[from A-infos] Brazil's Red Star Goes Dim: "Workers' Party" for Sale by James Wilson, 8/14/02
Lately there have been a number of articles in business papers pointing out that as popularity increases for the "Workers' Party" (PT) so does capital flight. (1) As international investors "make the economy scream" (2) , Lula, the party's candidate for President, is being disciplined with the choice: maintain political ideals and lose election, or bow to the rich and win. For him, like other "radical" politicians, winning the election is most important. In a switch he has soothed capitalist fears by notifying the World Bank/IMF that he's now committed to the repayment of loans. A hundred years ago the US was more forgiving. When it took over Cuba , they cancelled the debt to Spain on grounds that the burden was "'imposed upon the people... without their consent and by force of arms.'" No such luck for Brazil and its neighbors today. The region's assembly workers, peasants, and street vendors never consented to taking out loans, especially not on condition of neoliberal "adjustments". Yet former dictators and other heads of state borrowed recklessly for their pet projects, knowing they personally wouldn't be the ones repaying their debts. That burden has historically been left for the ruled, not the rulers. In another attempt to befriend business elites, the former steel worker has named a wealthy textile boss as his VP. To be clear, Jose Alancar is no traitor to his class. As for the landless families that have occupied fallow areas on vast estates in order to live and farm, they are ?criminals?. If that isn't a clear enough signal of their intention to prosecute a war on the poor rather than a war on poverty, the two have sent their economic advisor North to reassure Bush on their promise to defend private property (3). The 3 percent of the population that owns 2/3rds of the arable land can sleep well. (4) In making the trip to the center of global power Lula shows he's studied South American history. In 1962 Brazilian President Goulart talked of instituting a minimum wage and agrarian reform. John F. Kennedy wasted no time. America's leading liberal stepped up donations to Brazil's military commanders and opposition parties friendly to "US interests". The new formula at the State Department worked. On March 31st 1964 the military followed up on their word to Kennedy. They ousted the elected President in a bloodless coup, and established the hemispheres first state that followed Nazi practice of using death squads to eliminate political opposition.(5) (6). As the Constitution was erased to nothing "and the investment climate improved, the World Bank offered its first loans in 15 years and US aid rapidly increased along with torture, murder, starvation, disease, infant mortality -- and profits." Two years after the coup, Ambassador Gordon testified before Congress that a "democratic rebellion" had taken place and was nothing short of "the single most decisive victory of freedom in the mid-twentieth century". (7) In the mid 1970s Lula's brother was one of the many unionists arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed. Still, in the context of a "'Stalinist State on top of Dodge City'", labor unrest continued.(8) In 1978-79 a strike wave by outlawed unions overwhelmed the multi-national auto industries of Ford, GM, and others. Settling the strikes with bribes to a few "leaders" proved futile. The strikes were won so industry turned to the state for help. That hard won rights of millions were in fact later restricted by the government, disheartened many at the grassroots level. The idea of forming a party to campaign for elections, take power and change the laws, seemed easier and too promising to resist. In forming this "Workers' Party", its activists took note of Brazilian history. During the 1940's dictatorship of Getulio Vargas, state controlled unions in the traditon of fascist Italy dominated. Vargas even went so far as to adopt Mussolini's labor code. The main preoccupation of these "unions" was mobilizing their members to the ballot box in local elections,(recall: student government powers), rather than organizing shop floor dissent. When a Vargas loyalist approached Lula in 1979 and said "We are reaching the river and it is necessary that we, as leaders, show the people where to cross it.", Lula replied, "I think it is time that the people should learn where and how to swim by themselves." Besides the fascist labor tendency, there was the Brazilian Communist Party. While respected for their work against the military, the PCB was most known for crushing internal dissent of policy advocating collaboration with local elites against imperialism. Not surprisingly, their primary goal of kicking out foreign imperialists meant an inter-class alliance at all levels, not just political. As with the Vargas era, strikes were to be avoided at great costs. By forming a new party controlled by activists at the local level, the PT attempted to build a combattive workers alliance capable of determining their own path. (9) Yet today Lula heads a party he has steered into a fatal coalition with Brazilian oligarchs. Rather than people learning to swim for themselves, he advocates the ritual of visiting the polls every 4 years to vote in a few individuals that will supposedly solve the problems of the many. Instead of direct actions for a return to parliamentary government, general strikes with political demands for the junta to stay out of the class wars* would have been more promising then, and now. After all, without labor there is no money to pay bosses, their politicians, and militaries to protect them. They are far more dependent on us than we are on them. Further, as Brazil's history shows, a union movement controlled by its members isn't so easily dealt with by the powerful. There's no central office to break into, no opportunistic politician to buy off, no principaled leader to shoot. That is not to say that politics should have been fully abandoned for a single focus on the economic plane. Without a break from neo-liberal orthodoxy of barring import tariffs, it's unlikely major manufacturing would have even come to Brazil (10). Given that it was cheaper for heavy industry to export from North America, Brazil would have remained a banana republic- precariously selling only a few resources to unstable world markets, susceptible to fullblown economic crisis if the price of sugar dropped. To the contrary, a class as self aware as the auto & steel workers of Brazil would serve itself well to bypass the parliamentary game for more direct forms of democracy, such as neighborhood assemblies and regional ballot initiatives. Besides regional strikes, the necessity of cross border labor action is becoming more apparent as multinationals increasingly use their mobility as a major bargaining chip against labor. A few years ago the UAW launched a strike in Michigan that was about investment. GM wanted to relocate to cheaper areas like Mexico.(11) . GM workers wanted job security. In Brazil GM workers struck in solidarity. If we can make an injury to one an injury to all like that, the global capitalist game will be all but over as the tradition of "American corporations" fleeing to cheaper areas no longer shows a positive dollar sign. For us Lula represents the bankruptcy of the electoral strategy & the idea of "democratic capitalism". He started out producing capitalisms goods and services, encouraging the people around him to fight for themselves. Today he's becoming a manager of capitalism in the South. Like other radical politicians before him, Lula gives testimony to the old saying,"The liberation of the working class is the task of the workers themselves". footnote: The phrase "class wars" is used in reference to the fact that in addition to the conflicts between wage labor and capital, a major segment of Brazil's population exists outside the formal economy, as peasants and self-employed. Many are actively engaged in a struggle over land with an aristocratic class in tact from the colonial era. Bibliography 1. Oppenheimer, Andres. 'Brazil Will Shift Left But Only Slightly', (2002). "http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/andres_oppenheimer/3839085 .htm". (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 2. Barsamian, David. 'Secrets, Lies and Democracy (Interviews with Noam Chomsky)' (1994). "http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sld/sld-3-02.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 3. Vann, Bill. 'Brazil?s Workers Party chooses textile magnate as candidate' (2002). "http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jun2002/braz-j22.shtml";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 4. Mark, Jason. 'Brazil's MST: Taking Back the Land' (2001). "http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/inequal/labor/0227mst.htm";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 5. 'Brazil' (1997) "http://www.unl.edu/LatAmHis/20thCenturyBrazil.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 6. Chomsky, Noam, Herman, Edward. 'The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism' (1979). "http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Herman%20/NaziParallelFascism_Herman.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 7. Chomsky, Noam. 'Year 501' (1993). "http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/year/year-c07-s05.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 8. Chomsky, Noam. 'Jubilee 2000' "http://www.zmag.org/crisescurevts/jubilee2000.htm";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 9. Brazil Election Information Committee. 'Brazil: The PT, Democracy, & Socialism' (1990). "http://www.stile.lboro.ac.uk/~gyedb/STILE/Email0002091/m10.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 10. Shapiro, Helen. 'The Mechanics of Brazil's Auto Industry' (1996). "http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/42/037.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) 11. Bacon, David. 'GENERAL MOTORS -- A POLITICAL STRIKE CONFRONTS THE GLOBAL ECONOMY' (1998). "http://www.ainfos.ca/98/aug/ainfos00003.html";. (Last accessed: 8/13/02) ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international -- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _______________________________________________ Leninist-International mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
