Contribution of Brazilian CP [En]

The Central Committee of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) salutes all the communist and revolutionary parties in this international meeting and congratulates the heroic Communist Party of Vietnam, revolutionary organization that make proud all revolutionaries of the world, not only for having defeated the biggest imperialist military machine but also for having resisted the disaggregation of Soviet Union maintaining the construction of Socialism.

We live in a complex moment, hard for the humanity: while the global systemic crisis castigates the capitalist system for more than 10 years, when the managers of the capital are unable to resume economic growth and stability, the big capital undertakes a brutal offensive against the rights of workers. Even so, imperialism, hurt at its entrails, deepens the policy of war invading sovereign nations and trying to destabilize all the countries that disobey the imperialist policy.

This social and economic crisis hits all the economies linked to the hegemonic country in the field of imperialism. This may be observed clearly in Europe, where these phenomena raise in practically all the countries of the region, and hits also Japan whose economy is for two decades in stagnation. Even the USA, in spite of the manipulation of the media presenting a scenario of stability in this country, has a stagnated economy.

USA has the biggest external debt in the world, has an infrastructure in ruins and an effective unemployment much larger than official statistics proclaim.

But it is important to note that the struggle and resistance of workers all over the world against capital is permanent. In all Europe general strikes and demonstrations take the streets. In other parts of the world there is also a resistance of workers and youth. These movements, albeit defensive and without a revolutionary direction, indicate a strengthening of the class struggle as the world crisis deepens.

In our Latin America imperialism is performing a great offensive in order to revert some loss of domain occurred in the last decades, not only due to popular uprisings and mobilizations that resulted in elections of progressive governments, particularly in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, but also in consequence of an integration process that was taking place.

Even in the framework of capitalism, the creation of Unasul, Celac, ALBA, the Bank of South and several political initiatives of countries in the region made USA deeply disturbed.

Facing this conjuncture the imperialism of USA is trying to re-conquer positions by “free trade” agreements with several countries so as to increase its area of influence. They undertake initiatives to institutionally depose governments that no more serve their objectives. That offensive includes the settlement of military bases in countries of the region and a retake of the IV Fleet as a way to intimidate and even to intervene in Latin American countries.

In an orchestrated movement, the imperialism is endeavoring efforts to isolate and militarily threatening Venezuela, because of its more radical process of changes and its large oil fields. They demagoguery do approximate to Cuba with a vain objective of promoting a capitalist restoration. At the same time they sap the efforts for a political solution of the Colombian conflict, intending to make unfeasible the right of rebellion of peoples, and torender Colombia into a large military base against the struggles of Latin American peoples.

Nevertheless, these initiatives of imperialism do not refrain us from a balance of the so called progressive governments in Latin America. The crisis that hit today Latin America is, in considerable part, a consequence of limitations and hesitations of these governments. They were elected departing from mobilizations, strikes and uprisings against neoliberal policies, but these governments essentially performed policies that strengthened the interests of big capital allowing for the poor population only a social compensation policy.

Several of these governments acted to co-opt the workers and popular movements and to renderpassive the masses. Some of these governments even took measures against the workers. Some, as in Brazil, were discarded when they no more served to the bourgeoisie, because of both the deepening of the global systemic crisis and of disastrous internal political practices.

Regarding Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, where the popular mobilization processes were advanced and measures were taken for effective national sovereignty and anti-imperialism, the result of these processes didn’t promote deeper social changes.

Since they didn’t develop a control over the economy and a popular democracy, with an incorporation of strategic sectors by the state and a control of public spaces by Popular Councils, they end up opening spaces for the re-articulation of the bourgeoisie linked to imperialism, jeopardizing the conquests performed under these governments.

In political terms, this means that reformism - both the makeshift as well as the social democrat- do not represent real options for the liberation of peoples of our Latin America. The first creates institutional illusions, confusion and disorientation of the proletariat, depolarize society and effectively leads to demoralizing setbacks, as it happened in Brazil. On the other hand, the second type, in spite of institutional and popular advances, when it does not deepen the transformation process, bringing control of the economy and promoting the power of the people, gives space for the bourgeoisie and imperialism to destabilize the economy and to a reversion in the process of changes.

For the communists of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) the way for social transformations in our Latin America is the strengthening of popular and workers movement with the construction of an anti capitalist and anti-imperialist minimum program able to set broad masses in action to defeat the local bourgeoisie and imperialism, creating the popular democracy.

The Brazilian crisis

In Brazil the situation is somehow more dramatic because of the large geographical, demographic and economic dimensions of the country. After 13 years of government of the “Workers Party” (PT) the country lives the most serious crisis in five decades. A deep economic crisis, a dramatic social crisis with more than 12 million unemployed workers and a political crisis that resulted in the impeachment of president Dilma Roussef and the takeover of power by gangsters of regional and profiteering oligarchy.

The government of PT had a political performance favoring essentially the Big Capital, but the bourgeoisie and the imperialism decided to use no more its services and to constitute a pure breed government. This process was a result of the deepening of the world crisis and consequences in Brazil, of disastrous mistakes in internal policy, besides the fact that PT was no more able to control the movements of masses: in 2003 broad sectors of youth and badly employed or unemployed proletariat, carried out demonstrations in more than 600 cities in Brazil, despising political institutions and labor unions.

These facts represented an alarm light to the bourgeoisie so that it decided to take over the government, in order to implement anti workers and anti popular adjustments in a faster way, instead of using PT to negotiate with workers and implement the same adjustments in a slower pace.

With this usurper and illegitimate government in power, a new step of the class struggle started in Brazil. The brutal attack against the workers, retired people and the population in general, opened clear the struggle between Capital and Work. There are no more intermediaries to cushion the social unrest.By one hand, the offensive of government makes more difficult the action of workers but, on the other hand it opens space for a reconstruction of labor union, popular and youth organizations and to reorganize the socialist left.

The measures that this usurper government is taking up, such as a fiscal freezing for 20 years, degradation of education, social care and labor laws, the delivery of oil fields to multinational corporations, bring an enormous setback to the Brazilian society. But it is necessary to make clear that these same measures were being taken by the PT government. The coup only accelerated and deepened an ongoing process.

At the same time when the illegitimate government advances in its offensive it also raises the revolt of population against it. Albeit still diffuse it can be easily verified in street demonstrations all over the country, protests in soccer stadiums, music and theater shows, and spontaneous people teasing against members of parliament and government ministers in airports and planes, in restaurants and public places and events.

Since these measures will lead, inevitably, to a sharpening of class struggle with an increase in demonstrations and protests, it is important to remember that the illegitimate government will intensify the repression against workers and the youth (who is having an important role in this step of action), against the popular and social movements, and will try to restrict even more the democratic freedoms in order to achieve its targets.

We want to say to the comrades that our Party was always present in all the actions of our people in this hard step of our history and will keep firm in the struggle disregarding difficulties and sacrifices that the combat will bring. We have strong militants going to the streets with these flags and expressions, without fear facing the enemy. The comrades will note this in the struggles to come.

The development of the crisis

It is important to understand that the Brazilian economic, social and political crisis takes place in a period when the long cycle of social struggles, initiated in the end of the seventies with the strikes in industrial areas around São Paulo city, is ending dramatically with the exit of PT from government. At the same time a new cycle is being in gestation, starting with the demonstrations of June2013.

In practice, we are in that historical moment when the old is dying and the new will be born but is still in gestation. In this empty space bizarre and unforeseen manifestations take place, but this is also a moment of new opportunities, since the crisis is forcing a process of reorganization of the socialist left. The conjuncture itself of sharpening of class struggle will force workers in this direction. Whoever insists in a way of arrogance and self proclaimed sectarianismis condemned to insulation and to an insignificant role in this new cycle.

The next step will be of intensive reorganization of the left and decadence of the old organizations that were fostered during the cycle that is ending. We are participating of all the initiatives of popular and anti imperialist fronts in Brazil, such as the Fearless People, the Unit in Action Space, the Block of Socialist Left. These are still modest initiatives but with a high potential of becoming references to the workers and the youth in this period opened with the usurper government.

Our Party is working with the idea of a great meeting of the working class and popular movements intending to unite anti-capitalist social movements born from grassroots in an effort to establish a minimum program able to motivate workers, youth and the poor people for the social transformations in Brazil. There is in our country a broad space for the construction of a social and political tool rejecting neoliberals and the policy of class conciliation, opening spaces for the construction of the Peoples Power.

Dare to fight, dare to win.

Central Committee of the Brazilian Communist Party - PCB