Carlos Fuentealba Presente!

Last Thursday, the 5th of April, Carlos Fuentealba was killed by police during a peaceful protest in the province of Neuquén. Fuentealba was a 41 year old school teacher. The teachers union, La Confederación Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina, an affiliate of the Central de los Trabajadores Argentinos (CTERA-CTA), was in the middle of a struggle to improve the wages of hundreds of teachers across the province of Neuquén. As an active part of this struggle, Carlos Fuentealba was in a car taking part in a mobile blockade of Route 22 when police began attacking the blockade. According to the driver, the car was surrounded by approximately 20 police that began to hit the car with their rifles. When the car came to a stop, another officer approached the back of the car and fired a tear-gas canister into the vehicle. He fired from less than 7 meters away and Fuentealba was hit directly in the back of the head with the canister. He fell immediately into a coma from which he would not wake.

The next day, the governor of the province of Neuquén, Jorge Sobisch admitted to ordering the police repression that killed Fuentealba. Calls were immediately made for the resignation of Sobisch and the CTA called a nationwide one-day strike for Monday, April 9th. La Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), the largest union federation in Argentina also called for a one-hour work stoppage. Marches were called for in every major city in the nation.

When Monday arrived, Jorge Sobisch was seen on the news telling people to choose between the rule of law and the constitution or anarchy. As he spoke, tens of thousands of people marched in every major city in the country. In Buenos Aires, every social movement and union sent contingents to the massive demonstration that took over downtown. The offices of the province of Neuquén in Buenos Aires was shut down, and the block on which it was located was closed, filled with police, and surrounded by barricades. At noon, the city came to a standstill when the buses and subways stopped running and schools closed.

April 9th was a day of solidarity with people from all political spectrums coming together to demand an end to the impunity of government officials. But the question of where we go from here still remains. Many are demanding that this be the spark that ignites a broader struggle. There are demands that the CGT call more than a one hour strike, and show a greater deal of solidarity. There are also questions regarding the leadership of Hugo Yasky, the General Secretary of the CTERA and the CTA. Many accuse him of isolating the struggle of the teachers of Neuquén, allowing this attack to happen. At the very least many are demanding that he provide better leadership and offer a strategic plan to broaden the union’s struggle. Dozens of social movements are taking on this fight. The only thing that is clear now is that the strike of April 9th will not be the last we hear of Carlos Fuentealba.