National meeting of women: Abya Yala, the association …

First of all, the fire of memory was lit to remind the ancestors and the paths they borrowed, in order to retrieve them. The colorful flags of the various indigenous peoples were interwoven in the form of a snail on the ground. Candles were lit, incense burned, offerings were made. At the head of the cosmogonic ceremonial expression, the Mayan leader, Guatemala, Lolita Chavez, he asked to greet the sun – which began to appear in the sky plateaus of this territory of Querandí, after the storm and the deluge of Saturday – as well as to the moon. It was the preamble of the powerful assembly of feminists of Abya Yala -Expression that gives meaning and belonging to the indigenous peoples of Latin America- that broke out among participants, especially young people, in front of San Martín Square, one of the key points of this # 34Encuentro: for more than three hours of overtime, the Plurinational identity of women and dissidents of the meetingReferences have been heard from different peoples from the region, who have listed the struggles that unite us today: against capitalism, neoliberalism, extractivism, racism, colonialism, patriarchy and racism. machismo. "We protect our body as our first defense territory," Lolita Chavez summed up in an effort to promote a collective and feminist embrace: "We love and care for ourselves," he said. And in every corner of this massive exterior assembly, caresses, caresses, between acquaintances and newcomers have multiplied.

The pibas of Batuka workshop they rhythm and warm the assembly with their drums and the power of percussion. The second day of # 34Encuentro was rich in debates: from the morning, workshops resumed and in the afternoon began the expected march that crowned this feminist party in the streets of La Plata: from 1 at 60 at the Stade Unique, the green tide has traveled about sixty streets. This Monday, at the end, the conclusions will be read and the seat of next year will be chosen, by applause.

Before the feminist activists of Abya Yala took the floor, in a space that is repeated since the ENM 2008, in Neuquén, promoted by the activist Claudia Korol, Mapuche rapper Urraca Negra, he sang several themes that, in his lyrics, reflect the struggles of women and dissent: "Maternity mandatory / many could not decide anything", or "… the church murdered many of our ancestors" or "… many of us are still alive because we have faced the male femicide.

Several posters expressed solidarity with the Ecuadorian people and the repudiation of the repression suffered for days by the security forces of President Lenin Moreno, with a balance – so far – of six dead. "They are not alone", was the unanimous cry that was repeated aloud, with a raised fist, to accompany an Ecuadorian activist, who realized the serious situation in which she lives in her country. "And we love the International Monetary Fund" who does not respect "our territories", harangued Lolita Chávez. And the cry has been multiplied with impatience and has become a phrase and an affirmation: "The united people will never be defeated," resonated in Plaza San Martín.

The feminist communicator Liliana Daunes He sometimes led the event. The ancestors we do not remember, like the environmental activist Berta Cáseres – who participated in the ENM in 2014 – who was assassinated on March 3, 2016 in Honduras, Marena Valdes Muñozmurdered on August 22, 2016 in Chile, wife, mother of four, also environmentalist and defender of forests, water and territories of her people, in Chile; at Marielle FrancoA Brazilian politician and lesbian activist of human rights and black women, murdered on March 14, 2018 in Rio de Janeiro; Argentine transgender activists Diana Sacayan, murdered on October 11, 2015 and Lohana Berkins, died on February 5, 2016.

We talked about "all" and "todes". And then the microphone went through different voices that reflected every fight, every cry of freedom: Alessia Dro, from the Kurdistan Women's Movement, denounced the "genocide" of his people at the hands of the Turkish army. Isabel Huala, Mapuche activist and lonko mother Facundo Jones Huala, sentenced to 9 years in prison in Chile, called for her release and said she was preparing to "territorially recover the lands of her great-grandmother" in the region Nahuel Huapi, in Bariloche. "The only way to resist is to fight. I want to ask you to keep fighting, "said the 55-year-old mother of six, accompanied by the youngest 11-year-old. Also talked Ninoska Pallakura, 25 years old, Mapuche, became spokesperson to seek justice for the murder of Macarena Valdezand who cared for their four children: Macarena was found hanging on a rope in her own home in the town of Tranguil, Panguipulli Commune, Chile; her youngest son, at that time of 1 year, saw her so, dead. "His feminicide is not yet guilty. She was killed in the context of the ongoing struggle of the community against the RP Global hydropower company, with the Austrian capitals. His death was attempted as a suicide, but the scientific evidence provided by the family showed that there was a third intervention, "he said. Page | 12 Ninoska "Macarena was killed for being a woman, for defending your territory," he told the assembly. Yurima and Ambar Miranda, Miriam Miranda's daughtersThe Honduran activist who defends the Garífunas' human and environmental rights spoke on her behalf because she could not travel at all. "We have no choice but to continue and continue to fight," Ambar said.

"The darker the skin, the more difficult the place in society"

Jessica Corpas, from Mendoza, made the voice of feminism black and migrant in Argentina. "The darker the skin, the more difficult the place in society that touches us," he said. And he stressed that "for us to go out on the streets, there are migrant women who take care of our children" and he asked: "Let's fight so that we can all go down the street in a fair and equitable way. "for" patriarchy to fall, capitalism, neoliberalism, colonialism "and" wearing a black, migrant, indigenous or racialized body is not a shame ". Naiara Leite, from the Black Mulheres movement of Brazil He also spoke about racism. "Racism defines our stocks. If we eat or do not eat, if we are raped or not, "he said. And he started to ring among the crowd that gathered in this area of ​​Plaza San Martín, in front of the roundabout, "¡¡Out Bolsonaro!"Leite joined the clamor, but said:" Racism is not cyclical (in Brazil), it is structural. "He also took the word Kandty Marcela López, Organization of Indigenous, Andean and Amazonian Women, ONAMIAP, Peru. And other voices followed, dissident feminisms, "against the desotranstravestiodio, the binarism of gender and the heterosexual diet", and popular feminisms, piqueteros, villeros, peasants, workers against the policies of extraction : almost fifty votes, Latin Americans, with the belief that Abya Yala's feminisms are the promise of a world where we are all free. Really.