In December 2009, Basque punk Asel Luzarraga appeared on every news outlet in Chile, in handcuffs, under arrest and accused of terrorism against the state. A self-proclaimed anarchist and a celebrated author in his home country, Asel had moved to Chile not long before. But the evidence against him didn’t stack up. His arrest and trial made for a political thriller of police corruption, state oppression and media manipulation that did not hesitate to make links with ETA, international terrorism and Mapuche violence. The Good Don’t Use Umbrellas is the chronicle of those events, told by its protagonist.
Praise:
“Asel Luzarraga’s story is a powerful reminder of the vindictive, arbitrary power of the state and the vulnerabilities of anarchists and others to persecution and oppression. The Good Don’t Use Umbrellas is an important addition to anarchist prison literature and also attests to the power of international solidarity, endurance and determination.” – Ruth Kinna, author of The Government of No One
Publisher: Active Distribution
Published: December 2023
Format: Paperback (A5)
Pages: 136
ISBN: 9781914567292
Author: Asel Luzarraga
Translated by: Georgina Jimenez
Cover Design: Lluis Rifols
Foreword: Penny Rimbaud
Subject: State violence, prisons, memoirAuthor’s note:
I only hope that this portrait of a political–police–media frame-up, the most faithful that I have been capable of, has served readers to gain a better picture of the real nature of states, with their nuances and distances, better or worse singularities, greater or lesser explicit brutality, more or less savage violations of human rights, depending on the greater or lesser fear they have of individual and collective freedom. I insist that with this I have only tried to exemplify in the case that I have known best, my own, the operation of power apparatuses, the close alliance between political parties, repressive bodies, the judiciary and the media, all of them tools at the service of the same military and economic leadership called the state. What has happened to me is happening day by day and in a much more serious and invisible way to millions of people. I, at least, have been given the tools to tell it and have the responsibility to do so. Yesterday it was me, tomorrow it can be you. Putting an end to anti-social barbarism requires much more than the existence of organizations that watch over “human rights”. It demands putting an end to the entire inseparable structure, to the capital–state duo; if not, we will only be making the chains lighter. To achieve this, we must first convince ourselves that we really want it and be willing to make the sacrifice that it requires. Better today than tomorrow.
