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23. Argentina Crisis Sparks Cooperative Growth 100 legal, worker-owned cooperatives in Argentina, which range The citizens of Argentina are cooperatively rebuilding their in size from eight employees to over a thousand. Roughly 10 country, rising above the financial devastation caused by decades businesses a month are being taken over and run by the employees. of privatisation and military leadership. Most of them share a model similar to Brukman's, where the By December 2001 the International Monetary Fund recipe had workers elect the managers of the company and the profits are split gone sour, destroying currency values and employment levels. among the workers. The original owners often attempt to evict The IMF "recipe" had used loans to prop up an overvalued peso as workers, but are unsuccessful either because they are legally well as push the multinational privatisation of Argentinian compa- challenged or because members of the local neighbourhood nies. The resulting crisis left thousands of people unemployed. assemblies show up and hold nonviolent protests and vigils against Fearing a run on the banks, the government froze accounts, enrag- the eviction of the workers. ing a public that was already nervous about losing their life sav- ings. Millions took to the streets throughout the country. 24. US Aid to Israel Fuels Repressive Occupation in The President resigned and, within a month, Argentina had Palestine defaulted on US$132 billion of foreign debt and was suffering a 25 US aid to Israel over the course of its 54 years of nationhood has per cent unemployment rate, a middle class rapidly slipping into fuelled the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, superseding poverty, widespread hunger and mounting crime. What had once Palestinian rights to self-government. been the world's seventh richest nation found itself in complete During the last 25 years, US aid to Israel has comprised about 60 economic, political and social collapse. per cent military aid and 40 per cent economic aid. There is a new Alva Sotelo was a seamstress at a plan to phase out all economic aid by Brukman factory in Buenos Aires, 2008 in order to have all the aid going to where, like many other debt-burdened the military. Israel receives about factories, the owners cut their losses There are about 100 legal, US$3 billion a year in direct aid and $3 and abandoned the plant. With the worker-owned cooperatives in billion a year in indirect aid in the form idea of survival fuelling the factory's . . or of special loans and grants. It is with "former" employees, they began sleep- Argentina, which range In size this aid that Israel has been able to con- ing in the factory, hoping their from eight employees to over tinue the comprehensive and unrelent- employers would come back and pay ing occupation of the West Bank and their wages. Eventually, the workers a thousand. Roughly 10 Gaza. at Brukman and hundreds of other pre- businesses a month are being Today, Israel is bulldozing Palestinian farmers’ olive trees in order to build an encompassing 30-foot-high viously employed factory workers, having no other alternative, began taken over and run by the slowly to run the factory themselves. employees. cement wall with gun towers and elec- The workers at Brukman elected a six- tric fencing to imprison Palestinians member commission to coordinate the and the entire West Bank. Israeli forces work; they managed to pay off the have commandeered the Western debts with factory profits and pay work- Aquifer (which constitutes 50 per cent ers an equal amount by dividing the remaining profits. of the West Bank's water supply) and thousands of acres of The middle and lower classes have joined in a grassroots move- Palestinian agricultural land. Since Israel barred most Palestinians ment to take back the country. The power vacuum is being filled from working inside Israel, unemployment in the West Bank has by an array of grassroots democratic organisations. Asambleas soared to over 50 per cent. Agriculture is therefore more important populares (popular assemblies) are occurring all over the country, than ever. including in over 200 neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires alone. Square foot by square foot, olive tree by olive tree, village by These assemblies consist of people gathering in parks or plazas to village, Israel is relentlessly taking over Jerusalem, the West Bank address problems facing their communities: food distribution, and Gaza with the full support of the American taxpayer. health care, day care, welfare and transportation. "The spirit on the streets and in the assemblies is that people can govern themselves," 25. Convicted Corporations Receive Perks Instead of notes [SIC] Magazine. Punishment According to one poll, one third of Argentinians have attended a American energy giant Enron and telecommunications company popular assembly, and "35 per cent say the assemblies constitute'a | WorldCom committed massive corporate fraud and illegal acts. new form of political organization'". Many people have even dis- Declaring bankruptcy in December 2001, they left thousands of engaged themselves from the formal peso economy by joining American workers jobless and without pensions. "barter clubs"—neighbourhood-based economic networks, often The Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, and with their own currency, that let citizens trade goods and services Corpwatch, a multinational watchdog group, have uncovered evi- without dealing with the banks. The barter system now accounts dence of bribery scandals, environmental degradation and viola- for US$400 to $600 million worth of business. tions of international and labour laws. The spirit of the cooperative is alive and well in cities, rural Yet Enron still has a 25 per cent interest in a Bolivian oil compa- areas and neighbourhoods all over Argentina. Neighbourhood ny called Transredes. Working with Shell Oil, the company is assemblies have organised alternative forms of survival such as building a pipeline through Bolivia's Chaco Forest region—an area street-corner soup kitchens. Food donations are now replacing internationally known for its biodiversity, endangered species and money as the price of entrance to cultural events. Community gar- as the ancestral homeland of the indigenous Guarani and Guianeck dens are prospering. peoples. In December 2002, Transredes was granted US$220 mil- The most extraordinary of these new forms of survival are lion in loans from the International Development Bank, to be worker cooperatives like the Brukman factory. There are about backed by US taxpayer dollars. oo 100 legal, worker-owned cooperatives in Argentina, which range in size from eight employees to over a thousand. Roughly 10 businesses a month are being taken over and run by the employees. Most of them share a model similar to Brukman's, where the workers elect the managers of the company and the profits are split among the workers. The original owners often attempt to evict workers, but are unsuccessful either because they are legally challenged or because members of the local neighbourhood assemblies show up and hold nonviolent protests and vigils against the eviction of the workers. There are about 100 legal, worker-owned cooperatives in ae aa av nataya| Nae De ea ee Argentina, which range in size from eight employees to over a thousand. Roughly 10 businesses a month are being taken over and run by the employees. 25. Convicted Corporations Receive Perks Instead of Punishment American energy giant Enron and telecommunications company WorldCom committed massive corporate fraud and illegal acts. Declaring bankruptcy in December 2001, they left thousands of American workers jobless and without pensions. The Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC, and Corpwatch, a multinational watchdog group, have uncovered evi- dence of bribery scandals, environmental degradation and viola- tions of international and labour laws. Yet Enron still has a 25 per cent interest in a Bolivian oil compa- ny called Transredes. Working with Shell Oil, the company is building a pipeline through Bolivia's Chaco Forest region—an area internationally known for its biodiversity, endangered species and as the ancestral homeland of the indigenous Guarani and Guianeck peoples. In December 2002, Transredes was granted US$220 mil- lion in loans from the International Development Bank, to be backed by US taxpayer dollars. oo 18 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazi ne.com DECEMBER 2003 — JANUARY 2004