Brazil

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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Mon Nov 01, 2021 1:19 pm

DUQUE AND BOLSONARO, UNITED IN THE CORPORATE CRUSADE OVER THE AMAZON
30 Oct 2021 , 10:17 am .

Image
The presidents of Colombia, Iván Duque, and of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro (Photo: Joédson Alves / EFE)

This Sunday, October 31, COP 26 (United Nations Climate Conference) will take place, organized by the United Kingdom in collaboration with Italy, where agreements are expected to be established to curb global warming.

Prior to this multilateral meeting, Colombian President Iván Duque recently traveled to Brazil to meet with his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro and fulfill an agenda that included political and economic issues.

According to the Brazilian media Brasilwire , one of the common points on the agenda was "the growing commercial relationship and the defense of private initiative, in addition to the preservation of the Amazon."

Of these elements, it is worth asking how important the preservation of the environment has been for these leaders and what role the United States plays as a strategic ally in decision-making.

SIMILARITIES

If there is something that these two countries bordering Venezuela have had in common, in addition to subordinating themselves to the destructive logic that is destroying the Amazon, it is that both have aligned themselves with the United States in their imperial policy that seeks to undermine the stability of the Republic. Bolivarian and promoting regime change.

Last year, the Duque and Bolsonaro governments carried out military exercises in the border areas with Venezuela, maneuvers that were carried out just after tours of US officials through those countries. More than the association between components that seek alliances in matters of cooperation, the military subordination to the US military has deepened through the presence of the Southern Command in the subcontinent.

According to the Brazilian media, a way has also been sought to establish forced relations between elements of the armed struggle in Colombia, as well as drug trafficking, and the Workers' Party (PT) of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as a way to justify alliances to fight a common enemy.

It should be noted that there are also similarities between both governments in terms of the creation of organizations that function as executing arms of extermination policies. On the one hand, in Colombia the paramilitaries continue to assassinate social leaders, peasants and former guerrillas demobilized from the FARC and, on the other, in Brazil Bolsonaro ignores the activities of the militias in Rio, and the death squads in the favelas. the systematic murder of indigenous leaders.

Something that also unites them is the fact of holding Venezuela responsible for any negative events that happen in their territories. The issue of Venezuelan migration and border security have been the most recurrent, ignoring Achilles heels such as pandemic control, security, human rights, among others.

CONCERN FOR THE AMAZON?

If the meeting between Jair Bolsonaro and Iván Duque makes clear something, prior to the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, it is that the environmental issue is not something that is in the foreground.

Although both said that they will arrive together at the conference in defense of the jungle, everything seems to indicate that neither has a real interest in saving the Amazon rainforest.

Bolsonaro defended the sovereignty of the beloved, "rich and desired Amazon," while Duque, who also defended the sovereignty of the jungle, referred to preservation in his speech.

"The Amazon is, for us, a very valuable territory and we take care of it within our sovereignty. It is also very important that this defense carries with it an effective fight against environmental crimes," said the president of Colombia, reviewed by Brasilwire.

Likewise, at the meeting, Duque agreed, along the same lines as Bolsonaro, in carrying a unified message on the protection of forests and defended the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But in practice this is far from the truth.

In Brazil it is demonstrated that the environment is not a priority for the Executive. The massive demonstrations of indigenous movements and environmental protection organizations indicate that measures promoted by the president put the habitat of many indigenous communities at risk and favor large companies that are dedicated to logging and livestock.


And it is that from the first year of management there were signs that Bolsonaro did not really care about agrobiological and cultural preservation in that immense area. The great fires registered in mid-2019, which spread through several Amazonian countries and put the international community on alert, were a sign of what the environmental policy of the Brazilian president would be like, but also of how the neoliberal extractive logic of the right operates. usually.

Once the fire acquired catastrophic dimensions, Bolsonaro was pointed out as one of the main responsible for the disaster. As with the pandemic, he initially underestimated the severity of the event. He even declared that it was the high temperatures and the dry period that were responsible for the forest fires, while blaming the NGOs for causing them.

He was accused not only of letting the fire progress, but of hiding statistics that showed the increase in deforestation after the rise of the extreme right to the country. It also paralyzed funds for the defense of the forest granted by European countries.

Bolsonaro's association cannot be hidden because his candidacy was supported by the Frente Parlamentaria de Agropecuarios, a group of Brazilian deputies and senators who are backed by agro-industrial companies.

That after the disaster he accepted international aid and showed "concern" did not erase the connections with environmental disasters in the Amazon, especially because of the policies he has adopted during his administration.

The progressive governments of Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff only represented a pause to the environmental crime promoted by the right-wing governments that preceded them, and which was advancing by leaps and bounds.

During the government of Lula Da Silva, institutional policies such as the Terra Legal program were promoted, which regulated the use of land for the benefit of small producers. Therefore, 45% less deforestation was registered than the previous year. The coup against Dilma pushed back environmental policies while agribusiness lobbies returned.

"In 2020, official deforestation data was the worst in the last 12 years. The Bolsonaro government has faced criticism over its environmental policy since the start of his administration in 2019." refers the Brazilian media.

THE TRUE INTERESTS

The alliances of the South American countries with the United States are more oriented to business and geopolitical relations than to saving the environment.

"In September 2019, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Ernesto Araújo, met with the then Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, in Washington DC and both announced a new bilateral agreement between the United States and Brazil to open the Amazon rainforest to private sector development, "says Brasilwire .

The Bolsonaro government has already accumulated three accusations against him in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the destruction of the jungle. In that sense, the environmental situation in Colombia is not very different. According to the Brazilian media, Colombia was named the most dangerous country for environmentalists for the second year in a row: 227 were killed in the country last year.

However, deforestation in Colombia is much lower. In any case, the danger is for environmental defenders, who are victims of paramilitarism. According to official data - Brasilwire points out - in 2020 there was an 8% increase in deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, compared to the previous year.

Recently, the White House released the details "of the new and holistic counternarcotics strategy between the United States and Colombia," which consisted of broadening the focus to include specific actions on security and rural development, and protection of the environment.

"As part of the new strategy, the United States will support the Colombian government's efforts to monitor and counter environmental crimes that sustain and fuel drug trafficking groups and that have a profoundly negative impact on the environment of Colombia and the Amazon region." reads the press release.

As stated in the press release, efforts will be focused on stopping drug production in rural areas and includes the protection of community leaders who promote the rule of law efforts. So far there does not seem to be a favorable outcome for those who are killed daily in Colombia, much less for the boom in the production of illicit substances, whose largest market continues to be ... the United States.

Both leaders agree on the hostile stance towards indigenous peoples. The actions of the Colombian State are insufficient to stop the killing of activists in general, a situation that has even been recognized by the United Nations.

That Duque and Bolsonaro have lost popularity in their respective countries, reaching the possibility that they will not be reelected next year, is another parallel between the two leaders, who seemed to concentrate more efforts on maintaining a servile attitude to the interests of the United States rather than sustain genuine leadership in their countries.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/du ... a-amazonia

Google Translator

*********************************************

Kindred Spirits at COP26: US Allies Duque Of Colombia And Brazil’s Bolsonaro

Colombia’s Duque along with Chile’s Piñera and Brazil’s Bolsonaro form the core of an alliance defending US interests in South America. Bolsonaro and Duque both face 2022 re-election campaigns amidst falling popularity and a left wing resurgence.

By Nathalia Urban

Colombian President Iván Duque, one of the leaders of the far right in Latin America and an ally of the United States, recently travelled to Brazil for an official visit and fulfilled a political and economic agenda, meeting with ideological fellow traveller, president Jair Bolsonaro.

Duque stated that the bilateral relationship with Brazil is “at its’ highest point” and highlighted points that he believes are common among the neighboring nations, such as the growing commercial relationship and the defence of private initiative, in addition to the preservation of the Amazon.

The far right leaders share several things in common, but one of the most problematic from a geopolitical point of view is their subservience to the United States and willingness to work for its imperial interests in Latin America, this is especially evident with Venezuela. Also present are efforts to use the history of armed struggle in Colombia, and longstanding conspiracy theories surrounding it, to connect the Workers Party (PT) of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to drug trafficking.

Bolsonaro also highlighted the “good relationship we have in defense matters where the president (Duque) expressed his interest in renewing his fleet of training aircraft belonging to the Super Tucano family”, manufactured in Brazil.

Iván Duque, announced in 2019 the objection to items that make up the statute by which the Special Justice for Peace is operating, a body created through the agreement that ended the confrontation between the Colombian State and the FARC guerrillas, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

On February 18, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) reported that the Colombian Military Forces killed at least 6,401 civilians between 2002 and 2008 whom they presented as combat casualties, which became known as the “False Positive Scandal”. A much higher figure than what had been presented in the past. Seven days later, President Iván Duque spoke on the matter. During the Peace with Legality Seminar held on February 24, the president said that he hopes that no more speculation will be derived from the information given by the JEP.

Duque effectively ignored the killings and gave veiled support for them to continue. This is extremely similar to the position Bolsonaro has about militia activities in Rio, and death squads in the favelas.

The Colombian president addressed issues such as the production of vaccines against the coronavirus, protection of the Amazon, combating the effects of climate change, and paying particular attention to migrants and border security – again an attempt to rattle Venezuela.

The Amazon

The presidents said that both countries of the Amazon region will arrive together at COP 26 (United Nations Climate Conference), in Glasgow, Scotland, in defense of the forest. Bolsonaro defended the sovereignty of the “dear, rich and desired” Amazon, while Duque, who also defended the sovereignty of the forest, defended preservation in his speech. “The Amazon is, for us, a very valuable territory and we take care within our sovereignty. It is also very important that this defense brings with it an effective fight against environmental crimes”, said the President of Colombia.

Duque said that the countries in the region should bring to the climate conference, which starts on October 31, a unified message on forest protection and defended the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bolsonaro, in the same line, defended that the nations arrive together at COP 26.

The “rich and desired” Amazon is far from being Bolsonaro’s priority. In 2020, the official deforestation data was the worst in the last 12 years. The Bolsonaro government has faced criticism on its environmental policy since the beginning of his administration in 2019.

In September 2019, Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo met then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington D.C. and the pair announced a new U.S.-Brazil bilateral agreement to open up the Amazon Rainforest to private sector development. Araújo called the agreement “…the Holy Grail of Brazil’s foreign policy, at least for the private sector”.

During the current government, deforestation in the Amazon registered historic highs. Bolsonaro calls it a “fine industry”. The area deforested in the year (10,851 km2) reached a level similar to that of 2008. It is the 2nd worst result of the historical series started in 2015. The number is 4.5% lower than the same period ended in July last year, when the indicator reached the record of 9,216 km2. Bolsonaro advocates for mining on indigenous lands and suspended the Amazon Fund, a project financed by Norway and Germany, that earmarked resources to be applied in the preservation of the forest. He has already had three indictments filed against him at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the destruction of the forest, the last one last week. Brazilians often say that it is necessary to develop the legal Amazon region, an area through which the forest passes and occupies 58.9% of the national territory. The situation in the neighbouring country is also calamitous, Colombia was named the most dangerous country for environmentalists for the second year in a row, 227 were murdered in the country last year. To a lesser extent, Colombia has seen deforestation grow. According to official data, there was an 8% increase in deforestation in the Colombian Amazon in 2020, compared to the previous year.

Both leaders have a hostile stance towards indigenous peoples. Duque’s actions to stop the killing of indigenous peoples was considered insufficient even by the United Nations, and the Colombian himself has already made offensive statements regarding the mobilizations, linking the Minga to terrorist and criminal activities. The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib, in Portuguese) filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a United Nations (UN) justice agency, to denounce the government of Jair Bolsonaro for genocide.

Among the criminal actions denounced by Apib are Bolsonaro’s explicit refusal to demarcate new indigenous reservations, his attempt to legalize invasions, and his encouragement to conflicts in the countryside by using bills, decrees, and ordinances.

Two peas in a pod

In an interview with Folha de São Paulo newspaper Ivan Duque said: “I will tell you what I saw in President Bolsonaro: first, a person who has an appreciation and affection for Colombia; who worked with Colombia and carried out public policies so that there is more investment, exports and so that ties with other nations are strengthened.I also see him promoting Brazil abroad to generate more investment, exports and well-being. That’s what I can tell from the way I worked with him.”

There are several parallels between their respective mandates. For starters, their approval is similarly low. Duque has 20% and Bolsonaro, 22%, according to Datafolha and Ipec. The two are also expected to leave the post next year. Another commonality is that they both bet on the attempted overthrow of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in early 2019.

Antony Blinken

One day after his visit to Brazil, Ivan Duque received the US Secretary of State, on his first visit to South America. Just like Bolsonaro, Ivan Duque had a close relationship with the far right president Donald Trump, and the focus of the visit was not so much on the military aspects but also other topics, like climate change and “human rights” but of course, the Secretary used the opportunity to reaffirm how valuable the partnership with Colombia is for the United States. Even though Bolsonaro was snubbed by the US Secretary of State, his is already collaborating on undermining the progress of the left in Latin America. Besides Colombia, Blinken visited president of Ecuador, banker Guillermo Lasso, who came to power amid a smear campaign which baselessly linked his leftist rival Andrés Arauz to Colombian paramilitaries, and said: “There’s something important to be learned from Ecuador, Colombia, and the region in understanding the challenges facing democracies and how to overcome them.”.

https://www.brasilwire.com/duque-meets-bolsonaro/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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blindpig
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Wed Nov 10, 2021 2:59 pm

Kindred Spirits at COP26: US Allies Duque Of Colombia And Brazil’s Bolsonaro

Colombia’s Duque along with Chile’s Piñera and Brazil’s Bolsonaro form the core of an alliance defending US interests in South America. Bolsonaro and Duque both face 2022 re-election campaigns amidst falling popularity and a left wing resurgence.

By Nathalia Urban

Colombian President Iván Duque, one of the leaders of the far right in Latin America and an ally of the United States, recently travelled to Brazil for an official visit and fulfilled a political and economic agenda, meeting with ideological fellow traveller, president Jair Bolsonaro.

Duque stated that the bilateral relationship with Brazil is “at its’ highest point” and highlighted points that he believes are common among the neighboring nations, such as the growing commercial relationship and the defence of private initiative, in addition to the preservation of the Amazon.

The far right leaders share several things in common, but one of the most problematic from a geopolitical point of view is their subservience to the United States and willingness to work for its imperial interests in Latin America, this is especially evident with Venezuela. Also present are efforts to use the history of armed struggle in Colombia, and longstanding conspiracy theories surrounding it, to connect the Workers Party (PT) of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to drug trafficking.

Bolsonaro also highlighted the “good relationship we have in defense matters where the president (Duque) expressed his interest in renewing his fleet of training aircraft belonging to the Super Tucano family”, manufactured in Brazil.

Iván Duque, announced in 2019 the objection to items that make up the statute by which the Special Justice for Peace is operating, a body created through the agreement that ended the confrontation between the Colombian State and the FARC guerrillas, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

On February 18, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) reported that the Colombian Military Forces killed at least 6,401 civilians between 2002 and 2008 whom they presented as combat casualties, which became known as the “False Positive Scandal”. A much higher figure than what had been presented in the past. Seven days later, President Iván Duque spoke on the matter. During the Peace with Legality Seminar held on February 24, the president said that he hopes that no more speculation will be derived from the information given by the JEP.

Duque effectively ignored the killings and gave veiled support for them to continue. This is extremely similar to the position Bolsonaro has about militia activities in Rio, and death squads in the favelas.

The Colombian president addressed issues such as the production of vaccines against the coronavirus, protection of the Amazon, combating the effects of climate change, and paying particular attention to migrants and border security – again an attempt to rattle Venezuela.

The Amazon

The presidents said that both countries of the Amazon region will arrive together at COP 26 (United Nations Climate Conference), in Glasgow, Scotland, in defense of the forest. Bolsonaro defended the sovereignty of the “dear, rich and desired” Amazon, while Duque, who also defended the sovereignty of the forest, defended preservation in his speech. “The Amazon is, for us, a very valuable territory and we take care within our sovereignty. It is also very important that this defense brings with it an effective fight against environmental crimes”, said the President of Colombia.

Duque said that the countries in the region should bring to the climate conference, which starts on October 31, a unified message on forest protection and defended the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Bolsonaro, in the same line, defended that the nations arrive together at COP 26.

The “rich and desired” Amazon is far from being Bolsonaro’s priority. In 2020, the official deforestation data was the worst in the last 12 years. The Bolsonaro government has faced criticism on its environmental policy since the beginning of his administration in 2019.

In September 2019, Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo met then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington D.C. and the pair announced a new U.S.-Brazil bilateral agreement to open up the Amazon Rainforest to private sector development. Araújo called the agreement “…the Holy Grail of Brazil’s foreign policy, at least for the private sector”.

During the current government, deforestation in the Amazon registered historic highs. Bolsonaro calls it a “fine industry”. The area deforested in the year (10,851 km2) reached a level similar to that of 2008. It is the 2nd worst result of the historical series started in 2015. The number is 4.5% lower than the same period ended in July last year, when the indicator reached the record of 9,216 km2. Bolsonaro advocates for mining on indigenous lands and suspended the Amazon Fund, a project financed by Norway and Germany, that earmarked resources to be applied in the preservation of the forest. He has already had three indictments filed against him at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for the destruction of the forest, the last one last week. Brazilians often say that it is necessary to develop the legal Amazon region, an area through which the forest passes and occupies 58.9% of the national territory. The situation in the neighbouring country is also calamitous, Colombia was named the most dangerous country for environmentalists for the second year in a row, 227 were murdered in the country last year. To a lesser extent, Colombia has seen deforestation grow. According to official data, there was an 8% increase in deforestation in the Colombian Amazon in 2020, compared to the previous year.

Both leaders have a hostile stance towards indigenous peoples. Duque’s actions to stop the killing of indigenous peoples was considered insufficient even by the United Nations, and the Colombian himself has already made offensive statements regarding the mobilizations, linking the Minga to terrorist and criminal activities. The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib, in Portuguese) filed a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a United Nations (UN) justice agency, to denounce the government of Jair Bolsonaro for genocide.

Among the criminal actions denounced by Apib are Bolsonaro’s explicit refusal to demarcate new indigenous reservations, his attempt to legalize invasions, and his encouragement to conflicts in the countryside by using bills, decrees, and ordinances.

Two peas in a pod

In an interview with Folha de São Paulo newspaper Ivan Duque said: “I will tell you what I saw in President Bolsonaro: first, a person who has an appreciation and affection for Colombia; who worked with Colombia and carried out public policies so that there is more investment, exports and so that ties with other nations are strengthened.I also see him promoting Brazil abroad to generate more investment, exports and well-being. That’s what I can tell from the way I worked with him.”

There are several parallels between their respective mandates. For starters, their approval is similarly low. Duque has 20% and Bolsonaro, 22%, according to Datafolha and Ipec. The two are also expected to leave the post next year. Another commonality is that they both bet on the attempted overthrow of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in early 2019.

Antony Blinken

One day after his visit to Brazil, Ivan Duque received the US Secretary of State, on his first visit to South America. Just like Bolsonaro, Ivan Duque had a close relationship with the far right president Donald Trump, and the focus of the visit was not so much on the military aspects but also other topics, like climate change and “human rights” but of course, the Secretary used the opportunity to reaffirm how valuable the partnership with Colombia is for the United States. Even though Bolsonaro was snubbed by the US Secretary of State, his is already collaborating on undermining the progress of the left in Latin America. Besides Colombia, Blinken visited president of Ecuador, banker Guillermo Lasso, who came to power amid a smear campaign which baselessly linked his leftist rival Andrés Arauz to Colombian paramilitaries, and said: “There’s something important to be learned from Ecuador, Colombia, and the region in understanding the challenges facing democracies and how to overcome them.”.

https://www.brasilwire.com/duque-meets-bolsonaro/

********************************************

Vladimir Safatle: There was no election in 2018. Relying on the US is suicide.

In an interview by Leneide Duarte-Plon for Carta Maior, writer, philosophy professor and psychoanalyst Vladimir Safatle spoke of the coming elections and Brazil’s democratic collapse.

In 2018, Safatle, then a regular columnist at Folha newspaper, was ridiculed for a literal reading of his suggestion that there would be no election that year. Three years later he considers himself vindicated: “Today we know that there was no election in 2018. It was an Old Republic election, completely forged. It was a new coup model. It was a slow-motion coup. It was done over years.”

Regarding the 2022 elections, the philosopher, now lecturing at University of Paris is equally pessimistic: “This project is a long one. Nobody occupies the Brazilian state with 7,000 soldiers to leave the next year,” Safatle says, “The military dictatorship ended by negotiation. That’s why it never ended. That’s why it preserved itself, that’s why it returns now.”

Safatle sees US President Biden making agreements with Bolsonaro, and notes that “relying on US policy to defend our real interests is another form of suicide. This has never happened and never will.”

The following is a selection of excerpts from the interview.

Carta Maior: What is the project of the Brazilian military today and what are the differences and similarities with the 1964 dictatorship?

Vladimir Safatle: The level of state violence in Brazil is indescribable. And incomparable. We can see what happened days ago in the police intervention in Jacarezinho, this massacre with a complete lack of institutional reaction to the 28 dead.

Carta Maior: What institutions should the reaction come from?

Vladimir Safatle: Even in a liberal democracy, the state must hide its violence. He does not show his violence as in the Brazilian case. Not that the state isn’t violent in other liberal democracies but it doesn’t do it in the open. This explanation is one more element, it is the expression that violence can circulate anywhere.

Carta Maior: And the explicitness of violence conquers hearts and minds…

Vladimir Safatle: This image of violence can circulate anywhere. Why? Because you have several sectors that will identify with this brutal force of the State without any major problems. The history of the Brazilian State is a history of massacres, built on the management of massacres. This is just one more.

Carta Maior: Is the current military’s project to stay for a long time?

Vladimir Safatle: As it is based on state violence against vulnerable sectors of the population, this is a project that not only needs the military, but it is the constitutive project of the Brazilian Armed Forces. They have this function, they always have. The role of the Brazilian Armed Forces is to manage an undeclared civil war.

Carta Maior: They are rehabilitating, resurrecting the figure of the enemy within…

Vladimir Safatle: Yes, he never disappeared. No wonder that communism has to appear as this great figure because communism is the only force which in the 20th century managed to mobilize armed popular will against those who held power. Hence this privileged place that the figure of communism occupies. On the other hand, the question of whether they will want to stay in power or not, I would insist. The military project has always been a project for the militarization of Brazilian society. Not only to remain in power but to create society in its image and likeness.

We see this in the intervention of training, with military schools. The entire discourse of brutalized modernization of the Brazilian Armed Forces comes a little from its positivist matrix. Brutalized modernization means the understanding that the fight against nature is a fundamental axis of development. The idea that the Amazon is a “green hell”, that Brazil is a country with the potential for permanent insurrection. So violence is needed at all times. Violence against sectors that do not fit the image of national development. Hence this process of psychological destruction of the black populations, of the Amerindian populations, as if they were the mainstays of the backwardness of national development. So it is necessary to treat them with a tight rein.

Carta Maior: To forcefully impose the model that the Armed Forces have, whatever the cost.

Vladimir Safatle: Of course, because it is the model of concentration, because the Armed Forces constitutes one of the castes that preserve the model of income concentration in Brazilian society. This project is a long one. Nobody occupies the Brazilian state with 7,000 soldiers to leave next year.

Carta Maior : Is there today a climate for a coup and annulment of the presidential election, if there is an election and if Lula is a candidate?

Vladimir Safatle: I had said in 2018 that there would be no election that year. A handful of people ridiculed me that it was absurd. Today we know that there was no election in 2018. It was an Old Republic election, completely forged. You take out a candidate and then the candidate you want to elect wins. This related directly to the Armed Forces’ threat against the Supreme Court (regarding Lula’s arrest)… There was no election in 2018.

Carta Maior: So you can consider as a coup, both the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and the one that followed…

Vladimir Safatle: Yes, we experienced a softly spoken coup, a prolonged coup, a coup without screaming. It was a new coup model. It was a coup that uses institutional structures, that mobilizes sectors of the population, that disguises itself as a fight against corruption and that is carried out in several stages. From the point of view of political science, what has happened in the last three years is a deterioration. The axis was changing position and they were abandoning figures that were in power. They used the traditional oligarchy, Temer. Removed the traditional oligarchy and joined the military in a composition with coup sectors of the judiciary. Afterwards, these sectors are removed from the judiciary and only the military remain.

It’s a slow-motion coup. It has been done for years. There is this concept of furtive authoritarianism, you are gradually removing the elements of democratic “normality”. But in the Brazilian case there is an extra element, the characters are changing, the power is passing from one hand to the other until the most radical character.

For 2022, there are two scenarios. If he loses, Bolsonaro will make a script à la Trump, with the Armed Forces, which implies an unimaginable degree of conflict, which we have never seen. Even with Lula’s negotiating skills, if he manages to guarantee his victory, he enters like an inverted Getúlio, in such a tough pact with the center and right.

I think it’s one of the classic delusions within Brazilian society. It will not be negotiated. There is no possibility. The military dictatorship ended by negotiation. That’s why it never ended. That’s why she preserved herself, that’s why she comes back now. It is impossible to imagine a military dictatorship returning to Argentina. Or even in Chile, which had a very difficult situation, or in Uruguay. But in Brazil it returns.

Carta Maior: Why did it never end?

Vladimir Safatle: It was underground: the institutional structures were there, the national security paragraphs of the 1988 Constitution were a copy of the 1967 Constitution, the amnesty was negotiated to protect military and civilian torturers. The amnesty was a project of the military and they negotiated with themselves. Just remember how Amnesty was voted in the Chamber of Deputies. It was just Arena votes, there were no opposition votes. I have never seen an amnesty of this nature. It was self-amnesty. There was no transitional justice in Brazil. There was no accountability for crimes against humanity. There was no accountability for cases of torture.

The result is that Brazil is the only Latin American country where cases of torture today are more numerous than during the military dictatorship because the Military Police preserved their habits. It is a country where there is a military police force, which is already a complete aberration, which has never been deactivated, which is now transformed into a militia nucleus and whose tendency is to provide the State with the militia base for its support. All of this demonstrates, among other things, that this Brazilian strategy of coming out on top is a catastrophe. And we’ll try again…

Carta Maior: Is Jair Bolsonaro a fascist, neo-fascist, nazi-fascist or a demented person who acts without a compass or ideology, guided by his intuition and personal interests, manipulated by the generals?

Vladimir Safatle: Not demented. He’s someone who has incredible political skill.

Carta Maior: But he is absolutely crude and ignorant from a historical point of view, he has no culture at all…

Vladimir Safatle: As all the extreme right leaders have always been. They don’t need to be more than everyone else to be able to function, they just need to have the ability to identify with a certain type of average citizen and manage to make the fears and ghosts of this average citizen resonate in the discourse of power. They are cunning.

Carta Maior: Is Bolsonaro manipulated by the generals or does he manipulate the generals?

Vladimir Safatle: He managed to change the entire military leadership and nothing happened. In reality there is no difference. I don’t believe there are the military on one side and he on the other. He is a project of the military…

Carta Maior: He is not a graduate, the generals obey him. Who defines the line of government?

Vladimir Safatle: This is our illusion, we need the belief that the institution of the Armed Forces still has some sense of responsibility that we can count on. Because that’s how the military dictatorship sustained itself. There was this idea that there is a rational core of the Armed Forces. There’s the hard line and there’s Golbery. So we talk to Golbery to stop the hard line. In a way, the military managed to be both the opposition and the government.

This game of the good cop and the bad cop is the game of the Brazilian Armed Forces. And they’re playing it again and we’re getting into this same story. There is no good side to the Armed Forces. Whoever has a minimum of responsibility is out of the game, out of the game. However, they are used to give us the impression that there is a division in the Armed Forces. Bolsonaro is the Armed Forces project. There will be no split between Bolsonaro and the Armed Forces.

Carta Maior: Are they the only ones that guarantee the permanence of a president who has never tried to control the pandemic and does everything to boycott the efforts of governors?

Vladimir Safatle: Who keeps him in power are the Armed Forces, the national financial system that had record profits in a situation of world crisis, the private banks had bigger profits and in the middle of a pandemic. This demonstrates the degree of obscenity. It’s not just a matter of economic rationality, it’s a matter of looting. It is a withdrawal logic and this is guaranteed by the government. Agribusiness is another pillar. Due to the logic of the devastation of nature, they manage to take possession of what was not an object of possession, land that was not available, areas of environmental preservation. They impose the logic of ownership in a space where there was no ownership. The fourth support is the fascist core of Brazilian society. The New Republic made us believe that it didn’t exist, which was totally wrong.

Going back to the question of whether he is a fascist or not, I would say that he is an absolutely typical case of fascism. He is a fascist leader in the classic sense of the term. All elements are there. You have the cult of violence from the generalization of militia logic, indifference and absolute insensitivity to sectors of the population that are completely vulnerable, the paranoid conception of the social body, where identity appears as a defensive structure, where the border, immunization, the risk of contagion by a foreign body that will degrade us (the communists) plays a fundamental role. Finally, you have a conception of power based on a leadership, in addition to good or evil, which supports a narcissistic identification with its followers. He is not a paternal leader, but is the image and likeness of those he leads: the same weaknesses, the same violence, the same impotence. He is them in power. There are no elements missing. He just doesn’t see who doesn’t want to, he’s a typical case of fascism. Perhaps the most typical case in the entire world.

Carta Maior : Isn’t he just a right-wing populist like Marine Le Pen, Trump and others?

Vladimir Safatle: No, this demonstrates very clearly the kind of ignorance of our history, in which fascism is a key chapter. Brazil had one of the biggest fascist parties outside Europe. It was South Africa and Brazil.

Carta Maior : Why is Brazilian fascism not nationalist, doesn’t it defend national sovereignty like Italian fascism? They deliver all the country’s wealth, oil, the Brazilian subsoil, ore, to multinational companies while they talk about the Homeland and say “Brazil above all.” Where is sovereignty, nationalism?

Vladimir Safatle: Yes, but this contradiction must be analyzed in its two terms. It does not produce an object devoid of concept. The speech is and is not nationalist. The speech is nationalistic, the practice is not. But the speech needs to be nationalist and that has a function. The function is in fact the understanding that the great Brazilian history must be defended and it produces a people, a nation, a State. But we know that it is a story of massacre, genocide, violence, exclusion, and all of this has to be erased because this justifies society as it is today. Giving up this story would mean saying “this society would need to be totally transformed” and that is not the level of transformation they want. This they want to preserve at all costs. Brazil was the greatest necropolitical experiment in history. of 4,5 million slaves were sent to the Americas, 35% went to Brazil. There is no comparison with what was done in Brazil. This is what Celso Furtado writes, who says that “Brazil was an economic experiment in primary exporting latifundium before being a society”. It was a primary exporting slaveholding latifundium. And he is the basis of the national imagination to this day and is part of the current political project.

Carta Maior : The Brazilian left seems lost in a labyrinth. What do you think of a union between PSOL and PT? Would there be a better chance of fighting the Planalto palace’s current guest?

Vladimir Safatle: I wrote a text that said: “The Brazilian left is dead.” And I keep insisting. The project of the national left that began with the Brazilian Communist Party is over. To recover its capacity for organization and mobilization, it must understand why it died. In order to open a second phase. But the Brazilian left does not want to do this under any circumstances. It is resistant to any process of self-criticism as if it were the expression of some kind of weakness.

And all groups should go through this process. Without any exception, all groups and all classes that surround these groups, including us teachers. Everyone has to make self-criticism, not as a masochistic exercise, but with the confidence that we have much more strength to make a second moment more capable of operating the transformations that we have not been able to achieve so far. The left has been in power for 14 years and is incapable of telling Brazilian society what it wants to preserve and what it wants to give up.

Carta Maior: Frei Betto wrote that “the left was in power but it never had the power…”

Vladimir Safatle: So we have to start there. What kind of situation is this in which we never manage to occupy power?

Carta Maior: The military was always surrounding, threatening, putting pressure on, even against the Truth Commission….

Vladimir Safatle: …during a government that had 84% popular approval… when will we be able to occupy power, then? This process of occupying power is wrong. So there is another model of power occupation that must be tried. The left did not have any kind of popular mobilization. The far right is teaching us a lesson in this regard. They mobilize.

Carta Maior : The left was in the palace but the people were not mobilized in the street…

Vladimir Safatle: There is nothing more legalistic than the Brazilian left. It believes in legality, is the last to abandon legality. It believes that operating within legal limits will be able to make changes. And never managed to do them. The transformations it made, it lost. All the transformations that Lula made were lost in four years. There was a discourse, we were in a weak reformism, which was slow but sure. And it wasn’t.

Carta Maior: Wasn’t there a lack of pedagogy? Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and the revolutionaries entered Havana on January 1, 1959. The next day they were doing pedagogy explaining to the people why it was necessary to defend the revolution, that the Empire was ready to enter Cuba and destroy everything. The Brazilian people did not know why they received a family grant, why the children of the poor could go to university…

Vladimir Safatle: I fear that this kind of reading gives the impression that people need someone to explain what is going on. I think the people understood very well what was happening. There is another problem. Key sectors of the elite on the Brazilian left are made up of dissident middle and upper class factions. These are groups that are very clearly aware of the unsustainable and unbearable character of Brazilian society, they are part of a certain class and give up defending it. This is a constituent element and the basis of the Brazilian left in its core leadership to a large extent. Because they came from there, they tend to trust the institutional structure that produced them.

The left believes that if the law works well, we will be able to do what must be done. If we manage to negotiate with Congress, we will succeed. The Brazilian left is super republican. It’s one thing for you to be a republican in Sweden…

This creates a completely absurd situation because the real left is not republican in that sense. She is insurrectionary and revolutionary. She understands that the republican pact is a paralysis pact. Even more in countries like Brazil.

Carta Maior : Which left understands this?

Vladimir Safatle: The one who managed to make effective transformations. The Brazilian left does not understand this. Why is Marighella the most tragic figure on the Brazilian left? Because he was the guy who put it on the table. He said: “We made a pact throughout this period from 1945 to 1964 to support gradual reforms within the republican structure, making a pact with left-wing populism, with Labour, and look what happened. There was a coup. Nobody was prepared.” This demonstrates the inability to read the real dangers facing Brazilian society. I remember in 2012, 2013, when we had heated debates at the university and there were those who said: “Brazil is the most stable democracy in the BRICS.” This demonstrates a difficulty in seeing our reality.

Carta Maior: José Dirceu says in a recent interview that Joe Biden is taking positions of accommodation, conciliation, in relation to Bolsonaro. Because, according to him, Lula is the absolute horror, they do not want a president close to the BRICS, who has a vision of national sovereignty that naturally distances Brazil from the United States. According to José Dirceu, Biden’s policy is to approach Bolsonaro. Do you agree?

Vladimir Safatle: Yes, I think it’s an accurate analysis. Relying on US policy as an element to defend our real interests is another form of suicide. This has never happened and never will. The differences that may exist between Biden and Bolsonaro do not touch the positions that the US takes in its foreign policy, the wildest ones, as always: the hegemonic interests of the business-military industry to which Bolsonaro knows very well how to respond.

The idea of consolidating regional leaders who have a relative autonomy is good to remember the shameful role that Brazil played in Haiti playing the role of the US police. One more element that was never object of self-criticism. Even this relative autonomy is seen by the United States as something on the order of the intolerable. Even more a country like Brazil that represents 45% of all gross national product in Latin America. Where Brazil goes, Latin America goes with it. It’s a quarter of the world, Brazil forgets how strategic it is in world geopolitics.

For sure, Biden will find a way to establish some form of agreement with Bolsonaro who has already proved extremely pragmatic. He is ideological for the internal discourse but he is pragmatic for the outside, he needs to mobilize his bases, he knows how to mobilize but he also knows that he can do something else. One thing is what you say, another is what you do. It is enough to remember that President Carter had reservations toward the Brazilian dictatorship and that was not what made the dictatorship fall.

https://www.brasilwire.com/vladimir-saf ... n-in-2018/
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Fri Nov 19, 2021 2:39 pm

With eye on Brazil, Progressive International launches dedicated election observatory

With elections looming in Chile, Honduras, Colombia and Brazil, the Progressive International is formalising a dedicated election observatory to monitor threats to democracy from the far-right. The initiative follows successful observer missions to Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru.


By María Luisa Ortega and David Adler

Around the world, democratic institutions are under attack. From Narendra Modi in India to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, authoritarian leaders are getting organized to rig the rules, capture the courts, spread lies, and criminalize dissent.

But the institutions that claim to defend democracy are unfit to address this global crisis. On the contrary, groups like the Organization of American States (OAS) have abetted attacks on democracy. In the case of Bolivia, for example, the OAS provided cover for a bloody military coup against the government of Evo Morales on the basis of manipulated statistics. “There is no credibility in the OAS,” Bolivian President Luis Arce said in March.

The time has come to build an alternative: an institution with the technical skills, legal expertise, and global reach to combat disinformation, to challenge persecution, and to provide real-time defense of democratic institutions.

Over the past year, we have dispatched delegations of data scientists, trade unionists, and parliamentarians to observe the electoral process in embattled democracies around the world — from Ecuador to Turkey to Brazil.

Along the way, we have earned a reputation with anti-democratic forces around the world. At the CPAC conference in Brazil back in September, extreme-right Colombian senator María Fernanda Cabal called the Progressive International a “group of convicts” for our successful efforts to beat back Keiko Fujimori’s coup attempt in Peru. “Don’t let the Progressive International believe that they are going to do what they did in Peru,” she said to the Brazilian audience. “From now, we are going to start writing down the names of electoral observers.”

But against these vicious attacks, we have seen major triumphs. In Ecuador, our international pressure helped ensure the presence on the ballot of the country’s largest political force. In Bolivia, vigilant international solidarity help ensure a stable democratic process that returned the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) to power. In Peru, our team of data scientists helped refute the claims of electoral fraud with which Fujimori attempted to steal the election. legal to annul tens of thousands of votes and steal the election.

Now, we are building from these victories to launch a global Observatory — and we are inviting you to build it with us.

From organizing delegations to preparing investigations, the PI Observatory will ensure greater transparency, integrity, and accountability in our democracies. “Democracy is a fragile plant,” said PI Council member Noam Chomsky. “Today the threat is severe from a resurgent proto-fascist right. The formation of this Observatory should create a badly needed barrier to these destructive tendencies.”

The timing of the launch is critical. Just this month, we are preparing to travel to two key battlegrounds: Chile and Honduras. In Chile, the promise of a new and inclusive constitution is under threat by reactionary forces that declare their support for military dictatorship. In Honduras, candidates face daily assassination attempts as their prospects for victory rise. The Observatory will bring the eyes of the world to bear witness to these authoritarian tactics, and to stand up for the right to fair elections that they seek to undermine.

The stakes are even higher in the year to come. Elections in Colombia, France, and Brazil promise to shape the political trajectories of entire continents for years to come. “Brazil is at a critical juncture,” says São Paulo’s former mayor Fernando Haddad. “Now more than ever, we need an institution to observe, protect, and defend our right to free and fair elections. The launch of the Progressive International Observatory is a source of hope here in Brazil and around the world.”

With today’s launch, we invite you to become a part of this Observatory — to protect the “fragile plant” of democracy to grow and flourish around the world.

https://www.brasilwire.com/with-eye-on- ... servatory/

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Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reaches a record high

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Brazil adds four consecutive years of escalation in deforestation figures since it began to be measured in 1988. | Photo: Greenpeace

Published November 19, 2021 (9 hours 47 minutes ago)

Logging in the Brazilian Amazon totaled 13,235 square kilometers in the 2020-2021 period, marking the highest figure since 2006.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached the highest figure since 2006, according to data released by the Government of the South American country.

Logging in the largest tropical forest on the planet totaled 13,235 square kilometers in the 2020-2021 period, the highest value since 2005-2006 (14,286 km2), according to numbers from the Prodes deforestation monitoring system, of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research ( INPE).


It is the third annual increase in deforestation figures under the mandate of the right-wing Jair Bolsonaro and for the first time adds four consecutive years of escalation since it began to be measured in 1988.

Brazilian trade unions and environmentalists accuse President Bolsonaro of having omitted INPE's annual report during the Climate Summit (COP26), held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bolsonaro assumed power in January 2019 with a strong anti-environmentalist discourse and is accused by oenegés, the indigenous movement and opponents of weakening environmental control mechanisms.

Despite criticism and accusations, the Brazilian government claims to have intensified its actions to combat illegal deforestation, increasing the military presence in the 23 municipalities with the highest incidence of environmental crimes.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/deforest ... -0037.html

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In the Anthropocene it is impossible to separate the environmental from the political.
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Sat Nov 20, 2021 2:38 pm

Bolsonaro Calls News Warning About the Amazon “Annoying”

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Bolsonaro | Photo: EFE

Published 19 November 2021

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday that news warning about irreversible destruction of the Amazon is a "nuisance," a day after official estimates from his government revealed record deforestation in 15 years.


"Is there illegal deforestation? There is. It is enough that other countries do not buy our wood, it's simple," said the president in his weekly live broadcast on social networks.

"Is there illegal burning? There are, but not in that proportion that some people say. And we fight them. Some say 'you have to fight them more'... do you know the size of the Amazon, how many countries in Europe fit in the Amazon?" he added.

Bolsonaro did not refer directly to data released Thursday by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which estimate that there was deforestation of 13,235 km² between August 2020 and July 2021, an increase of 22% over the previous period and the worst levels in 15 years.

But he criticized what he considers "lies" about the destruction in the Amazon, 60% of which is located in Brazil.

"While we strive like bastards to bring a good image of Brazil abroad, lousy Brazilians come out to criticize the country, to tell lies about the Amazon," said the president.

"Look at this article: 'The Amazon is close to an irreversible point and may turn into a desert'. It is the same old annoyance. Articles mostly sponsored by Brazilians working against their country," he added.

The increase in deforestation in the 2020-2021 period, the third annual under the Bolsonaro government, calls into question Brazil's promise to reverse this trend and eliminate illegal deforestation by 2028, as pledged at the last UN climate change conference, COP26.

The government is also being accused of having deliberately delayed the release of the data until after COP26 to avoid further international criticism, which blames it for promoting these increases by weakening control in the biome and with its favorable discourse on extractive activities in protected areas.

According to scientists, several places on the planet are exposed to decisive moments, turning points that can affect the entire ecosystem of the planet.

The Amazon rainforest could undergo a process of "savanization" that would irremediably affect the planet's capacity to recycle CO2.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bol ... -0019.html

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“But It’s Better Than PT Robbery”: Bolsonaro Torture Sketch Viralises, 3 Years On

An October 2018 sketch in Folha newspaper by screenwriter Antonio Prata is viralising three years after it was published.

Putting aside what else is known about the manipulated election it preceded, ‘Obsessive-compulsive disorder. But it’s better than PT robbery’ was a tragicomic summary of a violent, manufactured anti-Workers Party hysteria which underpinned Bolsonaro’s vote – a milieu where torture, killing and the horrors of fascism were casually justified.

Many present in Brazil during the slow coup period will remember conversations similar to this one.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By Antonio Prata. Writer and screenwriter, author of “Nu, de Botas”.

— Bolsonaro said in an interview that he’d close Congress on the day he took office.

I’m against closing Congress. But it’s better than the PT’s robbery.

— He also said that he had to kill 30,000 for Brazil to work.

Ugly to kill thirty thousand. But it’s better than PT robbery.

— Here he says he prefers a dead son to a gay son.

Any child is better than a PT robber.

— His phrase doesn’t make much sense.

Better not to make much sense than PT robbery.

— Here he is saying that he is in favour of torture.

I’m against torture. But it’s better than PT robbery.

— Will it be? Here in 2018, he is saying that his bedside book is by Brilhante Ustra, the Colonel who took two children aged 5 and 4 by the hand to see their father and mother tortured in a room at DOI-Codi. The mother was naked and vomiting, tied to the dragon’s chair.

Better to take a child to see tortured parents than to see the PT robber.

— Quote from the tortured mother: ‘My daughter asked: ‘Mother, why did you turn blue and the father green?’ She continues: “My son still remembers the moment when I said ‘Edson’ and he looked at me and didn’t know I was his mother. I was disfigured”.

And what disfigured Brazil? The PT robbery!

— If you only talk about robbery… He had a fictional employee, paid with public money to feed his dogs, at a beach house in Angra dos Reis.

What is a fictional employee next to the PT robbery?

— He and his children, who dedicate themselves solely to politics, have 13 properties worth R$15 million reais. Isn’t that strange?

Much stranger is the PT robbery.

— In a single year, one of his sons spent R$40,000 in parliamentary funds on tickets to Rio Grande do Sul, where his girlfriend lived, and to Santa Catarina, where he has friends.

The important thing is to end the PT robbery. Everything but PT robbery!

— That’s not what the international media thinks. Look at this list of newspapers and magazines warning of the danger of this guy being elected. The Economist, New York Times, The Guardian, Deutsche Welle.

All communist media bought with PT robbery money.

— Why did the PT robbers buy all the international media and forget about Brazil’s, which continues to treat the guy as a normal candidate and a risk to democracy only equal to Haddad’s?

PT robber guerrilla tactics. The Brazilian media is like the Vietcong, hidden underground, disguised as a bush to attack by surprise at the end and guarantee a little piece of the PT’s robbery.

— Ok. But let’s assume just for a moment that the global press isn’t bought by the PT’s robbery money. Suppose they are right to point out the abyss he represents. Let’s assume he wins and puts into practice what he’s been saying he’s going to do since he started in politics. Let’s say he chases minorities or turns a blind eye to those who do. Let him censure. Torture. Kill.

The important thing is to put an end to PT robbery.

— What if you’re the one being tortured? You are in the dragon’s chair.

As long as I have my skull crushed, at least I won’t think about PT robbery.

— What if you get killed?

I will finally be free from the PT robbery.

https://www.brasilwire.com/but-its-bett ... t-robbery/

In other words, "Better dead than Red."
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:07 pm

Greenwald’s embarrassing public spat with Brazilian Union

In heated Twitter exchange, millionaire Fox News commentator Glenn Greenwald insinuates that a labor union representing petroleum platform workers who made an average of US$350/month in 2020 is “privileged”.

By Brian Mier

It all started on the Flow podcast. Sitting with his husband Glenn, David Miranda, one of 10 members of Brazilian congress from PSOL (the Brazilian Socialism and Freedom Party), announced they had convinced US tech billionaire Jack Dorsey to donate R$1,2 million towards the renovation of public sports facilities in Jacarezinho – the Rio de Janeiro favela where he grew up. Greenwald then announced that they were looking for donations for similar projects in the south zone favelas of Vidigal and Rocinha. It was important, Miranda added, because, “we can’t depend on the State to do this, it isn’t doing it.”

On Twitter, PSOL-affiliated, Marxist history professor Humberto Matos said it was troubling to see a US libertarian billionaire sponsoring a congressman from a socialist political party.

Glenn responded, asking why it was worrying that David got unrestricted funding to renovate public structures in the favela where he grew up, where family members still live. “Would it be better to leave them without resources?” he said, “That is also troubling”.

Then Sindipetro-ES, the Espirito Santo state petroleum workers union, jumped in:

“What is really worrying is to see David justifying this on Flow with the idea that you can’t rely on the State for social transformation. To see a federal congressman use such a depoliticized line of thinking borders on the ridiculous. Why is he a congressman then?”

Greenwald quickly replied:

“The fact is that the State is ignoring the residents of the favela. David’s mandate is to pressure them to do more, but it is grotesque and immoral to not do everything you can to try to improve the community, especially the one he grew up in. It’s easy to say you don’t care.”

Sindepetro-ES, answered:

“This isn’t the issue, Glenn. The issue is you trying do justify a personal action with depoliticized rhetoric that shows David doesn’t have any real perspective of anti-capitalist transformation of society, which is PSOL’s mission.”

Then, Glenn, who allegedly made 2500 times the Brazilian minimum wage while working for tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar at Intercept, tried to pull the Fox News “elite leftists” card on a labor union representing thousands of petroleum platform workers who earned an average salary of 1.7 times Brazilian minimum wage (around USD$350/month), in 2020. “As David explained on Flow,” he said, “for some privileged leftists, politics is a game to show purity and superiority. For people who grew up like him it is not an abstraction. His only purpose in politics is to improve the lives of the people, and this is what he is doing.”

Sindipetro answered:

“We are qualified to talk about this, Glenn. We work on many partnerships in vulnerable communities. Using the ‘privilege’ card to bury criticism of a political action doesn’t stick here. And we know very well that contradictions and dialogue make up an important component of good base level organizing.”


Image
Brazilian union petroleum workers distributing free cooking gas

Greenwald answered:

“I think the people in the community have the right to decide what they want to improve their lives. It was a group of residents who created this renovation plan and they asked us for help to find financing. I worry about their wishes, not your ideological dogma”.

Sindepetro-ES said:

“You continue trying to change the subject to make it look like this criticism is being made of the social project itself, Glenn. That’s not it. The criticism is over the justification used for this project that was made on a communication medium with a large audience. Because it was ridiculous to hear this from a federal congressman from a socialist party.”

Glenn answered:

“I think that the part of the left that prioritizes its theories and ideology over concrete actions that help lives that need them is rotten. The idea that David is being attacked for answering the request for help from the residents of Jacarezinho is especially grotesque.”

As other people jumped into the argument, Sindepetro-ES made a final comment:

“This is troubling because this type of idea that the private sector, through its ‘generous donations’ is the answer for the ‘morose bureaucracy of the State’, is basically what [right wing billionaire-funded] groups like Renova BR and MBL espouse. It’s basically the entire theoretical basis of neoliberalism. lol”

https://www.brasilwire.com/greenwalds-e ... ian-union/

They sound pretty agreeable sometimes, until you get into the nitty gritty. They try to play both sides in a progressive media environment and are especially persuasive of anarchists with whom they share an over the top commitment to 'freedom'(tho they mean different things by the word). But freedom in libertarian context means property and personal wealth without boundary. They ain't no friends of mine.
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Sat Dec 18, 2021 2:29 pm

Brazil: Bolsonaro Spreads Misinformation About Voting System

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President Bolsonaro was involved in spreading disinformation about Brazil's electoral process. | Photo: Twitter/@waltshaub

Published 17 December 2021 (13 hours 2 minutes ago)

According to a police report, President Jair Bolsonaro, was involved in spreading misinformation about the country's voting system.


A police document revealed that President Bolsonaro was involved in spreading disinformation about Brazilian electoral process on social media.

The document written by the Federal police commissioner Denisse Ribeiro stated that Bolsonaro's live stream on social media had a clear purpose of giving false information about the integrity of the country’s elections.

Making use of a well-known playbook, in previous months Bolsonaro said that the electronic ballots were manipulated for the presidential elections in 2018, which he won. According to his statements, he should have been elected in the first round of the elections, even though there was no evidence of fraud.

Bolsonaro casts doubt on next year's electronic voting system for the 2022 presidential elections, suggesting he might not accept the results, unless it changes to one that includes printed receipts in order to recount the votes.

O jornal Folha de S.Paulo divulgou uma nova pesquisa Datafolha sobre a avaliação do presidente Jair Bolsonaro. A reprovação se manteve no patamar mais alto do governo. A margem de erro é de dois pontos, para mais ou para menos: https://t.co/PrauLjPwxq #JN

— Jornal Nacional (@jornalnacional) December 18, 2021
"The Folha de S.Paulo newspaper released a new Datafolha survey on the assessment of President Jair Bolsonaro. The disapproval of the highest level of the government remained. The margin of error is two points, plus or minus."

A poll published by Datafolha on Thursday, indicated that Bolsonaro would received 22 percent of the votes while former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would earn 48 percent, according to the data collection enterprise.

In Ribeiro's report, it was revealed that Bolsonaro questioned the actions of a series of public workers involved in the electoral process.

“This investigation allowed us to identify that His Excellency President Jair Messias Bolsonaro had a direct and relevant action in promoting disinformation, following a pattern already used by other countries’ governments,” Datafolha stated.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bra ... -0018.html

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COVID Commission Finds Bolsonaro Committed “Crimes Against Humanity”
By EmiciThug, Contributor December 15, 2021

Thousands of Black people occupied the streets of several cities throughout Brazil on November 20, a national holiday called Black Consciousness/Awareness Day. A month earlier, investigations into President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic found him guilty of “crimes against humanity” and recommended indictments on 78 others along with two companies for their alleged crimes during the pandemic.

Drawing awareness to Brazil’s Black population, the largest in the world outside of the continent of Africa, November 20 also featured rallies shouting for social improvements and calls for the departure of current president Jair Messias Bolsonaro from power.

In addition to the well-known cry “Fora Bolsonaro” (Bolsonaro Out), the anti-racist protesters drew attention to the genocide of the Black population in the country, the rise in food prices, state violence by the police, the economic crisis devastating the country, and the increase of hunger and misery among the people.

Once again, the name of ex-president Lula was present among the protesters and demonstrations, thus strengthening Lula as the most probable candidate of the left in the next elections, and one who many believe has a real chance of victory.

The 7th Fora Bolsonaro national demonstration was organized by Coalizão Negra (Black Coalition) in partnership with Frente Fora Bolsonaro, trade unions, students, community leaders, among other movements. (For coverage of some of the other national protests see here).

Ribeirão Preto Protest Coverage

The November 20 protest was the first demonstration organized by social movements in a community in the municipality of Ribeirão Preto in the Bolsonaro era. Ribeirão Preto, a cultural center, is a city of over 700,000 in the interior of the state of São Paulo located about 315 km (196 mi) from the capital city São Paulo (same name).

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Protesters gathered early morning in Jardim Aeroporto, a suburb of the city, known as one of the most precarious in terms of basic sanitation, unemployment, hunger, police violence, among other problems.

Protesters marched through the streets of the territory, distributing leaflets, talking to local residents and shouting their dissatisfaction with the current government. Activists and local residents also made speeches and performed spoken word poetry.

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Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) on COVID Management

As previously reported, a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) investigation into the Brazilian government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been underway since early May 2021.

After six months of investigations, the final report, approved by the Brazilian Senate and presented on October 26, 2021, pointed out 9 specific crimes including “crimes against humanity,” allegedly committed by President Bolsonaro during the pandemic including: Crime of responsibility; Incitement to crime; Irregular employment of public funds; Forgery of private document; Crimes against humanity; Prevarication; Quackery; Crime of infraction of sanitary measure; and Epidemic Crime.

The 1,289 page report also seeks the indictment of 78 people and two companies for their alleged crimes during the pandemic, although the commission doesn’t have the power to give punishment. In early December, the Brazilian Supreme Court opened an investigation into Bolsonaro for his claims that COVID vaccines could give people AIDS for taking them.

A key COVID CPI witness, Health Ministry whistleblower Luis Ricardo Miranda, had to leave Brazil on October 28 through a witness protection program for fear of reprisals for his contributions to the CPI. Miranda was receiving constant death threats for accusing President Bolsonaro of ignoring allegations made by Miranda and his brother, Congressman Luis Miranda. The allegations were about a corruption scheme in the Ministry of Health for the purchase of the Covaxin vaccine.

While Brazil approaches the mark of 618,000 dead as a result of COVID-19, which has infected over 22 million Brazilians so far, the complex political climate continues to churn on the eve of presidential elections set to take place in 2022.

COVID-19 Data From Brazilian States

Since our last report from Brazil published on October 9 during a time when Brazil exceeded 600,000 coronavirus deaths, the numbers dramatically slowed down in the country. With nearly 618,000 dead, Brazil has the second highest number in the world behind the United States (nearly 800,000 deaths).

Six Brazilian states have a recent increased number of cases: Ceará, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, Piauí and Sergipe, according to coronavirus statistics as of December 12. Another six states are stable: Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Roraima. While 15 states showed a drop in the number of cases: Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Federal District, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Paraíba, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and Tocantins.

The most lethal states are as follows:

*São Paulo: number of cases – 4,449,706 | number of deaths – 154,760
*Rio de Janeiro: number of cases – 1,349,520 | number of deaths – 69,259
*Minas Gerais: number of cases – 2,155,777 | number of deaths – 56,479
*Paraná: number of cases – 1,588,513 | number of deaths – 40,830

The states with the fewest reported deaths are:

*Acre: number of cases – 88,272 | number of deaths – 1,849
*Amapá: number of cases – 125,420 | number of deaths – 2,007
*Roraima: number of cases – 128,751 | number of deaths – 2,063

Omicron Variant

Brazil was the first country in South America to detect the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), a new variant of COVID-19 which may have a higher transmission rate, however studies are ongoing. This new variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on November 24 and detected for the first time on Brazilian soil a few days later, November 27.

It reportedly came into Brazil from unvaccinated travelers who had recently arrived from South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first detected. This then led to a series of travel restrictions on six countries in the African continent and quarantines for those infected.

Currently, Brazilian authorities report at least eight cases of the new variant. The amount of cases reported is causing some apprehension among the population due to the overall mishandling of the pandemic.

The state of São Paulo has registered two cases of Omicron. The Federal District and the Rio Grande do Sul registered two cases each, and there are still two cases being investigated in Goiás; one in São Paulo and one in Minas Gerais.

Vaccination
According to data, 160,174,846 (75.09%) of Brazilians received at least the first dose of vaccination against COVID-19. Another 139,536,958 people are fully vaccinated (65.41% of the population). The booster dose was given to 20,222,395 people (9.48% of the population) and a total of 299,711,807 doses were applied. The most advanced states in COVID-19 vaccination are: São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Distrito Federal and Minas Gerais.

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Niko Georgiades of Unicorn Riot contributed to this report.

https://unicornriot.ninja/2021/covid-co ... -humanity/

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João Pedro Stédile from the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil

João Pedro Stedile on Bolsonaro and Brazilian elections in 2022
Originally published: Peoples Dispatch (December 14, 2021 ) | - Posted Dec 18, 2021



João Pedro Stédile from the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil talks about the challenges ahead for the country with the upcoming elections next year. He discusses the crisis Brazil has been in with the pandemic and the neo-fascist government of Jair Bolsonaro. In this situation, what are the actions people’s movements need to take? João Pedro explains

https://mronline.org/2021/12/18/joao-pe ... s-in-2022/
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:09 pm

The number of deaths due to heavy rains in Brazil rises to 24

Published 29 December 2021

Firefighters from Rio de Janeiro mobilized to support rescue efforts, salvage in Bahia, a state affected by rains.

The number of deaths from the heavy rains that have caused heavy flooding in the Bahia region, located in northern Brazil, has risen to 24 this Wednesday while 136 cities are in a state of emergency.

So far, the number of people displaced by the heavy rainfall that has caused flooding has caused the displacement of more than 90,000 people in Brazil, of which more than 40,000 needed shelters.

In addition to this, while in some municipalities the waters drop, in others they increase considerably such as in Itambé, Canavieiras, Mascote and Candido Sales, places that went on alert due to the opening of floodgates in a river in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais.


Also, this Tuesday firefighters and authorities monitored ten dams at risk of breaking because their flows are above levels. Official figures revealed that, as of Tuesday, at least 40 Brazilian highways suffered damage as a result of the rains and floods.

At least 40 firefighters, 20 boats, a plane and relief kits arrived from Rio de Janeiro this Wednesday to help the victims of those affected by heavy rains in the state of Bahia, located in northeast Brazil.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro assigned a loan of a figure close to 36 million dollars to support the reconstruction of roads and infrastructure in the states affected by the rains.

Bolsonaro has been the target of strong criticism because, in addition to the fact that many consider the credit granted insufficient, while hundreds of families suffer the consequences of the floods and other people fight for the least possible damage and the minimum human loss, the president is in trouble. (Bolsonaro is on) vacation in Santa Catarina, located in southern Brazil.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/brasil-a ... -0031.html

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Brazil denies humanitarian aid from Argentina to the state of Bahia

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Heavy rains in the state of Bahia have displaced more than 90,000 people. | Photo: @AndreteleSUR

Published 30 December 2021

Argentina's humanitarian aid included professionals specialized in water, logistics and psychosocial support for the victims.

The Brazilian government denied on Wednesday the sending of humanitarian aid offered by Argentina to the cities affected by the rains in the state of Bahia.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, the Government chaired by Jair Bolsonaro affirms that the personal and financial resources allocated to address the situation are sufficient.

"In the event of an aggravation of the situation that requires additional assistance, the Brazilian government may accept the Argentine offer of support from the White Helmets Commission, whose work is widely recognized," says another paragraph of the document.

The governor of the state of Bahia, Rui Costa, requested in the afternoon of Wednesday the authorization to receive humanitarian assistance from Argentina due to the recent rains and floods that affect several municipalities of the Brazilian entity.


The humanitarian aid offered by Argentina included professionals specialized in the areas of water, sanitation, logistics and psychosocial support for the victims.

According to the Superintendency of Defense and Civil Protection (Sudec) at least 24 people have died as a result of the heavy rains in Bahia, 91,258 have been displaced by the floods and 629,398 people have been affected by the rains.


Despite the sending of aid and funds to the state of Bahia, President Bolsonaro has been the target of strong criticism because, in addition to the fact that many consider the credit granted insufficient, while hundreds of families suffer the consequences of the floods and other people fight for it to exist. the least possible damage and the minimum human loss, the president is on vacation in Santa Catarina, located in southern Brazil.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/brasil-r ... -0001.html

All above Google Translator

One cannot help but be reminded of Junior Bush's out of hand refusal of the offer of help from Cuba during the tragedy of Katrina to which neither he nor capitalism were able to respond in a human, adequate manner.

But Jair, you dumbfuck, ya gotta pretend at least a little to give a shit about your peons. Even American presidents, a notable gang of sociopaths, do that with varying degrees of success. Even your idol Trump was able to toss a few paper towels to the 'unwashed' of Puerto Rico. That's a pretty low bar...
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Fri Dec 31, 2021 4:22 pm

Bahia Governor Accepts Argentine Aid Rejected By Bolsonaro

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The decision of the Ministry of Education responds to Jair Bolsonaro's attacks against childhood vaccination. | Photo: @rclubepara
Published 30 December 2021

The non-requirement of the anticovid pass will only be valid in universities and institutes managed by the Brazilian Government.

The Brazilian Ministry of Education determined on Thursday to prevent other educational authorities in the country from requiring an anticovid health pass for minors so that they can attend classes.

"It is not possible for federal educational institutions to establish a requirement for vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition for the return of face-to-face educational activities," outlines the decree published in the Official Gazette (Official Gazette) and signed by the Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro.

The measure will be valid in universities and institutes managed by the federal government, but not in other centers in the hands of states or municipalities, which may apply their own rules.


The decree of the Ministry of Education is issued after several universities approved their own protocols for the return to face-to-face classes in 2022, including in some cases the obligation of full vaccination against Covid-19.

The next school year begins at the end of January and the classes are expected to be completely face-to-face after the virtual modality will be implemented from March 2020.


The decision of the Ministry of Education responds to the attacks of President Jair Bolsonaro against childhood vaccination, recommended by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

In mid-December, Anvisa approved the use of Pfizer's vaccine in children from 5 to 11 years old. Since then, pressure has grown for the Government to start vaccinating minors of these ages as soon as possible.



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Brazil vetoes the requirement of a health pass to go to class

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The decision of the Ministry of Education responds to Jair Bolsonaro's attacks against childhood vaccination. | Photo: @rclubepara

Published 30 December 2021

The non-requirement of the anticovid pass will only be valid in universities and institutes managed by the Brazilian Government.

The Brazilian Ministry of Education determined on Thursday to prevent other educational authorities in the country from requiring an anticovid health pass for minors so that they can attend classes.

"It is not possible for federal educational institutions to establish a requirement for vaccination against COVID-19 as a condition for the return of face-to-face educational activities," outlines the decree published in the Official Gazette (Official Gazette) and signed by the Minister of Education, Milton Ribeiro.

The measure will be valid in universities and institutes managed by the federal government, but not in other centers in the hands of states or municipalities, which may apply their own rules.


The decree of the Ministry of Education is issued after several universities approved their own protocols for the return to face-to-face classes in 2022, including in some cases the obligation of full vaccination against Covid-19.

The next school year begins at the end of January and the classes are expected to be completely face-to-face after the virtual modality will be implemented from March 2020.


The decision of the Ministry of Education responds to the attacks of President Jair Bolsonaro against childhood vaccination, recommended by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

In mid-December, Anvisa approved the use of Pfizer's vaccine in children from 5 to 11 years old. Since then, pressure has grown for the Government to start vaccinating minors of these ages as soon as possible.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/brasil-v ... -0033.html

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Jair Bolsonaro refuses to vaccinate his daughter against Covid-19

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The president deployed a campaign to discredit Anvisa, the Brazilian regulatory entity that authorized the vaccination of children between 5 and 11 years old, including Bolsonaro's daughter. | Photo: EFE

Published 30 December 2021

The Supreme Court asked the Prosecutor's Office to investigate the Brazilian president after the threats against Anvisa officials.

The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, said on Thursday that he will not allow his 11-year-old daughter to be vaccinated against Covid-19, despite the fact that the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) gave the green light to vaccinate infants between five and 11 years.

The far-right, who has maintained a denial of the pandemic since its inception, is pending investigation at the request of the Supreme Court of Brazil to the Attorney General's Office, to find out if he committed any crime in statements where he threatened Anvisa technical staff.

“I hope there is no interference from the Judiciary because my daughter will not be vaccinated, I make that very clear; she is 11 years old, "said the head of state about Anvisa's decision.

Bolsonaro does not want his youngest daughter, Laura, to be immunized. After the approval of Anvisa, the ex-military man launched a public campaign against the scientists of the sanitary control entity. He even threatened to publish names of Anvisa workers so that people "know" them.


“I asked, unofficially, the name of the people who approved the vaccine for children from five years of age. We want to divulge the names of these people so that the whole world knows who they are and, obviously, form their judgment, ”he said.

For its part, Anvisa denounced that it is the victim of “violent political activism”. The agency issued a statement condemning and repudiating any explicit or veiled threat "that constrains, intimidates or compromises the free exercise of regulatory activities."

Local media report that Anvisa requested, but did not receive, police protection for its high command and the most exposed technicians.


Likewise, the president of the agency, Antonio Barras, confirmed that the approval is based on safety and efficacy studies and other epidemiological data.

"Our country presents expressive mortality figures in this age group," Barras told the local media, something confirmed by Brazilian medical associations, which report about 2,500 children under 11 years of age who have died from the disease.

Bolsonaro asserts that he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus and put his vaccination history under state secret. On the other hand, the first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro was immunized in New York, during the trip they made last September to the United Nations General Assembly.

According to the governor, the Ministry of Health must issue the regulation of the authorization of the infant vaccine by January 5. Despite the fact that in the South American giant the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for infants between 5 and 11 years old, the Government still does not have the pediatric doses from that laboratory.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/presiden ... -0012.html

Out- Trumping Trump may have it's limitations but no one gonna accuse him of inconstancy...."Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.."
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Thu Jan 06, 2022 2:17 pm

Elections 2022: And They’re Off…

The candidates have not been officially declared for this year’s Brazilian presidential elections but we all know who they are, and they can be divided into two categories…

By Brian Mier

I moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1991 during the inflation crisis when Fernando Collor was president. There was plenty of poverty in my hometown of Chicago but I remember being shocked and saddened at the sight of entire families living in cardboard boxes on the streets of Copacabana. I remember that due to marauding gangs of homeless teenagers, Copacabana residents would take taxis to go one or two blocks after 7 PM out of fear of being mugged – something which happened to me 5 times during my first 6 months living there. When I moved to São Luís, Maranhão in 1992, during a period in which only 60% of Brazil’s children had access to school, I witnessed poverty and hunger on a much broader scale. I remember feeling like a giant walking down São Luís’ Rua Grande for the first time even though I am only 5’11”. Elites in the Southeast and their media institutions like Globo used to joke about how short Northeasterners were at the time but it was not a genetic issue. It was caused by childhood growth stunting from hunger.

During the 3 decades since I immigrated to Brazil I saw a lot of things improve. Then in 2015, working closely with the US DOJ, Judge Sergio Moro attempted to destroy Brazil’s national development strategy by paralyzing its most internationally competitive companies including its 5 largest civil engineering firms. By refusing to treat key companies as too big to fail like they do in the US and Europe, Moro and his team of US government handlers caused 4.4 million people to lose their jobs during a minor recession, which the Center for Economic and Policy Research attributed to a miscalculation of the SELIC rate.

Both Brazil’s rule of law and its economy have deteriorated significantly since 2015. Brazil has slipped from the World’s 6th to 12th largest economy. Forcing austerity during a recession – a mistake that was repeated over and over during the lost decades of the 1980s and 1990s in the developing world – has contributed to $1 trillion annually disappearing from the GDP.

Brazil, which was removed from the UN’s World Hunger Map in 2014, is now suffering from a catastrophic situation in which only 26% of its children are eating 3 meals a day. Many of the advances made since the Collor years are disappearing fast under the US-backed austerity program which started with the 2016 coup and represents a massive transfer of wealth out of the hands of Brazil’s working and middle class to the national comprador bourgeoisie and multinational corporations in the imperialist north. The situation is bleak, but it would be intellectually dishonest to pretend that this is the worst it’s ever been in Brazil. Things can still get a lot worse and the polarization of Brazilian society – fueled by conservative American social media monopolies that profit off of stimulating arguments – is not helping us solve any problems.

In my country of birth, the US, social media and news corporations like Fox and MSNBC have transformed nearly every issue into a counter-productive, ideological battleground. This has broken up marriages, friendships and families while billionaires like Jeff Bezos laugh all the way to the bank. People now cheer for political issues like abortion rights or gun control as if they were cheering for sports teams. Like sports fans, they are quick to overlook any flaws on their own side. No issue epitomizes this attitude more than the ongoing, ridiculous series of negationist debates in the US over Covid 19, many of which have bled into and poisoned minds in the World’s second worst country for deaths from the virus, Brazil.

In The Dawn Of Everything, David Wengrow and the late David Graeber resuscitate a concept called schismogenesis, which describes a process in which groups define themselves by mutual refusal to adopt each other’s ways, regardless of whether they make logical sense or not. It is a good explanation of the process that leads people to vote against their best interests, as in the case of working class Brazilians who vote for politicians who remove their labor rights and slash the health and education budgets.

The World – including Steve Bannon’s Movement – is turning its eyes to Brazil. If the social media-fueled polarization plaguing our society hasn’t let up by now it’s not going away during this election year. Therefore, I would like to embrace this polarization and suggest a new dichotomy to help frame the upcoming Presidential elections. Instead of categorizing candidates as “good citizens” vs “communists” – the strategy successfully used by João Doria, Wilson Witzel and Jair Bolsonaro in 2018, let’s divide them into two categories: nationalists and entreguistas.

Nationalists defend Brazil’s sovereignty over foreign interests and multi-polar over bilateral relations with predatory imperialist nations such as the US, Canada and Germany. Entreguistas are people who, often using the smokescreen of liberal economic orthodoxy and frequently acting out of personal opportunism, promote ever increasing foreign access to Brazil’s resources. Entreguistas favor bilateral relations with predatory nations in the imperialist north over multilateralism. These are not mutually exclusive categories – Some predominantly nationalist politicians have engaged in entreguista behavior and vice versa over the years – but it is easy to use these terms to generalize about Brazilian leaders.


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Nehru, Nkrumah, Nasser, Sukarno and Tito in New York, September 1960. 3rd World nationalism was a key tenet of the non-aligned movement

Michel Temer acted as an entreguista when he auctioned 75% of Brazil’s offshore petroleum reserves, primarily to corporations from the imperialist north. Despite his jingoism, Jair Bolsonaro has emerged as the most entreguista leader in modern Brazilian history. The case of Bolsonaro is emblematic because it shows that the nationalist/entreguista dichotomy is not necessarily tied to the left/right political spectrum. Like Bolsonaro, Eneas Carneiro, who finished 3rd in the 1994 presidential elections, had fascist sympathies, was openly homophobic and was beloved by the fascist integralistas. Does anyone believe that if Eneas had been elected president he would have turned over the Alcantara Rocket Base to the Americans?


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Running on a campaign of fascist integralista talking points, Eneas came in 3rd in the 1994 presidential elections. Congressman Jair Bolsonaro was an admirer

An example of a more moderately conservative, nationalist politician would be former Vice President Jose Alencar. Fernando Henrique Cardoso is an example of a leader who made a name for himself academically as a nationalist then said, “disregard everything I’ve ever written” after taking office and transformed into an entreguista.

It seems easy enough to use these categories to describe the potential candidates in this year’s elections. Jair Bolsonaro is clearly entreguista, not just because of his cozy relationship with the US military but through economic moves such as selling off Brazil’s largest public gas station chain to the US hedge fund BlackRock.

The entreguista Sergio Moro worked closely with the United States Department of Justice to destroy Odebrecht and four other of the biggest competitors to politically-connected US engineering firms like Halliburton, instead of treating them as too big to fail. Working closely with the DOJ, he broke the law to help put the most entreguista President of all times in power, then, in a clear case of conflict of interest, accepted a cabinet position in his entreguista government. Shortly afterwards, he accompanied his entreguista boss on the first visit to CIA headquarters ever conducted by a Brazilian President.


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After the coup: A Halliburton worker on a Rio de Janeiro oil platform

As President Jose Sarney’s Minister of Tourism, João Doria marketed Brazil as a sex tourism destination, offering his fellow citizens up for exploitation by the imperialist northern bourgeoisie. As mayor of Sao Paulo, he tried to privatize everything – even Ipirapuera park. It is clear that under his rule, Brazil’s post 2016 opening to parasitic foreign exploitation of natural resources at the expense of its own population will continue.


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Detail of 1988 Brazilian Government Tourism Agency (Embratur) English language tourism brochure. Current SP Governor João Doria was Minister of Embratur at the time

Ciro Gomes is running on a platform of nationalism, including promising to re-nationalize Petrobras. Although he has switched political parties 5 times – a warning sign of opportunism – his campaign promises seem consistent with actions and positions taken during his long career as a keynesian technocrat.


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For a 4-month period in 1994, while member of the PSDB party, Ciro Gomes served as Minister of the Economy in the center-right Itamar Franco administration

Lula has proven that he is a nationalist through his actions as President, including working with Hugo Chavez to defeat the FTAA, creating the BRICS, refusing to enter Bush’s war in Iraq, and prioritization of multi-polar relations over bilateral deals with imperialist powers.

The line is drawn. Who are you going to support this year, a nationalist or an entreguista?

This article originally appeared in Portuguese in the 2021 year’s end special of the Brazilian print news magazine Carta Capital with the headline, Uma Escolha Muito Facil, and was translated to English by the author.

https://www.brasilwire.com/elections-20 ... heyre-off/

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Lula’s Standing Rose in 2021 while Bolsonaro and the Third Way Ran out of Steam
January 6, 2022
By Emir Sader – Dec 29, 2021

The first characteristic of Brazil in 2021 was the reversal of optimism regarding economic reactivation and favorable economic projections for 2022. On the contrary, throughout the year the economic recession took root, to the point that the Central Bank of Brazil had to substantially raise interest rates.

Unemployment remained at the high levels of the previous year, but what increased greatly was the number of precarious workers. Today we can say that the vast majority of Brazilians who earn some kind of income do not do so with a formal contract. That is, they have no job security, no vacations, no maternity leave, and none of the guarantees of formal work, including compensation for losing their job.

With these developments, the forecast for 2022 and therefore for the time of the election campaign, is the continuation of recession and unemployment—a very unfavorable scenario for the current government.

The second characteristic of 2021 was the reversal of the image of the government and Bolsonaro, which collapsed. They reached the end of the year with a very low approval rating and a rejection rate of 60% or more, according to the survey.

Third, attempts to project a so-called third way candidate failed. Ciro Gomes not only failed to increase his ratings in the polls, but they fell by half, placing him in the middle of the pack of third-way names.

The biggest news could be the launch of Sergio Moro’s candidacy for the presidency of the republic. Associated with the fight against corruption, Moro did not realize all that had changed in Brazil: the wear and tear of the fight against corruption, in terms of Lava Jato and the negative image after Vaza Jato [leaks including damning conversations by Moro]. Contrary to what the media projected, his support ratings remain low.

Lula, on the other hand, has had a very positive year. Without launching himself as a candidate, without having a presence in the media, his image ended up being completely inverted in relation to what the media had projected in previous years.

Lula circulated throughout the country, making speeches, from the northeast to the south of the country. Subsequently, he made a trip to Europe, where he was received as a head of state. He traveled to Argentina, strengthening his image as a great Latin American political leader.

Among the activities he pursued within Brazil, Lula’s massive communication with the youth, with an audience of thousands of people, was the most striking.

Gradually, as Bolsonaro’s image faded and Moro did not assert himself, the media itself began to give Lula’s image and words some air time. His contacts with Geraldo Alckmin occupied much of the political space, forcing the media to publicize and comment on the political reality of Lula’s networking to build his candidacy.

At the end of the year, to crown the increased presence of his image, Lula began to appear in the polls as a probable winner in the first round, with preferences around 48% in the first round and 40% in the spontaneous poll.

The year 2021 ends like this: with Lula’s prominence as the greatest national political presence, with the erosion of Bolsonaro’s image, and with the failure of the third way pre-candidates, including Moro. Thus, 2022 is projected as a year in which Lula rises even more clearly as the favorite in the first round of the October elections in Brazil.

https://orinocotribune.com/lulas-standi ... -of-steam/
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Re: Brazil

Post by blindpig » Thu Jan 13, 2022 2:23 pm

Lula Keeps Leading 2022 Brazilian Presidential Elections

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Former President Lula da Silva (L) and Workers Party President Gleisi Hoffmann (R), Brazil. | Photo: Twitter/ @BrianMteleSUR

Published 12 January 2022 (18 hours 51 minutes ago)

His closest rival will be the current President Jair Bolsonaro, with a 23-percent margin difference. Former judge Sergio Moro came in third place with 12 percent of the votes.


On Wednesday, the results of an intention to vote poll conducted by the firm Quaest Advisory revealed that Brazil’s former President and Workers Party (PT) militant Lula da Silva is the favorite candidate to win the October 2 presidential elections, in which he could obtain 45 percents of the ballots.

His closest rival will be the current President Jair Bolsonaro, with a 23-percent margin difference and former judge Sergio Moro came in third place with 12 percent of the votes. The rest of the potential presidential candidates are not likely to accumulate over ten percent of the ballots individually.

In the event of a second electoral round, Lula da Silva would win the elections with over 50 percent of the votes, while Bolsonaro would obtain less than 30 percent of the ballots.

Financed by Genial Investimentos, the survey also investigated the citizen acceptance of the Bolsonaro administration’s pandemic management, which 72 percent of the people surveyed rejected because the far-right politician publicly trivialized the disease impact in vulnerable population groups, especially children.

“It is not necessary to immunize children, who are not likely to die from coronavirus," he alleged and accused the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) of being a vaccination fanatic for suggesting him to allow vaccination on this population group.

The facts, however, contradict the President’s statements since over 900 children —including 520 babies less than one year old— have died due to this disease so far in Brazil.

“I would like to power to recover the prestige of Brazil and the dignity of our people, who have suffered the policies of an administration that responds to the interests of an economic elite," Da Silva stressed.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Lul ... -0010.html

This will be the most important election of 2022, if it is allowed to proceed. Most of the Brazilian Right is sick of this guy but they are scared to death of Lula and his party too.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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