[On April 7, 2015, a bus was set on fire. Near the action, the police arrested Natalia Collao and Javier Pino.]
Friends, comrades, family and those in affinity. Thanks to a few words I managed to exchange with some people (because so far I’ve been in solitary confinement and I don’t know what’s happening outside) I learned about the week of agitation between 10th and 12th April in solidarity with anti-authoritarian prisoners, above all those condemned to long sentences.
So I’d like to give a contribution on solidarity with this piece of writing, precisely solidarity with imprisoned comrades.
I used to think it, and now with the experience I’m going through it’s even more clear, that a comrade who is sent down and therefore becomes a prisoner finds his or her most important support in himself or herself, his or her beliefs, thoughts, ideas, feelings and self love, their individuality, which is fundamental when one is faced with such an ugly and decadent place as prison, and moreover we ourselves are our main source of strength.
But all of a sudden it happens that our eyes and ears encounter gestures, initiatives, actions carried out for us and in these moments we feel like being in an embrace, where our chest swells and our inevitable smile comes back; it is when they go beyond the prison walls that all the prisoners’ individualities fill with strength and reassurance. I see this moment as complicity because we know that we are carrying on struggling.
I join the call that is being carried out and invite to solidarity with prisoners the territories that are struggling and taking a position against all forms of authority.
All my love and strength to those facing long sentences, and whose ideas and feelings are not annihilated by the long years in prison.
And let’s not forget that prison, a human product, also strikes other beings. Animals held and tortured in cages to please humans.
I conclude sending all my love to my friends, comrades, family and the girls in the struggle against patriarchy.
I used to think it, and now with the experience I’m going through it’s even more clear, that a comrade who is sent down and therefore becomes a prisoner finds his or her most important support in himself or herself, his or her beliefs, thoughts, ideas, feelings and self love, their individuality, which is fundamental when one is faced with such an ugly and decadent place as prison, and moreover we ourselves are our main source of strength.
But all of a sudden it happens that our eyes and ears encounter gestures, initiatives, actions carried out for us and in these moments we feel like being in an embrace, where our chest swells and our inevitable smile comes back; it is when they go beyond the prison walls that all the prisoners’ individualities fill with strength and reassurance. I see this moment as complicity because we know that we are carrying on struggling.
I join the call that is being carried out and invite to solidarity with prisoners the territories that are struggling and taking a position against all forms of authority.
All my love and strength to those facing long sentences, and whose ideas and feelings are not annihilated by the long years in prison.
And let’s not forget that prison, a human product, also strikes other beings. Animals held and tortured in cages to please humans.
I conclude sending all my love to my friends, comrades, family and the girls in the struggle against patriarchy.
Tato (Natalia Collao)
From Unit 1,
San Miguel prison
Sunday 12th April
From Unit 1,
San Miguel prison
Sunday 12th April
(via Act for freedom now!)
