Dear comrades,
behind us 2020 – one of the most intense years in the history of Belarussian society and the anarchist movement. Solidarity became the main weapon in the struggle not only against the dictatorship, but also against the coronavirus. It was by collective efforts that we were able to overcome the first wave of the epidemic.
After the spring bankruptcy of the Belarusan dictatorship, we rebelled. We revolted not only against Lukashenko, but against everything he symbolized – authoritarianism, false stability, hypocrisy and indifference! We rebelled for freedom!
For the past 6 months, our society has been experiencing one of the most brutal repressions in the country’s history. There is no point in naming the numbers of the repressed – they have become so large that it is already difficult for us to comprehend them with our minds. Instead of numbers, we recall the names of those murdered who will remain in our hearts forever:
Alexander Taraiskovsky
Alexander Vihor
Nikita Krivtsov
Artyom Parukov
Gennadiy Shutov
Konstantin Shishmakov
Denis Kuznetsov
Roman Bondarenko
But through thorns we rush to the stars! Despite repression, our resistance continues. We take to the streets by the thousands every week. We continue to organize in our workplaces and neighborhood initiatives. The train of self-organization is unstoppable. We have tasted freedom!
If you had asked us a year ago what awaits us in 2020, we couldn’t have imagined that we would collectively wake up from our long sleep, rise from our knees and fight shoulder to shoulder for a future without dictatorship!
We do not know what awaits us in 2021. But we do know that we are going into this year together, and we have never felt such a sense of solidarity! We believe that together we can free our world from the lies, violence and lawlessness of Lukashenko and his friends.
But dear friends, we remain anarchists and we wish that in 2021, we will not strive for a new strong leader who will be able to lead us into a “bright” future. We want to achieve more and become an independent society that needs freedom instead of a strong leader!
And we call for the fight to continue in 2021 from the first minutes of the new year! Take to the streets and greet the new year not with family or a couple of friends. Our family is all of us: neighbors, friends, acquaintances and relatives. We are all in this fight together! That’s why on New Year’s Eve we will march to the central Christmas trees and do our best to meet this new year in struggle!
See you on the streets of revolutionary Belarus!
Your anarchists from Pramen!
For freedom, equality and solidarity!
