Brazil's Elections and current political situation

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Reddebrek

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Oct 8 2018 20:56

Things look pretty grim in Brazil and it looks like it'll become a pretty big talking point in the discourse soon with the far right candidate Bolsonaro nearly winning the presidential election outright in the first round, just falling short at 46 percent on a high turnout.

In addition the Labour party is in chaos and the nation seems to be lurching to the right with increased violence in response to large social movements.

A friend of mine in Brazil is very worried about what's happening though she's been a good source of news that's often caught in language barriers.

So I think a thread to discuss what's going on and share news would be a good idea.

I'll start,

There's a thread by Black Rose detailing contemporary Brazilian politics, largely criticising the formerly ruling Labour party as a major source of much of what's happened there in recent years.

https://twitter.com/BRRN_Fed/status/1048759819128254464

Its been accused by certain sections of the lefty internet for being "Imperialisitic" but my friend say's its mostly accurate. She also told me that the PT (labour party) social security reforms, coalitions with centre right groups while ignoring social movements, and the "Letter to Brazilians" openly courting CEO's led to PT losing legitimacy and support from its traditional base including her Union organising uncle who'd been with them since the 90s.

Also I was listening to the BBC's History Hour, and it had a segment interviewing two former student protestors in 1968 whom took part in street fighting including the famous battle of Maria Anotnia. Its very interesting but more importantly after the interviews are done they have a discussion about why and how a political candidate like Bolsonaro who openly talks about how great the days of dictatorship, torture and repression were could now be so popular.

https://youtu.be/bJMJDEYKmmY

It goes into detail about how the military, police and intelligence agencies all retained their power after transitioning back to civilian government and how powerful they still are and just how little challenge the mainstream left including PT has presented them over the years since.

That's what I've gotten so far.

sherbu-kteer

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Oct 8 2018 21:50

Anyone know what the Brazilian anarchist movement is like at the moment?

Mike Harman

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Oct 9 2018 09:32

Not specifically, but a couple of articles on recent movements:

https://libcom.org/library/brazil-popular-revolt-its-limits

https://libcom.org/library/what-happened-june-2013-brazil-incipient-material-community-its-reactionary-destruction-

See also the comment from Cris Oliveira on the second one which is critical of how... critical the article is about those movements and their legacy (i.e. that there are still anarchist groups and social struggles going on since 2013 and facing a lot of repression).

R Totale

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Joined: 15-02-18

Oct 9 2018 18:32

They've not put out anything new on Brazil in the last few months, but Crimethinc's coverage of social movements in South America is generally pretty strong, so for a bit of background you could do worse than (most recent first):
https://crimethinc.com/2018/07/30/brazil-to-burst-ropes-and-chains-on-the-sentencing-of-23-prisoners-for-the-2014-protests
https://crimethinc.com/2018/04/06/brazil-rivers-of-blood-peace-is-war-security-is-hazardous-and-citizens-are-the-targets-of-the-state
https://crimethinc.com/2018/03/12/brazil-2016-17-the-political-crisis-and-coup-detat-an-anarchist-analysis
https://crimethinc.com/2017/06/12/fighting-in-brazil-2013-2015-three-years-of-revolt-repression-and-reaction

Spikymike

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Oct 10 2018 11:47

The Left communist take on recent developments in Brazil here:
www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2018-10-09/bolsonaro-and-the-crisis-in-brazil
References to the recent 'truckers strike' may have been commented on and interpreted differently elsewhere on this site if I recall rightly.

Mike Harman

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Joined: 7-02-06

Oct 10 2018 13:44

Truckers strike commentary is here: https://libcom.org/news/rebellion-truck-drivers-crossroads-iniciativa-revolu-ao-universal-05062018

R Totale

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Oct 11 2018 07:31

Crimethinc just put out a new podcast with an interview with a Brazilian anarchist: https://crimethinc.com/podcast/hotwire-40 Will try to copypaste relevant stuff later.

wojtek

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Oct 13 2018 06:09

Radio 4 show:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000ngx

jef costello

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Oct 16 2018 18:42

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswsns

BBC 9 minutes ofn the battle of Maria Antonia mentioned above.

#10

Reddebrek

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Oct 16 2018 20:24

Someone on a server I frequent just translated a short article by José Pablo Feinmann, about political trends in Brazil and the South American region. Its a largely poisitive take on PT et al from a Populist perspective, so its not great, but like it or not social populism is still a powerful current in South America, so I think its worth looking into at least for some background context.

https://succwc.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/the-macro-and-the-micro/

#11

AndrewF

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Oct 18 2018 10:26

The Intercept podcast has a useful context setting followed by an interview with a Brazilian left political https://theintercept.com/2018/10/17/upheaval-brazil-on-the-brink-the-saudi-regime-under-fire/?campaign=homepage-podcast-intercepted

I'd not heard the role of social media pay to promote 'fake news' mentioned before but also fascinating that a Rio cop has more chanced of being killed than a US soldier in Iraq at the height of the occupation. Unemployment, lots of anti-social crime (60k murders), a very sharp wealth divide and a deliberate social media campaign of scapegoating is a pretty explosive mix.

#12

Reddebrek

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Oct 24 2018 15:39

sherbu-kteer wrote:

Anyone know what the Brazilian anarchist movement is like at the moment?

They seem very active but I can't read much of their stuff. A few things, Bolsonaro has been threatening to treat opposition as terrorists, particularly the PT and the Landless Workers Movement (MST).

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Bolsonaro-Vows-To-Purge-Brazil-of-Leftwing-Crooks-Designate-them-as-Terrorists-20181022-0006.html?fbclid=IwAR1JaB0Gy4VYOBvyfnqJ0rkGfF4XhtWWt_yvSqRv28GsXICzLtAnbTAPeN0

In response some anarchists and socialists are looking into going underground to prepare.

Others are active in street protests with slogans like (rough translation) "Didn't begin now and won't end in elections."

#13

Reddebrek

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Oct 25 2018 23:55

My Brazilian friend was kind enough to help me transcribe the audio about student street battles and the legacy of the dictatorship and the current political climate.

https://libcom.org/library/brazilian-dictatorship-battle-maria-ant-nia

#14

wojtek

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Oct 27 2018 17:04

Sócrates and Brazilian Democracy
If only Lucas Moura was anti-semitic, Spurs fans might tell him to fuck off then (i doubt it).

#15

spartakus25

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Oct 29 2018 01:20

/hey guys! Brazilian here

I will try to summarize what going on here. And sorry for my bad writing, i am not so instructed in english.

Ps:

The situation is pretty bad and probably the fascist candidate will win by a large difference tomorrow

The far-right uprising is an outcome from the deep crisis that plague Brazil since 2014. The slowdown in economic growth in China affected severely the commodities prices, which has badly hit commodity producers like Brazil whose principal source of surplus value is the ground rent. As a result the surplus value available to invest decline. The Worker Party (PT) government tried to avoid that contraction by means of keynesian fiscal and monetary policies that only postpone the crisis by the buildup of debt and inflation. In 2015 GDP fallen staggering 3,8%, unemployment soars and inflation intensified. The things only get worse when a political scandal involving the state oil company put PT as a main corruptor actor.

So the bourgeoisie put a lot pressure in the PT government in order to ensure a sequence of market reforms like the flexibilization of labour relations, fiscal austerity and restructuring of the pension system as a mean of increase the rate of surplus value extracted from the workers and, by this way, revert the slump. The solution found by the bourgeoisie was a '' soft parliamentary coup' that took out the PT from power and replace them by a neoliberal coalition in 2016. Since them, the political crisis deepens and the economic outlook has remained bleak. This whole dark atmosphere leads to a complete demoralization of the political establishment that affect precisely both right and left situated in the political center, paving the way to the far right growth.

In my point of view the Bolsonaro victory is the political expression of the technocratic illusions that still perpetuate in the left. PT had believed that the capital contradictions could be suppressed in an old fashioned keynesian way, but this resulted in a more acute slump. Capital is fetishized social relation that not can be controlled by a properly political tools or democratic institutions. Capital must be destroyed for the people rescue a truly political autonomy to determine their lives in a non-fetishized way that transcends both the market and the state.

Now the far right will try to handle the capital crisis by means of force and militarization.

#16

spartakus25

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Oct 27 2018 20:21

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

#17

Reddebrek

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Oct 27 2018 22:55

spartakus25 wrote:

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

That's strange, earlier I could see it but now I can't, its a shame because it was very informative.

#18

wojtek

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Oct 28 2018 04:14

Tim Vickery on footballers' support for Bolsonero:
https://thesetpieces.com/features/jair-bolsonaro-is-a-throwback-to-the-dark-days-of-brazils-military-dictatorship-so-why-do-so-many-footballers-support-him/

More on Paulo André:
https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/esportes/atletico-pr/apos-assinar-manifesto-contra-bolsonaro-jogador-dribla-ato-politico-do-atletico-7c136l4gc1rac7ae6t5kjftwf/

#19

jef costello

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Oct 28 2018 21:23

Reddebrek wrote:

spartakus25 wrote:

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

That's strange, earlier I could see it but now I can't, its a shame because it was very informative.

It was posted twice, I approved one and deleted the other. For some reason it got flagged as spam again as did a third posting of teh text. I have unmarked it as spam and deleted the third post.

#20

radicalgraffiti

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Joined: 4-11-07

Oct 29 2018 00:16

i saw that the fascist won https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2018/oct/28/brazil-election-2018-second-round-of-voting-closes-as-bolsonaro-eyes-the-presidency-live

#21

Reddebrek

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Oct 29 2018 00:30

Yes, and my friend is now looking into leaving the country with her sister, her University was one of the ones raided by police in a crackdown on antifascist and pro democracy propaganda.

#22

Reddebrek

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Oct 29 2018 00:58

Just read this https://communemag.com/the-parachutist-lands-in-brasilia/

Quote:

Anti-state and anti-capitalist autonomists will also have to bear in mind the limiting effects of the crisis. Unlike the 1960s, when the military dictatorship was able to ride the postwar boom to economic growth, Bolsonaro’s government will be a government of austerity. Here there is a potential weakness but also an additional danger. If his government cannot supply any kind of economic stability, it may lose its luster for some non-core supporters, especially if confronted and pressured by a strong or at least visible and vocal autonomist movement. The danger is that, without an economic revival, austerity can only stay ahead of dissent through state-linked and permitted violence or a military takeover. Both are nightmares which will be difficult to wake from and which Bolsonaro’s government is terrifying well-positioned to enact.

#23

spartakus25

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Joined: 14-05-18

Oct 29 2018 01:23

jef costello wrote:

Reddebrek wrote:

spartakus25 wrote:

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

That's strange, earlier I could see it but now I can't, its a shame because it was very informative.

It was posted twice, I approved one and deleted the other. For some reason it got flagged as spam again as did a third posting of teh text. I have unmarked it as spam and deleted the third post.

I tried to edit in order to fix some grammatical issues but again my post was considered as a spam =X

#24

Khawaga

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Joined: 7-08-06

Oct 29 2018 12:23

For some reason it seems most (all) of your posts are marked as spam. Your last post was also marked as such, I did as other mods have marked it as "not spam". I'm not sure how the antispam system works, but hopefully the algorithm will have been taught you're not a spammer. I suggest you send a message to the admins, though I'll do it on your behalf later when I'm on my laptop.

#25

wojtek

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Oct 29 2018 15:31

The Claws of Empire, the Rise of Fascism: Brazilian Anarchist Statement on Bolsonaro:
https://freedomnews.org.uk/the-claws-of-empire-the-rise-of-fascism-brazilian-anarchist-statement-on-bolsonaro/

#26

Mike Harman

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Oct 29 2018 15:59

spartakus25 wrote:

jef costello wrote:

Reddebrek wrote:

spartakus25 wrote:

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

That's strange, earlier I could see it but now I can't, its a shame because it was very informative.

It was posted twice, I approved one and deleted the other. For some reason it got flagged as spam again as did a third posting of teh text. I have unmarked it as spam and deleted the third post.

I tried to edit in order to fix some grammatical issues but again my post was considered as a spam =X

I've just given you a role that will bypass the spam checks, so you should stop running into this from now on.

#27

jef costello

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Oct 29 2018 16:44

I just unmmarked spartakus25's first post as spam.

Is this automatic ? That is the third time if I am not mistaken.

#28

spartakus25

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Oct 29 2018 16:58

Mike Harman wrote:

spartakus25 wrote:

jef costello wrote:

Reddebrek wrote:

spartakus25 wrote:

I wrote a text that explain the political conjuncture here in Brazil but my post was blocked by an anti-spam mechanism

That's strange, earlier I could see it but now I can't, its a shame because it was very informative.

It was posted twice, I approved one and deleted the other. For some reason it got flagged as spam again as did a third posting of teh text. I have unmarked it as spam and deleted the third post.

I tried to edit in order to fix some grammatical issues but again my post was considered as a spam =X

I've just given you a role that will bypass the spam checks, so you should stop running into this from now on.

that's fine! thanks!

#29

little_brother

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Joined: 30-01-06

Oct 29 2018 17:41

Brasil group Black Pheonix (Fenikso Nigra), part of the Federal initiative linked to IFA, have written the following on http://i-f-a.org/
This is in English and Portuguese

#30

spartakus25

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Joined: 14-05-18

Oct 29 2018 21:42

this is a footage that show a little bit the collective paranoia and the hate speech against the whole left.it's very frightening

#31

Reddebrek

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Oct 30 2018 01:15

meerov21 wrote:

I'm amused by your reaction. What you gonna do? You can only continue the rudeness, because you have nothing to argue.

Your right there's nothing to argue for or against, like I said your posts are just meaningless word salads with no relevance to any discussion. Who were you replying to and what information were you basing that jumble on?

Have you read any of the sources shared so far? If not what sources are you using and would you mind sharing?

Brazil's Elections and current political situation

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