On the Vicenza demonstrations against the US military base
Statement by the FdCA

The mobilizations in Vicenza to block the opening of a new military base in the Dal Molin area are an important milestone for the whole anti-war movement, with two important aspects emerging.

On the one hand, the experience of Vicenza has placed the question of military bases at the heart of the initiative, a step forward from the ethical approach of rejecting war, by pinpointing and proposing concrete objectives for anti-militarist action. On the other hand, the “No Dal Molin” movement is a fine example of social resistance to the militarization of society and direct democracy. With the lies of the governing parties both local and national being unmasked, parties who were involved in the decision-making processes that has allowed the US government to pursue its aim of strategically redefining its role in international affairs, this movement is part of a wider trend made up of a great many local committees (from the No Tav movement in the Val di Susa to the No Mose movement in Venice, to the many local struggles for the environment and on public health issues) which are an important feature of that part of society that has no intention of submitting to the decisions of people who treat the land as a means of making profit, or to the policy of huge public works with devastating impact both on an environmental level and on the social level.

The importance of the objectives that the Vicenza movement has set itself goes beyond the local dimension and forms part of a path of struggle involving the whole country and even beyond. The movement against the Vicenza military base has already left its mark (the many committees that were formed on the wave of the experience in Vicenza) and its final achievements will be of vital importance for the future of anti-militarist struggles in this country, that are today represented by countless committees seeking the closure of military bases and for their conversion to civilian uses.

We anarchist communists are increasingly convinced that the “No Dal Molin” movement must be supported in its various initiatives and mobilizations, but we hope that the united nature of the national demonstrations so far will continue to be protected and guaranteed by the full autonomy of the movement, through organizational practices that favour self-organization and social self-management.

We are, both now as in the past, on the side of those who struggle for the defence of their rights and, consistent with our anti-militarist origins, we believe that armies are the “armed wing” defending those who violate these rights.

The Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici will participate in the international protests called by the Vicenza movement and will promote activites intended to block this latest case of military servitude wherever it has a presence. It is our hope that Vicenza can give rise to an anti-militarist initiative covering the whole country in order to demand the closure of military bases and their conversion to civilian uses.