WORLD WORLDWIDE SOUTH AMERICA BRASIL BRAZIL - news journal UPDATE - (en) Brazil, OSL: Popular Plebiscite: Why Won't We Participate? (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 The OSL states that it will not direct its members toward the 2025

Popular Plebiscite, an initiative promoted by sectors of the
pro-government left that seeks to mobilize the public around proposals
such as taxing large fortunes and reducing working hours. ---- Although
the issues discussed are important, it seems clear to us that the
initiative is subordinated to a logic of legitimizing the federal
government's policies and preparing for the 2026 electoral cycle, rather
than a mobilization aimed at confronting the Brazilian ruling classes.
The structure of the plebiscite, marked by the strong presence of
left-wing parties that make up or support the current government (such
as the Workers' Party (PT), Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and major
sectors of the PSOL), as well as major trade unions, demonstrates a
central objective: to rebuild the government's social base and create an
environment of "controlled mobilization" that serves as political
capital for the next election.

An Electoral Instrument vs. Class Struggle?

The plebiscite is presented as "popular," but its nature is
fundamentally instrumental. Its entire construction-from the collection
of symbolic votes to the delivery of results to the National Congress
and the Supreme Federal Court-is geared toward reaffirming Lula's
strategy of class conciliation, while the objective living conditions of
the people continue to deteriorate. It is a political marketing
operation aimed at generating legitimacy for the government at a time of
popularity crisis (even with renewed vigor after Donald Trump's taxation
and the Bolsonaro clan's shenanigans) and an internal dispute over the
presidential succession.

Mobilization without confrontation and reinforcement of institutional
illusions

Besides being ineffective from a practical standpoint, the plebiscite in
question reinforces illusions about the possibility of social
transformation without direct and independent struggle. In doing so, it
disarms the working class and pushes urgent and legitimate issues-such
as the fight to end the 6x1 wage scale-into the realm of
institutionality, far from the realms of real conflict with employers.
This demobilizes workers and relieves unions, many of which are led by
the same sectors organizing the plebiscite, of the obligation to
organize concrete struggles and direct confrontations with capital.
Transferring the struggle to the "symbolic vote" serves as a safety
valve to channel pressure from the base without jeopardizing the
stability of the current social pact.

Contrast between symbolic campaign and concrete reality

While the government is running an ostensibly symbolic political
campaign with the plebiscite, its concrete actions in parliament and in
public administration continue to run counter to the interests of the
working class. Recent data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of
Geography and Statistics) reveal the rise of precariousness and
informality: more than 118 million Brazilians live without a stable and
decent income, facing exhausting workdays, low wages, and minimum wages
well below what is necessary for survival, lower even than in
neighboring countries. Persistent inflation on basic foodstuffs erodes
purchasing power, while 80.5% of families earning up to three minimum
wages are in debt.

In the countryside, violence and environmental destruction are on the
rise, with no real prospects for agrarian reform or social housing
policies. Laws and constitutional amendments (PECs) that criminalize
popular struggles strengthen state repression. Despite all this, the
Lula administration remains loyal to the interests of banks,
agribusiness, and the ruling elite, ignoring the most basic demands of
the oppressed classes.

Our task: building self-managed popular power outside the State

The Libertarian Socialist Organization (OSL) reaffirms that there is no
institutional solution to the dilemmas faced by the working class and
oppressed peoples. The electoral route, even with a "popular" veneer,
serves only to channel dissatisfaction within the framework of the
system. Our struggle is for a different kind of politics: built from the
bottom up, through direct action, self-organization, and a break with
the State and the capitalist order.

We will not participate in the 2025 Popular Plebiscite because we
consider it part of an effort to rebuild the ruling class social pact
and prepare for the 2026 election campaign. Our non-participation does
not mean that-in the heart of the popular struggle, in the class
struggle-we will stop debating and mobilizing around these important
issues for all workers. The question is: Why mobilize resources for a
plebiscite and not for organizing a general strike?

Instead of a symbolic plebiscite, we need concrete struggle, class
independence, and direct action against the bosses!

Libertarian Socialist Organization
July 24, 2025

https://socialismolibertario.net/2025/07/25/plebiscito-popular-por-que-nao-vamos-participar/
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