5/2020 Summer school social mov., book chapters and more

Newsletter:

D. Azzellini, Eng

http://www.azzellini.net - facebook: Dario Azzellini

May 2020, Dario Azzellini's newsletter in English - 4-6 times a year
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SORRY! I SENT BY MISTAKE THE GERMAN NEWSLETTER! HERE IS THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSLETTER!

0. Before: summer school and much more

1. New Books (English):

"The Class Strikes Back. Self-Organised Workers’ Struggles in the Twenty-First Century," Haymarket, January 2019

2. Academic articles: Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish)

3. Videos/Audios (English)

4. Interviews and press articles (English, German, Russian, Turkish)

5. Reviews (English, German)

6. Events (Livestream: Deutsch / English)

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0. Before

Hello everyone!

Bad times... timeof the monsters. A crisis does not mean automatically a chance for positive total transformations. The attack of the right is violent. If we do not win the upcoming struggles, we will be heading to very dark times...

Here an interview with me in English:

https://blogs.mediapart.fr/krystian-woznicki/blog/220420/capitalism-s-sy...

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15.-25. June 2020, Monday - Thursdays, 3 - 7 pm Central European Time

"New Global Social Movements", Online Class, Summer school Duisburg Essen University

The summer school of the University Duisburg Essen has switched online.

https://www.uni-due.de/soziologie/internationales_baplus_courses.php

I hope to see some of you there!

See poin 6 of this newVer punto 6 de este boletín

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Vio.Me., the occupied factory under workers' control in Greece needs you help. The authroities cut off their electricity. In order to continue production Vio.Me. needs to buy a new generator or have the energy supply reconnected. Here is the international campaing:

https://power.viomecoop.com/

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You want to review:

Dario Azzellini and Michael G. Kraft (Eds.): The Class Strikes Back. Self-Organised Workers`Struggles in the Twenty-First Century. Haymarket, January 2019.

The Review of Radical Political Economics
is looking for a reviewer: https://urpe.org/2019/12/19/book-reviews-for-rrpe-2/

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Happy May first!

Best, Dario

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1. New Books (English)

Dario Azzellini and Michael G. Kraft (Eds.): The Class Strikes Back. Self-Organised Workers`Struggles in the Twenty-First Century. Haymarket, January 2019. US$ 28 (and now US$19.60

"The Class Strikes Back" examines a number of radical, twenty-first-century workers’ struggles. These struggles are characterised by a different kind of unionism and solidarity, arising out of new kinds of labour conditions and responsive to new kinds of social and economic marginalisation. The essays in the collection demonstrate the dramatic growth of syndicalist and autonomist formations and argue for their historical necessity. They show how workers seek to form and join democratic and independent unions that are fundamentally opposed to bureaucratic leadership, compromise, and concessions.

Specific case studies dealing with both the Global South and Global North assess the context of local histories and the spatially and temporally located balance of power, while embedding the struggle in a broader picture of resistance and the fight for emancipation.

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1198-the-class-strikes-back
http://www.azzellini.net/en/buecher-von-dario-azzellini/class-strikes-back

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2. Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish)

Azzellini, D. (2019, December 23). Venezuela's Oil Wealth and Social Transformation. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

„(…) Chávez and the social transformation process in Venezuela rapidly gained strong sympathies among social movements and the radical left throughout the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region; for the same reasons, Venezuela came to be the number-one enemy of the Latin American right and the United States, which supported several attempts to overthrow the government. After Chávez’s death in 2013, his successor, Nicolás Maduro, faced an increasingly violent opposition, a severe economic crisis, growing hostility from the United States and the European Union (EU), and a regional context in which the rise of right-wing governments reversed the “pink tide.” Since early 2019, the situation has escalated because of sanctions by the U.S. and EU countries; the recognition of a self-proclaimed “interim president” belonging to the opposition, by the United States, most EU countries, and the right-wing governments in Latin America; coup attempts; and the open threat of U.S. military intervention. The unfolding of the Bolivarian Revolution, the forces at play, and the main points of conflict need to be analyzed in their historical context.“

Subject: Governance/Political Change, History and Politics, International Political Economy, Political Sociology, World Politics. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1764

Read the whole article:

https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.00...

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Azzellini, Dario; Greer, Ian; Umney, Charles: "Limits of the platform economy. Digitalization and marketization in live music". Reihe: Forschungsförderung Working Paper, Nr. 154. Düsseldorf (2019). ISSN: 2509-2359. 45 Seiten

Online platforms have disrupted parts of the capitalist economy, with allegedly severe consequences in the world of work. This study examines live music in Germany and the UK, where online platforms do not dominate, despite considerable digitalization of market intermediaries. The analysis shows that, as the degree of digitalization increases, matching services tend to work less as a workers representative which is traditionally the case for live music agents and more as a force of marketization that disciplines workers by orchestrating price-based competition.

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3155

Download pdf: https://www.boeckler.de/64509.htm?produkt=HBS-007242

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Dario Azzellini (2019): "The Legacy of Workers’ Councils in Contemporary Social Movements." In: Muldoon, James (ed.): Council Democracy. Towards a Democratic Socialist Politics. Routledge. 228-248. 258 pgs.

"The return to public assemblies and direct democratic methods in the wave of the global "squares movements" since 2011 has rejuvenated interest in forms of council organisation and action. The European council movements, which developed in the immediate post-First World War era, were the most impressive of a number of attempts to develop workers’ councils throughout the twentieth century. However, in spite of the recent challenges to liberal democracy, the question of council democracy has so far been neglected within democratic theory. This book seeks to interrogate contemporary democratic institutions from the perspective of the resources that can be drawn from a revival and re-evaluation of the forgotten ideal of council democracy.“

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3093

https://www.routledge.com/Council-Democracy-Towards-a-Democratic-Sociali...

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Charles Umney (University of Leeds), Dario Azzellini (Cornell University) and Ian Greer (Cornell University): The limits of the “platform economy”: why haven’t platforms taken over live music? / Centre for Employment Relations, Innovation and Change, 16.01.19

„It is often assumed that the “platform economy” is in the ascendancy, and is taking over more and more economic sectors. Because of this, much research on the matter has focused on characterising and evaluating this change: what are the relative advantages and disadvantages of this kind of work compared to more “traditional” jobs? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about it? Hence, most current research has looked at the experience of workers in industries which are already highly “platformised” (such as ride sharing, food delivery, or clickwork).“

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3130

https://cericleeds.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/the-limits-of-the-platform-e...

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3. Videos/Audios (English)

Interview with Dario Azzellini / black agenda radio 25 nov 2019 / Interviewers: Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey

„The socialist government that the late President Hugo Chavez brought to power in Venezuela 20 years ago is still standing, despite the efforts of three US presidents to overthrow it. Dario Azzelini is a visiting fellow at the Latin American Studies Program, at Cornell University. He’s an Italian who was raised in Germany and lived for years in a poor barrio in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Azzelini wrote a book, titled, “Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela,” in which he argues that workers and peasants are building socialism from below in that country. We asked him why the right-wing has not been able to mount a successful coup against the Venezuelan government, despite crippling US sanctions and total support for regime change from the American media and the two corporate political parties.“

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3172

https://blackagendaradio.podbean.com/e/black-agenda-radio-112519/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/black-agenda-radio-11-25-19/id3879...

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4. Interviews and press articles (English, German, Russian, Turkish)

Interview: Capitalism’s System Error as “Disaster” and Opportunity for Labor Struggles / Blog Silent Works, 22 Avr. 2020 / Magdalena Taube and Krystian Woznicki

Workers’ struggles play a special role during the ‘corona crisis.’ They bring to light that overcoming this crisis will depend on how the systemic errors of capitalism are countered. In this SILENT WORKS Magdalena Taube and Krystian Woznicki ask scholar-activist Dario Azzellini: Will these errors just be corrected or will they provoke fundamental changes?

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3190

https://blogs.mediapart.fr/krystian-woznicki/blog/220420/capitalism-s-sy...

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Interview: One Question: COVID-19 and Capitalism / State of Nature, 27 March 2020 by Cihan Aksan And Jon Bailes

One Question is a regular series in which we ask leading thinkers to give a brief answer to a single question.This time, in the midst of economic and healthcare crises triggered by coronavirus, we ask: How has the COVID-19 pandemic exposed inherent flaws in the capitalist system?

Dario Azzellini: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed inherent flaws in the capitalist system, it is clearly showing that the question is capitalism or life. (...)

The death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is not natural, it is due to the cuts in health care systems and health care facilities over the past two decades, that left many countries with insufficient health care infrastructure. Doctors, medical staff and hospitals cannot cope with the increased need for medical attention.

The question of capitalism or life does not stop there. We have to add the insane and unjustified costs of health care equipment, test kits, medicine etc., and the insanity of patents that makes labs and researchers in the pharma industry compete with each other instead of collaborating in the search for cures and vaccines.

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3184

http://stateofnatureblog.com/one-question-covid19-coronavirus-capitalism/

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Dario Azzellini: Venezolanische Küstenwache rammt grundlos deutsches Kreuzfahrtschiff in internationalen Gewässern? / amerika21, 06.04.20

Die venezolanische Marine hat nun Radarbilder, den Funkverkehr mit der Resolute und ein Video veröffentlicht. Venezolanische Küstenwache rammt grundlos deutsches Kreuzfahrtschiff in internationalen Gewässern? Diese Propagandameldung veröffentlichten alle internationalen Medien. Spiegel Online, Tagesspiegel etc. alle übernahmen die offensichtliche Falschmeldung (das Schiff der venezolanischen Küstenwache wurde an der Seite beschädigt, die Schäden an dem Kreuzfahrtschiff namens Resolute waren am Bug, wie auf Fotos zu sehen war).

Die venezolanische Marine nun hat Radarbilder, den Funkverkehr mit der Resolute und ein Video veröffentlicht. Daraus wird deutlich: - die Resolute hat sich ohne Erlaubnis in venezolanischen Gewässern aufgehalten, das wurde auch von der Resolute anerkannt;(...)

http://www.azzellini.net/journalistische-artikel/venezolanische-kuestenw...

https://amerika21.de/blog/2020/04/238842/venezuela-deutsches-kreuzfahrts...

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Interview: BAR Book Forum: Dario Azzellini’s “Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela” / 06 Nov 2019 / Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor.

Millions of Venezuelans are building socialism from below, and most of them are Black, brown and female. “The mainstream media, and even many people considering themselves leftists, cannot understand why the Maduro government is still in power.” In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Dario Azzellini . Azzellini is a visiting fellow at the Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University. His book is Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela: Building 21st Century Socialism from Below.

Roberto Sirvent: How can your book help BAR readers understand the current political and social climate?

Dario Azzellini: The book counters the international, and especially US propaganda against Venezuela. It does not only counter the right-wing propaganda. It does also counter the focus of many leftists on government policies only. It shows that in Venezuela – beyond any critique you might have of government policies – there are millions of people on the ground building day by day socialism from below by building structures of self-government, planning according to their needs, taking over underperforming or abandoned land and companies from private owners and from state institutions. The mainstream media, and even many people considering themselves leftists, cannot understand why the Maduro government is still in power and could not be toppled by the economic and financial sanctions, terrorist attacks and political pressure set up by US imperialism, its ultra-right-wing allies in the region such as Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, and the European Union. (...)

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3167

https://www.blackagendareport.com/bar-book-forum-dario-azzellinis-commun...

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Interview: System-Fehler des Kapitalismus als “Katastrophe” und Chance für globale Arbeiter*innenkämpfe / Berliner Gazette, April 2020

In der ‘Corona-Krise’ kommen Arbeiter*innenkämpfen eine besondere Rolle zu. Sie zeigen, dass die Überwindung der Krise nicht zuletzt davon abhängt, wie den System-Fehlern des Kapitalismus begegnet wird. Werden sie lediglich behoben oder aber führen sie dazu, dass sich Grundsätzliches ändert? Sozialwissenschaftler, Filmemacher und Aktivist Dario Azzellini unternimmt eine Bestandsaufnahme. Ein Interview.

http://www.azzellini.net/interviews/system-fehler-als-chance-ist-die-zei...

https://berlinergazette.de/zeit-fuer-eine-globale-arbeiterinnenbewegung/

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Dario Azzellini: Venezolanische Küstenwache rammt grundlos deutsches Kreuzfahrtschiff in internationalen Gewässern? / amerika21, 06.04.20

http://www.azzellini.net/journalistische-artikel/venezolanische-kuestenw...

https://amerika21.de/blog/2020/04/238842/venezuela-deutsches-kreuzfahrts...

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Interview: Новые повороты исторической политики / Doxa Journal, 23.03.30 / Vladimir Metelkin

Представители академического сообщества Европы о том, почему они не согласны с резолюцией Европейского парламента, ставящей знак равенства между коммунизмом и нацизмо.

Резолюция Европейского парламента, приуроченная к 80-й годовщине начала Второй мировой войны, зашла так далеко в деле осуждения коммунизма, как официальные власти Европы, кажется, не заходили с момента распада Советского Союза. Ответственность за развязывание Второй мировой войны документ возлагает на СССР и Германию в равной степени. В российских СМИ эта новость поначалу не вызвала особого ажиотажа. Все изменила реакция Владимира Путина, начавшего в декабре 2019 года настоящую информационную войну против положений резолюции. Особенно значимой эта дискуссия становится в преддверии мероприятий к 75-летию победы.

Дарио Ацеллини (Dario Azzellini):

Резолюция Европейского парламента — это фальсификация истории. Вторую мировую войну спровоцировали и начали нацисты и фашисты. Коммунисты, социалисты, евреи, синти и рома [Цыганские народы. — Прим. пер.] и миллионы русских стали жертвами фашизма. Часть моей семьи погибла в Италии в борьбе с нацистами. Невозможно забыть и стереть из памяти тех, кто нес бремя борьбы с фашизмом за все человечество. (...)

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3185

https://doxajournal.ru/uni/ep_resolution

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Röportajı: Kapitalizmin “afeti” ve emek mücadelelerin olanağı / Devrimci Proletarya, 28 Nisan 2020 / Röportajı yapanlar: SILENT WORKS blogundan, Magdalena Taube ve Krystian Woznicki

Bir bilim insanı ve aktivist olarak 15 yıldır işçi mücadeleleri üzerine çalışıyorsunuz. Çalışmalarınız şu anki pandemi ile dramatik bir dönüm noktasında görünüyor, dünya çapında 170 sendikacının yeraldığı online konferansta yeraldınız. Bu konferansın konusu neydi? Sendikacılar ne tür sorunları öne çıkardı?

Online konferans Enerji Demokrasisi için Sendikalar (TUED) tarafından düzenlendi. Bu iklim sorununda sürdürülebilir dönüşüm için küresel bir sendikacılar ağıdır. Bu ağ şimdi Covid-19 pandemisine ilişkin fikir alışverişi için kullanılıyor. Çok sayıda ülkeden sendikacılar var: ABD, Güney Kore, Filipinler, Hindistan, Avustralya ve diğer Asya-Pasifik ülkeleri ve Güney Afrika’dan raporlar geldi. İşçilerin mücadelelerine dair ve işçi hakları ve sağlığı ve güvenliğine saldırılar üzerine konuşma ve tartışmalar oldu..Hepsi Covid-19 pandemisinin etkilerinin, sayısız ölümün “doğal” olmadığını, onyıllardır kamu harcamalarındaki kesintilerin ve kamu sağlık sistemi ve hizmetlerinin özelleştirilmesinin, işçi haklarının gaspının ve istihdamın güvencesizleştirilmesinin bu sonuca yol açtığı üzerinde duruyor.

https://devrimciproletarya.net/kapitalizmin-afeti-ve-emek-mucadelelerin-...

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3191

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5. Reviews (English, German)

„Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela: Building 21st Century Socialism from Below“, Dario Azzellini (2016). Science & Society October 2019, Vol. 83, No. 4, 570-573. / Steve Ellner

„Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela combines an examination of the experiences of grassroots bodies involved in neighborhood and workplace decision-making with theoretical analysis of the role of state institutions in the transition to socialism. The author champions “the idea of a communal socialism” (54), while detailing the ways that the old state’s bureaucracy during the presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro has impeded the full development of a new state based on popular participation. Azzellini points to the “centrality of territory in the Venezuelan struggle” and adds that “the most active agent of change” in the nation has been barrio and rural inhabitants. In contrast, industrial workers are “frequently privileged” and have largely been led by corrupt trade unionists “co-opted by the political system,” while “the building of workers councils” has proven to be particularly “difcult” (32).“

Continue reading:

https://guilfordjournals.com/toc/siso/83/4

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3020

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„Beziehungsweise Betriebsbesetzung« – Arbeiterselbstkontrolle als soziale Bewegung“. Express 12/2019 - Zeitung für sozialistische Betriebs- und Gewerkschaftsarbeit / Peter Nowak

„In den letzten Monaten wurde in linken Kreisen wieder verstärkt über weltweite Aufstände diskutiert. Der Anlass waren anhaltende Massenproteste auf den verschiedenen Kontinenten. Da werden Proteste in Hongkong, Irak, Iran, Ecuador, Chile Libanon schnell aneinandergereiht. Dabei besteht die Gefahr, dass die jeweiligen Besonderheiten der Proteste in den Hintergrund treten. Zudem fällt die fast völlige Abwesenheit der ArbeiterInnenklasse in der medialen Berichterstattung über die Proteste auf. Da verdient ein Buch von Dario Azzellini mehr Aufmerksamkeit, dass er unter dem Titel „Vom Protest zum sozialen Prozess“ im VSA-Verlag herausgegeben hat. Auf knapp 150 Seiten hat Azzellini einen guten Überblick über die selbstverwalteten Betriebe in Frankreich, Italien, Griechenland, Brasilien, Argentinien, Venezuela, Ex-Jugoslawien, den USA, der Türkei und Ägypten gegeben. (Am Rande erwähnt wird auch Thüringen: 2007 gab es in Nordhausen das kurzlebige Projekt „Strike Bike“ – Fahrradproduktion in Belegschaftshand).“

http://www.azzellini.net/buecher-von-dario-azzellini/vom-protest-zum-soz...

http://express-afp.info/express-12-2019-ist-erschienen

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6. Events (Livestream: German and English)

05.05.2020, 18:00 - 20:00 Uhr (MEZ), Livestream, Deutsch

Online Lecture mit Dario Azzellini: Jetzt übernehmen wir! Betriebsbesetzungen und selbstverwaltete Produktion - Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

Diese Online Lecture schafft einen breiten und zugleich detaillierten Überblick der Besetzungsbewegung und ihrer Dynamik. Ziel ist es, entscheidende Aspekte dieser Entwicklungen, die eigene Wege und Strategien zur Veränderung unserer lokalen Betriebe ermöglichen, aufzuzeigen.

Zur Anmeldung: https://lamapoll.de/Anmeldung_Lecture_2020

https://www.rosalux.de/veranstaltung/es_detail/G7WLE

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13.05., 20.05. und 27.05.2020, 17:00-19:00 Uhr (MEZ), Livestream, Deutsch

Webinar mit Dario Azzellini: Wir können auch anders! Betriebsbesetzung und Produktion in Selbstverwaltung als Antwort auf Krise und Arbeitslosigkeit -
Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung

Das Seminar beschäftigt sich in drei Sitzungen mit Betriebsbesetzungen zur Übernahme in Selbstverwaltung. Im Zentrum stehen Besetzungen aus den vergangenen Jahren. Nach einem kurzen Überblick über die Geschichte der Arbeiterkontrolle werden wir aktuelle Beispiele aus verschiedenen Ländern untersuchen und verschiedenen Fragen nachgehen.

Wer kann daran teilnehmen? Aktive aus Gewerkschaften, Betrieben, und der Arbeitswelt, Arbeiter*innen und Angestellte; Studierende und Akademiker*innen mit den Schwerpunkten Arbeit, Soziale Bewegungen, Politische Ökonomie, soziale und ökologische Transformation; Mitarbeiter*innen von Institutionen, Stiftungen und sonstigen Fördergremien; politische Amtsträger*innen und Mitarbeiter*innen von Parteien und politischen Organisationen. Die Teilnehmer*innenzahl ist auf 20 Personen beschränkt.

Anmeldung zum Webinar: https://lamapoll.de/Anmeldung_Webinar_2020

https://www.rosalux.de/veranstaltung/es_detail/IRB2T

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15.-25. June 2020, Monday - Thursdays, 3 - 7 pm Central European Time

"New Global Social Movements", Online Class

Summer school Duisburg Essen University

The course reviews major issues concerning new global social movements and their core characteristics. At the center of the course are the movements that emerged with the crisis since 2008 (the “Arab Spring,” Greece, 15-M/Spain, Gezi/Turkey, Occupy…). The course will discuss different approaches in social movement theory. It will also analyze movements that can be considered precursors regarding content and practices of the new global social movements (e.g. the “anti-representational” movements in Latin America since the mid-1990s and the alter-globalization movement). The course will discuss shared characteristics and differences among the new global movements and compared to earlier social movements. These changes will be contextualized in an analysis of changing political and cultural circumstances (crisis of representation, globalization, global governance…) and of new practices (non-representational democracy, direct action, self-management…) and perspectives of social movements. Some newer movements will be added...

The course is taught in English. I will also include some of the most recent protest movements.

https://www.uni-due.de/soziologie/internationales_baplus.php

I hope to see you there!!

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Dario Azzellini

www.azzellini.net www.workerscontrol.net