A discussion about factics,

practice between the imprisoned members of the ™
CONSPIRACY OF THE CELLS OF FIRE £
and a few anarchists in Mexico.

dialogue came out for the first time in May 2012, in
Spanish, in the Mexican anarchi
Acrata.

magazine Conspiracion

‘This English edition translated from the Italian text pub-

lished by Edizioni Sole Nero by acforfreedomnow/B.pd/
sysiphus.

CCF editorial translated by actforfreedomnow/boubourAs
How we came up with the concept of
Black International editions

We certainly have a lot more to do and even more to say.
Frequently requested is the answer to the question of “what
do we target?”

From the very first day of the imprisonment of each of us we
never stopped the production of our speech and our sugges-
tions and imperatives. Through texts,
thoughts, discussions on other texts, pamphlets, translations

ommuniques.

Of course, we do not forget nor never forgot, that theory is a
tool which obtains its authentic meaning only when com-
bined with the underlying action. We never wanted to setile
for harmless theoretical investigations, nor believed that the
acts speak for themselves alone.

‘They might have imprisoned our bodies but not our ideas,
beliefs and values, which will continue to escape through
various projects of insubordination.

One of these projects is the creation of “Black International”
editions, which are supported by us, the imprisoned menm-
bers of the Anarchist Revolutionary Organization Cons
cy of Cells of Fire, and from certain comrades who every
day. every moment, embody practically the value of SOLI-
DARITY.

Together with these comrades we desire to create an anar-
chist publishing experiment that s not limited only in
Greece but tries o spread into the international network of
anarchis
the year 2012 is a feasible reality.
Besides, through this perspective we were

into the actual Black International, that now in

3
name of the editions, desiring that “Black International” will
not be limited to shelves and bookcases, but s
thentic meaning in the streets, where the history of Anar-
chist Insurgency and continuing rebellion is written. How
“Black Internati ns will function in the develop-
ment of the editions we experience some difficulties which
we intend to treat with sincerity and honesty. Our point of
w on self-organized, and clearly anti-commercialized
projects are fixed and can be easily communicated, with a
few words. We do not sell, we share. For us it would be ide-
al for the publications to function by being “sponsored” by
money expropriated from the enemy. In this way, not only
would it be easier to achieve the publication of a book, but
even more fundamentally, it would be the best way to con-
nect this project with Anarchist Struggle. But now we are
faced with the coercive condition of imprisonment, which
does not leave us room to “function” exactly as we desire.
So we are forced to finance the publishing and distribution
of these publications by putting an optional price. A price
which, however anyone can intervene in whatever way they
wish. For example, in the self-organized spaces where the
books will be available they will be accompanied by a box.
where everyone can contribute regardless of the proposed
price that will have been determined by us. As for book
stores, the publications may well be useful as a training ex-
ercise for expropriation.

eks its au-

nal” ed

The imprisoned members of CCF and the

revolutionary anarchist Theofilos Mavropoulos g8 \
* 1

4
A CONVERSATION BETWEEN
ANARCHISTS

A talk between the imprisoned members of
the CONSPIRACY OF THE CELLS OF FIRE
and a few anarchists in Mexico on tactics,
theory and practice.

What follows is a conversation between the imprisoned mem-
bers of the CCF and anumber of anarchists from Mexico. The
questions are asked by various comrades of the country, not
only by those of the editorial group Cospiracion Acrata. We
thank the comrades who helped us with the huge job of trans-
lation from Greek into Spanish, and the comrades who helped
us in making the conversation with the imprisoned comrades
possible. Solidarity greetings 10 all of them and to our com-
rades of the CCF!

1. How was your experience in prison? What helped you
tokeep strong and active as prisoners of war? What would
you suggest to those who may become prisoners of war all
of a sudden?

As we wrote in some of our texts: “In the difficult and often
solitary path of an anarchist of action, prison represents a pos-
le stop but not their last one. For this reason, it is important
that each one of us who chooses to deny power and to be wolves
in a society of sheep, is prepared for this possibility.

‘There are comrades who gave us their souls as they described
their experience as prisoners in the books they published. Once

they are written down, these experiences can prepare an anar-
chist of action by allowing him/her o gain some knowledge
of whatlies behind the walls of the unknown prison world. Of
course each one writes the book of their life by themselv
For this reason a personal trajectory

always far from an in-

ct experience published in a book. For us, the passage from
clandestine

to imprisonment went along with the destruc-
tion of myths. We got rid of the myth of the rebel character of
illegal circuits very quickly. Before we were jailed, we thought
that prisoners — owing to their experience in prison and their
hatred of judges and police — were people open to anarchist
points of view and practices. But we lost our illusions on

point as rapidly as we lost our freedom. In spite of al its vio-
lence and repression on those who are locked up and in s

of the illegal practice it has developed. the prison envi
ment stinks like the society of law-abiding
add

zens, and in

n to this it has its own rules, authority and norms. Pris-
worship the same god of money that is praised by the
law-abiding ones, and respect the same values (homeland, re-

ligion, etc) as the latter. The majority of prisoners are clever*
and scared rodents that feed on others’ weakness and misery.
are submission, snitching, caring
only about their own skin and, finally, accepting the very idea
of prison in their minds

As a matter of fact the prison environment is the mirror of
society itself. If prisoners don’t pay homage to the gods men-
tioned above they worship the gods of heroin and psychotrop-

‘Their main character

ic drugs. So anyone who expects to find the new revolutionary

subject of their ideology in prison, the one who will substitute

the defunct working

actual fact will find the oppo
‘This just confirms the anti-social anarchist tendency we ex-
press because it shows that a person is not influenced by the
condition he/she lives in (for example prison); on the contrary
izes people are the CHOICES they make.

Of course the “majority” abounds everywhere, while excep-
tions are very few. In the prison environment, where the ma-
jority is dragging its sad miserable shadow in search of heroin
and psychotropic drugs, there also exist imprisoned individu-
alities who stay on their own. These are people who thanks to
their experience are aware of their imprisonment and their ives:
and instead of turning this awareness into drug addiction or
snitching practices they turn it into a weapon that they keep
rmly inside them, which they direct against those who tyran-
nise our life. We soon came into contact with these very few
exceptions and developed friendship with them and respect of
them. All the other prisoners. who feel at home in prison, don’t
deserve the slightest compassion but only contempt. Further-
more, through our behaviour we made it clear, in the strongest
possible way, that there is an entire ocean of values and per-
ceptions separating imprisoned anarchi
prisoned snitches and heroin junkies.

of action from im-

Besides us there are currently other people in prison who are
used of anarchist practices. For us you are not anarchist
only because the cops arrested you for ‘anarchist practices”.
You are anarchist when you act as an anarchist even behind
the walls of a prison with your words, coherence and attitude.
With the exception of a few COMRADES, there is a good
number of anarchist prisoners in Greece, who just want to serve

their sentence “quietly’ and avoid any clash with the jailers.
Anexample of the lack of ‘community” between anarchist prs-
oners was the escape attempt undertaken by 4 comrades of the
CCF and our anarchist brother Theofilos Mavropoulos along
with a “social” prisoner. On that oc
chists’ who were in the same prison (Korydallos) did abso-
lutely nothing, not even when dozens of jailers were taking
our comrades back to prison. The rest of the ‘anarchists’ shut
themselves up in their cells and the only ones who remained
e in the exercise yard with us were 4 or 5 prisoners with
prison behind them.

ion the rest of the ‘anar-

Weve been in conflict with the prison services since we en-
tered prison. In all the prisons we have entered our refusal to
accept and abide by the rules and habis of the prison system
produced the result of clashing with the jailers (beating
itary confinement and transfers)

ol-

In such circumstances the only language the jailers understand

that of fear, the fear of our response and revenge. Moreover,
as we have already said, the power of the jailers ends when
they go outside the walls that protect them. They are vulnera-
ble outside and they know it

All the solitary combative mobilizations that have occurred at
times have also contributed to this atmosphere of fear felt by
the jailers. A good example is the parcel-bomb sent by the
Italian FAVFRI to the Korydallos pri
solidarity demonstrations organized outside the prison. All this
helped us a lot as we were starting the war we are waging

on, but also countless
inside here. For the fear that practices of anarchist solidarity
provokes in the jailers
At the same time, anarchist solidarity that does not limit itself
towords but which becomes effective and coherent action fills
us with courage, and strengthens the wolf we carry inside our-
selves. In this way we feel we are still alive. We feel we are
part of this beautiful anarchist struggle that is underway. We
feel we are there in the street fighting against the police, in the
night arsonist incursions, in the clandestine upheaval of the
explosives that blow up the symbols of this civilization, in the
conspiratorial sabotage, in the armed attacks on the State.

what allows us to see their true face.

So we are ready to reiterate our ‘crimes’ at any moment, for
the spreading of the new Anarchy. without repenting anything.
We wake up every momning with this feeling. Perhaps we hate
all the breakfasts we have behind bars and the noise of the
prison megaphones, but deep inside ourselves we know that
everything continues. This keeps us alert. We never forget that
prison is a hostile place. Inside here an anarchist of action has
only one thought and desire: to attack, in a thousand possible
ways, the chains of his/her imprisonment, destroy the prison
that locks him/her up. escape from the walls and bars that pre-
vent freedom and CONTINUE to spread constant anarchist
insurrection.

s of cl

Far from the illusi and social struggle, far from
“combative’ prison unions claiming better conditions of de-
tention and more food for prisoners, there ex:
less “ego’, ready to blow up and escape at any moment, taking
all isks, including clandestine life out there, on the fringes of

s our remorse-
society. Anyone who believes in his or herself can do this. A
person who believes in himself/herself and in his/her com-
rades can make the impossible possible. This is our great
strength. The collectivization of our individualities. Not for a
single moment in prison have we abandoned the Conspiracy
of the Cells of Fire and everything that it represents. We are

always on each other’s side and give strength to each other.

Before we were arrested we learned to share the pleasure of
masking up, the same tension when loading our guns, the same
laughter when joking before an attack, the same happy feel-
ings when hearing good news or the same sad feelings when
hearing the bad. And we shared the same desire to be ready for

the next attack as soon as we had carried one out.

‘The same thing is happening now. Nothing has changed. We
share the same anger every time the jailers lock one of us up in
solitary confinement; the same pain when someone is about to

be transferred; the same pleasure when we get news of our
comrades; the same strength when the FAVFRI, the new Con-
spiracy of the Cells of Fire, the anarchists of a

ion and the

list anarc]
think about how 1o destroy the walls surrounding us. This
of community, solidarity and the common desire for direct

s attack yet again; the same anger when we

sense

action is our most powerful weapon. As we wrote during our
hunger strike: “If one is not ready to die for another, then we
are already dead.

2. How did the project of the CCF start? What pushed you
to action?

10
‘The Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire made its first appearance
in January 2008. Up to that time no informal anarchist groups
of action existed in Greece, apart from a few exceptions (for
example the groups Arsonists of conscience and Black Star,
which had been active for many years). In spite of this, there
has always been a minority tendency in the Greek anarchist
movement, a tendency that chose to set fire to the quiet nights
of the metropolis and attack the symbols of power.

In order to answer this question more completely we need to
take a look back, a criti
To start with, all the comrades who share the project of the
CCF come from anarchist circles that identify themselves with
4 minority incendiary tendency. We got to know each other
within these circuits, we shared concerns, planned attacks ex-
pressed preoccupations and shared the fire. But we were dis-
satisfied with the lack of strategy, coherence, development,
perspectives, etc. Apart from a few exceptions most incendi-
ary anarchists carried out attacks on an occasional basis, as a
response (o trials or arrests of comrades. At the same time,
rebel attacks were sometimes carried out in response to some
urgent event, for example the discus 1,
police violence against immigrants, etc. But in most cases at-
tacks were dominated by improvisation in their planning, the
choice of the same targets (for example banks), lack of dis-
ion before the action and of assessment after the attack

as well a self-critical one.

ion of some law

cu
and poor attention was given to the claiming of the a
Generally speaking we can say that the anarchist incendiary
tendency manifested itself through rebel attacks but the latter
were getting weaker, decreasing in number and repeating them-

ons,

n
selves in a vicious circle of deterioration, which lacked any
perspective of evolution. Communiqués did not achieve the
spreading of anarc] se they
were made through telephone calls to the media of the regime
and only mentioned the target, the names of the imprisoned
comrades to whom the attack was dedicated and the group
claiming the action.

ideas and action either, becau

‘There was also improvisation and disorganization concerning
the name of the groups, which led to the use of di
tures and names that changed every time. The content of the
attack, the specific positions of the group and the values and
ideas of the comrades who participated in the action were never
highlighted. This was a result of the lack of infrastructure and
of informal direct action groups. In this way theory was sepa-
on and awareness took some steps back, giving
legal aspect of the action. The
main reason for the lack of informal action groups was the
fear of many anarchists who maintained that the existence of
such groups would attract the attention of the cops and lead to
arrests and years of imprisonment. So the dynami
archists of action was fading into the randomness of events
and limiting itself to occasional upsurges that lacked planning
and perspective, as some of those who had participated in the
struggle against Power with fire returned to the legality of dai-
ly life in the space of a few years. For this reason incendiary
Anarchy was becoming a thing of the past, juvenile dissent
with deadlines, temporary outbursts or occasional struggle. For
us anarchist direct action has nothing to do with teenage reac-
nt. For us Anarchy is not just an ab-

rated from 2

room to adrenaline and the i

of the an-

tions or o
stract idea, nor does it reduce itself to a bunch of beautiful
c anarchist texts. Anarchy and direct
estyle that starts with daily simple things
and completes itself with each attack on the system, with each
arson attack on the law, with each explosion against the guard-
ians of order.

words written in cla

action are a coherent

Itis Anarchy experienced in first person and in the present.
We don’t want to put off until tomorrow something that can
be done today.

In this way, among comrades who had already met and others
who joined later, through our common experiences
chist circles of action, we had conspiratorial meetings with
the aim of arming our desires. During these meetings, amid
laughter and preoccupation, considerations and debates, de-
ires and anxieties, projects and strategies, the Conspiracy of
the Cells of Fire was bom and went to war.

in anar-

anarchi

From the start, a s of action we have refused any
centralist model of organization as the latter would reduce our
rift with the existent to a ‘mere duty to fight'

For us the new anarchist urban guerrilla is constant insurrec-
tion without roles to play, dogmas or ‘revolutionary vanguards’.
and will be an informal network of autonomous
action without a leading centre. A net-
work that struggles for Anarchy here and now. With the Con-
racy we leave the low profile of the old groups of incendi-

anarchist cells of direct

ary anarchy and embrace constant struggle against Power with-
out stopping in the face of legal consequences. We are anar-
chisturban gues
of our enemy. We get rid of the burden of mediocrity and de-
feat, and put all our
priation, kidnapping, political executions, sabotage and com-
muniqués are part of the war we have declared against the

s and not lawyers concerned about the laws

rds on the table. Arson att;

s, expro-

State, Power, civilization and its society. The use of a perma-
nent name, Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, has nothing to do
with the centralization typical of armed parties and Marist

organizations.

As we have written, for us the CCF is a flow of ideas and
es that expresses itself in anarchist direct action. But

this doesn’t mean that we want to get lost in the confusion and
vagueness of the diffused and not very concrete anarchist
movement. The CCF identifies itself with the insurrectionist,
tendency of Anarchy and
it has nothing to do with anarcho-syndicalism or with ortho-

anarchist-individualist and anti-soc

zation'

dox and outdated anarchist soci

al positions of *specia
in Greece. Each cell that takes the name of the Conspiracy in
Greece, Mexico or any other place in the world from its own
perspective and autonomous way of planning, consolidates and
strengthens this tendency. A tendency that does not wait for
State repression to defend itself but which goes straight on the
attack, now and forever.

3. As we’ve seen, your discussions on anti-social anarchist
tendency have caused a great deal of debate within formal
organizations, especially in Greece, forcing these organi-

zations to take a stand on this subject. Can you explain
your conception of anarcho-nihilist tendency and anti-so-

cial perspective, and how this relates specifically to the

struggle?

We live in a world that is apparently changing while its sub-
stance remains the same. The economic crisis and its periods
of transition, technological progress with its new “break-
throughs” and dominant civi
er goods are part of these apparent changes of the world of
power. Butits core remains frozen and unchangeable, as it is a
living organism that reproduces exploitation and organized
boredom. Most revolutionary theories, including some of the
anarchist tendencies, concentrate only on the question of eco-
nomic exploitation exercised by power. In th
s in their theory they make a distinction between ‘personal®
and *political’, between exploitation and oppression and bore-
dom, between struggle and desires. By focusing only on econ-
omy these circles inevitably produce new ideological beliefs
and dogmatic science, and replace the capitalist model with a
“revolutionary political programme’

ation with its useless consum-

s well

jons

Owing to the current economic crisis, regressive opinions that
claim self-management of the means of production and popu-
lar assemblies are increasing within so called anarchist move-
ment in Greece. All this is a response to the plunder of the
economic conditions of our lives operated by the State and the
bosses. Very few talk about and propose a subversion of the
the face of
evaluated according to the

conditions of our existence, and claim liberation

the degradation of our lives. Life
dead objects one possesses. So for us the question is not wheth-
er or not we are poorer but whether or not we accept co
ing to live in a way that immob

In spite of all this, we can see many people around s, includ-
ing workers, the poor, prisoners and immigrants, whose life is
conditioned by this world and its civilization as if it were the
most precious thing they have. For this reason we nihilist an-
archists believe that the main question concerning revolutior
not seizing power but totally destroy Power, Power in hu-
man society.

‘We believe that it is not sufficient to reach an equality centred
only on economy, nor s it sufficient to ded:
dulgent ideologies that always offer an alibi to the immobil-
iy and passivity of the ‘unfortunate people’. Moreover, it
these “unfortunate” and ‘oppressed” people that vote for thei
tyrants every 4 years, itis the ‘people” who consider their bos
role models, it is the ‘people’ who become enthusiastic with
the drug of consumerism, it is the ‘people’ who believe in the
religion of property, it s the *people’ who ask for ‘more po-
lice, border guards, prisons...” It is on the basis of this critique

that the anarchi tendency and its anti-social perspec-

e ourselves to

tives burst in.

To start with anarchist-nihilism unites the political and the
individual, reason and feeling, theory and practice, here and
now, and renders the barriers that artificially split up our lives
vl risis as something extra

neous to the culture of organized boredom, nor can we see

We can't see the economi

Power as something separate from the p:
that accepts it.

ivity of the society

Only by liberating meanings in their wholeness will we liber-
ate ourselves. Far form scientific calculation, enlightened van-
‘guards, analysis centred on economy and revolutionary proph-
ecies on class struggle - which s allegedly ‘coming’ — nihil-
ism places itself in the here and now. With nil
and critique we are plundering and destroying all residues of
hope for a future better world. Because all the ideological ro-
‘manticisms that put their hope in a future revolution function
ina coercive way in the face of the actual destruction of Pow-
er here and now. Those who dream about what

to come
tomorrow, are today — in the practice ~passive spectators of
what is happening in their lives and continue not acting. For
this reason we say that niilism is a knife that cuts on both
es. On the one side, it strikes the old world of Power and on

the other it decay s that an-

itates the revolutionary propheci
2 and mass revolutions.

nounce future utoj

Nihilism accelerates the conflict with Power in its totality and
places this conflict directly in daily life. Itis a way to put all
the dominant values of civilization and society in question, in
4 conceptual and practical way. It is a method that makes An-
archism possible now, regardless of vague hopes and ‘ripe
conditions”. It s a firm step that extends our rebellion beyond
the narrow limits of the struggle against the State; for the ma-
terial destruction of the State is only a part of the liberation of
our lives. Moreover, through nihil
stroy the authoritarian perceptions that are inside us and are
poisoning our values and relations.

m, we also want o de-

”
For this reason, when we strike targets of the system our direct
action and our theory are not confined to the question of the
State but extend to a wider and more complex critique, which
also concerns society and its values. Of course when we refer
0 the concept of society we don’t mean the totality of people
but the socially acknowledged majority behaviour that sup-
ports and strengthens the civilization of Power. We are talking
about public opinion, statistics, mass culture, alienated multi
tudes, silence, pacification, immobility and indifference that
characterize contemporary people, voluntarily slaves.

As nihilist anarchists we hate both the hand that holds the whip
and the back that endures it and passively accepts flagellation
without reacting. We dismantle and destro; sof
ilate the dictatorship of economy by mak-
ing it void, make the cities of the ma
ian urbanism crumble, attack the plunder of nature and animal
exploitation, hamper dogmatic por
gion of the scientists. Only constant and merciless destruc-
tion-creation makes life worth living. The consi
questioning, through texts, bullets and explosives, attack or-
ganized boredom, the offspring of the dominant culture of

identity”

civilization, ans
s and their authoritar-

jons and refuse the reli-

ant nihilist

Through Anarchy we create a constantly changing world, a
totally different world, a world where te;
tion after going through intellectual and emotional explosions,
aworld where new relations are being forged as old traditions
and burdens are disappearing. But once they are cons
concrete reality, the new values brought about by anarcho-

ion finds its dura-

lered

hilism in a very critical moment, will have to explode and
destroy themselves, thus creating new agitation and new per-
spectives

Anything that is old and firm must be destroyed. We promote
the beauty and passion of the moment when something com-
pletely new be; e that
we are investing our energies in things that might be proclaimed
eternal truths. The strongest memories are those that provoke
change, not those that remain entrapped in the habitude of time
and in the traps of Power. Reason and emotion melt together
and then are written again behind the endless rebellions of
Anarchy. Only the living and the mortal are alive and worth-
while. For this reason we affirm that nihilism is the will of

5. We avoid cowardice and the cer

anarchist creation and destruction. A dance of the senses and
emotions performed by insurrectionist practices, a dance that
never ends...

4. How did the other groups of anarchist action react to
your anarcho-nihilist position in Greece?

In order to answer this question we think it is necessary to
provide a short summary, a sort of ‘mapping’ of the anarchis
current in Greece. The Greek anarchist current appeared as an
autonomous political tendency in the 1980s and its points of
ia neighbourhood in Athens, punk
anti-political attitudes and aesthetics, anti-fascism, etc.

But as for the formation and/or elaboration of a clearly anar-
chist perception, things were a bit confused. With the excep-
tion of some publishing houses and a few specific projects,
confusion generally reigned in anarchist circles.
on continues to be palpably para
anchored within the anarchist current. We are going to explain
about: a good part of the anarchists
haved as if they were the illegitimate children of the extra-
parliamentary left and its ideologies. This anarchist current
never got rid of the residues of the leftist traditi
ridiculously keeps these residues within itself. The use of slo-
‘gans, the mentality and the very topics it adopts are very often
and beliefs typical of the left.

oexist and collaborate with sectors

ic and is still

in Greece be-

n and it still

of the left, in both workers® struggles (independent unions)
and local protests (neighbourhood commitiees, popular assem-
blies, etc). So. on the occas
comrades a series of leftist

idarity (even including some members of parliament) turn
up as witnesses for the defence in order to offer extenuating
ideological circumstances o the defendants. We of the Con-
spiracy of the Cells of Fire are one of the few exceptions, as
during our trial we didn’t accept ali
ing circumstances’ of leftist defence. We are not looking for lefi-
ist defenders but only for accomplices,

ich as the ‘extenuat-

anarchists of action.

Itis not by chance that the development and trajectory of a
sector of the Greek antiauthoritarian current has frequent con-
tacts with lefiwing people (anti-American attitudes/anti-im-
perialism, workers autonomy, independent nions, direct de-
mocracy, popular ass

)
frame-ups against innocent fighters, beatings and stabbings
by fascists on pacifist demonstrators, etc) conceals itself —
sometimes openly — within anarchist circles. In this way the
not so inspiring image is created of an anarchist environment
placed in a position of permanent defence. By the way, it is
true that the State has fabricated political frame-ups on a
number of occasions, and it is also true that fascists stab peo-
ple. But this is just half the truth. The other half is that at this
Very moment we are here in prison as anarchists of action who
proudly took responsibility for their participation in the new
urban guerrilla, and this happened without police “frame-ups™
being orchestrated. We've sent enough fascists to hospital so
far, while their hideouts have been set on fire, destroyed or
blown up with dynamite on many occasions.

We acknowledge that the logic of victimization and denuncia-
tion, being one of the bastard ideologies of the left, is often
used to gain people’s sympathy. As a consequence, some pre-
fer to continuously defend themselves, whereas we believe
thatthe best form of defence is attack. In this way many spear-
heads of Anarchy which actually gave rise to the war against
this world —are absent within the Greek anarchist current. For

example, the practices of the refusal of earth and animal ex-
ploitation, the concept of anti-ci
ue of technology currently concern only aminority in the
anarchist “movement”, which becomes even more a minority
when faced with the passage from theory to practice.

lization and the anarchist

As concerns the anarchist incendiary tendency, quite often a

good part of the latter seems to assume, consciously or uncon-
sciously, a position of Marxist vanguard. In their communi-
qués they recycle the same things, claiming they are speaking
on behalf of the peaple or the oppressed or the exploited.

given the current economic and social crisis the

1 tendency and its components place their illu-
sions in an alleged awakening of the masses with the same
certitude displayed by Christians when they talk about the heayv-
en promised by their god.

These circles of sox
ty. whereas in prac

al anarchism are “anarchist’ only in theo-
ce they participate in weak meetings lack-
ing energy and convert anarchy into a reformist and alterna-

tive proposal, as they are more worried about obtaining social
consensus than they are of making the attack real. Many of

them are more concerned about creating an alternative nurs-
ery or some self-managed kitchen than they are with attacking

the system of dominion in a thousand possible ways. In thi

way, they reconcile with the fear of repression and consider
being in a position of resis
the same time as they cl
synchronized with the pride of the “great awakening of the

masses”.

themselves as

ance and defence; at

that anarchist violence must be

Inaconscious and demonstra
is kind of illusi
ardice of their supporters. We don’t even give a minute of our

e way, we are turning our back
on, the same that often conceals the cow-

ont

life in the hope that the multitude will suddenly become aware
the hatch-
is a problem of the oppressed. We have battle in our

and wake up! If the oppressed are not ready torr

hearts and we have left the point where a step back was still
possible.

To all reformist circles and tendencies that still exist within
the Greek anarchist current, the appearance of the Conspiracy
of the Cells of Fire at first provoked a serious headache. The
actions and words of the Conspiracy —an
and the cynicism that characterizes our nihil
point of view — disturb the habits and traditions of the pas
anarchists. They eliminate all obstacles and reveal the justifi-
cations invoking ‘the necessity of a mass movement in order
to make anarchist n possible” for what they really
are. We say that the time is now and the place is right here,
wherever we are. We don’t put off until tomorrow something
that we can do today. A decisive and minority group of anar-
chists of action is a thous
lack of determination of a cowardly and submissive multitude
of oppressed. We have no reason to wait for anyone. That is
why the *formal’ and “official’ groups are launching strong
critiques against us. At first they tried to discredit and isolate
the emergence of the Conspiracy and our communiqués.
ilarly the emerging of countless groups of the new Anarchy
alarmed and worried the passive anarchists. Very quickly the
polemics against us turned into an avalanche of slander.

constant attacks

and anti-social

e

surTe

d times more effective than the

The climax of thit ial anarchism

polemic between us and *offi

ame with the events of May 5 2011. The burning of a bank
and the deaths of three of its employees were attributed to the
anarcho-nihilist and anti-social tendency represented by the
Conspiracy. And all this happened when the first stage of the

Conspiracy had already gone underground as most members
had pending ‘arrest warrants’ issued by the authorities. In oth-
er words, a good part of “official’ anarchism not only failed to
express solidarity with the comrades with arrest warrants, they
also accused us of being the perpetrators of the unfortunate
incident of the death of the three bank employees. Needless to
say, the situation hasn’t changed following ou
‘The solidarity of the ‘old” anarchist circles with the impris-
oned members of the CCF is almost inexistent. On the other
hand, however, there is the minority tendency of the new An-
archy that keeps the flame of anarchist struggle and solidarity
alive.

prisonment,

‘When the new urban guerrilla started to form, the Conspiracy
was creating an informal network of collaboration between
anarchists of action. All of a sudden a wave of incendiary at-
tacks took place, so that this or that other cell was giving i
fire 1o the night on a daily basis, burning banks
rooms, security vans, cameras, etc.

car show-

In 2009 some 5 or 6 groups which identified with the new
Anarchy come together in order to strike targets representing
the dogma of “citizen security”. The CCF also took part in
these actions by placing explosive de
tions, one in Athens and the other in Thessaloniki. At the same
time, solidarity greetings, references and even extra
of other groups of the same tendency appeared in many claims
of attacks carried out by the new urban guerrilla. Unfortunate-
1y, after the first arrests in Halandri (including that of a CCF

member), this tendency weakened and withdrew as many peo-

es in two police sta-

of texts

ple got scared and moved towards the safer and stagnant wa-
ters of traditional anarchism. What is really encouraging is
that while we are writing these lines, the anarcho-
social tendency is rising up again as new comrades have de-
cided to put the ridiculous “paleontological anarchy” behind
them and become anarchists of action. New groups and cells
are appearing continuously, and they go on the attack and give
strength to the proposal of the Informal Anarchist Federa-
tion and the International Revolutionary Front (FAUFRI).
At the same time the second stage of the Conspiracy of the
Cells of Fire has begun, with new cells that are setting fire to
and lighting up the calm nights of the metropol

ilist/anti-

5. Do you think that specific campaigns are useful, for ex-
ample the struggle against prison or against some specific
project of capitalism?

To start with, we are going to use a sentence that contains all
the significance of anarchist permanent insurrection: “Neither
victory nor defeat is important, but only the beautiful shin-
ing of our eyes in combat.” Anarchist war on the daily life of
the State and the social machinery has nothing to do with ac-
counting, which ‘adds” and *detracts’ losses and gains. What
really counts is the strength we feel every time we don’t bow
our heads, every time we destroy the false idols of civiliza-
tion, every time our eyes meet those of our comrades along
illegal paths, every time that our hands set fire to the symbols
of Power. In those moments we don’t ask ourselves: ‘Will we

win? Will we lose?” In those moments we just fight.

since we are talking about war,
organize curselves and set up the strategy of our attack, In the
face of Power and its ideology of order, which is based on
army, police, courts, prisons, spectacle, money and the silence
of s subjects, we want our attacks to be the arena that ob-
structs the clogs of the social machinery. In order for this to
happen we have to communicate, co-ordinate ourselves, make
plans and attack first. This doesn’t mean that we are fulfilling
some *sacred revolutionary duty® having the liberation of ‘the
oppressed” as its goal. We are simply taking our lives back
into our own hands and we don’t accept living as slaves of the
empire of Power. We know that Power is not a monster made
of ice that will easily fall with a well-aimed blow to its heart.
Today Power is scattered over society and lives in the hearts
and minds of its subjects. Using specific campaigns as a strat-
egy (for example against the prison system or the plunder of
the carth and of animals) we can easily cause
the normal functioning of society.

short circu

to

For example, a campaign against prison that includes posters
and leaflets against prison, sabotage and arson against the com-
panies that build prisons and/or get rich with their manage-
ment, letters to imprisoned anarchists, attacks on jaile
prison governors, explosive attacks on judges in solidarity with
anarchist prisoners, would unquestionably be a strong cam-
paign that would cause cracks in the prison walls. This kind of
mobilization can strike the prison regime and create unpre-
dictable situations inside the prison, and even help the com-
rades who want to escape.

and

Obviously, such campaigns are part of the permanent anar-
chist insurrection and promote its spreading. But at the same
time a guerrilla anarchist organization or some anarchist indi-
viduals that choose the strategy of ‘campaigns” have to be care-
ful not o fall in the trap of speci
anarchists of

lization. We believe that we

ion can sirike the thousand faces of Power

through attack. We don’t focus on one direction or one subject
alone (for example, the antifascist struggle), which limits our
action and political content. This would mean to ignore other
aspects of Power. We are antifasc
chists. This means that we attack fascists and also banks, min-
istries, police stations, religion and the State. We are saying
this because in Greece there are groups and assemblies that
are only concerned with antifascism. As a matter of fact, these
‘groups very rarely face fascists directly, nor do they carry out
actions in solidarity with anarchist prisoners or attack the sym-
bols of Power.

cist s

because we are anar-

that focuses on one

In this way, approximation and analysi
topic alone often end up in immobility, with the result that
theory is downgraded and people are incapable of looking be-
yond their narrow limits. Another example that s
Greece are some infrastructures that only organize campaigns
against prison These groups tend to idealize prisoners, con-
sider them antiauthoritarian subjects and ignore the fact that
the prison population involves a mixture of contradictory be-
haviour and attitudes. Clearly, we find ourselves on the oppo-
oners, who are racist, religious fanatics,
submissive, sexist, etc, and therefore don’t deserve any soli-
darity but only contempt and hostiliy.

ands out in

Itis one thing when an anarchist guerrilla group or some anar-
chist individuals decide to undertake a campaign focussed on
a precise topic (for example against prison, the destr
nature o fascism) for a specific length of time, it is another

ction of

thing altogether when a nucleus is committed with only one
specific subject, whatever it might be, and they don’t care about
the development of the rest of the war we have waged on au-
thoritarian society. Only the totality of widespread attack can
bring about the destruction of the system that is suffocating
us. The totality of combative action includes three crucial
points, which we exposed in our proposal for an expansion of
the FAUFRI: direct action, anti-social critique and interna-
tional solidarity.

6.A debate about ‘anarchist informality’ is going on at the
‘moment. On the one hand there are those who support
classic or traditional anarchism and criticize informal or-
ganizations, and they argue that the latter are not the right
way to organize oneself as a specific project is needed in-
stead. On the other hand there are insurrectionist ‘teach-
ers’ who seem to support mass organization from an indi-
vidual perspective, arguing that the concept of informali-
ty has been misunderstood and ended up in alleged ‘van-
guards’ or specialized groups, and they openly blame nu-
clei such as CCF, FAL GARI-PGG, ITS, etc. These people
think it is not the case to issue communiqués as the latter
end up becoming specialized or ‘enlightened” texts. As CCF
prisoners of war, what’s your opinion on informal
is anarchist informality for you? Do you think it
tant to claim actions? Why?

For us the fact of defining ourselves anarchist is not an ideo-
logical manifesto accompanied by the usual philosophical chat-
ter. Anarchy is permanent war on Power. And in this war the
simple intention of destroying the State and its civili
not sufficient. We need to communicate our desires, organize
our negation, plan our attacks and trace the lines of our chaot-
ic strategy in order to spread disorder and Anarchy. That's why
we need direct action groups that incite conflict against Power
here and now, without waiting for the masses
in the unforeseeable future. One only lives once and itis worth
living with all one’s passion.

ation is

(0 become aware

However, concepts of organization and that of the group often
remind us of hierarchical models of organization having lead-
ers, members, followers, peripheral elements and predictable
roles, just as Power does. As a consequence, revolutionary
Marxist organizations produce
themselves. They simply substitute old idols of Power with
their own idols. When we maintain that we need o organize
ourselves we do it in an anarchist way and strike all forms of
hierarchical structures, we destroy their axioms, roles and di-
visions. An informal anarchist organization is a living experi-
‘ment of human relations without leaders, members or follow-
ers. We hate rules and the ‘we must’ appeals typical of leaders
and we condemn the concept of duty. All thi
e for liberation to an *Anarchist handbook” and leads us to
more constraint. That's why we support and promote anar-
chist informality as a way of organizing oneself.

at

rarchical culture within

reduces the bat-

An informal anarchist organization flows like water and takes
cording to the action it wants to carry out. Com-
d of organization are not “enrolled
members” but continue to maintain their autonomy and indi
iduality. Informal organization promotes concepts such as
individual initiative, open dialogue and disagreement, collec-
tivization of the desires that are arming themselves in order to
become practice. Informal anarchist organization moves in-
cessantly and keeps itself extraneous to revolutionary dogmas
and truths, as immobility is an enemy of freedom. Further-
more, stagnant water only produces putrefaction and po
ing. With this spirit and values the CCF was bom, organized
itself and continues to exist. It is no vanguard or specialized
‘group, but a spark which - we would like the same to happen
with FAVFRI - will expand like flames unt

and its civiliza

on-

the entire world

s set on fire.

In recent

nes the argument on whether or not it
sue communiqués to claim attacks on dom
being frequently debated. Those who are for the abolition of
communiqués state that rebel practices speak for themselves
and therefore they don’t need further explanations. The ‘right
choice of targets and means” are enough, a concept which
they have highlighted. because combative actions don’t need
any claim. We of the CCF think the opposite. We believe that
practice without theory is incomplete and invalid. Even if we
choose the target of a combative action and the most adequate
means of attack carefully, also taking care of the smallest de-
tails, we want our actions always to be accompanied by our
voice. Particularly today. in an era of chatter and news, adver-
tisement, notifications, orders and prohibitions, we 4

conven-

it to n

30
indispensable to talk about our practices because we believe
that no attack can speak by itself.

‘There are several tendencies within anarchist circui

that speak
the same language of fire and attack, but they often want to
express different meanings. For example, we think that to burn
abank without a claim los potential because of
elf-censorship, which gives ris ite interpretations
and confused conclusions. If the incendiaries come from so-

m probably they want o express their anger against
system with their attack, and at the same time
they want to express solidarity with social sectors oppressed
by the dictatorship of the banks. But if the incendiaries are
anarchist-individual
flames, besides representing an attack on the banking system,
also represents a demonstration of hostility towards the multi-
tude of subjects who thoughtfully support the power that money
h tatorship
of the banks was built on the desires of the masses of consum-

t or anarcho-nihilists, then a bank in

on our lives with their silence. Moreover, the d;

ers, on their will to have more property, do more shopping and
ze more illusions.

mater

For these reasons we believe that c

ims are important. A claim
doesn’t necessarily express the ‘enlightened truth’ of an elitist
vanguard, on the contrary it is a way of communicating by the
comrades who charge their words with fire. There is no sepa-
ration between the perpetrators of an attack and those who
read the claim because a claim is not just a bunch of words
written on paper but an n 1o the struggle, an instiga-
tion addressed to everybody, one which destroys roles and the

3l
myth of *experts in violence’. That is why we often maintain
that a discussion on the opportunity to claim an attack is just
part of a wider debate that does not end but begins with this
topic. To conclude, let us quote a passage that expresses clear-
ly what we feel: It is not worth reading anything written by
theoreticians who don’t live a rebel life. And the activists
who fail to accompany their acts with words mutilate and
self-censor their acts, they impoverish them.

‘Theory and practice are concepts that cut like a sharp knife
when melting together in a concrete way.

7. In Mexico as well as in other parts of the world new cells
that identify with the project of the Informal Anarchist
Federation (FAT) have been emerging for some months. In
addition to this, other nuclei and groups that already ex-
isted are claiming to be active participants of the FAI's
call. This represents an increase of the potential of anar-
chist action on an international level and highlights how, 8
years after it started, the FAT is keeping itself alive and has
succeeded in expanding outside Europe too. What's your
opinion on this constant response to the FAT's call and how
do you think it can keep on growing and function in an
informal way? Do you envisage the necessity for new pro-
posals or reconsiderations on what is already there in or-
der to undertake new local and international campaigns?

Our name is our heart. Today our heart has a name and one of
its segments is called Informal Anarchist Federation (FAL)/
International Revolutionary Front (FRI). The FAUFRI is a
living laboratory of anarchist rebellion, created by all anar-
chist cells or individualities scattered all over the world. Itis a
possibility that contains a thousand possibilit
escape from the prison of civilization we live in. This experi-
ence of informal organization started its voyage a few years
ago in Ttaly and today it represents the international conspira-
cy of the anarchists of action, which managed to spread all
over the world. An invisible network of cells scattered over
the metropolis of the planet, which passes through the geo-
‘graphical prison of borders thanks to their actions. Thousands
and thousands of litres of petrol and kilograms of explos
feed the meanings of our practice (and vice-versa), thus
ing a relation between the comrades who support the FA/FRI

of attack and,

e

creat-

In this way the debris created by an explosion in Mexico and

the smoke of a fire in Buenos Aires reach our cells in Greece

and warm the frozen steppes of Russia, and end up in the pris-
o . where our brothers Eat and Billy of the In-
a FAI are being held hostage.

s of Indonesi

dones

Unlike many experiences of organization of the past, the FAI
has abandoned any possibility of reconciliation. It is an in-
stant that comes from the future of an anarchist world lived in
the present. One of its basic principles is the creation of a frame-
work of attack, decentralized and informal, which at the same

time

res the autonomy of each person who takes part in it.
Unlike “armed” vanguards and *armed parties” of the past, the
FAUFRI despises centralized structures and scorns the rigid
language of unique ‘revolutionary truth’. Itis an expression of
a whole series of forms and signs of conflic

E)
that continuously evolve and are not controlled by any guid-
ing centre. There exist hundreds of ways for making the FAT
function and for strengthening the perspect
national Revolutionary Front (FRI). Any form of Power com-
ing from parliaments and pols
that Power uses to speak, entertain, order and smile from TV
screens - with their news bulletins and advertisements bought
by the culture of consumerism, which has now failed because
of the economic crisis and which end up poisoning all our
relations (friendship, love and relations between comrades) —
are condemned to receive the merciless attack of the FAI in
any comner of the world.

es of the Infer-

‘Those who want Anarchy must attack first things first, espe-
ally the relations that worship the idols of Power and speak
the language of ts ci on. That is why we say that Anar-
chy lives in the heart of human relati itself
continuously, in an endless process of liberation, without lim-
its orrules. For this reason we cultivate a strong critique of all
the obsolete forms and contents that put the world into ques-
tion. Proletarians, class struggle, communism and syndic
ism are part of the reconciliation. Not even the economic cri-
sis can be interpreted by the anarchists of action using the sa
language of figures, statistics and the unemployment rate.

zal

ind transform:

ns

me

Economy is first of all a social relation. If we want to attack
the economic crisis we have fi
ues. To strike the civilization that put money on above every-
thing as if it was the absolute regulator of our lives. At the
same time, when we look for new and liberated areas of hu-

1o turn it into a crisis of val-

En
man expression we know very well that they cannot be reached
relying on words alone. Nothing essential can be built on lo-

faces must be covered with hoods and our bullets must slip
sweetly into our magazines ready to hit our enemies

Today the FAI can realize dozens of attacks and organize oth-
erinternational campaigns thus liberating moments, souls and
Many forms proposed by the FAI have already been
putinto action with successful attacks on the forces of order.
Recently, for example, *Amigxs de la Tierra/FAI
responsibility for dozens of incendiary
Buenos Aires between December and January. This means that
a cell of the FAI can start attacking by surprise, and then take
responsibility for this once the series of actions has been com-
pleted. Soit can take responsibility for a series of a
4 unique claim that explains the meaning of the attacl
context of the struggle against Power. This tactic of a unique
claim offers the possibilities to act in an
fact, if the first attack is claimed the po
understand immediately that dozens of incendiary attacks were
partof the same organized plan of attack, whereas in this way
the confusion hel
not allow attacks to get lost in vagueness or to be distorted by the
cowardice of the police. On the contrary, they remain recorded as
direct and organized attacks on the civilization of Power.

actior

imed the

ttacks carried out in

ce will be able to

s materialize the work of the fire. A claim does

Another strategy adopted by the FAI when carrying out acts of
sabotage is that of using propaganda in order to prepare the
conditions for the attack. After discussions, one or more cells

3
of the FAIFRI can choose and propose a specific topic from
where to start a campaign of actions, and then publish their
considerations on the web. Some comrades, for example, will
choose to inflame the struggle against earth and animal ex-
ploitation and plan actions against the tyranny of the ‘meat
industry”, deforestation, etc. After making their considerations
on the subject public, they can instigate other comrades of
action, no matter whether or not they are participants in the
FAI/FRI, to contributing to this campaign with their own at-
tacks in a reciprocal dialogue that becomes concrete in action.
In this way they will be able to cause the most damage pos
of subsequent attacks and sabotage against the
chosen targets, thus creating an informal international coordi-
nation. The claims don’t necessarily need to be in line with
the initial positions of the cell that instigated the development
of the campaign. Certainly there will be divergence and/or dis-
agreement, but the friction will make us reach horizons of re-
flection and we will multiply free moments and spaces op-
posed to the system we live in.

ble in a seri

‘The third tactic for spreading chaos and Anarchy is represent-
ed by the calls for international solidarity with the arrested
anarchists, launched on the eve of a
stration of complicity
by fire because they are in prison. As someone wrote in a very
effective way: ‘those who forget about our comrades who
are imprisoned for carrying out anarchist action, will end
up forgetting about anarchist action itself.” Moreover, as we
have always stressed, solidarity between anarchists of action
not only made of words but also of a

adirect demon-

ora

h those who are not in the streets

36
Similarly, there are particular topics a FAI cell can choose au-
tonomously, without this choice implying an international co-
ordination. Furthermore, as we have already said, the FAI never
renounces to the individual or group autonomy of those who
take part in the cells of this coordination, quite the opposite
this autonomy is supported and encouraged

At the same time, we have to highlight the fact that with their
of the FAI don’t know borders or home-
lands that could limit their action. So, having the flexibility of
our movement as a goal, it is likely that in some unpredictable
‘moment, taking the enemy by surprise, some comrades travel
to another country to strike a specific target. This gives us the
advantage of moving in an invisible manner a
iced as “tourists” and don’t raise police suspicion’. And we
make the ‘element of surprise” possible during the period of strong
repres iven State (with arrests and imprisonment of an-
archist comrades) because the persistence of our attack reminds
the enemy that the war continues,

attacks the comrades

we pass unno-

ionina

Obviously such a project assumes that the cell planning an
attack on unfamiliar territory has enough experience and knows
how to move. In addition, we consider particularly useful the
internet publication of handbooks that transmit the experience
of the struggle and also knowledge on the means we use to
spread Anarchy. We need publications that describe the re-
pressive operations and frame-ups of the State and the police,
butalso publications that teach us and explain us the methods
to get hold of, fabricate and use timer explosive devices, weap-
ons ete. Of course attention must be paid to prevent the police

3
from getting information concerning the time when a device
can be defused or the way we get approach or leave the area of
the target. There are many things that don’t required militaris-
tic expertise but only the will to carry out an action. Each one
can work out the way of doing it. There are also dozens of
general ideas capable of strengthening the experiment of the
FAL countless ideas we haven’t mentioned here or which we
have still to discover. This text is not a handbook for attacks
and sabotage but an invitation to open a dangerous dialogue, a
dialogue that wants to reduce the civilization of Power to ruins.

8. What are the specific contexts of the different groups of
action within the Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire? We are
discussing this topic in Mexico because of various ques-

ns that have emerged following some events. For exam-
ple, in Mexico some comrades of groups of action have re-
cently conceded interviews with the cay

ist press and
provoked a critique from comrades of other regions, such
as Chile. We all know that the means of capitalist aliena-
n are our enemy all over the world, but we also recog-
nize that contexts vary from area to area. We’ve seen how
the Chilean press worked side by side with the State, by
filming comrades, shadowing them and spying on their
private lives. They also contemptibly exploited the ill-fat-
ed death of comrade Mauricio Morales. In Mexico as well
as in the rest of the world the means of mass alienation are
accomplices of the State but there are also a few excep-
s, including those represented by some journalists who
have been killed by the State or its paramilitary lackeys
because they had covered some subversive groups or be-

38
cause they had openly criticized the government. A few
months ago something happened, which clearly explains
what I've just said: two journalists who were preparing a
report on government corruption were brutally stripped
and murdered in a park. We think that contexts also de-
pend on the different forms of repression due to the social
and economic situation of a specific region, the attitude of
the population and their will to face authority, ete. Do you
think that the analysis of local context is important when
realizing our international coordination?

We are struggling in a point between two worlds, the one we

don’t accept and another one that doesn’t exist yet. We are

bringing chaos to the society of organized Order. Our move-
ments are being constantly watched by thousands of cameras
and stored as data in the hard-disks of police computers. Our
felings are continuously being corrupted by some new con-
sumerist idol: entertainment is commercialized unabated in

the multi

mbient places of mass spectacle, our thoughts are
substituted with an endless flow of censored information sold
by the mass media.

As anarchists of action we want to use dynamite and totally
destroy all that imprisons us and keeps us p
ilization of Power. Our words and actions are far from the

oners of the civ-

legal paths and leave traces of fire wherever the anarchist ur-
ban guerrilla passes through, a passage that constitutes the in-
ternational crossroads of anarchist rebellion and where com-
rades who speak different languages, have different experi-
ences and come from distant plac: 2 with

3
their common denominator is direct action that
of the total de-

one another as
the direction shown by the compa
struction of this world.

move:

In this case 100, the question you are asking arises frequently;
what happens if the comrades are faced with contexts and top-
of struggle on which we have a different approach? The
se you have described is certainly signifi
n comrades who gave an interview with the press of the
regime and the subsequent critique by Chilean comrades. There
are many examples of internal contradictions between the com-
rades who take part in the international anarchist conspiracy.
‘These contradictions often emerge because of the fact that there
are different situations in the countries we live in. For exam-
ple. in Chile there are the Mapuche people
my, whereas in Greece there’s no experience like this. Moreo-
ver, each country has its radical legacy, which we want to use,
overcome, plunder and/or keep far away.

ant: some Mexi

h their autono-

‘This becomes obvious as regards a part of anarchism in Greece,
which gets messed up with its lefiist formation and which a
tually comes from the left itself. In this way many arguments
treated by anarchists and the consequent proposals have often
and lefiist way of thinking as their point of refer-
times of economic cri

a reformis

ence. For example. in thes one of
the most popular anarchist slogans goes: frue terrorism is the
necessity of having to find a job, no peace for the bosses
‘This slogan represents a leftist mutation of an old anarchist
slogan: true terrorism is wage slavery, no peace for the bos;

es. If the old anarchist critique fought against the coercive and

a0
forced condition of work, now it adapts o reformism and de-
fends the ‘right to work’. We point to this bec:
that words such as *Anarchy’ and ‘anarchists’ often represent
political labels that don’t say anything. To claim to be anar-
chist is not suffi With
our action we highlight our meanings and contents.

e we think

ient, one has also to act as anarchi

Coming back to your question, we think that it is worth build-
tion between comrades of action in spite of
our differences. Itis not only a long distance that divides Mex-
ican neighbourhoods, Greek streets and Russian plains. It is
also culture and habits typical of each region, and the different
experiences and trajectories that each of us has chosen to be-
come the internal enemy of the State where he/she

The challenge we are undertaking through anarchist coordi-
nation networks, such as the FAUFRI and the Black Interna-
fional, is an exhortation to start an open dialogue on pos
tions, proposals and values. This dialogue does not reduce our
communication to a typical, formal and predetermined agree-
ment on rules and norms like that of a centralized structure,
but encourages disagreement and synth
tion. And all this happens without limiting individual autonomy.

tension and evolu-

A typical example is offered by our ca
prisoned CCF members. By communicating and talking with
anarchist comrades on an international level we widened our
ideas and critique on a number of subjects that were relatively
unknown (o us. In the anarc

e, the cell of the im-

t environment in Greece there
is very little attention to a number of questions, for example
that of anti-civilization and technological-
ion. In particular, until not so lgng ago some anarc

dustrial domin-
groups.

of action in this country. including us members of the first
stage of CCF, seemed to ignore these aspects of Power.

But after communicating and exchanging views with other
comrades (as we are doing now with you) new challenges to
thought and action opened up. and they are deepening the anal-
ysis and critique of the new anarchist urban guerrilla and pro-
moting insurrectionist chaos. We believe that we are also con-
tributing o this development with our considera
projects, like those exposed in texts such as Fire and Black
Powder, The Sun Is Still Rising and this
through this dialogue with the comrades of the Cospiracion
Acrata we are talking of our anarchist points of view on armed
struggle, urban guerrilla and the revolution.

ons and

terview. In fact,

To conclude, we think that a living relation exists between

comrades of action, a solid relation which cannot be broken
because of contradictions or internal disagreements that arise
from time to time. In no case would we prefer a *sweet” and
harmonious unitary model typical of formal anarchist federa-
tions. We are not looking for quantitative growth and multi-
tudes, but complicity between comrades. So what we are pro-
posing in the face of differences s to openly put the latter on
the table through public dialogue between anarchists of ac-
tion, dialogue that will be able to develop with the exchange
of texts and claims of attack. Our disposition towards this i
formal dialogue will always be extremely important. General-
ly speaking, we don’t like denunciations, tellings off or the
exhausting ‘paper war’ waged through endless po
muniqués. On the contrary, what is worthy to us is that each

I com-

a2
individual and cell takes a stand in the debate in a sincere way
and in the awareness that comrades taking part in the debate
honour their words with actions and are not beginners a
tomed to immobilist chatter and reformist practices that occur
during moderate meetings. Moreover, we are aware that evo-
lution comes about by disagreement and differencies. As an-
archist-individualists and anarcho-nihilists we know that eve-
rything flows and is unpredictable in life. We don’t like to talk
quietly when we disagree. We believe that the importance of
raising one’s voice is rooted in the will to avoid closing one-
self up in absolute dogmas and swallowing the hook of intel-
lectual clarifications. There are many pseudo-anarchists hav-
ing different names who drown in words and live off words.
We don’t want any relation with these people. We don’t like
empty words lacking practice. On the contrary we give great
importance o words and to the texts that accompany our at-
tacks on the State and its society. For these words are the mir-
ror of our soul, of ourselves, the call to the next battle.

s

9. In one of your recent communiqués (Fire and Black Pow-
der) you deal with the worries that the Chilean comrades
of the Incendiary Anarchist Columns have expressed re-
garding the use of revolutionary speeches* (and their pop-
ulist connotations) in the antagonist struggles of the XXI
century. But in spite of your wide considerations we still
have some doubts. In particular we think that your pro-
posal of ‘correcting” the problem of the ‘name’ of revolu-
tion instead of concentrating on the very concept of Revo-
nin the XXI century is insufficient. Do you think that
an ‘Anarchist Revolution’ would be very different from

s
all known revolutions? We don’t think so. We think that
all known revolutions, from the French Revolution to the
‘most recent ones, ended up in dictatorships and/or author-
itarian governments. We also think that this fact doesn’t
oceur continuously by coincidence, on the contrary it oc-
curs precisely because of all that this liberal word implies.
When a ‘revolution® takes place, things change place, i.e.
they move from the hands of some to the hands of others
and leave the condition for immediate reproduction of
Power intact because oppression and exploitation have not
been erased. Don’t you think that in this century it would
be more appropriate from an anarchist insurrectionist
perspective to propose the idea of total destruction, includ-
ing that of the means of production and the market in or-
der to avoid power being reinstated and to leave free the
way to Anarchy?

Specifically we think that this question makes quite clear the
ifference between the revolutionary anarchist idea and other
revolutionary ideologies, which compete with each other in
order to make their truth and dogma prevail.

Any revolutionary idea speaks of the formula, of the infallible
recipe for the realization of a future world that will solely
emerge when this ideology wins. The orators and theoreticians
of vanguard *prophesies” the dream of ‘soci
lution’. Their ideologies work as religions do because they
invent a world suited to their needs. Any revolution has its
“gospel on *how life will be organized after the victory of the
revolution’. How many times did we read or hear of workers’

y after the revo-

a4
committees, popular assemblies. popular committees, etc? All
known revolutionaries suffer anxiety and are eager to constrain
ourlives into new schemes and rules, which however ‘revolu-

tionary” they claim to be, are stil restrictive. In this way the
new society determines its new limits even before it is creat-
ed. The shadow of Power sneaks in right there. In fact all these
recipes prepared in advanced for the ‘new world” are often
Id by those who are getting ready to seize power tomorrow,
no matter whether in the role of leaders or vanguards.

Moreover, as you said, all revolutions managed only to ‘move’
the Power of the enemy to another side. They simply reduced
themselves to a move of power, no matter if this occurs under
4 new tyrant or by changing the rthetori
power. That's why communist
ans have nothing to envy to c:
enemy of any ideology aiming at repressing the infinite poss
bilities of freedom that are born from the destruction of Pow-
er, and impose their plans, rules and orders to be implemented
“after the revolution’.

of the overthrown
s of the proletari-
s. We are

Very often, even in anarchist circles, the future organization
saciety is discussed along with the role of work,
If-management of the means of production, direct democra-
cy. ete. According to us, this kind of debate and proposal look
like the construction of a dam that tries to control the impetus
of the abundant stream of Anarchy. They reduce life to the
immobility imposed by ‘revolutionary institutions’ and deprive
it of spontaneity, research, development. Anarchy, however,
cannot be reduced to a series of instructions that promise a

of ‘anarchi;

a5
stagnant and easy life. Immobility
On the contrary: Anarchy is constant movement without lim-
its or restrictions. For there is no freedom without movement.

‘When we talk about anarchist revolution we have an unknown
revolution in mind, a revolution that s totally different from
all previous revolutions. Of course it is not sufficient to cor-
rect the concept of revolution by adding the adjective ‘anar-
chist’. But we don’t want to give words (o the enemy or to
history either, as history has always been written by tyrants.
That's why once again we build and destroy new concepts.
Forus Anarchy has its own revolution and specific urban guer-
rilla, which are different from all the others. It is endless revo-
lution, permanent battle without end, a journey with no breaks
or previously established destinations, combative rebellion that
never stops because there will always be a better sunset than
those we have already seen. This is Anarchy for us. As soon as
a battle finishes we are ready to begin another one.

Imagine that anarchist soci

ty becomes true. Even in this fu-
ture society there will certainly be anarchists who don’t want
tobe in it and will carry out a struggle in order to reach some-
thing different, unknown territories never explored before, ter-
ritories of more freedom. Hence anew conflict will arise: that
of the new deniers of the existent. In Anarchy as well as in
life, in friendship as well as in love there exist no guarantees.
Certainty and safety offered by immobility kill all forms of
life and evolution. The source of life

constant movement
and evolution. To evolve means to destroy and build again,
once and yet again, incessantly.

6
For this reason we anarcho-nihilists, unlike all the other anar-
chist circles here in Greece, don’t talk about “transformation
ons” towards a more liberated view, we promul-
gate their total destruction and absolute annihilation. Only
through total destruction of the current world of power and of
the civilization made of oppression/exploitation of human
beings, animals and nature will it be possible to build some-
thing new. The deeper we destroy the more freely will we be
able to build. We don’t want to save anything of the current
world. All values, relations, habits and traditions as well as all
scientific and technological triumphs are contaminated by
Power and only serve its interests. Nothing of this will be part
of our baggage when we go wandering in search of wilderness
and autonomous and anarchist life. We don’t have illusions
about ‘the proletariat’, ‘the self-management of the means of
production’ or *voluntary work’. Today we are destroyers, to-
morrow we will be builders until tomorrow becomes yester-
day and a new destruction begins. All the situations of life,
even the newest ones, inevitably produce new roles and au-
thority as soon as they stop and become stagnant. For this reason
they must be abolished and left behind. Anarchy is like a Russian
doll:there is new Anarchy inside it and so is i infinitely.

of social rela

10. Still regarding this idea, we think it is very important
to revalue many terms and concepts we continue to use
not only because the latter are stale but also because they
are inadequate to our goals, for example like ‘armed strug-
gle’ and ‘urban guerrilla’, in spite of the anarchist origin
of these concepts. We should clarify that by saying this we
2 to abandon anarchist violence or armed

el
struggle but we are trying to revalue these concepts and to
put emphasis on what they mean today and what they
‘meant last century. This compels us to reconsider them and
‘approach the ‘cult’or glorification of the weapon in a crit-
ical way (a subject widely analysed by comrade Bonanno),
in particular as concerns the use of ‘tactics’ and ‘strate-
t in the very concept of ‘guerrilla’ and all its

implications (quantity development, safe
house, methods of survival, etc). We believe that it is not
sufficient to add the adjective ‘new” in order to change all
these connotations. Fir this reason we insist on the impor-
tance of creating other informal formations and co-ordi-
nations based on affinity autonomous groups. What's your
opinion on this question?

As we sy in the pamphlet Fire and Black Powder. it happens
frequently that words express different concepts according
10 the country. That's why it is important to know the histori-
cal and political origin of the terms we use in order to make
them comprehensible in their current use and to enhance the
expropriation we carry out by taking references and beliefs
from that past that stinks of the museum

In Greece concepts such as ‘armed struggle’ and ‘urban guer-
nally belonged to the extra parliamentary
left. For this reason all the prejudices of the inexpressive and
dry language of the Marxist religion are s
the traps of vanguard, leaders, calls for ‘mass struggle’, etc.

rilla’ have trads

Il there as well as

There were occasions when these topics came from more I

ertarian positions based on antiauthoritarian references (Anfi

a8
State Struggle, some sectors of the E.L.A.) but at the same
time, in some communiqués of these guerrilla organizations
there were also conservative and *patriotic-populist” aspects.

However, one can’t deny that until summer 2002 (the year of
the arrest of the members of November 17 and E.L.A.), those
who referred to armed struggle or urban guerrilla had the mi-
nority circuits of the extra parliamentary left in mind. At the
end of their struggle against the dictatorship the majority of
the extra parliamentary left continued to wane and became
increasingly conservative and reactionary. They had retired and
turned into a ridiculous protest framed within the legal bound-
of the system. Very few members of that sector of the
extra parliamentary left didn’t hand in their weapons and con-
tinued the armed struggle instead. Today the left is dead. not
only as
not up 1o us to celebrate mass for this political death

ari

concerns its ideas but also its actions. Of course it is

As anarchi
istinet values and we keep our own war on Power in all
its expressions. But we recognize that until a few years ago
anarchist action, even if it was very widespread, cons
inferior compared to the *blow” struck by the leftist guerrilla.

s we come from another culture, a culture with its.

own

lered itself

Itis pretty obvious that we don’t give a shit about how jour-
nalists and analysts of the Anti-terrorism Unit desc:
chist violence. With the intention of creating opi
making propaganda they often attribute very peculiar and de-
rogative descriptions to s, such as “light terrorism’, ‘those
who place small bombs made of gas canisters” or ‘those who
engage in clashes’. But we also consider the fact that, besides

9
State propaganda, the parasite of the political complex in the
face of leftist urban guerrilla proliferates in antiauthoritarian
rcles. Within a good part of anarchism a sort of hierarchy of
the ‘means’ took shape (even if in an informal manner), which
led to the cult and fetishism of armed struggle and presented
the latter as something inaccessible for anarchists. In this way
astrong mythology was created around armed struggle, which
ona subconscious level was the highest form of action, whereas
the faith in the use of weapons annihilated all critiques. So
besides the State and the mass media, a sector of anarchism
sed its actions (arson, Molotov bottles, etc) as a ‘poor
relation’ of armed struggle. This dogmatic prejudice built a
very high wall, placed a veil of mystery around armed strug-
gle and presented the latter as a di 1 option. Not so
much for reasons of perception but because of a militarist un-
derestimation, according to which the fire of arson cannot be
compared to the weapons used during a politi

alsoa:

ant radi

al action.

‘This inferiority complex felt by many anarchists infuriated us.
Uptoa certain point this was due to lefiist remnants which are
still alive in the Greek anarchist tradition. Frequent and pomp-
ous references and slogans of many anarchists towards the
Leninist armed group EAM, which acted during the
of 1945, are not casual. If we dwell on the diseases of the past
(and even turn them into fetishist worship) we won’t be able
0 build anything strong and we’ll continue to be stuck in the
eteral nostalgia for the past. One thing is memory, which high-
lights perspectives, altogether different are the beliefs that in-
evitably lead to myths. A perspective has to be created, where-
as a myth is simply admired and fed.

vil war

Before organizing ourselves as CCE, we had never accepted
the losing concept that presented anarchist action as a carica-
ture of the ‘almighty” armed violence of the Marxist groups of
the previous decades. For us action can’t be judged on the
level of reaches. Action doesn’t become more or
2 to the amount of kilograms of explo-
sive used to carry out an action. We are not arms traffickers,
we don’t assess ideas and practices in relation to the bullets
we have at our disposal. There is nothing that can be defined
“low intensity violence’ (defined in this way because of its
lack of the strength of weapons). What exis
low level of awareness, courage and passion. The execution
of an oppressor or any man of power, depending on points of
view (that’s why we insist on the importance of communi-
qués) can be more reformist than an attack carried out with
paint bombs. An organization can kill some big boss as a re-
prisal for dismissals or decrease in wage:
organization can attack with stones, paint and hammers and
express their clear refusal of work. As a mater of fact, as in
our communiqués we talk about war on Power, it is logic that
we want to arm ourselves and attack the enemy. Everything is
ble and all possibilities are at hand. There is nothing in-
essible and no action requires *super commandos” or *pro-
fessional” revolutionaries, but simply our decisi

our will and awareness.

olence

less anarchist accore

and is real i

whereas another

Urban guerrilla is exactly what its name says: instigation to
create conditions of war in an urban area. Itis a method of war
and not a concept to be identified as lefti
its historical tradition belongs to these groups, it has been over-
come in the current times.

or Marxist. Even if

51
In Greece the terms *armed struggle’ and ‘urban guerrilla’ have
been old concepts with archacological connotations for a long
time. After the arrest of the members of November 17, these

terms reduced to simple discourses that some people tried to
confine in books and embalm for the sake of a history that
n makes

many believed was over. But nothing is over, acti
e again. We made the decision 0 ‘steal these
words from their poli ion and put them in a context
of widespread anarchist experiment. For the moment we in-
vented the concept of ‘new urban guerrilla’ and provoked dou-
ble short circuits that struck both the State and the reformists.

words come a

We have taken the urban guerrilla down from the heights of
armed vanguard, and have activated it as anarchist practice.
‘We have knocked down the conservative barriers and the ‘pro-
* pretensions that presented urban guerilla as ‘the
ecialized and highest form of action’. New urban guer-
an action that strikes power and abolishes its tyranny.
From sabotage against ATMs inside banks to *bombing’a State
building with paint, to blowing up a target or executing an
oppressor: this is the new urban guerrilla

Now both the State and the reformists know that our action
ts. It is a spearhead that challenges the new urban
n experiment of the CCF, because we include all
ighter or
anisters, black

has no |
guerrilla,
methods in our action without hierarchi

uch

*more militarist” (petrol, bombs made of ga
powder, explosives, weapons, words, everything!)

Through this short summary of the historical contexts and proc-
esses that took place in radical and anarchist circles in Greece,
we want to communicate and make understandable the choice
of words with which we arm ourselves. For words only be-
long to those who take them and give life to them. We are
going o desecrate all di and orthodox pols
ditions because we have no respect for a dead past, but only
for the present as we live it with all our strength.

iona I tra-

Ithappens that our brothers and sisters of struggle coming from
other areas and traditions — like you in Mexico — let us know
they have some difficult the words they use. We want
to believe that we managed to communicate some of our his-
tory and culture with our answers, and that this will help to
understand our por
words. Communication on an
new forms and pos s of struggle, which at times require
new words to express them. We are ready to play with words
on the sole condition that we agree on their meaning

jons. Of course we are not attached to

ternational level stimulates

We are open to debate and to inventing new words having a
etymology. The only thing we don’t want is to
consume ourselves in innocent chatter and philological ap-
proximation. Communication with you and with all the com-
rades of action, no matter whether they are in the FAVFRI or
not, gives us the possibility to make the struggle and the pos-
ibility to name our new challenges agai

tional, perhaps in a very different way from how it has been
done so far. This is an open proposal addressed to everybody.
Language and action go hand in hand

clear anarc]

t Power interna-

E
What was provocation and irreverence against Power yester-
day,
trary to what it was at that time. Comrades, everything is at
hand, we have to become destroyers and creato
language that talks of war on Power and spreads Anarchy.

ometimes turns out to be obsolete today and even con-

s of a new

As nihilist anarchists we hate both the hand that holds the whip
and the back that endures it and passively accepts flagellation
without reacting. We dismantle and destro; of
civilization, annihilate the dictatorship of economy by mak-
2 it void, make the cities of the masses and th
in urbanism crumble, attack the plunder of nature and animal
exploitation, hamper dogmatic posi
gion of scienti
creation makes life worth
ing, through tex

boredom, the offspring of the dominant culture of “identity”.

all the valug

authoritar-

jons and refuse the reli-

s. Only constant and merciless destruction-

ing. Constant n

question-

bullets and explosives. attack organized

‘Through Anarchy we are creating a constantly changing world,
atotally different world, a world where tension finds its dura-
tion after going through intellectual and emotional explosions,

a world where new relatio

re being forged while old tradi-
tions and burdens

are disappearing. But once they are consid-

ered concrete reality, the new values brought about by anar-

cho-nihilism in a very critical moment, will have to explode

and destroy themselves, thus creating new agitation and new

perspectives.

First release of Black International Editions: “Mapping the
Fire” - International Words of Solidarity with the Con-
spiracy of Cells of Fire (CCF)

For Greek language version, you can find this publication on
paper at various self-organised spaces in Exarchia, Athens,
Greece, or email sal.spf(at)gmail.com for copies.

In Santiago, Chile, find it at Biblioteca La Hiedra or via
Entropia Ediciones in a Spanish language version.

In UK. find it at anarchist spaces, like Kebele in Bristol, or
56a Infoshop in London. You can also write to
actforfreedomnow @riseup.net to have a copy sent by post.
‘The email for contact with the imprisoned CCF members
has moved to riseup.net’s mail server. From now on, you can
communicate at sinomosiapf(atriseup.net

For the destruction of the existent...

Black International editions