Re: [Marxism] Brazil's coup gov't 'has revealed its true intentions', MST leader says

[Glauber Ataide via Marxism]

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I'm a Brazilian activist and would like to share my views here with you. It
is important not to forget that this coup in Brazil is taking place amidst
a serious capitalist crisis. President Dilma, although promoting a liberal
agenda, wouldn't go right enough as the capitalists would like, and that is
why she is seen as non-reliable by the Brazilian bourgeoisie. They want a
legitimate, a "pure-blood" right-wing government to throw the capitalist
crisis on the working class' shoulders. Over 50 bills against the workers'
rights might be voted in the next few months, and that would take us 40
years back in time.

It does not matter if this coup is backed by the USA. I think it changes
nothing in our tactics. We have occupied a lot of public buildings, and
even the street in which the provisional president Michel Temer lives in
São Paulo. A huge demonstration is schedule to take place next June 10th.
Brazilian's artists and intellectuals are taking sides with the left
against the coup. The provisional government is fragile now, without
legitimacy, and everyday new corruption scandals get the headlines. The
right-wing parties do not have a candidate to compete with (the former
president) Lula in 2018, and that is why they are doing their best to
arrest him. Things are going in an unpredictable way here, since everyday
new tapped phone calls are released.

Glauber Ataide





2016-05-28 4:46 GMT-03:00 Stuart Munckton via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu>:

>   POSTING RULES & NOTES  
> #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
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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  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 

Re: [Marxism] Brazil's coup gov't 'has revealed its true intentions', MST leader says

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

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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  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 

Re: [Marxism] Brazil's coup gov't 'has revealed its true intentions', MST leader says

[Patrick Bond via Marxism]

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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 
, 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 

[Marxism] Brazil's coup gov't 'has revealed its true intentions', MST leader says

[Stuart Munckton via Marxism]

  POSTING RULES & NOTES  
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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.

https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/61843
_
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