El 28 de octubre, los brasileños votarán en la segunda vuelta de sus elecciones presidenciales. La primera vuelta, el 7 de octubre, provocó conmociones en todo el mundo, ya que el candidato de extrema derecha pro-militar de la dictadura Jair Bolsonaro ganó el 46% de los votos y encabeza las urnas en la segunda ronda de votaciones, donde se enfrentará a Fernando Haddad del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT). Brasil es un vasto país que tiene la segunda economía más grande de América, detrás de la economía de los Estados Unidos. Brasil sólo emergió hace 33 años de una dictadura militar de derecha. Bolsonaro proviene de las fuerzas armadas y ha pedido abiertamente el retorno de Brasil al gobierno militar. Los sindicatos y la izquierda en Brasil enfrentan una situación potencialmente sombría si Bolsonaro gana, ya que llama a la represión contra sindicalistas e izquierdistas, así como a promueve ataques contra los Afro-Brasileños, las personas LGBTQ y las mujeres.

A continuación, una entrevista con Luiza Bezerra, la Secretaria de Trabajadores Jóvenes de la Central de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de Brasil (CTB), una federación sindical militante en Brasil con 9 millones de miembros. La entrevista se realizó el 22 de octubre, aproximadamente una semana antes de la segunda vuelta de elecciones en Brasil. Aquí Bezerra da su análisis sobre el auge de Bolsonaro, lo que los sindicatos están haciendo para responder y el papel del imperialismo estadounidense en estos desarrollos.

Tenga en cuenta que cuando describe la agenda económica de Bolsonaro como “ultra-liberal”, esto no significa “liberal” como se usa en la política de los Estados Unidos. Esto se refiere al liberalismo económico: ideología extrema de libre mercado, poder corporativo sin restricciones del gobierno o los sindicatos.

Fight Back!:¿Quién es Jair Bolsonaro y qué intereses representa política y económicamente? Luiza Bezerra, CTB: Bolsonaro ha sido diputado de derecha durante 28 años. Durante mucho tiempo ha defendido el regreso de la dictadura militar y hace afirmaciones aterradoras sobre la tortura, defendiéndola. Tiene actitudes claramente misóginas, homofóbicas y racistas. Hoy ocupa el primer lugar en la campaña para la presidencia del país, con un discurso centrado en Dios (aunque el estado brasileño es secular) y en un sentimiento anti-PT [PT es el 'Partido dos Trabalhadores' en portugués, o 'Partido de los Trabajadores' en español]. El sentimiento es de exterminio del adversario y no más de un debate sano y democrático. Hay varios casos de violencia por parte de los votantes de Bolsonaro contra aquellos que no están de acuerdo con sus ideas: tenemos cinco muertes confirmadas y varias golpizas. Con discursos similares a los de la dictadura militar (o incluso Hitler) contra el comunismo y las minorías, su posible elección cuestiona la muy reciente democracia brasileña.

Fight Back!: ¿Qué amenaza representan él y su agenda para los trabajadores y los sindicatos en Brasil? Bezerra: Además del carácter antidemocrático y fascista de esta candidatura, el proyecto económico defendido por Bolsonaro es el ultra-liberalismo. El Sr. Bolsonaro votó como diputado a favor de la medida que congeló las inversiones públicas en salud y educación durante 20 años, por ejemplo, así como a favor de la ley de “Reforma Laboral”, que hizo al mercado laboral aún más precario y dirigido al debilitamiento de los sindicatos. Por lo tanto, lo más probable es que intensifique las reformas iniciadas por el gobierno golpista de Michel Temer. Por nuestra parte, si gana la elección, el momento exigirá aún más resistencia, porque junto con estos ataques a los derechos sociales y laborales es probable que se produzca una persecución política contra sus oponentes.

Fight Back!: ¿Qué está haciendo la CTB para enfrentar esta amenaza? Bezerra: Estamos en la lucha con varios movimientos sociales, participando en manifestaciones por la democracia, y hablando con la gente, difundiendo información que revela la verdadera cara del candidato Bolsonaro. Esta parte de nuestro mensaje ha sido fundamental y creo que la CTB ha desempeñado un papel importante, ya que esta elección está marcada por una dosis gigante de noticias falsas contra los candidatos de la izquierda. Nuestra tarea es presentar la verdad con respecto a los candidatos del campo popular y democrático y revelar las verdaderas intenciones del candidato Bolsonaro. No ha sido fácil. La semana pasada fue un informe sobre el esquema de envío de mensajes de noticias falsos por Whatsapp, pagado por los grandes partidarios de los negocios de Bolsonaro. Este tipo de acción es ilegal en Brasil y viola la ley electoral, ya que la financiación por parte de empresarios está prohibida y, según el informe, se gastaron millones en el envío de tales mensajes a favor de Bolsonaro.

Fight Back!: ¿Crees que Bolsonaro tiene el apoyo del imperialismo estadounidense detrás de él? Bezerra: A pesar de que no fue la primera opción del imperialismo estadounidense e incluso de la elite brasileña, debido a su posición ultraliberal y la alineación de la política exterior con los Estados Unidos, creo que hoy es la preferencia imperialista. Tiene posiciones bastante similares a las de Trump, disminuyendo el papel de las Naciones Unidas y las soluciones multilaterales, y tiende a dar la espalda a las relaciones con América Latina, África e incluso China (por razones ideológicas) y prefiere las relaciones con Estados Unidos. Bolsonaro ha dicho más de una vez que tiene en Trump un modelo a seguir.

Fight Back!:¿Qué pueden hacer las personas progresistas en los Estados Unidos y otros países para apoyar a los trabajadores y sindicatos de Brasil en este momento difícil? Bezerra: Creo que todas las formas de solidaridad son válidas, pero como dije, una de las principales batallas que hemos estado luchando es difundir la verdad. Entonces difundan lo que está pasando en Brasil. Mientras más gente sepa sobre la situación, más fuertes seremos.

Sé que la situación es complicada pero no nos rendimos. Seguiremos hablando con la gente e intentaremos mostrarles lo que está en riesgo en esta elección. Todavía hay esperanza y seguimos creyendo en los trabajadores de Brasil.

#Brazil #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #CTB #JairBolsonaro #Americas

On October 28, Brazilians will vote in the second round of their presidential election. The first round on October 7 sent shock waves around the world as extreme right-wing pro-military dictatorship candidate Jair Bolsonaro won 46% of the vote and leads polls heading into the second round of voting, where he will face Fernando Haddad of the Workers Party (PT). Brazil is a vast country which has the second largest economy in the Americas, behind only the U.S. economy. Brazil only emerged 33 years ago from a right-wing military dictatorship. Bolsonaro comes from the military and has openly called for returning Brazil to military rule. Unions and the left in Brazil face a potentially grim situation if Bolsonaro wins, since he calls for repression against trade unionists and leftists as well as promoting attacks on Black people, LGBTQ people and women.

Below is an interview with Luiza Bezerra, the Young Workers Secretary of the Brazilian Workers Central (CTB), a militant union federation in Brazil with 9 million members. The interview was conducted on October 22, about a week before Brazil’s second round election. Here Bezerra gives her analysis on the rise of Bolsonaro, what the unions are doing to respond, and the role of U.S. imperialism in these developments.

Note that when she describes Bolsonaro’s economic agenda as “ultra-liberal,” this does not mean 'liberal' like it’s used in U.S. politics. This refers to economic liberalism – extreme free market ideology, corporate power with no constraints from government or unions.

Fight Back!: Who is Jair Bolsonaro and what interests does he represent politically and economically? Luiza Bezerra, CTB: Bolsonaro has been a right-wing deputy for 28 years. He has long advocated the return of the military dictatorship and makes scary claims about torture, defending it. He has clearly misogynistic, homophobic and racist attitudes. Today he is in first place in the campaign for the presidency of the country, with a discourse centered on God (although the Brazilian state is secular) and on an anti-PT feeling [PT is the ‘Partido dos Trabalhadores’ in Portuguese, or ‘Workers Party’ in English]. The feeling is of extermination of the adversary and not more of a healthy and democratic debate. There are several cases of violence on the part of Bolsonaro voters against those who disagree with their ideas: we have five confirmed deaths and several beatings. With speeches similar to that of the military dictatorship (or even Hitler) against communism and minorities, his possible election calls into question the very recent Brazilian democracy.

Fight Back!: What threat does he and his agenda represent for workers and unions in Brazil? Bezerra: Besides the anti-democratic and fascist character of this candidacy, the economic project defended by Bolsonaro is ultra-liberalism. Mr. Bolsonaro voted as a deputy in favor of the measure that froze public investments for health and education for 20 years, for example, as well as in favor of the ‘Labor Reform’ law, which made the labor market even more precarious and aimed at weakening the unions. Therefore, he will most likely intensify the reforms initiated by the coup government of Michel Temer. On our side, if he wins the election, the moment will demand even more resistance, because along with these attacks on social and labor rights is likely to come political persecution against his opponents.

Fight Back!: What is the CTB doing to confront this threat? Bezerra: We are in the struggle with various social movements, participating in demonstrations for democracy, as well as talking to people, disseminating information that reveals the true face of the candidate Bolsonaro. This part of our message has been instrumental and I believe the CTB has played an important role, as this election is marked by a giant dose of fake news against the candidates on the left. Our task is to present the truth both with regard to the candidates of the popular and democratic camp and to reveal the true intentions of the candidate Bolsonaro. It has not been easy. Last week was a report on the scheme of sending fake news messages by Whatsapp, paid by Bolsonaro's big business supporters. This type of action is illegal in Brazil and violates electoral law, since financing by businesspeople is prohibited and, according to the report, millions were spent on the sending of such pro-Bolsonaro messages.

Fight Back!: Do you think Bolsonaro has the support of U.S. imperialism behind him? Bezerra: Although he was not the first choice of U.S. imperialism and even of the Brazilian elite, because of his ultra-liberal position and the alignment of foreign policy with the United States, I believe that he is the imperialist preference today. He has positions quite similar to those of Trump, diminishing the role of the UN and multilateral solutions, as well as tending to turn his back on relations with Latin America, Africa and even China (for ideological reasons) and preferring relations with United States. Bolsonaro has said more than once that he has in Trump a model to follow.

Fight Back!: What can progressive people in the United States and other countries do to support the workers and unions of Brazil at this difficult moment? Bezerra: I believe that all forms of solidarity are valid, but as I said one of the main battles that we have been fighting is to spread the truth. So spread what is happening in Brazil. The more people know about the situation, the stronger we will be.

I know the situation is complicated but we are not giving up. We will keep talking to people and try to show them what is at risk in this election. There is still hope and we continue to believe in the working people of Brazil.

#Brazil #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #CTB #JairBolsonaro #Americas

Sao Paulo, Brazil – Labor unions, progressive political parties and social movements across Brazil have called for a general strike of all workers to protest the neoliberal anti-worker policies being imposed by right-wing politicians including the new president Michel Temer. Temer was put in office only after the illegal removal of progressive President Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party.

A delegation from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) was invited by the Central dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras do Brasil – Central of Male and Female Workers of Brazil (CTB) to visit the Sao Paulo area to study how teachers are organizing for the strike.

“Teachers in Brazil face many of the same challenges that we do in Chicago. They face closings of neighborhood schools, cuts in teachers’ pension benefits as well as cuts to students in need. But a general strike to protest. Wow!” said CTU Executive Board Member Natasha Carlsen. “We are not there yet, but by organizing students, teachers and parents and applying class struggle methods we will get there.”

The call for a general strike follows protests and strikes by more than a million people on March 15. In Sao Paulo, the CTB president, Adilson Araujo, was one of those who used the microphone on the crowded Paulista Avenue saying, “Brazil woke up earlier today, willing to give a response to this illegitimate government which tries to impose at all costs an extreme neoliberal agenda.”

“All the unions are organizing for the General Strike. We had a meeting with every union in every sector. We are all united. We are striking to win back workers’ rights, win back our pensions and stop outsourcing,” said Campinas General Secretary for the CTB Paulo Jose Nobre, “Brazilian President Michel Temer is making an unprecedented attack on us. He wants us to work more hours and get paid less. He wants us to work more years for our pension and have less rights as workers.”

The Chicago Teachers Union delegation met with teachers organizing for the general strike around these issues. “Like the election of Donald Trump in the USA, the political trick that put Michel Temer in office is a setback,” said CTU fifth grade bilingual education teacher Marlena Ceballo, “we can learn from the teachers in Brazil that we, the workers, need to fight for power.”

One of the schools the delegation visited was the Carlos Gomes School that had been occupied by students to avoid closing. The successful student occupations which started in Chile and spread throughout South America were a response neoliberal cuts. “This was one of the big takeaways for us,” said CTU leader Sarah Chambers, “there is a lot of teacher, parent and community organizing happening in Chicago Public Schools, but not enough student organizing. In Brazil, the students are leading the charge along with the teachers.”

#SaoPaoloBrazil #SaoPaolo #generalStrike #Strikes #CTB #Brazil #Americas

Held in Sao Paolo, on April 8, 2016, the political Council of the Central of Male and Female workers of Brazil – CTB, after assessing the conjuncture, approved the following resolution:

1-There is currently underway in the country, an impeachment process, without any legal grounds, a coup d ‘ état that insults the democratic state of law and threats the national sovereignty, the integration process of Latin America and the Caribbean and its institutions (like the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States -CELAC and the Union of South American Nations – UNASUR) as well as social rights;

2-Behind the coup, powerful interests associated with imperialism act as dark forces or openly, led by the US, and the great national bourgeoisie. They explore and deepen the economic crisis and instrumentalize sectors of the Judiciary Power, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Police and the media monopolies led by Globo broadcasting network, which make up for the pro coup press party. They are the same social forces that supported the 1964 military coup.

3-The working class is the main target of the putschists, whose agenda is to prioritize a labor reform in order to end with the labor code, to impose widespread outsourcing, to reverse the hardly conquered achievements of the recent years, to privatize Petrobras, to deliver the pre-salt deposit to foreign capital, to rip the 1988 citizen Constitution, to criminalize social movements and to trample democratic freedoms, installing a dictatorship.

4-Signs of the future that awaits us, if the ongoing coup were to triumph, can be perceived in the truculent and illegal actions of the military police of the states governed by right wing parties such as in Sao Paulo state governed by Alckim, with attacks against social movements,headquarters of leftist parties and student organizations as well as the killing of farmworkers in Paraíba and Paraná states. The CTB expresses its solidarity with the families of the killed comrades, and demands the most rigorous investigation of these crimes and punishment of those responsible and reiterates its full and active support for the land reform and participation in the national campaign to be held under this banner on May 19th.

5-Given the seriousness of the political, economic and institutional crisis which disturbs the nation, the political Council guides the CTB state departments and its militancy to realize – in alliance with other organizations that make up the Brazilian Popular Front and People without Fear movement -a huge day of action against the coup, in defense of democracy, sovereignty and social rights. It’s time for total mobilization to raise the consciousness of the working class about what is at stake in the political struggle and to unmask the pro coup media.

6-Only through the construction of a broad front in Congress and the popular mobilization will the coup be interrupted and stopped and therefore create the conditions for the resumption of the economic growth and employment. The CTB must strengthen the protest camp against the coup and for democracy that will start in Brasilia from April 10th, the demonstrations called for the days April 11th and 15th and national night watch on April 17th, day of the impeachment vote by the plenary of the Lower House.

São Paulo, April 8, 2016

#Brazil #WFTU #CTB #Americas