Interview With Brazilian Left Front Activist Maila Costa, On The Ground In Brazil
GM: Hi Maila, with Jair Bolsonaro’s victory over Fernando Haddad in the recent presidential elections what is the political atmosphere like in Brazil at the moment?
MC: Brazilian left-wing parties, social movements and civil society are campaigning hard given the scenario. The polemic declarations of Bolsonaro are seen as a threat to Brazilian democracy, although his supporters are more inclined to to be active on social media, through internet group chats and sharing content on Facebook. Thanks to this, face-to-face spaces are available to Fernando Haddad’s supporters, Workers’ Party of Brazil (PT) members and other progressive activists. These elections were different from the previous ones. People publicly took positions and engaged in discussions, which has frayed personal relationships and made them very tense. Haddad’s supporters have been attacked and murdered in recent weeks while the opposite hasn’t been seen for Bolsonaro’s supporters. Violent speech is one of the worst features of Jair Bolsonaro. Over the years he has spoken bigotry against women, black people, Brazilian native people, the LGBTI+ community, the poor and so on. After the first round of the elections he said that if he won, he will end all kinds of activism. The Sunday before the second-round run-off he said that “the reds” will have to leave the country or go to the jail. Those declarations create an atmosphere of terror, but not enough to pacify the resistance.
Fascist Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro during a rally
GM: What has been behind Bolsonaro's popularity?
MC: There are many factors behind his popularity. The political and economic crisis in which the country finds itself, together with high-profile government corruption cases revealed in recent years and historic anti-left propaganda have created an electorate which sought a quick resolution to all of Brazils problems. Adding to this, there’s the evangelical ‘Christian’ appeal, covering a vast part of the population and the hate speech that summons up the racism, homophobia and classism that were hidden in our racist and patriarchal society. Lastly, Bolsonaro was successful by using the social media as his main platform, in Brazil, half of the population can access the internet. He has campaigned since the coup, in 2016, addressing his speech and fake news to young, impressionable people, in other words people more likely to believe and spread his far-right, populist ideas.
GM: What has been the failure of the Brazilian Left in preventing this far-right resurgence?
MC: The weakening of the social movements has been the main factor. Although Lula and Dilma’s governments were crucial to the inclusion of millions of citizens, they operated a system of class conciliation. The social inclusion created a well-being scenario, which masked the structural issues and put the struggles aside, while raising the profit of banks and big companies. The Workers’ Party didn’t use the State rigging to develop class and historical awareness. However, not only should the WPB not have had neglected his base, but all the components of the left failed to reach the working, the religious and people not included in ‘mainstream’ society. These spaces were gradually occupied by the conservative and neo-liberal parties, mainly through the evangelical churches, which have grown massively in Brazil.
GM: What sectors of the population stand to benefit from a Bolsonaro victory, and what sectors stand to lose out?
MC: Bolsonaro is a neo-liberal so he tends to adopt measures that benefit big national and international companies. He has promised to ‘relax’ working rights and conditions in order to revitalise the economy as well as to sell state-owned companies to private interests. Those who will lose out are the vast majority of ordinary, working Brazilians, but especially those who don’t fit in with Bolsanoro’s racist and backwards ideas.
GM: How has the Brazilian state reacted to this rise of Neo-Fascism, especially since its main proponent openly boasts about resurrecting Brazil's authoritarian, military junta past?
MC: The current illegitimate president Michel Temer supports Bolsonaro and his neo-liberal plans, so he’s not interested in confronting him. Although many judges and politicians openly expressed their support to Fernando Haddad, they didn’t take any initiative to stop Bolsonaro and his racist outbursts. It’s important to point out that in Brazil racism is a crime and Bolsonaro previously said in a TV show that his sons wouldn’t date a black woman because “my sons were brought up very well and they haven't lived in environments such as those black people do” and nothing happened to him.
GM: What do you think Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro will look like?
MC: It’s not clear what he’ll do, since he constantly changes his stance on numerous issues depending on public reaction. What is known is that he intends to keep the illegitimate president Michel Temers’ neo-liberal policies and will continue incitement of discrimination. He has said that a pension system reform is a priority and that he will ‘relax’ working rights and conditions. Every day more cases of attacks by Bolsonaro supporters arise. This is the main worry because the Congress can help control Bolsonaro’s measures, but they cannot control all those violent, intolerant people who have been given support and confidence under his regressive narrative. The Brazilian left, the social movements, autonomous collectives and individuals will have to resist and find ways to minimize the effects of this new government.
GM: What is now the future of the Workers’ Party in Brazil?
MC: Much has been spoken of it since the legal, parliamentary and media coup suffered by Dilma Rousseff, that WPB is over. With part of the population clamouring for drastic change and the rise in popularity of Bolsonaro this was assumed as true, including by much of the Brazilian left. However, with these last elections we can see that this statement was perhaps created mostly by the desire and intent of opponents of the WPB and other partisan opponents than by the real feeling of the electorate.
A dead party does not elect the largest bench in the chamber of deputies and the largest number of governors, among them the only woman. Even here in Rio Grande do sul, one of the most Anti-Petistas states, the Workers' Party elected the largest number of chairs in the legislative assembly, dividing the post with the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement). These results show that although the WPB has lost some seats, the so-called ‘revolt’ surrounding loss of WPB support is much more linked to the controversies involving the country's highest office than a rejection of their proposals and representatives. This phenomenon is easily explained when looking at the abundant coverage by formal and informal media surrounding the subject of the office of President, which therefore reflects the content of popular debates.
It is almost impossible to measure the size of the influence of all factors in the result of an election, but what we do know is that this time there were new factors that were against Fernando Haddad's candidacy. Still, the WPB candidate came out with originally less than 10% in the intentions of voters in the first polls, to the second-round, reaching a 5% negative difference with respect to the eventual winner, Jair Bolsonaro. Haddad amassed more than 47 million votes despite the Anti-Petismo fervour, a "Communist" running-mate for Vice-President, Lula being arrested, biased news, the absence of Ciro Gomes and a short campaign time.
Brazilian Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad
With the widespread defeat of the MDB in these elections, the WPB appears as the largest party in Brazil and one of the most important in Latin America, which converts it into a kind of voice of the Brazilian people, even more considering their links with social movements of extreme importance. For this reason and for having a social obligation with its voters and all workers in the country, it is essential that the party use these two remaining months prior to Bolsanaro’s inauguration to re-structure itself in order to elevate and consolidate its ethical and moral standards by introducing a internal and external structure consistent with the current demands of the various sectors of society.
Within this transformation, it is necessary for the Workers' Party to take part in the political process in order to commit ideologically to truly progressive laws and the advancement social justice causes, definitively abandoning alliances that may distort their purpose. The WPB needs to overcome its culture of moral flexibility by interests - no matter how laudable, it needs to make it clear to its electorate and to the world what its goals and limits are.
In the coming months, we will face turbulent times, for which we will need a strong and coherent opposition and that does not mean that WPB should lead this opposition. But as the largest party in Brazil, with its electoral capital renewed in these elections and a new leadership that has gained popular sympathy, in the figure of Haddad; it is the WPB who has the privilege and moral duty to put itself in a decisive leadership role to all of the Brazilian left. They need to represent their mandate, abandoning once and for all the illusion of class reconciliation, which has shown more than once its negative consequences, as well as it’s heroic adoration for ex-president Lula da Silva. The Workers’ Party of Brazil cannot hide forever behind their past improvements to the country, putting themselves as eternal victim, as if that will annul all their mistakes. They need to step up and help the people fightback.