination, with the complicity of 
what they call the "international community," and for this to operate in 
favor of the expansion of the capitalist system itself, whether at the 
level of resource exploitation, investments, state expansion plans, or 
population control. The billionaires and their organizations themselves 
say it: the capitalist system can tolerate 2 billion inhabitants on the 
planet. Therefore, 6 billion of us are superfluous. It is from this 
perspective that this entire policy of death, or necropolitics, and 
population control unfolds, with different variations, nuances, and 
experiences in various parts of the world. It is the deployment of the 
capitalist system at a stage where the arms industry is a fundamental 
driving force in the economic sphere, but also where we are in the midst 
of a struggle for the world order.

Secondly, the Palestinian Resistance is dealing heavy blows to the 
Israeli army daily. Deaths, injuries, soldiers who refuse to return to 
Gaza, those suffering from mental health issues, and several soldiers 
who have committed suicide are the toll this genocide is taking on the 
Israelis, without

Counting the attacks from Yemen and Iran in the so-called "Twelve-Day 
War." Palestinian resistance maintains high levels of coordination among 
armed militias of different political orientations, a process that began 
before 2020. Therefore, this genocide is not only a response to 
Operation "Al-Aqsa Storm" on October 7, 2023; it is a response to an 
advance of the Palestinian resistance in terms of territorial liberation 
and the achievement of the Palestinian state, already recognized by more 
than 140 countries at the last assembly of the now-defunct United Nations.

The struggle for global hegemony. Imperial ambitions over Latin America

There are several fronts of conflict internationally. In addition to the 
situation in the Middle East, the war between Ukraine and Russia 
continues, and there is tension in various parts of the world: India and 
Pakistan, and here in Latin America, US imperialism is once again 
showing its claws. Underlying all these conflicts is the dispute between 
the US and Chinese empires. The struggle for global hegemony is the 
order of the day, and the US, in particular, moves very quickly, taking 
advantage of any opportunity to destabilize a territory, change 
governments, or do whatever serves its interests, so that China loses 
influence.

The aggression shown by the US toward China, the world's largest 
economic power today, is more than worrying. It's a straightforward, 
bellicose discourse. The American empire is concerned about China and 
the BRICS, and above all, about the potential loss of its global 
hegemony to the Asian nation.

On the other hand, Trump's tariffs have led to some price increases for 
certain products internationally, but they haven't had a beneficial 
effect on the US economy, at least not yet. These imperialist displays 
of power are nothing more than the flip side of the progressive 
weakening of the US economy, at least.

The last bastion of US imperialism is Latin America. Having withdrawn 
from the Middle East, at least militarily, since it has failed to 
effectively dominate the territories it invaded (Iraq, Afghanistan), it 
now sees its "backyard," as they call us, as territory to "reconquer" or 
regain control of, given that in the last 20 years, China and Russia 
have been gaining ground in this region, especially China with 
investments and commercial activity.

One of the first measures of the Trump administration was to regain 
control of the Panama Canal, buying two nearby ports that were in the 
hands of Chinese companies and threatening and disciplining the 
government of that country.

Then the threat against Venezuela under the pretext of drug 
trafficking... It should be laughable. But when the Americans threaten, 
they're up to something. Let's remember the same case, but in Panama, in 
1989.

He also accused Noriega of being a drug trafficker, the Panamanian 
dictator who replaced Omar Torrijos after the latter was assassinated by 
the CIA for his skill in negotiating with the US government under James 
Carter for the handover of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian state in 
2000. In this case, it was true; Noriega allowed Pablo Escobar's cocaine 
to be smuggled by small planes to the US, and when Noriega wanted to 
take a share of the business for himself, the US saw its opportunity. 
They invaded the country, imprisoned him, reorganized the drug 
trafficking operation, and then began the pursuit of Escobar. But that 
invasion left a primary toll of more than 3,000 Panamanians dead, with 
working-class neighborhoods in Panama City and Colón, among other 
places, being razed. Thus, the US "liberated" Panamanians from the 
dictator Noriega, who was the US man in Panama.

The accusations they're leveling against the Venezuelan government are 
ridiculous. It turns out the US and its anti-drug agency have taken over 
12 years to realize that Maduro runs a drug cartel... Nobody believes 
that. The US's only interest is Venezuelan oil and eliminating a 
government that has stood up to them both on the continent and 
internationally, a government that has helped a large number of small 
Caribbean countries economically, including Cuba.

The Venezuelan people will pay the price for a Yankee invasion there 
with their blood. This is the same people who have already suffered a 
fierce US economic blockade, an attempt to strangle their economy, and 
the resulting damage. The US seeks the total submission of Venezuela and 
to install its friends in power, like Corina Machado, a bourgeois and 
die-hard fascist, recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. A coup plotter 
and murderer. This is the "democracy" the US wants to impose.

Of course, there are other governments that are friendly to the US, 
especially under Trump. Bukele in El Salvador and Milei in Argentina. 
Bukele has moved toward a dictatorial government. The Legislative branch 
has been almost completely dismantled-the Judicial branch was the 
first-and he rents out his prisons to Trump for the deportation of 
immigrants. A government with clear neo-fascist leanings, which, under 
the pretext of "security" and "the fight against gangs," has turned the 
country into a prison. Now, in this new phase, he is advancing his 
authoritarian and neoliberal economic project.

In the case of Milei's Argentina, we have the riskiest experiment the 
capitalist system is currently undertaking in economic and social 
matters. They are trying to take the market, the private economy, to its 
extreme. As we have already said, if they could, they would privatize 
the police and the army. They haven't been able to do it, but they have 
established the possibility and the mindset that could make it possible.

Milei is not crazy; he is a product of the local and international 
ruling classes, designed to perpetuate the capitalist system. He governs 
for a local and international elite, and his policies are genocidal, 
perpetrated through hunger on multiple levels: cuts and elimination of 
social programs, hospital closures,

Pensions are under attack, as is everything he has labeled as "spending" 
that, according to his ordoliberal vision, hinders economic growth. 
While he starves the population and attacks public services, corruption 
scandals are being uncovered, and he is indebting the country to an 
unsustainable degree with the IMF, which is on the verge of bankruptcy 
and a potential social explosion. Rejection of the government is 
growing, although the right wing has consolidated a third of public 
opinion, which is expressed through voting. For a sector of the right, 
Milei is already a problem. They are already considering a "change-up 
plan," and Kirchnerism is severely weakened, with little capacity to 
respond and electorally mobilize.

Yes, on a social level, in the streets, anger and discontent are 
manifesting themselves. Retirees, workers, and the unemployed are once 
again gaining significant momentum in their mobilizations after some 
years of relative inactivity. Something is brewing there; these 
mobilizations will surely increase. Some forms of coordination are 
already emerging, such as in the city of Rosario within labor unions. 
The attack suffered by the Argentine people is extremely severe.

A new cycle of struggles on the continent?

In recent months, we have witnessed a series of mobilizations in the 
region. A new increase in diesel prices has prompted the indigenous 
peasant movement to take to the streets in Ecuador, with road blockades 
and marches occurring in various parts of the country. The repression 
has been intense and has claimed the life of at least one peasant. The 
neoliberal government of Noboa, which is also accused of widespread 
corruption, faces a new popular mobilization, the development of which 
we will follow. The Ecuadorian people have a history of toppling several 
governments and paralyzing the country for weeks, as they did in 2019.

On the other hand, in Peru, Lima's youth and transport workers have been 
mobilizing, especially driven by demands for "security," criticizing the 
dictatorship of Dina Boularte, now deposed by the legislature. Real 
power rests with the Fujimori clan, but their room for maneuver is 
limited, except in the realm of repression. It's worth remembering that 
the indigenous communities of the highlands led widespread protests 
against the coup in 2022 and 2023. There's talk here of youth 
participation, of the so-called "Generation Z," but the truth is that 
student federations are participating in these demonstrations, and it's 
not a phenomenon exclusive to social media, as some media outlets try to 
portray it in order to depoliticize this movement.

In Paraguay, youth and the indigenous movement are also mobilizing. 
Youth have been demonstrating in Asunción, while the indigenous 
movement, organized under ANIVID (National Indigenous Articulation for a 
Dignified Life), is blocking roads at various points throughout the 
country, demanding an end to violent evictions and full recognition of 
their ancestral rights to the lands they inhabit.

In Brazil, the popular movement is taking to the streets against the 
possibility of a parliamentary resolution releasing Bolsonaro, convicted 
for his attempted coup in January 2023. Police repression has also 
claimed the lives of three farmers from the Landless Workers' Movement 
in the state of Pará, highlighting the ongoing violence in rural areas 
and the role of employers and the far right.

In Central America, the Panamanian people continue their protests, and 
in Guatemala there are significant mobilizations.

These protests are likely to continue and intensify, with other 
communities joining in, given the high levels of violence across the 
continent, such as the murder of Julia Chuñil in Chile, who was burned 
alive by her killers with the complicity of the Boric government, which 
represses those who fight for and defend nature and their rights. Many 
Indigenous communities are reclaiming their lands and defending nature 
against the advance of extractivism and multinational corporations. We 
may be witnessing a new cycle of struggles on the continent, or a 
continuation of the cycle that began in 2019 and was interrupted by the 
Covid pandemic. Undoubtedly, the mobilization has not yet reached the 
levels of that time, but this development is significant.

Within this context, there is the situation in Bolivia, where the MAS 
party is clearly disintegrating and the right wing is poised to regain 
power. But the Bolivian people have accustomed us to high levels of 
dignity and resilience. Surely, this heroic people will once again give 
us news.

Ultimately, it is the oppressed classes throughout Latin America who 
resist and open up possibilities for deeper progress for those at the 
bottom. These are times of struggle, of people in the streets. 
Neoliberalism generates mobilization and revolt. Our rich history is a 
source of method and experience.

In this little country....

After an election campaign where countless great ideas were expressed to 
win the popular vote, immediate plans, medium and long-term plans, the 
treasury has determined that we must be cautious with spending, and that 
caution is paid for by those at the bottom.

The guidelines for the new government in the next five years are clearly 
expressed through the salary guidelines and the presented budget; the 
summary is clear: the great popular needs are not met under any 
circumstances.

During the campaign, there was extensive discussion about the child 
welfare emergency and the number of children born into poverty. All 
parties described this grave situation as unacceptable, proposing plans 
and measures. However, nothing has happened to radically change the 
reality; no emergency child welfare plan has emerged to reverse this 
tragedy.

immediate action, using the excuse of insufficient funds and the 
previous government's manipulation of state finances. However, spending 
on repressive forces was increased and maintained, and this is the key 
issue. The majority of the Five-Year Budget goes to the Armed Forces, 
including the Military Pension Fund, paying privileged pensions to 
torturers and perpetrators of genocide. They speak of popular sentiment 
on one hand, but on the other, their actions are aimed at maintaining 
privileges and strengthening the repressive arm. They talked about a 
"revolution of simple things," yet there hasn't even been the slightest 
change.

that the Military Fund maintains and increases its privilege in society 
and the repressive forces remain intact and there are plans to increase 
its budget in the five-year period.

The allocations for housing and education follow the same pattern. In 
terms of the education budget, the new Five-Year Budget Law offers 
little change. Education not only remains a low priority for the 
government, but it will also receive fewer financial resources to 
implement the policies demanded by grassroots organizations. The 
long-standing proposal of 6% for ANEP (National Administration of Public 
Education) and Udelar (University of the Republic), plus 1% for 
research, is once again relegated to a mere campaign promise. It is 
clear that with this law, those figures will not even be met, even 
considering the budget allocation to UTEC (Technological University).

Beyond this perspective, the budget allocation is also insufficient in 
terms of what the agencies themselves requested as a base budget to fund 
their policies. The executive branch proposes, for the year 2029, to 
cover only 11.3% of what ANEP requested, 3.4% of what Udelar requested, 
and 59.5% of what UTEC requested. In other words, this budget is not 
even enough to cover the needs that the state agencies themselves intend 
to address.

One of this government's key campaign promises regarding the education 
budget has been the expansion of the food scholarship program. In this 
regard, what they are trying to sell as an achievement and progress is 
the funding of 70,000 Butiá scholarships (23% of public secondary school 
enrollment) and 20,000 food scholarships in secondary education (15% of 
enrollment).

Regarding teachers' salaries, the signing of a wage agreement by 
education unions is currently under discussion. This agreement, which 
the bureaucratic majorities in the various unions intend to impose on 
workers, includes a freeze on real wages for the next two years and then 
addresses some aspects related specifically to non-teaching staff, but 
these do not substantially improve the working conditions and salaries 
of teachers.

Finally, there is virtually no allocation in terms of construction and 
infrastructure; the demands for the construction of new high schools, 
such as

The high school in La Teja or the new high school in Las Piedras, 
demands deeply felt by the community and by teachers' unions, will be 
sitting in a drawer for the next 5 years.

In housing, the people's demands will continue to go unmet, and the 
budget allocation remains as shameful as in previous budgets. Paying 
rent consumes more than a month's salary, and the thousands living in 
inhumane conditions will continue to suffer this torment. Thousands are 
on the streets, thousands are paying exorbitant rents, and there is no 
budget for affordable housing like that built through mutual aid 
cooperatives. Twenty percent of the population rents, and for several 
decades, only 0.5% of the budget has been allocated to affordable 
housing. Today, there are 667 informal settlements where 200,000 people 
live in precarious conditions. We are far from understanding housing as 
an essential human right, as long as tax breaks for construction 
companies continue and the construction of gated communities is favored.

In social security, the opinion of 111 economists is being disregarded, 
despite nearly a million people expressing their opposition to the AFAPS 
(Pension Fund Administrators). You won't see us participating in the 
"national dialogue" on social security, nor in those charades... 
Firstly, because we cannot conceive that anything can be resolved 
through "dialogue" with those who benefit from the current conditions, 
at the expense of the misery of thousands...

Any instance of negotiation, exchange, or potential solution to an 
issue, in our humble opinion, must be based on street protests, 
mobilization, and conflict. This generates a favorable correlation for 
establishing conditions that tip the scales in favor of popular 
interests-conditions for dialogue or negotiation imposed through 
struggle. Any proposal must be built from the bottom up, constructed, 
analyzed, and debated by thousands of people at the grassroots level and 
within popular organizations.

There is no other option that meets more conditions in this regard than 
those we defended on the plebiscite ballot, which were boycotted by the 
enemies of the people and particularly by the technocracy that lives off 
the benefits of this unjust system.

This technocracy, along with business interests, is currently leading 
the process, essentially proposing no changes to the disastrous pension 
reform enacted by the right wing and business associations. They have 
defended the bailout of their own pension fund and attacked any increase 
for those with the least resources.

The total absence of a struggle strategy that promotes popular demands, 
based on the widespread acceptance of the ballot's contents by workers 
and the poor, clearly demonstrates a willingness to participate in a 
symposium and a charade of participation that will surely end in 
nothing, seeking some placebo for the most disadvantaged while 
consolidating the most regressive aspects for the benefit of employers, 
including exemptions, subsidies, and all kinds of perks in their 
contributions.

So...we will not participate in this circus, this lobbying, which robs 
us of time and political independence to develop our strategic proposals 
as a class. Don't count us in for that charade.

Salary advice guidelines are no exception in this scenario

De-indexing wages, leaving out of the adjustments elements of the basic 
basket and innovations that do not guarantee a real increase, nor even 
accompany the economic changes that always favor the employer and big 
capital.

More than half a million workers with substandard wages find no way out 
of their situation with these wage guidelines; unemployment is 
concentrated among young people and women, with no prospect of change to 
create a living wage and establish some semblance of justice. These are 
starvation wage guidelines that protect employers. After a process of 
wage freezes and cuts that has yielded the results we see today, it is 
necessary to implement significant increases that will change this 
reality immediately.

Anti-union repression and employer abuses are rampant. The government is 
complicit in this situation by failing to develop policies that curb 
corporate impunity. Employers are standing firm in their efforts to 
dismantle hard-won gains and unions, as seen in the dairy and fishing 
sectors, where, after a prolonged conflict, the government failed to 
take the most basic action: revoking fishing permits from entrenched 
employers who have been profiting since the dictatorship and addressing 
a legitimate workers' demand.

Structural changes are being planned, for example in transportation, 
opening the door not only to multinational corporations but also 
allocating public funds that could be used for other emergencies. 
However, at the behest of international organizations, changes are being 
planned and implemented that, without strong union resistance, will 
decimate current sources of employment. Passenger rail transport is 
being allowed to die, isolating entire inland communities that have no 
way to travel for work, healthcare, or education.

To grasp the scale of our nation's plight, let's look at the following 
figures. In our country, approximately 1,200,000 people are salaried 
workers, both public and private. 548,000 of these salaried workers earn 
up to 25,000 pesos per month, and within that group, nearly 166,000 earn 
less than 15,000 pesos; furthermore, there are

164,000 unemployed. Adding together those earning substandard wages and 
the unemployed, we have 712,000 people unable to earn a living wage, or 
any wage at all, representing 40% of the economically active population. 
This figure indicates the capitalist model's tendency to generate 
enormous numbers of unemployed and underemployed workers in order to 
exploit them at will. Added to this situation of precariousness and 
low-paying jobs, informality becomes intractable, with a national rate 
of 23.7%, a rate that masks realities.

infamous departmental figures, with the most affected departments being 
Artigas (55.8%), Cerro Largo (47%) and Tacuarembó (38.8%).

It's important to ask ourselves how long we will continue waiting for a 
fair share of the wealth we workers generate. Today, with the incredible 
power of technology and increased production, we can no longer tolerate 
starvation wages; the pie must be shared. The country's GDP has grown to 
over 81 billion dollars, which would entitle each inhabitant to 
approximately 24,000 dollars annually, roughly 87,000 pesos per month 
per person. This is the wealth we workers create, and it's being taken 
by the bosses, who are increasingly becoming enormous multinational 
conglomerates. We don't even see their faces, yet they steal the bread 
meant for hungry children, condemning them to poverty.

The consequence of all this is the extreme poverty endured by thousands 
of our brothers and sisters living on the streets, in shantytowns, in 
the forgotten corners of the country. In a country that produces enough 
food for over 36 million people, 400,000 Uruguayans still lack 
sufficient food to meet their basic needs. This cannot be fixed with 
government assistance; it must be fixed, first and foremost, by taxing 
big business.

In Uruguay, there are 17,675 millionaires, about whom little data 
exists, not even the total volume of their wealth, which is surely 
concentrated in the hands of a few thousand individuals. Other data 
indicates that 35 to 40% of the country's wealth is held by 1% of the 
population. That is to say, between 28 and 32 billion dollars are in the 
hands of approximately 34,000 people. It is likely that their level of 
wealth is even higher. The tax proposed by the PIT-CNT on these sectors 
would raise 800 million dollars, close to 1% of GDP, which is a 
considerable sum, but insufficient.

However, various political and managerial representatives of the 
country's elite came forward to criticize this idea, arguing that it 
would harm the economy. They are unwilling to contribute a single peso 
to society; these bourgeois are nothing but miserable rats. Any minimal 
change is seen by this idle class as a "revolutionary" measure. This is 
the history of our country: they raise a huge outcry against every 
attempt at taxes or small reforms, including the issue of land and its 
distribution to the working class. For the local bourgeoisie, their 
profits and properties are not up for debate. They have historically 
blocked any progress in this area.

The question we at the bottom, the popular movement as a whole, have to 
ask ourselves is: how long are we going to tolerate the rich taking all 
the wealth while we have comrades in the streets, hungry and living in 
widespread misery?

A past that calls us to a future of justice

This October, our organization celebrates its 69th anniversary. We also 
commemorate the 89th anniversary of the Spanish Revolution, the epic 
struggle of the Spanish people for a different society, fighting with 
arms against fascism and the dominant classes and sectors between 1936 
and 1939. This did not emerge from nothing; it was forged over more than 
70 years of grassroots organizing, building Popular Power in those 
lands, which, in the heat of war, allowed for the Revolution and the 
construction of libertarian socialist collectives.

That history and example of thousands of social activists throughout the 
world, but also here, the example of our comrades like Juan Carlos 
Mechoso, Elena Quinteros, Pablo Farías, Telba Juárez and so many others 
who have planted the seed of popular struggle for a different society, 
without oppressed or oppressors, calls us to continue that struggle.

The road is long; it must be built and traveled. It is with the people 
in the streets and from the ground up.

LET'S DEFEAT THE POLICIES OF HUNGER!!

NO TO THE GENOCIDE OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE!!

LONG LIVE THOSE WHO FIGHT!!

URUGUAYAN ANARCHIST FEDERATION

https://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/carta-opinion-fau-octubre-2025/
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