------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the July 3, 2003 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
WW INTERVIEW WITH ARGENTINE LGBT LEADER: "TOGETHER WE WILL DEFEAT IMPERIALISM" By Rebeca Toledo "I am a transvestite, a woman, a socialist, indigenous, fat, brown, poor, a worker. I am all these things and more. And I fight to build a world where I am accepted for everything that I am," Lohana Berkins tells Workers World. Ms. Berkins had come to the United States from her native Argentina to receive the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission's 2003 Felipa Award. She also spoke to many other lesbian, gay, bi, trans and progressive groups while in New York. About the LGBT struggle in Argentina, Berkins says: "There have been many closeted leftists in the LGBT movement and many closeted LGBTs in the left movement. But this is starting to change." Two years ago, Berkins was the first LGBT candidate to run on the United Left slate for Congress. She ran as an open transvesti. Terms used for the LGBT movement around the world, as in the United States, are fluid-- as is the movement itself. In Argentina, the word transvesti, or transvestite, would come closest to the term transgender in the United States. "Before I ran," she explains, "people said that LGBTs on the slate would lose votes, but we got more votes than the last time. This showed that we not only can get votes, but that we can get people to come out and vote in greater numbers. This year there are 10 LGBT candidates nationally and many more regionally." In Argentina's LGBT Pride March last November, Berkins and others organized a group to march under the banner: "No to imperialism, no to war, no to ALCA (the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas)." "We didn't know what to expect," she recounts. "At first we were a handful, and some of the compañeros were getting worried and wanted to disband. I insisted we continue, even if we were small. "We were at the back of the march and as we took the street, we were joined by so many people that we filled up the whole block. We kept gaining people as we went along. We became the most popular contingent." Their contingent also consisted of "piqueteros," the unemployed workers who have been leading the struggle against International Monetary Fund- imposed austerity measures. Lohana Berkins offers an eyewitness account of the December 2001 uprising in Argentina that led to the fall of three presidents in succession. "When the president declared a state of emergency on Dec. 19, that was the last straw. I went out into the street of my building and saw two other women on the corner beating their pots and pans. "In a matter of minutes we were 200 strong. People appeared on their balconies to join the 'caserola.' All corners filled with women, children, men, people of all ages. "We decided spontaneously to go to the Plaza de Mayo. When we got there, people were already there. And we stayed until 6 a.m. trying to take the Plaza from the cops who kept attacking us with tear gas." Lohana Berkins tells the story as only one who lived it could--her eyes bright with the thrill of a living, breathing struggle. "In the afternoon," she continues, "we returned better organized and took the Plaza. By 6 p.m., the president had resigned and the people had won a sweet victory." Asked about the significance of these events, she replies: "It does not lie in the response of the ruling class of Argentina, because it has done little to alleviate the suffering of the people. The importance lies in the collective memory of the people that felt their power that December. And the absolute distrust and discredit that all government institutions have earned from them. "That will live on and will lead to new uprisings." The crisis in Argentina is profound. Berkins tells WW that out of a population of 40 million, 22 million live below the poverty level. And of those, 7 million have no means at all. Salaries have been cut by two-thirds, while the cost of living has remained the same. Everything is now imported, in a country that has enough resources to be self-sufficient. The IMF has opened an office in Argen tina, something that is rare, according to Berkins. The new president, Néstor Carlos Kirchner, plans to let the IMF impose more belt-tightening for the people. Lohana Berkins works for a city council member. She says, "We have street workers, transvestites and others coming in and out of our office all day seeking our services." She also investigates human-rights violations in the country. Of the U.S. role in Argentina, she points out that Washington has its eye on the water supply in southern Argentina. She says this is one of the largest reserves left in the world. "The U.S. would like to get its hands on our water supply so that it can continue to carry out its wars of aggression and secure a water reserve." The United States demonstrated in Iraq how it could use such a supply to privatize water for profit. It is not that far-fetched considering that this is exactly what is being attempted in Bolivia. About the U.S. war in Iraq, Berkins says: "That was not a war of equals-- that was an invasion. U.S. imperialism is through using diplomacy. It will continue to show its true face and will use force and invasion against all peoples of the world. "In Argentina, we protested at the U.S. embassy during the U.S. invasion," she concludes. "We were part of the worldwide movement. We must stop imperialism with more internationalism and more solidarity. Together, we will defeat it." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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