Greetings, comrades; I am still confronting the present here and obviously not giving up.
My intention with this communiqué is the following: to clarify certain conflicts and rumors that have arisen about my person.
I think from what I’ve understood people have been saying that I’m a police collaborator; but if I was a collaborator, I would be enjoying my freedom by now or be under house arrest, and I hope that this is taken into account in a reflective way.
In respect to the latest happenings, I read some communiqués from ‘anarchist’ persons that really got my attention. Firstly, in no communiqué or comment did I ever ask for FAI/FRI individuals to give themselves in so that I could be set free; I don’t believe it is an anarchic attitude to ask that the freedom of one person ends so that another’s can start. This is the opinion of Nina Mansilla and Virginia Aillón, who have written that those responsible for the attacks should hand themselves in, in the interests of their ‘ideology’.* In situations like this, and in different parts of the globe, there is no need for more prisoners, and there has never been such a need.
Also, I never said in my formal statement who could form part of the FAI/FRI (and I prefer not to have any idea who they may be) as some have done, only supposing names and implicating people who have nothing to do with the matter, just to save their own skins.
I am still aware of the unconditional solidarity that there is in many parts of the globe, as well as in these parts (which I am grateful for), but there’s also the side that I reject in its entirety, which constitutes the sit-ins that ‘Nina’s people’ carry out on the 9th, 19th and 29th of each month in solidarity with Henry Zegarrundo and Nina for their freedom and innocence; you will notice that their struggle does not include me, because these people think that I am guilty of the attacks we’re being accused of, and that they do not really know me, so they don’t see why they should show solidarity with me, saying that each one should concern themselves about their prisoner.
Do they think that for being the supposed ‘guilty one’ I should rot in prison and they should not have solidarity with someone just like that? This makes me think seriously that it is difficult to believe this struggle is for total liberation.
On the other hand, when the cops grabbed me I got a lawyer who, instead of helping me, aggravated my situation even further and made me commit errors. This implies that in my formal statement (the first and only one I gave) there are some details that I would like to clear up. There are questions that they didn’t ask me but are supposedly answered by me; and these responses make no sense; for example, when they asked me how are you involved in the OARS (‘Anarchist Organization for the Social Revolution’) to which I responded I don’t know. If I had replied to this question, I would have said that I wasn’t involved in any way because I wasn’t part of them, but they never asked me that question in the first place.
When they interrogated me they wanted me to implicate and harm Renatto Vincenti and Henry, but I refused to do so; they wanted me to connect them to the attacks, and I did not do so; they played that police game with many of us, but I did not fall for it. I remember that when cops were taking me in the car, they were telling me that Henry, Luisa, Renatto had said I was the ringleader; they were telling me: you can still save yourself if you tell us something about them, as the others are already going home. I knew this was false and I remained quiet and kept getting hit.
During the interrogation they asked me in their typically over-bearing way, and I responded in a confused way for them, and they put words in my mouth. According to the printed statement, I supposedly said that Henry incited me to help in a sit-in for the—then—14 Chilean prisoners and that I gave out pamphlets ‘without knowing’ what it was about, and the truth is I said to them that I was the one who organized the protest and the pamphlets were mine.
There is another question which also annoyed Henry a lot; they asked me if I knew people from abroad and what relation I had with foreign people and why, to which my reply reads that: no, no one relied that much on me, they only look for me to play music, perhaps Henry gives them my number or other guys do so, because they know I jam. In the end the lawyer made me sign that statement without orientating me in any way, moreover he wanted me to implicate others so that I could save myself, and I didn’t do it. The lawyer did not help me in anything, but only harmed me and then disappeared. The only true mistake I made was to sign that statement with my distorted words, and if I have to take responsibility for this I will and I do it now, explaining myself. Thanks to the solidarity, I now have a defense counsel that orientates me and helps me.
Today I know Henry is bothered about this; I explained it to him since the beginning, and he seemed to have understood it, but later he preferred to take other decisions and he labeled me a collaborator and traitor. Personally it hurts me because I consider Henry a real comrade. I took the decision to clear up things in this communiqué; I hope there can be a reflection on all of this, as there’s no need to have this sort of disputes.
Another thing that disturbs and angers me is the rumors that have been circulating about my person. I ask any persons to have the decency to come and tell me in my face. They have been saying that I am not here on charges of terrorism and attempted murder but for some other offense; and that I gave away Henry’s address when he provided his own address; or that I should be held in San Pedro prison, too, as it doesn’t matter if I am a minor. I ask them to take their time to find out how the prisons are operated. And this should be the end of rumors as they do not help in any way. The situation is already hard enough as it is.
Hoping that this communiqué serves as a reflection, and showing myself still standing tall, I close this letter by expressing my strong support with all the imprisoned comrades around the world; health to all!
From the community section in Qalauma prison.
Mayron Gutiérrez Monroy (Krudo)
Anarchist punk
* On November 7th, 2012, after all her snitching, Nina Mansilla Cortez was granted house arrest.
Here’s an excerpt from Virginia Aillón’s letter (released on 3.10.2012 and intended for the liberation of comrade Henry Zegarrundo and of the infamous by now Nina Mansilla): ‘And for those who have participated in the attacks there’s nothing more to say, than they should and are expected to have an attitude consistent with their actions, that is to assume openly what they did rather than keeping a silence which mostly seems adolescent and immature. The serious problem is that, with this stance, they become authoritarian; they neither are nor can be libertarians. This also requires more ink; in any event I expect them to show an honest attitude towards themselves.’
On November 13th, 2012 anarchists in solidarity with imprisoned Henry Zegarrundo expressed the opinion that Virginia Aillón is an old anarchist, significant to the Bolivian libertarian milieu, who has publicly requested the incarceration of more comrades, although she is not even implicated in the case herself. Furthermore, they characterized her text as an ode to the prison system, saying among others: ‘The letter written by Virginia Aillón is the most despicable of treason, because she was neither pressured by prison, nor by torture, but she nevertheless undertook the task of accusing and asking for the head of those responsible for the sabotages, thus displaying an attitude more police-minded than ever recorded in the history of betrayals.’
