Resistance: with many marches, August will be a decisive month for Brazil

“The earnings of the putschists are insatiable. But they ignore that in this world everything has contradictions” It seems as though Brazil’s destiny is determined in the month of August. It was the month of the crisis and suicide of President Getulio Vargas in the 50s. Then, in the 60s, the resignation of Jânio Quadros and the crisis of legality. Now, history repeats itself as a farce: the Supreme Federal Court chose August 29 as the day to begin the final voting on the impeachment against Dilma Rousseff, who was legitimately and democratically elected by 55% of Brazilian electors (54 million votes).

The putschists

The true nature of the coupist government is well-known and kept appearing during the month of July. Besides being anti-democratic, their true objective is to implement, quickly and by means of violence, a neoliberal plan that only attends to the interests of big financial capital and international corporations.

In July, the interim President [Michel Temer] kept on promising the capital that, once the coup is consolidated, they are going to implement a labor law reform, to destroy the CLT (Consolidated Labor Law) and annul the rights that workers won throughout the 20th century. And they even intend to alter the amount of working hours. Around the world, the trend is towards decreasing the amount of working hours. In Europe, several countries have already adopted six-hour workdays, but here, the thirsty bourgeoisie had the nerve to speak about 80-hour work weeks. A longer workday than the one practiced in times of slavery.

There are also still threats about making changes in Social Security to increase minimum retirement age, unifying the age for men and women, and removing the link with minimum wage. And the last threat was the agreement between the coupist president and the ruralist bloc, with the commitment to pass the Constitutional Amend Project (PEC) number 215, which transfers the power to give indigenous lands back to the Congress. Thus, Congress may allow agribusiness to continue to have the tenancy of indigenous areas, ensuring the hegemony of big landowners in Congress.

In this same agreement, they committed to legalize the selling of lands to foreign capital. Today, selling up to a thousand hectares of land to foreign capital is allowed, and it’s forbidden for lands that are located on a 100 km strip along the border. But the coupist government wants to eliminate all these restrictions, so any foreign company could buy any amount of land. All of this is commanded by the putschist minister of Agriculture, Mr. Blairo Maggi, one of the biggest landowners of Brazil.

The putschists’ thirst for earnings is unquenchable. But they ignore that in this world everything has contradictions. And they will emerge in a short amount of time.

Workers

On the side of workers there are many means of coordination and agendas to resist the coup. It’s true that, until now, the masses haven’t mobilized. They are astounded, watching on TV, and they still haven’t gone out on the streets. However, the increase in unemployment, the price inflation on food and the arrogance of the putschists while they threaten their rights, begin to spark debates and a climate of dissatisfaction that can move the working-class masses to go out on the streets the following weeks.

We’ll begin August with an interreligious vigil in Candelaria, in the center of Rio de Janeiro, to denounce the plans of the anti-democratic government.

On August 5, we’ll make a big march of united struggle, convened by 3 organizations: the Popular Brazil Front, the People Without Fear Front and the Left-Wing Front. We’ll meet in Copacabana and we’ll march at the same time that the Olympic Games are commenced to denounce the putschist government to the world —the government that had the nerve to commence the event in the name of the Brazilian people.

Throughout the month we’ll have many mobilizations around the country. And the unionist and popular movement is debating whether or not to call to a general strike to show the bourgeoisie that they may take over the government but if workers stop working there will be no goods nor merchandise in the country.

In Paraná, there will be an interesting set of debates, organized by all popular movements of the state, under the name “Democracy Circus.” It will be joined by thousands of militants and workers to debate on the need to reconquer democracy.

And then, the week after the vote, from August 29 on, we’ll carry out mobilizations in Brasilia, besides vigil camps throughout the country, to tell senators that they don’t represent the vote of the majority of the people. Some of the senators are alternate officers, who weren’t elected, and the people don’t even know them. Some of them are even linked to cases of corruption, denounced in the Lava-Jato Operation [which investigates cases of corruption for the state company Petrobras] and in other processes that are still being processed by the Justice system.

Regarding President Dilma, she has been asked to go public and issue a letter addressed to the Brazilian people where she commits to a new form of government, different from the one applied in 2015, and in consonance with the campaign promises of 2014. And to guarantee the organization of a new Ministry, one that is representative of the people and society, so that we can have, in the next two years, a transition to achieve the necessary structural changes, beginning by the political and media reform.

So, let’s get ready, because August will be a month filled with struggle.