2023-09-29 15:06:18
Lula has taken a series of measures to please the big capitalist billionaires, such as the Fiscal Framework and the Tax Reform. Not even when the rich commit flagrant crimes does the government do anything, as was the case with the privatization of Eletrobrás, which benefited the same group of corrupt businessmen linked to the American Stores scams.
Editorial Socialist Opinion No. 660 – PSTU Brazil
But it’s not just that. The entire economic policy of Lula’s new government is based on the expansion of the infamous Parcerías [Asociaciones] Public-Private (PPP), where the government enters with public money and companies leave with private profits, at the cost of inefficient and expensive services for workers.
Disguising bankers’ profits and recolonization
In nine months of government, the rich continue to get richer, but the living conditions of workers and poor people remain difficult. The government is carrying out a campaign to reduce inflation. It is true, inflation fell in Brazil. However, this reflects the dynamics of the global economic situation. It is not related to any structural change in the country, nor does it even point to a new cycle of development or lasting growth.
The “Desenrola” program worked to clear the names of some workers and may have helped consumption. However, this did not mean a reduction in bank profits at the expense of workers. So much so that the bankers were the ones who celebrated the most. They took advantage of the project to combat non-payment, which was very high and affected their profits. They are eager to maintain the general indebtedness of the population.
In other words, the structural problem continues. Bankers dominate the Brazilian economy, suck workers’ salaries, benefit from the budget through public debt and pay few taxes. Meanwhile, workers go into debt to survive.
The announcements about some investment possibilities, such as Chinese automobile manufacturers and the green energy sector, are at a level that does not alter the general picture of reprimarization of the Brazilian economy (role as an exporter of raw materials and agricultural and mineral resources). . Far from a search for a superior position in the global division of labor, what has been consolidated and deepened is the recolonization and subalternity of Brazil in relation to central and imperialist countries, such as the United States, the European Union and China.
Alliance with Bolsonaro supporters
In the political movement, Lula handed over two more ministries to the Centrão, hosting the Progressive Party (PP) and the Republicans in the government. These parties were fundamental to maintain and support the Bolsonaro government. In addition to them, there are others, such as the MDB, the PSD, the União Brasil and many people on the right within Lula’s government, who continue trying to reconcile with the military, without punishing in an exemplary manner the entire leadership involved in the attempt to coup of January 8.
These changes in the ministries are to please Arthur Lira (PP). It was up to him to announce that, soon, a new Administrative Reform must be voted on; that is, a major attack on Health, Education and all other public services, as well as the rights of public employees.
Therefore, we should not place any trust in Lula’s government. It is a government of class conciliation, favorable to the interests of the bourgeoisie. Our role is to build initiatives in the movement, in unity of action, to fight in defense of the rights of workers, as is happening in São Paulo, in the holding of a plebiscite against the privatizations of Tarcísio (Republicans).
The CSP-Conlutas Congress points the way
The 5th Congress of the CSP-Conlutas played a very important role in reaffirming the independence of the Central in agreement with the Lula government. A plan of struggle was also approved and a call to workers and other organizations to fight against attacks on workers’ rights, promoted by governments and employers.
This is also the way to defeat, once and for all, the extreme right. It is not supporting the government. After all, the government feeds the extreme right: either by administering capitalism or by conciliating with the Centrão and the leadership of the Armed Forces. Or even being an agent of the bourgeoisie.
The CSP-Conlutas maintains its original program and project, of being an alternative to the other centers and organizations of the movement that are tied to the governments and the bourgeoisie. These, on the contrary, are mobilized by their interests, supporting this or that bourgeois sector, to guarantee their particular material interests.
Leftist, revolutionary and socialist opposition
Within the framework of unity of action to fight, it is necessary to reaffirm the need to position ourselves as a left-wing opposition to the government and the extreme right. This is a fundamental first step towards the construction of an alternative independent of the two bourgeois blocs that dominate the current political scene.
The social and political ills of this country will only be resolved when we confront the billionaires, the owners of large companies, multinationals and banks that control Brazil.
This is the way, if we really want to end hunger and misery, guarantee employment for all, reduce the working day and have a DIEESE (Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies) minimum wage. Only in this way can we put an end to the threats, violence and murders promoted by the bourgeoisie in the countryside, in the indigenous and quilombola communities.
Therefore, it is necessary to build a left-wing opposition with class independence in the movement. But it is also necessary to aim at the construction of a revolutionary and socialist alternative. The strengthening of a political alternative for workers must oppose both Lula’s government and the far-right opposition, defending a workers’ government that puts capitalism in check and opens the way for socialist revolution. Any government in alliance with the bourgeoisie does the opposite, regardless of what it is called.
Article published in www.pstu.org.br14/9/2023.-
Translation: Natalia Estrada.
#Brazil #Left #opposition #revolutionary #alternative