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Statements from Felicity Ryder and Mario López Hernández

Jul 24, ’12 8:05 PM

There has been much in the Mexican press about an Australian anarchist apparently sought in connection with bombings/attempted bombings. The statement below from Felicity Ryder appeared on Liberacion Total, and there’s no reason to believe it is not genuine.

Statement from
Felicity Ryder

Comrades, friends,
I would have liked to have written earlier, but for various circumstances I haven´t had the chance to yet. I want to send a warm greeting and say thanks to everyone who has worried about me and my situation, to those who have shown solidarity with Mario and I. In these difficult moments it means a lot to have people standing in solidarity from near or from far, even without ever having met me. I sent a revolutionary hug to all of you.

I want to clarify that despite all of the lies of the Mexico City police forces and the mass media, I was never arrested and they never had me detained in any of their prisons. I have tried to understand why they would have said that and spread such false information throughout Mexico as well as Australia, but at the end of the day, as a free person I don´t think like a police officer, and I won´t be able to understand. If it was to try in vain to break or manipulate Mario, to manipulate my family, or to try to appear half competent in doing their jobs, I don´t know.

What I do know is that I am proud of being an Anarchist, and proud to be an enemy of authority and the State.

To my brother Mario, I send him a giant hug and much strength and health. I know that he will always maintain his convictions strong, as well as his desire to achieve Total Liberation. I will always be by your side, compañero. Remember, always face to face with the enemy!

I also send a warm greeting to the fugitive comrades Diego Rios and Gabriela Curilem in Chile. A warm hug to the comrades from the CCF and Revolutionary Struggle in Greece, to the anarchist comrades in prison in Italy, to Braulio Duran, Luciano Pitronello, Gabriel Pombo da Silva, and to all of the anarchist prisoners and fugitives all over the world.

Que viva la Anarquia!

Felicity.

Mario López Hernández was injured when an explosive device he was carrying went off prematurely. According to statements by the Mexican police via media reports and Mario’s statement below, Felicity Ryder’s passport was found in his backpack at the scene. We have reprinted his statement, denying Felicity’s involvement, in full, after the break.

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Complicity, Traitors, Compromise and Other Media Interactions by Nick A.

Mar 4, ’12 9:26 PM

It is unequivocally clear that corporate media perpetuates the hegemony of the capitalist state. Ideally, we respond by constructing forms of anarchist communication powerful enough to render the capitalist media irrelevant. However, amongst anarchist communities, occasions arise where individuals and collectives make decisions to engage with corporate media.

This engagement is often met with understandable concern, interest, derision and sometimes outright hostility. In this article then, I explore some of the tensions associated with media interaction by looking at a few brief examples. I conclude by suggesting that outright rejection of all interaction with corporate media limits some opportunities to reach a wider audience.

During the height of the Greek revolt in December 2008, a proposal was put forward at an anti-authoritarian/anarchist assembly in Exarchia, Athens: interrupt a major news broadcast by storming the studio, unfurl political banners, and then escape triumphantly into the streets. The proposal was generally not supported.

Some raised fears that this protest would ultimately serve the advertisers whose product appeared after the political action. Others were concerned that such an action would contribute to the spectacle of the mass media; where instead of living actual experiences, viewers watch representations of their life on t.v. and in doing so become politically neutralized spectators. And yet others were furious that comrades would want anything to do with the dogs of the mass media – they argued that any engagement with the mass media signalled nothing less than complicity with capitalism, the state, and corporate media.

Regardless, the next week a different collective went ahead with the proposed action targeting NET, one of Greece’s biggest TV stations. On December 16th, after manoeuvres reminiscent of an Ian Fleming novel, the 3pm live national news broadcast on the NET. channel was hijacked when activists stormed the studio. For two or so minutes, political banners were unfurled by a group of anarchists, anti-authoritarians and fellow non‑defined activists. They read:

Everyone get out in the streets, Freedom to the Prisoners of the Insurrection and Freedom to Everyone.

With the desired goals of the action met, the activists fled the building before the cops had a chance to finish their donuts.

 

I provide this short anecdote as a way of universalising some of the tensions associated with media interaction. Whether it is in the advanced anarchist milieu of Athens or – as I will shortly discuss – in Sydney, interactions with capitalist and state-owned media are everywhere fraught with complex political issues and are sources of tension.

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