Bra zil Anti-Capitalism is the Only Alternative

Brazil : Bols onaro, Lul a and the Debates on the Left

Anti-Capitalism is the Only Al ternative

Verónica O´Kelly, alternativa socialist a

As in other c ountries, the “l ess er evil” debate is als o presented here. Poss ibil ism , as a c urrent express ion of the camp ist rec ipe, invites us to form pol itical all ianc es to fac e a “greater evil”.

The problem is that this recipe offers nothing new (or good) on the horizon. For example, Bolsonaro in power is explained by the masses´ disappointment with the PT (Workers Party). The (not longer so) workers´ party, betrayed its historical program shorty after taking office. It became the guarantor of the capitalist corporations´ business in the country and the cities. That betrayal generated an immense rupture with its social base, and this base confronted many austerity measures against the people, with the youth at the forefront of these processes of struggle. Thus, the right seized the opportunity and vied for power with one the most harmful elements it had: Jair Bolsonaro. Examples of the experiences of pseudo progressive governments, such as that of Lula and Dilma´s PT, have demonstrated not only their limitations in responding to the needs of our class, youth and people, but also the commitments they made, and still maintain, with imperialist plans in each country.

The PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) is no stranger to these debates and, in relation to the upcoming elections, some comrades advocate creating alliances with the PT, the PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil), or the PDT (Democratic Labor Party), to face the conservative advance. Our position is the opposite: we ratify the need to build a political alternative with class independence to confront Bolsonaro and his plan against the people. In the struggles and in the streets, we promote the broadest unity in action; but a political front with those who manage capitalism is unfeasible

if we intend to govern with a feminist, ecosocialist, anti-capitalist and socialist program, and not betray it along the way.

An Unconvincing Fasc ist Profil e

Another axis of debate is about how strong or weak the Bolsonaro government is. In a world marked by an ascent of mobilization and an increasingly acute polarization, Bolsonaro tries to revive and update a fascist profile that fails to overcome the barriers of its own intentions. Days ago, Bivar, a leader of the president’s party, the PSL (Social Liberal Party), clarified that there are two internal sectors: a purely liberal one, and a radical conservative one, represented by Bolsonaro and his “clan.” 1 The government’s dynamic less than a year after taking office, is one of crisis. The bourgeois sectors that navigate in the rough waters of the capitalist system in crisis, need more radical austerity policies, and pressure the government to apply them. While today’s Brazil shows a scenario of social inequality, job insecurity, rising unemployment, rising cost of living and advancing poverty rates, it is far from being the country that corporations need to secure their profits: they need more austerity and this is what Bolsonaro is not guaranteeing.

His model is not enough to discipline our class. This is why new conflicts, struggles and strikes of workers, women, students, native peoples or

environmentalists arise every day. In all these processes, the slogan Fora Bolsonaro! is raised with increasing strength.

Independent, Anti-Capital ist and Social ist

In this scenario of ascending mobilization, the right does not stand idly by, it tries to recover lost ground. Lula´s liberation occurs at a time of retreat of Bolsonaro´s right-wing government, Macri’s electoral defeat, and the rebellions in Chile, Ecuador and Haiti. Unfortunately, due to the mistakes made by Evo and the MAS, the Bolivian right - sponsored by the OAS – carried out a coup and tries to resume the initiative and counterattack against the Latin American rebellions from that bastion. That is why we affirm that the parties that formed pseudo progressive governments and political alternatives of class conciliation do not work, and lead us to new failures that the right is always willing to take advantage of.

With Lula freed, the debate about unity in a common political front to beat Bolsonaro is posed with greater strength. But, as we said before, trying to oppose the right with other managers of capitalism is no alternative. Against a radicalized right, a more anti-capitalist, radical, independent, and socialist left is needed.

This is the path we embarked on with the PSOL when we left the PT due to its betrayal. This is the path that the process of increasingly massive mobilizations across the world indicates is the correct one. The struggles, with women and the youth in the vanguard, radicalizing its program and its methods, unleashing unstoppable rebellions, such as those in Hong Kong or Chile, mark the way. Our victory or defeat will be decided on the battlefield against capital, not weaving alliances with it.