Armed Proletarians for Communism

Armed Proletarians for Communism (Italian Proletari Armati per il Comunismo or PAC) was an Italian far-left armed group founded in 1976 and disbanded three years later, during the "Years of Lead".

History

Armed Proletarians for Communism was founded in 1976, as one of the numerous armed groups spun out of Italian Autonomism (Autonomia Operaia). By opposition to the Red Brigades, PAC was structured "horizontally", with independently constituted cells with their own actions.

Most of the early members were young workers, unemployed people and teachers. An estimate 60 people were involved in the group[1][2] in Lombardy and Veneto.

The leaders of the PAC were Sebastiano Masala and Arrigo Cavallina who was considered to be the ideologue of the group.[2]

The group was dissolved in 1979.[2]

Doctrine

Italian Autonomism held that the working class was a social group politically not represented, and exploited by ruling classes. A counter-power was to be organised by direct democracy and self-organisation. The movement drew upon theories of illegalism and propaganda of the deed formulated by the anarchist movement at the turn of the 20th century.[3]

Actions

The first actions of the PAC were, allegedly, in support of workers' revendications. They notably attacked and wounded physician Diego Fava, and committed around 60 armed robberies, ranging from store attacks to bank robberies (what they called "expropriations"). The PAC also organised attacks against companies which used illegal workers, people which they accused of brutalising detainees, or self-defence groups.

Most of the "actions" did not cause victims, although the PAC did claim four murders:

Torregiani and Sabbadin had defended themselves during hold-ups. They were assassinated on the same day, so as to teach people to "allow the deeds of the Proletarians forced to steal to survive".[4]

From 1982, following Pietro Mutti's arrest, Cesare Battisti was accused of taking part in Santoro's and Campagna's murders, as well as being an accomplice in Torregiani's and Sabbadin's assassinations. He was judged and sentenced in absentia in 1988 and in 1993. Battisti has always denied being involved in the assassinations.

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Valerio Evangelisti, (French) Valerio Evangelisti Répond À 50 Questions
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fred Vargas, « Cesare Battisti : À la recherche de la justice perdue » in La Règle du Jeu, n°30 (01/2006)
  3. ↑ Valerio Evangelisti, "Qu'est-ce que l'Autonomie ouvrière"in "Comité lyonnais de soutien à Cesare Battisti" (collectif), Cesare Battisti face au marchandage, p. 44.
  4. 1 2 3 Armando Spataro, (French) "La culpabilité de Battisti repose sur des preuves" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. in L'Express, 15/3/2004
  5. ↑ The origin of the bullet which maimed Alberto Torregiani remains a controversy: some alleged that he was accidentally shot by his own father, while Italian justice blamed the militants.
  6. 1 2 Fred Vargas, (French) "Et si Battisti était vraiment innocent ?" in Le Monde, 13 November 2004
  7. ↑ Gilda Piersanti, "Cara Fred, (lettre ouverte à Fred Vargas sur l'affaire Battisti)" Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. in Le Mague, 2 June 2004

See also

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