Berlin: Attacks on Santander bank branches

Two attacks on Santander bank for solidarity and against prison and military equipment: We have destroyed the Santander branch’s glass windows facing to the Jungstraße (at the corner with Frankfurter Allee, in the district of Friedrichshain), and paint-bombed its branch located in Pankstraße.


Santander bank is involved in prison-related investments, as well as investments relating to the military aviation sector. For example, more than 60 million euros will be invested in BAE Systems [defense, security and aerospace company] and Rolls-Royce [defense, power systems and aircraft engine company]. Of course there exist further investments; these two are mentioned only as an example, because of their considerable size. For us, the production, or support through investments, of drones, main battle tanks, military information technology systems and fighter aircrafts represents one of the greatest evils that a capitalist enterprise or a bank can do out of profits interests.

Deploring all this ineffectively, or raising demands, means nothing to us. If it were possible to achieve “significant” advances with moral appeals, or signature lists of critical petitions, or parliamentary inquires, all of the above would not even exist. After more than a hundred years of military buildup in capitalism, and after more than 70 years under a “modern State”, we ought to be able to know that we cannot do without the direct action. It goes without saying that this does not imply smashing windows every night.

We agree with a cell of the Earth Liberation Front in Chile, who pretty much did the same thing we did, on this point:
“Actions like the one we carried out do not stop the harmfulness of the system by themselves, but rather a wide conjunction of methods for the same end. Although the present may be adverse, we will not fail to try once and try again.”

Armaments are not enough for Santander; prisons are also in their interests. Just like here, in the prisons across Spain and South America most of those incarcerated are the have-nots who have no place in the capitalist system but are still alive. We are well aware of the controversial debates about the solidarity with prisoners. But what we know first and foremost is that this world is becoming more and more a world of surveillance cameras, cops, security services and prisons, which cannot constantly be justified on the grounds that all of those “inside” are perpetrators of brutal violence, because in that case, objectively speaking, the users of the Santander-sponsored equipment would find themselves in prison as well. But this is not the case.

Unfortunately our paint-attack at the Pankstraße was not such a big hit, but our comrades (“individuals in solidarity”, “Commando Sebastián Oversluij Seguel”) will show understanding, because we all know: nothing is over…

Greetings and strength go out to Paz and Chrystal (remanded in Chile for over a month; released under restrictive conditions on May 2nd), Tamara Sol (currently imprisoned in Chile) and Mónica and Francisco (currently incarcerated in Spain)

Gruppo Informale