Julian Assange, librando en soledad una batalla contra el imperio y sus secuaces. ¿Qué ocurre que la izquierda y los movimientos populares no hacen suya la causa del gran luchador antiimperialista? Lee mi reflexión en:

https://www.pagina12.com.ar/392590-la-imperdonable-soledad-de-julian-assange

See below the English version of my article

The unforgivable solitude of Julian Assange

(By Atilio A. Boron) Assange is buried by the English «Justice» in a maximum security prison.  “Buried” is not a tricky appeal to a word that shakes us but a sober description of the cell in which – little by little, hour after hour – the founder of Wikileaks is serving the death sentence that they have reserved for him. The reason? Having leaked to the press hundreds of thousands of documents proving the countless murders, torture, bombings and atrocities that Washington perpetrated in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, something that had been carefully concealed. That was Assange’s crime: to inform, to tell the truth. And such a thing constitutes an unforgivable affront to the empire that persecuted the journalist for years. The courage of President Rafael Correa (already manifested when he expelled the United States troops from the Manta base) saved Assange from that threat, granting him not only asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London but also Ecuadorian citizenship. The nauseating moral disability of his corrupt successor, Lenin Moreno, deprived Assange of both and handed him over to the British authorities; that is, at the hands of one of the most despicable lieutenants of the White House. And there he continues, waiting for what seems an inescapable end: his extradition to the United States. There the journalist will be exhibited as a trophy, psychologically and physically tortured to the unspeakable and then, with damn cunning, condemned to a harsh sentence, although less than the 175 years requested by the prosecutor and sent to a jail, where shortly after he will die, stabbed to death in a well-orchestrated «inmate brawl.» In an infinite display of hypocrisy, Washington will then hasten to declare its regret for such outcome and the president will send condolences to his relatives. Moral that the empire wishes to burn on a stone: «whoever reveals our secrets will pay for it with his life.»

We spoke of Assange’s solitude in these final days of the fateful 2021 and we described it as unforgivable. Why? Because the ordeal that has martyred the Australian has not provoked, except in London, massive demonstrations of solidarity and support for his cause. It is surprising and worrisome that it has not been assumed as their own by the left and the popular movements that did wage great battles at the end of the last century and at the beginning of this one against the Multilateral Investment Agreement – aborted, as soon as its leonine secret clauses were revealed. by Canadian hackers – or against neoliberalism and free trade agreements today are not mobilized to demand the immediate release of Assange.  I believe that this unfortunate situation is due to several factors: first, the weakening and / or disorganization of the social forces that fought those great battles, as a result of the permanent attack suffered at the hands of neoliberal governments; second, due to the suicidal exclusivity that economic issues have in the construction of the agenda of the radical movements, since these cannot be the only issue that summons their militancy. The anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggle has several facets, and the battle for information and publicity of government actions is one of them. And in it Assange is our hero, who resists in loneliness. To this we must add a third factor: the nefarious role of the «free press», that is, the undemocratic concentration of media powers that never assumed, let alone the defense,  of a real journalist like Assange but rather went to great lengths to hide the information about the case. The «media scoundrel», who has nothing to do with the noble craft of journalism, voluntarily lined up to hide the crimes denounced by Assange and justify his imprisonment. In other words, the hegemonic media became an accomplice of his executioners.

Hopefully the left and the popular movements will react in time and abandon their apathy on this issue. Much can still be done to save Assange’s life: from a worldwide tweet supporting his cause to promoting a massive cyber-militancy on social media and organizing massive street demonstrations in the main cities of the world demanding his freedom and pressuring governments to show solidarity. with the gagged journalist . There is still time. The great popular organizations cannot and should not be accomplices of his martyrdom. Don’t let go of Assange’s hand, don’t leave him alone!