Today's Topics:
1. Venezuela, Gargantas Libertarias: Barquisimeto: March of the
broken shoes, teacher mobilization against the anti-worker
policies of Maduro (ca, it) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Czech, afed: Congress of the Anarchist Federation ----
Report on the January plenary of members of the Anarchist
Federation (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Clash January, Make your
high school crack ! (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. anarkismo.net: 10 Steps to Detecting Conspiracy Theories &
Bullshit by Pink Panther - AWSM (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. communistes libertaires cgt: Eurovision: Not in Israel! (fr,
it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. US, black rose fed: WHY MLK SHOULD BE REMEMBERED AS A
REVOLUTIONARY (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Right-Wing Rising: A Comprehensive Look at What's Happening
in Brazil by Bruno Lima Rocha [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The Mobilization of the teachers called march of the broken shoes, occurred this Thursday,
from the illustrious square to the educational area of Lara. organized by the committees
of education bases in defense of the collective contract and the Lara branch teachers'
college, with a massive attendance and they maintain the autonomous and massive protests
that the teachers of the Lara state have that undoubtedly have become an engine of all his
guild at national level. ---- The reasons are the same, salaries of hunger, Venezuelan
teachers suffer in a special way the economic crisis, on the one hand in the flesh to see
their purchasing power destroyed, with miserable salaries, and on the other contemplate
the situation criticism of children and youth who hardly attend school. The government,
like the dignified struggle of health workers, tries to ignore the just demands of the
working class while continuing to apply its anti-worker package, and despite the mediatic
government campaigns and the repression of the working class Venezuelan does not bend and
begins with Autonomia manifests.
https://gargantas-libertarias.blogspot.com/2019/01/barquisimeto-marcha-de-los-zapatos.html
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Message: 2
At the beginning of January, an Anarchist Federation (AF) Congress was held in eastern
Bohemia. It usually takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn. This time, however, we
moved away from the autumn meeting, on the one hand, and then on hand, there was not much
room for discussion and planning at this time, as AF stands out as a minimum and works
especially as an organizational platform for Czech and Slovak-speaking anarchists and
anarchists who recognize the need to organize across the wider region. Most of us have the
focus of our own activities in our own cities and regions, as well as other, often
specific, groups such as squat, cultural, sports, housing or Food not Bombs.
The fact is that there is not much to us. However, this does not deny us the importance of
the repressive components of the state, watching and fighting any manifestation of
self-government that exists outside the reserved cloakrooms and official scrum, and is not
only in direct opposition to them. And so we were able to congratulate ourselves on a
joint meeting with a smile that our summer informal encounter, when we spent in nature,
having fun, discussions and various practical workshops, revealed in the document of the
Ministry of the Interior the Extremism and Prejudice Hate - Summary Situation Report of
the 3rd Quarter of the Year 2018 . Know that even baking of apple orchards and the
production of fruit wine are obviously threatening acts.
But back to the meaning of AF and its current condition. This was the main point of the
final free debate on the congress. From the contributions of individual members and
members, it was obvious that we were far beyond the ambition of early revolutionary change
and our role in it. We are on how we are. And it's not just the AF thing but the whole
anarchist, or anti-authoritarian, movement. It was highlighted that the federation allows
us to provide functions that we could only seem to have in a fragmented form. This
includes in particular international cooperation within the International Federation of
Anarchist Federations (IFA). It is this organizational provision which gives us a good
position to acquire other contacts, which often transform into friendly bonds. We further
agreed that we were able to ensure a high quality publishing activity for our affairs. And
it is clear, that we want to continue what we (as we think) are doing well. In addition,
it was acknowledged that the federation serves as a platform for exchange of experience
and, at the same time, thanks to its informational activity on the website and in the
anarchist revueExistence of a "Chronicle of the Movement". It was also stated that the
federation has a great practical significance for anarchists and anarchists who do not
operate in large cities. In Prague, where there are many active people, opportunities for
action and enough proximity for frequent meetings, there is no need for federal organization.
Otherwise, the program of the congress held the usual agenda, which after the traditional
introduction to the rules of the plenary opened the papers on the activities of the local
groups. It has emerged that local groups are not currently doing so much under the common
heading, as individual members and members are busy with other activities, time-consuming
livelihoods or family responsibilities. Yet, when all the local activities have been added
up since the last one, there was no shame.
Delegates from the foreign secretariat spoke about a meeting with colleagues from other
IFA federations held in Prague in November, and subsequently scheduled for our
participation at the Summer International Congress. The governing body of the AF
Publishing House informed about the plans for the next period that are targeted at the
date of the Anarchist Book Festival, ie on May 18th. But we are not going to tell you
anything ahead, you can definitely look forward to two large books. We will only say that
one will be remembered and the other theoretical. The Congress also took note of the
intention to present the Anarchist Revue Existence twice a year. In addition to the other
points, there was also talk of the possibility of renewing the issue of the Zola reporter-
on what occasions, in what form, for which target groups. An important point was also the
debate on the support of our members and members faced with accusations or fines, that is,
the persistent attempt by the repressive forces to criminalize anarchists and radical
environmentalists to intimidate them and socially marginalize them.
Apart from the possibilities of getting involved in the program and the offer of the
Anarchist Book Festival or this year's Klimakempu, we also discussed the importance of
commemorating the May Day tradition and the anarchist encounter that is associated with
it, and how to build on a one-off, first-day cooperation with other entities. There were
also talks about how to spread anarchist ideas in both the virtual and the real world.
Believe that even a great lunch and other refreshments from the host group could not
overcome the fatigue of long hours of discussion. And so, as a recreation and for some
other source of fatigue, a welcome sitting with beer served. There's no idea, but you have
fallen out of the record.
https://www.afed.cz/text/6931/sjezd-anarchisticke-federace
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Message: 3
Parcoursup is the stress of selection, the 2021 bac reform is a high school with less
means and more competition. We had already begun to mobilize before the holidays. In the
face of the cops, the movement had remained determined. Now that classes have resumed, how
can it be revived ? ---- You've probably made friends during pre-holiday maneuvers and
blockades. First try to recontact them. Then, it is necessary to gather a max of people to
organize a general assembly. It will allow to discuss and vote actions. ---- The best
known is the blockage. Why are we blocking ? Already it is plaiz 'not going to class. But
more than that, it allows us to ask ourselves to meet and talk. It also shows the
government that we will not be fooled ! ---- To win,
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Fais-craquer-ton-lycee
------------------------------
Message: 4
This article offers tools for debunking conspiracy theories. It views such ideas as a
dangerous blockage preventing a clearer path to solving the very real political, social
and economic problems we face. ---- When the Internet made its appearance there was a lot
of talk about the information super highway in which people would be able to click on a
few buttons and get whatever information they were looking for. ---- Cue forward to 2019
and the information super highway is looking a lot more like the information rubbish tip.
While its undeniable there is some good solid stuff out there, it's also true that not
only is some of the information irrelevant to what we're looking for (as anyone who has
used Google Search can attest to) but it is also unreliable. One of the reasons is the
number of charlatans such as conspiracy theorists who have made the Internet their home.
Despite what you might think, lots of different kinds of people can be sucked in by
conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, it is becoming all too common for people who should
know better, to fall victim to this nonsense. This matters because we can only fight back
against the very real material and political problems of the world as it is, by
understanding reality. Once we know what is really going on, we will have a sound basis
for organising resistance to it. So how can we detect if what we are reading is nonsense
or a conspiracy theory? The ten step guide below is what I use to sift fact from fiction
or half-truths. When that fails I turn to sites like www.skeptoid.com and www.snopes.com
which are both non-partisan debunkers of bullshit, no matter what side of the political
spectrum it comes from.
I. Use of Vague Statistics.
Any claim that uses a statistic like "One in three people are..." should always be treated
with great scepticism because they're meaningless. Without knowing anything like the
number of people who were studied or surveyed, the terms of reference for the study or
research undertaken or the people or organisation who conducted the research, we cannot
determine if the statistic is real or made up. More often than not studies which use such
vague references are made up or conducted by highly partisan groups trying to convince
people that "research" backs what they say.
II. Awe with Percentages.
How many times have you read a poll that claims that "40% of Americans support Trump" or
something similar? Most polls conducted by a polling company tend to interview between
1000 and 1500 people over a given time period and are chosen from electoral or other
voting rolls. It's not hard to realise that it is impossible to determine what millions of
people think about anything on the basis of what 1000 or so people say. You also have to
consider that such a sample excludes people who aren't on electoral rolls for various
reasons. Despite the claims that such polls are scientific no one has been able to explain
just what part of the polling process actually involves science. Percentages without
context are another problem. Informing us that the average house price has increased by
35% in a particular area doesn't tell us anything. Telling us that the average house price
in that area was $250,000 back in 2012 then telling us that house prices in that area have
increased by 35% gives us information that is useful.
III. Emotive Manipulation.
In some news networks there is a lot of pressure to try and get as many people to support
a certain viewpoint or to galvanise support for a particular cause. One way this is done
is to get a hysterical parent wailing about how her child is a victim of a certain social
or other evil in order to rally support for that cause. The problem with such news stories
is little, or no, attempt is made to find out if anything the said parent has claimed is
true, false or an combination of both. Also, no attempt is made to put things in context.
The problem with anecdotal, human interest and other stories of this nature is they
exaggerate the extent of a social evil in the minds of the public.
An example of this is when a child is snatched off the streets and murdered. Parents stop
letting their children walk to school out of fear the same thing will happen to their own
children. This is despite the fact that crime statistics from the United States and other
countries repeatedly show that the chances of anyone, let alone a child, being snatched
from the streets and killed by strangers is very rare. For example, according to the New
York Times (August 17th, 2016), the FBI reported that only 1,381 of the 11,961 homicides
reported within the United States in 2014 involved people who were unknown to the victims.
Emotionally manipulative news items can also have serious consequences. U.S President
Donald Trump's crack down on undocumented immigrants and his so-called "Muslim ban" was
largely the result of emotive hysteria whipped up by Fox News about crimes committed by
undocumented migrants and terrorist acts by Islamic State in Europe.
IV. The Defying of Reality.
Let's be blunt. Most conspiracy theories and incorrect news stories are exposed as such
because they fail to pass the most basic test of "Is it practical or realistic that such a
thing could happen?" The 9/11 Truthers often come unstuck on this one. They would have us
believe that multiple American government agencies conspired to murder thousands of their
fellow Americans so that George W Bush could justify invading Afghanistan for its oil and
gas reserves.
There's at least four major problems with that:
1. A plot to kill thousands of people would've required a degree of co-operation between
various government agencies that did not exist at the time - and still doesn't. U.S
government agencies are notorious for jealously guarding their jurisdictions and tend to
avoid co-operating unless circumstances or the law requires them to do so. It was the lack
of co-operation between government and intelligence agencies that enabled the 9/11
hijackers to enter the United States despite the terrorists involved in the hijackings
being on known or suspected terrorist watch lists. It was to ensure better information
gathering and sharing between these agencies that the Department of Homeland Security was
created. Yet, despite this, co-operation between various government agencies is the
exception rather than the rule.
2. American civil servants are required to take an oath to uphold the U.S Constitution. As
the U.S Constitution forbids extra-judicial killings (of which plotting to kill thousands
of Americans would be an obvious breach of said Constitution) public servants would've had
the legal requirement to come out and denounce such behaviour.
3. Afghanistan was not invaded for either gas or oil because Afghanistan has neither. It
was invaded because George W Bush believed that the Taliban were harbouring the man they
believed was responsible for orchestrating the 9/11 attacks.
4. Genuine whistle-blowers go to credible news organisations like CNN, ABC or NBC or
newspapers like the L.A Times, Washington Post or New York Times. They don't go to
websites like InfoWars or tabloids like National Inquirer.
V. Ignorance of basic facts.
Conspiracy theorists often lack a basic understanding of the relevant fields they are
lecturing about. None of the 9/11 Truthers or so-called "Scholars for 9/11 Truth" have
relevant qualifications or expertise in the fields that would be most relevant in any
investigation into the 9/11 terrorist attacks such as building demolition, structural
engineering, air crash investigation, architecture, disaster management, building and
construction or even chemistry. Instead, the 9/11 Truthers are made up of people like
celebrities, religious scholars, former intelligence officers, ex-military officers and
sports stars. In other words, people who simply don't have the expertise or knowledge to
answer if a building can collapse pancake-style from causes other than an explosion or if
molten steel would contain thermite independent of any explosives. That's why air crash
investigators, arson investigators and police detectives don't just look for one or two
things when they suspect damage might've been caused by a bomb. They look for many things
because sometimes explosive residue can be found at the site of a disaster that has been
caused by something else.
For example, explosive residue was found on Partnair Flight 394 which crashed off the
coast of Denmark on September 8th, 1989. Many people, particularly in Norway, initially
believed it was a bomb because of reports of a loud explosion and because the Prime
Minister of Norway had recently flown on the same aircraft. The reason why explosive
residue was found on the wreckage was the result of contamination resulting from military
ordinance littering the sea floor from various naval battles fought in the area. The cause
of the crash was the failure of counterfeit aircraft parts used during aircraft maintenance.
VI. Confusing Authority with Expertise.
Yes, there is a difference between authority and expertise. Authority is gained from one's
position or title within a group or organisation. Expertise is gained from learning,
working in and mastering a particular skill, trade or area of knowledge.
Among conspiracy theorists there is a tendency to ignore the experts in their chosen
fields in favour of authority figures. The more common authority figures they listen to
are celebrities, ex-wrestlers like the former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, former
military officers and former police officers.
Few conspiracy theorists see the absurdity of debunking authority figures who have the
expertise to back up what they are saying by claiming they're all in cahoots with the
evil, omnipresent government or Big Something-or-other but not the authority figures who
go along with their conspiracies.
VII. Playing on prejudices.
They play on people's prejudices to advance their nonsense. Despite what the moral
relativists may claim it's not necessary to be a white heterosexual male to indulge in
stereotyping. Stereotyping is attributing to all persons within a certain group attributes
- both negative and positive - that may or may not be held by many people within that
group. Some of the more obvious stereotypes are the hard working and well educated Asians
who are all work and no fun, the Muslim terrorists who want to impose Sharia law upon us,
the lazy drug addicted welfare queen... I'm sure there's many other stereotypes that one
can think of. Stereotyping often comes about as the direct result of selective reporting
about certain groups within both traditional and social media that is picked up and used
to vilify anyone who belong to those groups. All arguments presented by anyone from those
groups will be greeted with comments like "Oh you would say that because you are one of
them!" and people who defend those being stereotyped will be attacked with comments like
"That's what we expect from an apologist for these people."
VIII. Treating the masses with contempt.
For people who claim to speak for the ordinary person in the street or who desire to
"educate" them the conspiracy theorists regularly abuse and vilify the masses by labelling
them "sheeple", "muppets", "ignorant" or "liars". Rarely, if ever, do they assume the
masses might have enough intelligence to work out the facts for themselves. A search on
YouTube for anything to do with debunking anti-vaccination campaigns, 9/11 Truthers or
Pizzagate will provide ample examples of this contempt in the Comments section.
IX. The Obsession with the word "Big".
An obsession is prefixing any sector of society they dislike with the word "Big" as in
"Big Pharma", "Big Agriculture", "Big Business" and "Big Government". Everything they say
and write ends up being about how something prefixed with the word "Big" is behind
everything they dislike. Accusing people of belonging to Big Something-or-other is a
sure-fire way to try and discredit anyone who challenges the claims made by a conspiracy
theorist.
That leads us to the single biggest indicator that something is wrong or a conspiracy theory.
X. Using supposedly "Anti-Establishment" sources because they provide "alternative sources
of news".
A British conservative may be happier reading The Times while a liberal counterpart may be
more contented with reading The Guardian but both newspapers contain the same basic
content. What separates the two newspapers is their bias. The former is biased towards its
conservative readership and the latter is biased towards its liberal readership. Bias
doesn't make a news story fake or the news organisation a fake news peddler or a bunch of
conspiracy theorists.
While both The Guardian and The Times are Establishment publications they employ editors,
sub-editors, fact checkers, reporters and journalists who actually go out and find out if
what is being told to them is true. They usually come back with different interpretations
of what has happened but they don't differ when it comes to the basic facts. They also
distinguish between opinion pieces where a writer peddles their viewpoint and the news.
Most supposedly "Anti-Establishment" or alternative news sources have none of these
things. They don't distinguish between facts and opinions. They don't bother to find out
if what is being written or broadcast is true or false. They only care that what they
produce fits in with their world view. That usually means they cite from sources of
like-minded groups and individuals.
‘All' that most multi-billion dollar media companies want us to do (which is bad enough in
itself!) is read stories while they harass us with endless advertising and marketing
campaigns that keep the money rolling in for these companies. Rupert Murdoch's News
Corporation is the multi-billion media empire it is because it encompasses newspapers,
magazines and websites that have at least some diversity of opinions. That correspondingly
brings in at least some diversity of readers and viewers whom Murdoch's advertisers can
harrange with advertising. They have a vested interest to tell us the truth most of the
time, even if it's usually biased in favour of Capitalists and Capitalism.
Don't be fooled by the news charlatans and conspiracy theorists. They aren't providing you
with ‘alternative facts' from alternative news sources. They make up what they say and
they're playing you for suckers as they laugh all the way to the bank with the money they
got from hacking your personal data when you clicked on their site. You might find it
temporarily comforting to believe you've been handed the mysteries of the universe via a
website run by somebody living in his Mum's garage. Spending hours listening to podcasts
about chem-trails, our alien lizard overlords, the flat earth or the moon-landing ‘hoax'
etc. will perhaps provide psychological distraction from wondering how you're going to pay
this week's rent. What it won't do is give you the tools necessary to overcome and
struggle effectively against the hard, cold and sometimes ‘boring' realities of the world
we really live in.
Related Link:
http://awsm.nz/2019/01/22/10-step-guide-to-detecting-conspiracy-theories-bullshit/
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31273
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Message: 5
The "show-contest" of Eurovision is pitiful. Terrible music and insipid lyrics on the
backdrop of stupid chauvinism ... The best would surely be to remove it in favor of smart
shows to discover the song in the world. ---- Meanwhile, the 2019 edition must take place
in a country that applies an apartheid policy: Israel. And it's intolerable. Here is the
message and the call made by the collective xDS-CGT: ---- Dear comrades, The victory of
the Israeli singer Netta had a consequence that the voters had not measured: Eurovision
2019 should occur in Israel from May 14 to 18. But how to forget the massacres in Gaza,
the destruction of villages, colonization and displacement, and now the law on "the nation
state of the Jewish people" which, in particular, institutionalizes apartheid in Israel?
That is why the National Collective for a Just and Lasting Peace between Palestinians and
Israelis, together with xDS France and other partners, is launching a French campaign to
ensure that Eurovision 2019 does not happen in Israel.
If this is not the case, France Télévisions and the French candidates must withdraw from
the contest.
So that Eurovision is not held in the land of apartheid Israel, we need you!
You can discover the French countryside and sign the petition on the dedicated website
Already two UD CGTs (63 and 75) have joined this campaign, and other CGT organizations
will undoubtedly follow.
Signatures of Associations, parties and unions:
https://eurovision2019-pasenisrael.eu/
http://www.communisteslibertairescgt.org/Eurovision-Pas-en-Israel.html
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Message: 6
With the passing of each holiday in his remembrance, the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
becomes further absorbed into a liberal narrative of American progress but King's actual
politics and organizing speak to a far more radical legacy. ---- By Frank Ascaso ---- A
year before his assassination, Martin Luther King was talking revolution. "I am convinced
that if we are to get on to the right side of the world revolution," he said, "we as a
nation must undergo a radical revolution of values." Speaking before a venue of religious
figures at New York's Riverside Church in April of 1967, King began to link the struggles
for liberation then erupting all over the globe to a collective revolution of values.
Importantly for King, a reverend and theologian, this was to be a spiritual revolution,
one in which the priorities and privileges of our culture, our worldviews, and
understanding of our role in the world must be transformed into a better version of
ourselves, toward "a beautiful symphony of brotherhood[sic]," he said.
King's revolutionary status comes from his practice of social movement organizing and
faith in the causes and self-activity of the people; from his intersectional analysis of
the root causes of social injustice in structural elements of "racism, materialism, and
militarism."
The Three Evils
King's revolution of values was not just idealism, for in that same speech King linked the
spiritual revolution he called for to an analysis of the three evils afflicting American
society: "the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism." By this time
in 1967, after the legislative victories in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting
Rights Act, King saw that the struggle for black liberation in the U.S. could not be
confined to political struggle and divorced from other structural oppressions. Racism and
white supremacy were indelibly tied to "materialism," and "militarism," the forces of
inequality and violence that lay at the root of American society.
Indeed, against inequality King was about to launch the "Poor People's Campaign," a
national organizing effort to address the poverty and inequality that still kept African
Americans as second class citizens, even with new political rights. In the wake of
legislative victories, King argued that "now we are dealing with issues that cannot be
solved without the nation spending billions of dollars and undergoing a radical
redistribution of economic power." There was still an economic revolution to be won,
without which the struggle for black freedom would be forever incomplete.
Unfinished Revolution
And King saw the militarism and violence at the heart of the American state as part of the
problem. The same violence that murdered black people at home was marshalled to invade,
bomb and destroy the people of Vietnam. "The bombs of Vietnam," he once said, "explode at
home" because they "destroy the dream and possibility for a decent America." This again
was a structural, economic question for King, as the spending on the Vietnam War took
money away from the War on Poverty domestic programs. But it also reflected his vision of
spiritual transformation. Government actions in Vietnam spoke to a spiritual bankruptcy of
a people so invested in the "giant triplets" he identified as to not be concerned with the
fate and wellbeing of the Vietnamese people.
King's unfinished revolution is our revolution; let's get working.
Finally, King's revolutionary politics were not limited to his intersectional analysis,
but embedded in his revolutionary practice. King devoted his life to building mass
movements that could empower and transform. His faith and solidarity in the self-activity
of people engaged in social struggle transcended his own political positions. When in 1966
and 1967 American cities exploded in riots and violence King defended the rioters despite
his own personal commitment to non-violence. Seeking to explain to a hostile media, King
said that "the riot is the language of the unheard." He continued that the country had
"failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met, and it has
failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility
and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity."
This is the King we honor and celebrate today, and one that contemporary revolutionaries
should learn from. Although he missed major aspects of oppression - patriarchy, for
example, or the ecological crisis we are facing - his commitment to revolutionary values
is unparalleled. King's revolutionary status comes from his practice of social movement
organizing and faith in the causes and self-activity of the people; from his
intersectional analysis of the root causes of social injustice in structural elements of
"racism, materialism, and militarism;" and in his spiritual commitment to the
revolutionary values of "justice, equality and humanity." We would do well to heed his
message now, as potent today as it was 50 years ago before his life was cut short. King's
unfinished revolution is our revolution; let's get working.
Frank Ascaso is a historian, educator and member of Black Rose Anarchist Federation based
in Seattle, Washington.
If you enjoyed this piece consider you may also enjoy "No Time for Patience: Fascism,
Climate, and Capitalism" by Mark Bray or "In November We Remember Those Who Gave
Everything" by Tariq Khan.
http://blackrosefed.org/why-mlk-should-be-remembered-as-a-revolutionary
------------------------------
Message: 7
Latin America's largest country finds itself in a complex political moment. Brazil is the
8th economy worldwide but has yet to realize its full potential as a world power. It is a
country of many coexisting qualities that combine to make a vibrant whole. Brazil is often
a mystery even to those of us who make a living studying it, and it can be a fascinatingly
open and tolerant society - one where anything and everything is welcome. The October 2019
presidential and general elections in Brazil challenged that notion. An extreme right wing
candidate, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, rose to power in a contested victory. This was the last
straw in a mounting political crisis with multiple causes and, the way it looks at the
moment, even more consequences.
The beginnings of the country's current political crisis can be traced back to 2003.
However, the steady momentum which ultimately led to Bolsonaro's election likely began on
August 31st 2016, when President Dilma Rousseff was impeached during the second year of
her term. Dilma succeeded Lula in 2010 and was re-elected. She was previously his Minister
of Energy (Minas e Energia). After, she served in the Ministry of Government (Casa Civil),
which is the most important branch of national government in Brazil outside of the
presidency. Rouseff's impeachment establishes a new phase in Brazil, known as the end of
New Republic (1985-2016). The 31 years after the end of Brazil's military dictatorship
(1964-1985) was the result of a national agreement reinforced through a new National
Constituency Assembly and the creation of the Citizenship Constitution. An agreement was
reached between traditional political oligarchies, military commanders, media groups,
federal judges and federal public prosecutors. Put simply, one could say that Nova
República's Agreement resulted in the recognition of political and social rights, as well
as a legal system that aimed to organize people to fight for their rights as citizens.
Despite the agreement, high levels of state violence prevailed in Brazil, perpetrated
frequently by militarized police forces (an unfortunate remnant of the military
dictatorship and consequence of the country's Military Assistance Program in the 1960s).
Gangs or cartels ("commandos") based in prisons or slums also regularly contributed to
high rates of crime. The government maintains a sad record of social injustices. Murders
of peasants, indigenous Brazilians, and African-Brazilian were a regular occurrence. Our
society carried this inner conflict for three decades. The resulting trauma was translated
into positive political advancement - the election of a former union organizer and
political prisoner to the presidency. Next came a former guerrilla fighter, and then
another ex-political prisoner.
Lula, followed by Dilma, never promised radical social change. But a new phase in the
national agreement began regardless. Brazil's working and middle classes were lifted out
of poverty through economic policies that favored the country's majority. A large
structural part of the national economic policies were based on the export of commodities.
Much of the government's economic goals were also created in agreement with
privately-owned companies inside the oil and gas sector and engineering. State-sponsored
contracts and the expansion of public debt made up the core of Brazil's national
development. The success of this system depended on exports of soy beans, raw sugar, iron
ore, crude petroleum, frozen bovine meat, agriculture products (high intensive
agriculture, based on fertilizers and technology), and some industrial products (For a
more complex description of the Brazilian economy, see here:
https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/bra/).
There were several fragile aspects of Brazil's economy, even during the country's period
of economic boom. But three in particular contributed heavily to the crisis that preceded
Dilma's impeachment. The first was that Brazil's economy was based on finances. Because of
global currency competition, the international debts of Brazilian companies became
unmanageable. The second is typical in which the economy is still based country still
based primarily on exports. The collapse of this sector in Brazil began after the 2008
financial crash (the global speculation fraud that started with US-based mortgages and
spread throughout the globe). China reduced its amount of primary imports, a decision that
negatively impacted worldwide prices. The third is an operation led by the federal police
and prosecutors, waged through the media, named Projeto Pontes
(https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09BRASILIA1282_a.html), initiated in February 2009.
The operation was a key part of Operação Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash), similar to the
Operazione Mani Pulite carried out in Italy during the 1990s.
During the 2014 national election, Dilma was reelected. She had maintained her alliance
with oligarchic parties (including PMDB, her vice president's Michel Temer's party - a
central part of the conspiracy to impeach Rouseff). After a difficult first round against
several candidates, Rouseff faced off against Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB, Minas Gerais
state). She won on a platform challenging the state of Brazil's government goals and
social programs. However, a month after winning the presidency, Dilma nominated a "Chicago
Boy" for the Ministry of Economics. Joaquim Levy destroyed Rouseff's legitimacy among low
and middle-class voters. It was the perfect storm - a fragile and unpopular
administration, Operation Car Wash criminalizing Brazil's economic and political model
through the media, plus the actions of self-proclaimed Neo-Pentacostal and ultraliberal
youth "movements" - was enough to move Congress into action.
It would be near impossible to explain what is happening in Brazil without a comprehensive
analysis of recent history. The rise of Jair Bolsonaro and Brazil's far-right is
complicated. And it would not have been possible if it weren't for Brazil's long and
chaotic political history, as well as the ability of the right to imitate the success of
similar political ideologies in the United States.
. . .
Bruno Lima Rocha is working on his post-doctorate degree in Political Economics. He has a
PhD and MSC in political science and works as a professor of International Studies and
Journalism in southern Brazil. Bruno is also the vice-leader of a research group
(capetacapitaleestado.wordpress.com) and editor of Estratégia e Análise
(estrategiaeanaliseblog.com). E-mail: blimarocha@gmail.com
The original text in written English was kindly revised by Erin Sheridan
(esheridan34@gmail.com)
https://estrategiaeanaliseblog.com/2019/01/20/right-wing-rising-a-comprehensive-look-at-whats-happening-in-brazil-article-in-englih/
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