Portside

Review of Lula and His Politics of Cunning: From Metalworker to President of Brazil by John D. French (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).

We must organize a broad democratic front to confront this fascist government. We have a base of opposition with 12 governors and more than a third of the parliament, we have people’s organizations to resist . We must doubledown on grassroots work.

Power depends on correlation of strength. The bourgeoisie and its minions use the judicial power to suit their interests as if this was a monarchy, with no oversight by society. They trampled on the Constitution in order to reach their goals. The working class has only one space where it can exert its political power: mobilization on the streets.

No candidate has ever run for the presidency promising to raise the retirement age, end formal employment protection and greatly expand outsourcing. Nobody would ever get elected saying these things. The only way to remove the labor rights that we fought for over the last 100 years was through a coup such as the one in Brazil that forced Dilma Rousseff out of office. Workers have responded by strikes, demonstrations and massive rallies.