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You are reading a lot into one phrase, probably thrown in by a Green Left subber in a rush to write an intro. I don't know why it affects solidarity, to be honest, if it is included or not, but you clearly know a lot more about how Stedile and others have framed it than I do, so are in a good place to discuss it with activists in Brazil and report back. On 28 May 2016 at 17:40, Patrick Bond <pb...@mail.ngo.za> wrote: > I love *GLW *and read it cover-to-cover when it arrives here in Durban > each week. But Stuart, just let me quickly query you on this opening line: > "In what has been widely condemned as a US-backed right-wing power grab..." > > The point I want to ask you about, and would ask Stedile if there's a > chance (as next week I'll be in Sao Paolo and Rio), is > > *why on earth would it be useful to invoke Washington (and the potential > for a US attack on other BRICS) as a way of fighting this coup? *The > first reaction of Stedile was to say that the coup has Obama fingerprints, > and one reason for overthrowing Dilma is her role in building the BRICS > bloc. As I understand it, this was a technique for delegitimising the coup > plotters, by linking them to imperialism. > > As I understand it, and could be wrong, > > *the only evidence associated with Washington's imperialist pro-coup > agenda in Brazil is a ten-year old WikiLeaks State Department cable which > reflects Temer's role as a mole. Back then. *But Dilma must have known > this (it's been public since 2010 when these cables were leaked) and she > chose him as her VP, and in any case thousands of foolish people had the > same role, surely. Is that all the evidence that the international left has > to use the description "US-backed"? (Correct me if I'm wrong - but that > seems thin. We can surely do better?) > > It seems to me that since Stedile (and quite a few others) started making > this allegation about the US role around 12 May, they have had these > problems: > > 1) lack of evidence aside from the 10-year old memos > > 2) the other four BRICS have done nothing, and indeed India is publicly > welcoming Temer to the next BRICS Summit in Goa > > 3) other Latin American countries have been much more forceful in > condemning the coup, again showing in contrast how little the BRICS offer > each other solidarity in such situations > > 4) the need to activate progressives in places like South Africa and > India, to protest at Brazilian embassies, is made more difficult by > invoking the "BRICS coups" hypothesis, since at least in South Africa and > India, the progressive movements would largely love to see the end of their > present regimes and are quite suspicious of BRICS (since all the BRICS have > done in the public eye is spout anti-imperialist rhetoric while in practice > signing on to imperialism's climate, IMF, world finance and world trade > deals in recent months)... > > As a result, until seeing this GLW article, I had a sense that Stedile and > the various commentators who are invoking the "US-backed" coup thesis, were > changing their tune the last few days, once the new evidence of why the > coup is a corruption cover-up strategy had emerged. > > So, I'm just asking about the rationales we invoke, because obviously the > line of argument taken up by comrades around the world will affect our > sensibilities regarding solidarity. > > Here's my perspective: > http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/27/imperialisms-junior-partners/ > > Cheers, > Patrick > > On 2016/05/28 05:31 AM, Stuart Munckton via Marxism wrote: > > https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61843 > _________________________________________________________ > > > > Brazil's coup gov't 'has revealed its true intentions', MST leader says > Saturday, May 28, 2016 > > In what has been widely condemned as a US-backed right-wing power grab to > impose harsh neoliberal measures, Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) President > Dilma Rousseff was forced to stand aside by Brazil's Senate on May 12 while > she faces impeachment procedures. > > However, the “institutional coup” has been met with widespread protests > and the new administration is facing a host of problems. > > This includes the resignation of the coup government's planning minister > following revelations he directly conspired to have Dilma removed to halt > corruption investigations against a range of politicians and business > executives, including himself. > > *João Pedro Stédile* is leader of Brazil's Landless Rural Workers > Movement (MST), one of the world's largest social movements. In an article > translated by Federico Fuentes and abridged from Links International > Journal of Socialist Renewal <http://links.org.au/node/4701>, he looks at > how the coup government has revealed its true intentions. > > *** > > It only took a few hours for the provisional government of the > coup-plotters to install themselves and demonstrate their intentions > through the composition of its cabinet, the plans it has announced and its > public declarations. > > The Senate only forced Dilma to temporarily step aside and provisionally > installed [vice-president] Michel Temer. Some lawyers say the constitution > stipulates that the vice-president cannot reshuffle the cabinet. He should > be limited to administrative acts until the merits of the case against > Dilma are decided. > > But the last thing the coup-plotters and their accomplices in the Supreme > Court are doing is respecting the constitution. As [former president > Ignacio] Lula [da Silva] said, it is as if “you went on holidays and left > someone to provisionally look after your house, and they sold it and > remodelled everything inside”. > > The cabinet of the coup-plotters is a festival of thieves. All men, white, > hypocrites and rotten. The Rede Globo [media conglomerate] campaigned > intensely over the past few months, insinuating that Dilma should be > deposed due to the levels of corruption in her government. > > The middle class that mobilised in the streets clamoured for the return of > the military dictatorship to put an end to the corrupt PTers. > > Well, among Temer's newly appointed ministers, there are no less than > seven facing corruption charges. As politician Ciro Gomes said, “they > handed over the government to a trade union of criminals” and no one had > the courage to put them on trial. > > The measures announced or already taken by the coup government are a > tragedy for Brazilian people. But they are coherent with its neoliberal > plan to reduce the cost of labour, hand over our resources, privatise what > they can and redirect public funds that were going to education, health and > social security to business owners. > > They have already proposed a provisional measure that allows for the > potential privatisation of all state companies, such as [oil company] > Petrobras, electricity companies, ports and airports. They will probably > start with the electricity companies and recently found reserves of > deep-water oil. > > In response, there will be a national protest on June 6 in Rio de Janiero > to denounce this attack on our national sovereignty. > > In terms of social security, they want to impose a minimum retirement age > of 65 for men and women, and a pension no longer tied to the minimum wage. > > In terms of health care, they have announced cuts to the Universal Health > System (SUS) and the end of the More Doctors program that covers 50 million > poor Brazilians living in areas where no white coats had gone before. They > are even talking about cutting the Emergency Mobile Attention System (SAMU). > > In terms of interest rates, nothing has been said about the R$500 billion > [about A$195 billion] designated each year to bankers through the payment > of the internal debt. This is why they put two bankers in charge of looking > after the chicken coop. > > In agriculture and land reform, they had no problems closing the Ministry > for Agricultural Development and its programs for peasants. > > The coup government has made it clear to the people what its interests are > and how it will act. > > That is why all the popular movements and organisations that are part of > the Popular Brazil Front and the People Without Fear Front, along with > other coalitions, have united behind the slogan “No to the coup, Temer Out!” > > None of us will accept a process of negotiation or sit at the table with > representatives of an illegitimate and unpatriotic coup government. > > Thankfully, Brazilian society and the international community has quickly > understood the nature of this illegitimate government. And the slogan “No > to the coup, Temer out!” has reverberated in numerous events, public acts > and ceremonies. > > Outside the country, hundreds of protests have occurred in front of > Brazilian embassies. The international media that continues to follow the > manual of listening to both sides, demoralised the local media by > denouncing the character of the coup. > > Personalities from around the world have spoken out. Pope Francis drew > attention to the “soft coups” underway in some countries, although he did > not directly cite Brazil. The respected US academic Noam Chomsky, as well > as Nobel prize winners such as Adolfo Perez Esquivel and Rigoberta Menchu, > and even artists at the Cannes film festival have expressed their > solidarity and denounced the coup. > > In Brazil, public protests have multiplied as diverse sectors take to the > streets, including high school students, artists and intellectuals. For the > first time, they occupied more than 20 offices of the National Arts > Foundation across the country, forcing the coup-plotters to reinstate the > Ministry of Culture. Young people have returned to the streets to protest. > > And where are those who supported the coup? The “greens and yellows” > against corruption? They are embarrassed, at home. They have disappeared. > > Certainly, from now on the popular mobilisations will increase in size and > numbers of sectors mobilised. The Popular Brazil Front has organised a > calendar of mobilisations and activities across the country for the next > few months. > > Within the trade union movement, the drums have begun to sound in > preparation for a general strike, paralysing productive activities in > opposition to the measures of the coup government. > > Moreover, solidarity with Dilma is increasing, despite the criticisms we > have made during of her term. She has been invited to participate in many > mass activities in Brazil, where we will loudly and clearly say that 54 > million voters — the majority of the Brazilian people — elected her to > govern the country until 2018. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
