Letter from Brazil: The Masses Will Rise Again here ♦ Latin American Masses Need Revolutionary Communism, Not the Electoral Left here ♦ Democracy “Rigged to Favor the Rich” here ♦
November 16— Migrant garment workers from Hubei and others marched, tore down barricades around residential neighborhoods, and fought police in Guangzhao, China’s southern manufacturing hub. They were protesting Covid lockdowns and the lack of food and other necessities despite government promises.
Letter from Brazil: The Masses Will Rise Again
My neighbor was overjoyed when heard the news that Lula had finally won the elections in Brazil. “We are going to have our President and he is going to restore Bolsa Familia.”
Bolsa Familia was initiated by Lula in 2003 to provide food, housing, education, and healthcare to the millions of very poor families in Brazil. My neighbor and many other families are recipients of Bolsa Familia.
We live in São José dos Campos, the working-class town near the factory where Embraer airplane manufacturing was established fifty years ago. It has over 18,000 Embraer workers and is the largest hub of Boeing, Airbus, and Embraer. The town also has many chemical factories and metallurgy plants. It is located near São Paulo and 200 km from Rio de Janeiro. Our city has immense poverty and very high unemployment. Covid and runaway inflation are taking a toll on workers. Sixty-four percent are Black workers who face rampant racist discrimination.
In early 2000, our city was known as ‘massas famintas’ (hungry masses). When Lula got elected in 2003, his Bolsa Familia program eradicated extreme poverty. So, when he ran for election in 2022, many workers supported him.
Things have changed drastically. Bolsa Familia was funded largely by investment bankers and hedge fund managers of US banks. Lula became a hero to US and European finance. Bolsa Familia was an attempt to pacify the masses and keep them from total revolution. People wanted a fundamental change in the system. Lula offered reform and kept the system alive.
Since Bolsa Familia began in 2003, Brazil’s economy has changed. China was relatively unknown then. Today, China has replaced the US as Brazil’s leading trade partner. During Lula’s first presidency, China’s influence was everywhere. Thousands of students learned Mandarin in Brazilian schools. This dramatic rise of China and the decline of the US created BRICS in 2009.
As always with capitalism, the Chinese economy created wealth for the few and enormous inequality in Brazil and China. Bolsa Familia came to symbolize racism, violence, and favelas with drugs and gang violence. Racism raised its ugly head with evictions in poor neighborhoods. Racist gangs took over and the rulers ruthlessly suppressed the masses with military police, drones, and lethal weapons including tanks and assault helicopters.
Today, many workers have illusions about Lula. Reforms can never free workers from hunger, racism, and sexism. Communism is both the response and the solution to unending poverty. Lula’s victory was much smaller than anticipated. His opponents are still powerful in many states. The mining lobby with its vast resources will never reverse the process of deadly destruction of the Amazon ecosystem. Lula’s popularity will fade very fast, and the masses will once again rise.
I have been reading Red Flag for years. I am inspired by articles from all over the world. Some family problems have kept me from participating actively in ICWP. However, I greet you with my heart and warm comradely hugs. There is an enormous possibility of a communist revolution that ICWP can be part of.
—Comrade worker in Brazil
Latin American Masses Need Revolutionary Communism, Not the Electoral Left
With Lula’s victory in Brazil, the “left” electoral parties control more than 85% of the governments in Latin America. This includes the main economies of the region: Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil, as well as oil-producing Venezuela.Re
Brazil, with a population of 215 million, is the giant of the region and one of the world’s ten largest producers of gas and oil. It is also the third largest producer of food worldwide.
China is now Brazil’s largest trading partner. Forty percent of Brazil’s exports go to China. Brazil is part of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a geo-political bloc led by China and a major competitor to US imperialism.)
However, the Latin American working class still suffers the attacks of capitalism, including unemployment, hunger, and repression. Huge marches and strikes from Argentina to Mexico show the real discontent of working people.
The creation of a party, the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) in many of these places is what would make the difference. We must reach out to the masses to build our Party. If you know people in those countries, send them Red Flag and get them in touch with us.
Democracy “Rigged to Favor the Rich”
LOS ANGELES (USA), November 11— “What problems do you see with US democracy? Are any related to unequal distribution of wealth?” A math class discussed this online.
Latasha started: “An unfair division in distribution of wealth as well as power regarding politics and government.”
“People in the US don’t see our government as a democracy because of an unequal distribution of wealth,” wrote Nina. “From presidents to people in Congress, they are wealthy. Decisions are being made to benefit the wealthy.”
Alvin agreed. “It’s truly disgusting. Those in power just want to fill their wallets with money without a second thought to the people.”
“Issues are not up for vote by the general population,” Janet observed. “The leader can be influenced by lobbyists or personal convictions that do not represent the people who voted for him. The system is rigged to favor the rich.”
“The people of our communities are not the ones actually making decisions for us,” Lacey added.
Envisioning a Truly Just System
“‘Socialism’ has such a bad name,” Janet continued, “that simply invoking it can make people turn away from views or candidates that would benefit most working-class Americans.”
“Socialism has such a bad rap in America because history books always paint it in a bad light,” Millie amplified.
“I think communism, not socialism, is an alternative to today’s capitalist democracy,” posted Ida. “No wealth, no poverty, nobody living better or worse than anyone else. Everyone works to produce what people need — not for a paycheck but to contribute to the common good. Nothing will be bought or sold, just shared. Then we ourselves can make decisions for the benefit of all.”
“I lived in China for 25 years. The way communism operated there was just another corrupt system,” Janet responded. “A truly just system has yet to be created. But it is something we should work towards envisioning.”
“China approached real communism with the ‘supply system’ in the Red Army before 1949, the ‘People’s Communes’ of 1958-59, the 1967 Shanghai commune. But today’s Chinese system is best described as ‘state capitalist,’” Ida explained. “Yes, it’s corrupt, and we must try to envision something better.’”
Does Voting Work?
“It’s up to the citizens to elect the people we believe to be the right person,” Alvin declared. “The problem is that not everyone votes or can. The basic concept of a democracy is good. It’s just the stuff that happens in between that is iffy.”
“The problem,” declared Martin, “is the influence that corporations have in swaying votes and impacting policies. And wealth is unevenly distributed throughout the classes of citizens who live in this country.”
“America’s capitalistic economy is driven off of slavery,” Latasha said, “but the way we vote on taxation is why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. We must change the way we vote or nothing else will legally change.”
“Would the wealthy/powerful let the masses vote away their wealth?” asked Ida. “The ‘founding fathers’ restricted voting to white men with property to avoid ‘the tyranny of the majority.’”
“It’s true when they say, ‘money is the root of all evil,’ said Zeke. “It is a distribution of wealth issue.”
Only Kevin saw a bright side to inequality: “Distribution of wealth helps shape democracy. People are free to pursue projects that can bring them unlimited income, like the many entrepreneurial multimillionaires of America.”
“Rules Are In Place for a Reason”
“Dictatorships perform poorly compared to democracies,” argued Nathan. “In the UK, Prime Minister Truss resigned after revolt from her party. President Putin dragged Russia into an increasingly counterproductive war against Ukraine. Despite this, he is still in power. Russians have no mechanism to remove him.”
Nathan conceded that “the United States has flaws in its system” like voting restrictions, lobbyists, and the Electoral College. “Wealthy individuals can buy influence with our politicians. We need to put a cap on the insane level of spending.”
“They put these rules into place for a reason,” Millie responded, “so that those who are already wealthy can make rules that only benefit themselves and their rich counterparts.”
Sondra agreed. “I always believed my vote does not count because wealthy people will have ultimate power over any election.”
We shouldn’t let the many opportunities like these pass us by. One student declared herself interested in the link Ida had shared to Red Flag. Let’s work harder to help those disillusioned with capitalist democracy envision and fight for a communist future.