Posted on 22-2-2002

Direct Democracy Evolves From Economic Crisis
From www.indymedia.org 21-2-02

Tens of thousands of Argentines are converging this weekend in Buenos Aires
to forge alliances and develop alternatives to the economic and political
crisis that is gripping their country.

Through public meetings and protests, people from virtually every sector of
Argentine society are taking matters into their own hands to come up with
solutions to problems that their government and economists have failed to
resolve.

On Friday, thousands of people converged in downtown to occupy Plaza de
Mayo for a cacerolazo and to camp out overnight. On Saturday, an
unprecedented gathering of workers and piqueteros will occur downtown. On
Sunday, local asambleas from around the country will converge in Buenos
Aires for a national asamblea. And, in some parts of the country, workers
have taken over and are running factories that owners have abandoned.

Once a model student of the International Monetary Fund and promoted as a
model for the rest of Latin America to follow, Argentina fell into crisis
under the weight of about $140 billion in international debt and has
instead become a model of an imploding neoliberal economy.

One observer described Argentina as "a laboratory of struggle", its highly
unlikely this experiment will be able to be contained in the lab.