1. On August 3, the judicial-and-media-made coup was consummated in the National Congress. Thus, the bourgeoisie concluded the first stage of the conspiracy, which they had been preparing since 2014, in order to put a government in power that can be completely subordinated and willing to unload the weight of the crisis on the shoulders of the working class.
Now, the current stage is about speeding up the implementation of neoliberal measures, which are only of interest to financial capital and big capital, such as increasing labour exploitation, decreasing salaries, incrementing unemployment rates and applying a program of privatization and fiscal adjustment, which are even embarrassing to the IMF.
Every day we hear absurd announcements —and I say “absurd” because they go against the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CTL), the Constitution and all social rights conquered with the struggle of the last decades.
2. Therefore, the satisfaction the putschists felt after their victory in the Parliament didn’t last long. The coup was not legitimated neither by the public opinion nor by the people and it was even discouraged at the international level.
The illegitimate President was humiliated in the G20 meeting, in which the rest of the rulers didn’t even refer to him as President. And he even had to use the opportunity of the trip to buy shoes in a local Shopping center. Poor Temer!
From a juridical standpoint, the farce was obvious when the Senators had no courage to annul Dilma’s political rights, which implied that she hadn’t committed any type of crime. And, even worse, three days after that, the very same Senators approved the project that legalizes the rewriting financial balances and figures. But, wasn’t this the exact same crime for which Dilma was removed?
The loudest response was heard on the streets. On Sunday, September 4, only a week after the coup, over 100,000 young men and women from Sao Paulo took to the streets to protest, raising the slogan: “Out With Temer, Direct Elections Now and Not One Right Less”. The massive protest was convened without any sort of help from the press, which continues to be at the service of the coupist leaders.
Afterwards, on September 7, hundreds of protests were held all over Brazil, with thousands of Brazilian men and women gathered around the “Cry of the Excluded”, under the same banner. It ended with the middle class booing for 5 minutes during the opening of the Paralympics, at the Maracana Stadium.
3. What will happen with this government? No one knows. The bourgeoisie is also in doubt. The coupist government fails to provide a sense of political unity to the conservative forces. Its neoliberal plan won’t get the country out of the economic and political crisis; on the contrary they will deepen it, bringing serious consequences for the whole population. The signs of corruption from its members are contrary to the discourse and interests of the so called “Curitiba Republic”. This is why the Advocate General of the Union was sanctioned and removed from his post.
How much longer will the media and the judicial power delay the judicial testimonies of businessmen regarding illegal bribes that involve many distinguished Ministers and even the illegitimate President himself?
The coupist government might become a government in permanent crisis, which will only wear down the parties that support it, which is what happened in the last years of Sarney’s chaotic government (1985-1989). Or, will the bourgeoisie be able to change it through an indirect mechanism in January 2017 and place a new deceiver, with better abilities and much more confident with the economic power, in power.
From our viewpoint —the viewpoint of the working class—, the government should last as little as possible. But in politics, the facts and the correlation of forces are not a product of mere will or desire. They are a product on the strength that each side of the class struggle has accumulated.
How long will the government remain in power? That will depend on our own ability to mobilize the working class and to take up that flag, which so far has been a silent witness, nodding, as if the political game were not its field.
4. In the upcoming weeks, the coupist government will speed up its offensive against the rights of the working class. Every day they make announcements to cut our rights, to reform social security and to apply a policy of subordination to foreign capital, promoting privatizations and the selling of lands but also giving away the Pre-Salt oil field, gas pipelines, the BR distributer, and other national sources of wealth… these measures will soon reach a greater part of the population and the working class.
Facing this situation, several sectors of the rural areas and the city have increased their mobilizations and national struggles, as is happening with rural works, peasants, bank employees, metal workers, teachers, mail workers and public servants.
In a process of greater articulation of these sectorial struggles, Unions are calling for a national strike on September 22. Major efforts will be put into guaranteeing that not only the union movement is mobilized but all movements from the Brazil’s Popular Front and People Without Fear, so that this strike paralyses production, transportation, public services, trade activities and schools. And, as some union leaders have anticipated, this will work as a rehearsal to move towards a general strike against the coupist government.
At the same time, in Sao Paulo and other cities, mobilizations have multiplied, usually on Sundays, sometimes spontaneously. They are held most of the times by the youth and social movements, who are raising their cry: “Out with Temer! Direct Elections Now!” as a clear proposal that the democratic order will only be restored if the people have the right to choose their own representatives in the polls; to preserve our rights and against the measures of the ongoing neoliberal plan.
The drums are heating up and the struggle will only intensify…
Let’s struggle, comrades!
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