Raul Bassi was born in Argentina and migrated to Australia in 1983. His first political demonstration was against the US invasion of Santo Domingo in 1965. He embraced socialism and anti-imperialism and joined the struggle for working-class and human rights. He was a student leader during the 1966-69 Argentinean dictatorship. After the "El Cordobazo" uprising in 1969 he became a union organiser in Cordoba, organising in the movement that ended the military government in 1973.
Raul became a member of the Socialist Workers Party and a candidate for the Worker Front in Argentina, in the first elections after the military regime. After 1994, Raul fought against the reactionary Peronist government and its fascist gangs. From 1976 to 1982, Raul was an activist for the trade union front fighting for democracy, in an Argentina with "desaparecidos" (disappeared) every day.
When he migrated to Australia, he became involved with left Labor Party campaigns. Raul fought against the GST and supported union rights against Howard's industrial relations changes.
As a member of the Transport Workers Union, he fought against the NSW government's workers compensation changes. He has also been involved with organisations in solidarity with Latin America, particularly Cuba and Argentina.
Raul has been active in the movement against the Iraq war. He is a founder of the Canterbury Bankstown Peace Group and the Stop the War Coalition. Raul is a local campaigner against racist attacks and is firmly opposed to the Carr government's targeting of so-called "Middle Eastern Crime".
Raul is a national convenor of the Socialist Alliance and a member of the Committees in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean.
From Green Left Weekly, July 7, 2004.
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