Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

Anarcho-Syndicalism / 199
Simply this: that the principle of association gain ground, that associations federate
pretty much along the lines we have set Ollt, as mutually homogeneolls units, without
chauvinistic or racial frictions, with all of the groups retaining their autonomy and
independence, free of meddling by other groups and with no one having methods, systems,
theories, schools of thought, beliefs, or any faith shoved down his throat, the individual
being free, right from his very first attachment to his fellow-citizens, his brethren
from the workshop, who speak the same language and are comprehensively
like-minded, through to a worldwide understanding, and need not feel aggrieved in his
feelings, dislikes or prejudices, should he have any. (Reprinted in Diego Abad de
Santillan, La FORA: Ideologia y Trayectoria, Buenos Aires: Editorial Proyeccion, 1971.)
58. The Workers' Federation of the Uruguayan Region (FORU): Declarations
from the 3rd Congress (1911)
Anarchists played an important role in the revolutionary labour movements in Latin America.
Around the turn of the century, they were particularly active in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and
Uruguay. While the revolutionary syndicalist CGT in France adopted an "apolitical" stance in
its famous Charter of Amiens;n 1906, the Latin American anarcho-syndicalist federations, such
as the Workers' Federation of the Argentine Region (FORA)-the successor to the Workers' Federation
of Argentina-and the Workers' Federation of the Uruguyan Region (FORU), adopted
an explicitly anarchist program. The "Pact of Solidarity" adopted at the founding Congress of
the FORA in 1904 declared:
We must not forget that a union is merely an economic by-product ofthe capitalist
system, born from the needs of this epoch. To preserve it after the revolution
would imply preserving the capitalist system that gave rise to it. We, as
anarchists, accept the unions as weapons in the struggle and we try to ensure
that they should approximate as closely [as possible) to our revolutionary ideals.
We recommend the widest possible study ofthe economic-philosophical
principles of anarchist communism. This education, going on from concentrating
on achieving the eight-hour day, will emancipate us from mental slavery
and consequently lead to the hoped fo r social revolution. (As quoted by P.
Yerrill and L. Rosser, Revolutionary Unionism in Latin America: The FORA in
Argentina, London: ASP, 1987, pp. 19-20)
The following declarations from the 3rd Congress of the FORU in 1911 detail the type of organizational
structure adopted by the anarclw-syndicalists which tl1ey felt was consonant with their
anarch ist ideals. The translation is by Paul Sharkey.