2021 Baliscan civil unrest
| 2021 Baliscan civil unrest | |||
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| Part of 2019–2022 Latin American protests | |||
 Two students with molotov cocktails look on during protests against economic inequality and democracy deficit in Merced (Cerdanya) during the unrest | |||
| Date | 11 July 2021 - 4 December 2021 (4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) | ||
| Location | Rural Balisca, other cities and towns | ||
| Caused by | COVID-19 pandemic in Balisca; execution of Silvestre Santmartí; stalled constitutional reform; opposition to neoliberalism, globalization and right-wing populism; Baliscan housing crisis | ||
| Methods | Arson, rioting, Demonstrations, civil disobedience, civil resistance, sit-ins, online activism, protest camps occupations, insurrectionary anarchism | ||
| Resulted in | Protestor victory; Change of government
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Non-centralized leadership | |||
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The 2021 Baliscan civil unrest, popularly known as Baliscazo (from "Balisca" and the -azo suffix of violent augmentation) or refers to a series of protests, clashes, and riots between several unorganized groups throughout the Baliscan Confederation. Violence sporadically occurred predominantly between anti-statist protesters, including anarchists, social ecologists and accelerationists; and pro-reformist, pro-statist, and a small number of right-wing activists. In Castejón, protests progressively became more violent and multifaceted, ultimately leading the metropolitan council to impose a state of emergency in an attempt to combat the unrest. The unrest is considered to be the largest in the history of Balisca, surpassing even the October 76 events.
After an online petition posted in June had attracted nearly 4 million signatures, mass demonstrations began on 11 July. The movement was initially motivated by the death of Silvestre Santmartí, increasing cost of living, and economic inequality; it asserted that the Baliscan government was no longer working for the well being of the public. The protesters successfully pushed for the rolling back of the market liberalization reforms, deeper confederal and direct democratic reform, climate justice and immigration reform, among other things. On 13 July, a list of 50 demands was made public and went viral on social media, becoming de facto a structuring basis for the movement, covering a wide range of eclectic topics, mostly related to democracy, and social and fiscal justice. After Secretary General Andrea Palacios made a televised address on 27 July announcing her resignation from political office, the movement evolved, with a transition towards political decentralization away from Castejón, and participatory and grassroots democracy became its unique revendication. On the same day, anarchists utilizing fireworks and improvised weapons in Castejón's Capitoline Hill forced the local Mossos d'Esquadra to retreat, and declared the first autonomous commune.
Deputy Secretary General Zavier Bilal assumed the duties as SecGen immediately after Andrea Palacios' resignation. Sizeable portions of the Baliscan public, especially from the right wing, and some members of the international community alike called for the next confederal elections to be moved ahead; which ultimately occurred in October. As a result of the elections, the neoliberal Reformist Bloc lost all of it's seats, while the number moderate and conservative delegates elected was significantly reduced, winning elections in only 23 commune districts (out of 736), and the electorate rallying around anti-capitalist, anti-statist and accelerationist candidates. It was under Bilal's government that the referendum to approve the new Constitution was held on 23 July 2022, which pass with the support of 66% of the electorate.
