slackbastard

I gots the following msg in my Inbox recently. It’s issued by antifa skinheads who organise themselves as members of RASH: Red & Anarchist Skin Heads, and concerns a skinhead from Ecuador named Álvaro Paredes. On May 17 this year, Alvaro was ambushed outside of his school by a group of four neo-Nazis, and in self-defence killed one of his attackers.

Solidarity with Comrade Álvaro Paredes

The International Confederation RASH UNITED, which brings together hundreds of sections around the world, with thousands of active militants, gives full support to and expresses complete solidarity with comrade Álvaro Paredes, a member of the BAF [Brigada Antifascista] in Quito, Ecuador. First, we send him a supportive greeting, already in knowledge of his confession to authorities of Monday, May 31: the same day on which we issue this statement. Likewise, we give full support to and express complete solidarity with Ecuador’s antifascist movement, reminding you that you’re not alone, and that we are working with all types of organizations (social, political, and so on) to denounce all the cases where these neo-Nazi groups have been involved, attacking with impunity the social movement.

We also ask the international community to publicize this case: our comrade Álvaro acted in self defense when four neo-Nazis attacked him, chasing him outside his place of study (there is ample evidence of this) — a further example of the persecution to which Álvaro was daily being subjected, and which ended up with the situation as we now know it.

[See : Grupos Nazis en Ecuador, TV Ecuador, May 23, 2010 (Spanish).]

We, the antifascists of the world, are not criminals, nor murderers: we act in self-defence and do so only as a last resort, when our life is in danger, as in the case of our comrade in Ecuador, and in many other cases elsewhere in the world.

RASH UNITED urgently calls on all sections and all its members in the world to mobilize representations to Ecuadorian embassies in each country where they are present, and to make a clear, formal complaint to embassy authorities. In this way, we are going to exert direct pressure, so that the case of our comrade Álvaro takes another direction, one different to the one in which the media is trying to take it currently, as a mere gang fight, a claim which cannot be further away from the truth. These are selective attacks by extreme right-wing groups, made with the economic assistance of Ecuador’s paramilitary organizations.

Here we provide links to illustrate the “fascist” groups in Ecuador, so that they can be brought to the attention of the embassies:

[JUVENTUD REVOLUCIONARIA A.N.R. ECUADOR
[A.N.R.- REVOLUCION NACIONAL
A.N.R. CUENCA-ECUADOR]

Also this link to a video made by the neo-Nazi group to which the deceased, allegedly an angel, belonged:

[RAM 88_ NUNCA TE OLVIDAREMOS…]

Finally we appeal to all the Anti-Fascist Brigades of the world to show solidarity with Álvaro, it is time to show our support in these hard times. Remember that any of us could be the victim of paramilitary movements of this kind because they abound in the streets of every city. Also to the Coordinadoras Antifascistas of all the world to demonstrate in the same way, to the comrades of Accion Antifascista and in general to all the social movements that have been aware of such cases for a long time now. Comrade Álvaro Paredes is a political prisoner because he defended himself from the clutches of the fascist puppets who wanted to murder him. Self defence is not a crime, it is a tool with which we human beings defend ourselves.

ÁLVARO! FRIEND! COMRADE!
RASH UNITED IS WITH YOU!

(///)

FREEDOM, EQUALITY AND SOLIDARITY FOREVER!

RED & ANARCHIST SKINHEADS INTERNATIONAL
R.A.S.H UNITED – ORGANIZATION CREW – ADMINISTRATION
(///) SINCE 1.993 – LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND SOLADIRITY
R.A.S.H UNITED IS R.A.S.H INTERNATIONAL
WE ARE THE RASH! ALWAYS BLACK AND REDS!
PALANTE!

Useful / relevant but not necessarily endorsed links include : RASH UNITED (///) | R.A.S.H. UNITED | RASH International | RASH ECUADOR.

Note:

RASH was officially launched on January 1st, 1993 by members of the Mayday Crew (R.I.P.), a left-wing skinhead crew based in the New York area, with support from skinheads in Ottawa, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati and Montreal. Shortly after the initial call went out for the formation of such a network, chapters formed in other countries (Colombia, Italy, Germany, etc.). Now RASH is spread across North America, South America, Europe and the Caribbean…

Bonus Skinhead Attitude!