Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation

Organized Anarchism Discussion Series #2 – Federación Anarquista Uruguaya – April 7th

We are excited to announce the next event in our Organized Anarchism: A Global Perspective series, a discussion with a delegate from the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU).

➧ Register for the discussion at this link

This event will take place on Sunday, April 7th at 12 PM (US Pacific) / 2 PM (US Central) / 3 PM (US Eastern) / 4 PM (UYT)

The event will be simulcast in English and Spanish.

Among the most storied anarchist organizations in history, the FAU is marked equally by its illustrious activity and by its members’ major contributions to anarchist social and political theory. Founded in 1956 by refugees of the Spanish Civil War and others who fled fascist repression in Europe, the FAU developed as a small organization that punched well above its weight in struggles on shop floors, in neighborhoods, and on campuses. Adhering to a principled, but non-sectarian approach to mass organizing, the FAU participated during the 1960’s in coalitions that included leftwing organizations of various stripes.

Outlawed and forced underground at the start of Uruguay’s civic dictatorship in 1967, members of the FAU continued to organize both openly and clandestinely. It was during this period of legal proscription that members of the organization developed an armed wing, OPR-33, which carried out high risk actions such as expropriations, sabotage, and even kidnappings of political leaders and members of the capitalist class. Unlike the vanguardist strategy of foquismo, which the FAU criticized, the actions of its armed wing were done in tight coordination with struggles led by mass organizations like unions and neighborhood assemblies.

As the forces of US-backed anticommunism closed their grip on the southern cone, some 50 members of the FAU were arrested, imprisoned, tortured, murdered, or disappeared throughout the 1970’s. Greatly diminished due to repression, the FAU would not reemerge in Uruguay until the fall of the country’s civic-military dictatorship in 1985.

After a period of reorganization, the FAU worked to support the creation of new anarchist organizations in the region, modeled on their organizational-strategic approach of especifismo. These new organizations include groups that would go on to form the Brazilian Anarchist Coordinator and the Anarchist Federation of Rosario in Argentina. Today the FAU remains an active organization, with a presence in labor and neighborhood campaigns.

To learn more about the FAU in advance of the discussion, we recommend the following articles:

For a more comprehensive history of the FAU, we recommend:

Want to catch up on this series? You’re in luck, because we’ve made available a recording of the first event, a discussion with anarchist theorist and militant Felipe Corrêa.

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