Stop the self-coup.

Brazilian society has entered one of the most turbulent and serious periods in its history since the death throes of colonial rule and the founding of the nation-state in 1822. Over the last six years, its elements have been taking shape, and recently a multidimensional crisis has taken hold, which today deepens already chronic social problems and jeopardizes the nation's future.

Initially, the adverse cycle, which first showed signs in 2013 and has been ongoing since 2014, marked the beginning of stagnation. This is a particularity, in the country and in the current situation, of Phase B, or the longest-lasting depressive phase among the four that have occurred in the various international Long Waves typical of capitalism, the first in the 18th century, when the bourgeois revolutions had not even been completed.

Subsequently, the scourge of the pandemic, with the essential health campaign to contain Covid-19, ended up accelerating the contradictions of a dependent economy, subordinately integrated into the international division of labor under imperialist hegemony, and consequently acutely reactivating the residual recessionary trend that remained latent in the ups and downs typical of a weak recovery.

As if that weren't enough, bourgeois institutions and political society, including the federal sphere, are experiencing impasses caused, especially, by the generic attack of the proto-fascist horde against the National Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, governors, mayors, the main entities of civil society, and political parties, sparing only those who remain allied or subservient to it.

Finally, more recently, the Federal Government itself is tearing itself apart and losing operational capacity due to the compulsive intention to liquidate the democratic regime and establish a personal dictatorship, which it has already signaled. To this end, the aspiring despot attacks all those who, for any reason, deviate from his central will, ousting dissenting sectors that supported him, discrediting aides, and persecuting former allies, including some who served him in the highest levels of the presidential palace. The list is long and impossible to complete, as there will always be new names added to the list of targets.

This combination, already explosive in itself, is exacerbated by the country's chronic situation, characterized, for a considerable part of the population, by high unemployment, work without rights, precarious jobs, general impoverishment, unhealthy slums, insufficient basic sanitation, inadequate housing, and a dilapidated public health system. The government's conduct, exacerbated by the president who has become the head of the paramilitary factions he organizes, mobilizes, and protects, has transformed into a serious national problem.

If there is a recession, its weight falls on the shoulders of the poorest sectors, the workers, the middle classes, and the most fragile businesses – small and medium-sized – eliminating social policies, suppressing labor gains, delaying and even eliminating some of the already insufficient emergency aid approved by the National Congress, leaving multitudes to their own fate.

If there is Covid-19, it distances itself from competent institutions, such as the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and universities. It sabotages the health efforts of member states, municipalities, and health professionals. It relegates citizens to death without testing or accurate diagnosis. It ignores overcrowded hospital facilities lacking units for treatment compatible with the most basic needs, such as the insufficient number of beds for observation, monitoring, prior care, and ICU. Finally, it tries to replace social distancing with the farce that everything is "normal," as in the case of the ENEM (National High School Exam). If there is an institutional crisis, it tries to corner and destroy the state institutions currently related to the legal guarantee of civil and political rights and achievements that are being attacked, as well as summoning its militia shock troops to pressure them and liquidate the democratic regime. Additionally, it maintains centers that foster confusion, false information, and lies, such as the dissemination of... fake news who insult, provoke, slander, defame, and disqualify their adversaries. If the government fails, it tries to "purify" the names of its ministerial team, maintain its personal apparatus called ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), instrumentalize the senior positions of the Federal Police, and impose its private command on the Armed Forces, always aiming to eliminate fundamental rights and save itself or its cronies – family and accomplices – including with the recent Provisional Measure No. 966, even at the cost of plunging Brazil into radical internal conflicts with unpredictable consequences.

The self-coup's purpose is to destroy the democratic regime.

The main purpose of Bolsonaro and his group is to suppress the political regime designed by the 1988 Constitution, which he calls the system or establishmentOne of his nightmares is the periodic succession of governments, since he does not have, and never has had, organically, the majority of the population on his side. Moreover, he has reason to worry about the upcoming municipal elections and his re-election, which are constantly on his mind and could slip out of his control. Undoubtedly, the Federal Government, illegitimate since its inauguration, has now explicitly entered the realm of illegality. It wants to dictate "by force" who will be immunized, spared, investigated, and condemned. The list of those affected is verbalized and populates the imagination of the so-called "hate cabinet." In approximate order: communists; the left in general and its political parties; progressive and independent intellectuals; democrats, patriots, and liberals; troublesome media; insufficiently aligned businesspeople; dissenting religious segments; people considered immoral or who complain; his former allies; and so on. Likewise, the focus is turned against governors, parliamentarians, mayors, and members of the Supreme Federal Court, who are even insulted and threatened with imprisonment, as well as friendly countries, attacked in the name of exclusive and absolute alignment with US geopolitics.

To understand what is happening in Brazil, one need only look at what occurred in the formation of the preceding classic far-right regimes: Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany, as well as the unique forms of Salazarist Portugal and Francoist Spain. The germinal characteristics of Brazilian proto-fascism are articulated with its submissive essence in its dependent relationship with imperialism and are expressed in the incompleteness of the political regime, which it insistently tries to mold in the image and likeness of the leader. This is why resistance manifests itself in civil society, in political society, and even internally within the organs of the bourgeois state.

Under these conditions, abandoning the struggle in defense of the democratic regime or relegating it to a secondary position – whether because so-called “democracy” is supposedly over, or because the issue of individual or collective rights and freedoms is secondary, or because there is a chronic inability to perceive the central issue in the current situation, or simply due to political confusion – and always proving incapable of uniting diverse and broad forces, would be a capitulation that would condemn the Brazilian people, including the proletariat and its allies, to a historic defeat of great proportions within a timeframe that may be short, but is still open.

The actual political process is already revealing the most advanced and consequential path. Opposition parties, union representatives, entities with humanist values, popular movements, democratic organizations, artists, intellectuals, and even conservative personalities or forces are protesting, including some bourgeois factions that influence the large corporate media controlled by monopolistic-financial conglomerates, who were recently circling the Planalto Palace and occupy key state bodies, including many who substantially helped promote the chief reactionary to the head of the Executive branch.

The pronouncements are directed against what has long been happening and now almost everyone has seen: the limits have been exceeded and the liberation-destroying march, which has entered a path of no return, will never stop on its own: it will have to be stopped. It is clear that the presidential conduct, instead of being fortuitous, is an inherent trait of the fanatics of the conservative counter-revolution, aware that the Magna Carta and the infra-constitutional legislation hinder the regression to a dictatorial-military regime, reformed and now "perfected" as a personal-messianic autocracy. This is the myth that underlies the self-coup process that the current president is orchestrating in the presidential cabinet and trying to implement.

On March 15th, he defied the campaign against the Coronavirus. On April 19th, in front of the Army Headquarters, he insulted the State institutions he disliked and incited the military troops to reimpose the dictatorial regime and reissue the AI-5 (Institutional Act No. 5). On May 3rd, he repeated the same stance with new and brutal threats. On the 7th, he pressured the presidency of the Supreme Federal Court to obtain the illegal prerogative to obstruct the sanitary efforts in Brazil, trampling on the constitutional competence of the states and municipalities. On the 9th, he reinforced the paramilitary demonstration called to encircle the institutions seen as obstacles to the conservative counter-revolution.

The opposition's goal is to put an end to the Bolsonaro government.

Such episodes will continue to multiply with increasing aggression, as they follow a pattern. The presidential figure makes his pettiness clear: from "supreme authority" of the Armed Forces, he has lowered himself to a mere cheap agitator, now spreading intrigue and discord throughout the barracks; he seeks to corner the other federative entities, the Supreme Federal Court and the National Congress, when they displease him, to transform them into annexes to the Planalto Palace. In response, the defense of the current democratic regime has brought together vast sectors of civil society and political society. The Bolsonaro government has descended a few more steps on the ladder that leads to isolation, but it is neither dead nor dying. Concomitantly, suggestions of paths and slogans focused on the individual figure of the would-be tyrant are growing: impeachmentLegal complaints and investigations; congressional proposals for direct elections in case of vacancy in the presidential seat; the search for electoral alliances for the next election; expressions of dissent such as banging pots and pans, social media posts, notes and signatures in civil society; statements against the self-coup purpose such as stop, resist, block and overthrow; slogans such as enough, that's it, down with it and, recently incorporated by trade unions and other popular entities, out. These are all valid as oppositionist attitudes.

At the same time, conspiracies deepen to replace a reactionary with someone considered more moderate, aiming for a top-down recycling without democratic and popular participation, fueled by the chimeras and naiveté present in the opposition. With the demobilization of the masses – in the face of accumulated setbacks and social alienation – and the insufficient proletarian presence in the struggle, the "solutions" lean towards congressional, judicial, and military agreements, terrains marked by the majority and the hegemony of capital, in which left-wing parties and popular forces operate with little chance of playing a decisive role.

Thus, the institutional crisis is also an opportunity for a way out within the framework of monopolistic-financial and imperialist control in its most reactionary variant. In opposition to such a surrenderist and ultraliberal readjustment, the Sérgio Miranda Institute seeks mediated and appropriate ends for the phase of resistance in which the popular movement operates. To this end, it immediately joins the construction of a broad front to oppose the Bolsonaro government and its policies. The time has come to unite political parties and civil society organizations, as well as sectors and individuals concerned with the present and future of Brazil, in a movement open to new support, to combat the far-right. This is a great democratic, national, and progressive alliance that unifies slogans and actions, both in mass demonstrations and in institutional spheres, as well as segments in global, partial, or specific contradiction with ultraliberal policies, including those who wish to combat unpopular measures, even in limited agreements, to exploit the disagreements and differences among conservatives through consensus in each case. The broad front for national salvation needs to materialize, in addition to general understandings, also in states, municipalities, and branches of activity – unions, popular entities, anti-discrimination movements, and so on.

A front with such characteristics has been considered, proposed, discussed, and announced – by the Sérgio Miranda Institute and by different people from diverse backgrounds, since the 2018 elections – with dialogues involving various interlocutors, slowly progressing. However, at the faster pace of progress, the idea has transformed into a practical problem, that is, a guideline to be applied in the current situation and appropriated by all, aiming to become a real force capable of changing the political landscape in favor of the popular classes.

In the current political climate, the tactic to combat Bolsonaro and the self-coup process, defending fundamental freedoms and the democratic regime, rests on four central pillars: opposition to the Federal Government as a whole and its policies, not simply to the most despicable individual figures; a broad democratic, national, and progressive front, in which left-wing parties are the most dynamic pole; mobilization of the popular masses based on their most deeply felt economic and political demands; and the development of an emergency platform that unifies the different segments in contradiction with the conduct and policies of the far-right.

If any of these guidelines are neglected, the possibilities favorable to the people will be reduced. Without opposition to the Federal Government and its policies, the tactic would be an exclusive fight against Bolsonaro, opening the doors for a recomposition within the framework of the far-right. Without a broad opposition front, the left would only speak to itself, renouncing the isolation of the Federal Government and the uniting of forces necessary for its defeat. Without mobilization of the popular masses, the front would be a mere top-down arrangement, without the potential to reverse the balance of power. Without an emergency platform, it would be more difficult to bring together different segments and mobilize popular masses.

The core of transformative politics and the emergency platform

Thus, the tactical core requires: isolating the parties and factions of the ultraconservative reaction; neutralizing the segments that occupy intermediate spaces in politics and tend towards opportunistic support; attracting actors with conciliatory positions; and uniting the democratic, national, and progressive field, above parties, ideologies, and religions. The task at hand is to consolidate a broad front, mobilize large masses, and combat Covid-19 while supporting the most affected social strata, with the overall purpose of inflicting successive defeats on the Federal Government in order to weaken it, accumulate forces, and create conditions to replace it with methods more favorable to popular pronouncements.

This path also extends to municipal elections. Majoritarian coalitions are necessary to defeat far-right candidates, especially in capital cities and regional hubs, as evidenced by the recent debate in Rio de Janeiro, where political leaders discussed electoral tactics, with national repercussions. Even in a situation of social distancing, unity can be built now, preventing the crystallization of particularistic positions. This begins with combating the extension of current mandates. Overemphasized divergences, personal interests, party patriotism, and navel-gazing must be replaced by dialogue, detachment, consensus, and responsibility.

Nothing less is acceptable, as history is full of examples where, due to a misunderstanding of reality, minor issues, and elementary errors, democratic, national, and progressive forces paved the way for tragedies. In general, the fight against the attempted self-coup, aimed at ending the Bolsonaro government and its policies, requires an emergency platform to save Brazil, the democratic political regime, human lives, and popular interests, to be established nationally by the interested forces and sectors. In the face of the pandemic, the recession, and the political-institutional crisis, the following points stand out:

– to block obscurantist ideas and those that encourage mass contagion, supporting special measures for combating, containing, and controlling the spread of the virus through public health;

– To denounce any proto-fascist manifestation, whether group-based or individual, that seeks to undermine constitutional rights, by activating the appropriate channels and methods;

– to resist the far-right's takeover of state institutions for a self-coup, particularly the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Federal Police (PF), Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF), and the Armed Forces;

– to combat the intention to extend the current terms of mayors and council members, advocating for the holding of municipal elections in 2020;

– to support state and municipal governments, demanding resources for their initiatives to address the Central Government's shortcomings and to counteract acts of sabotage;

– to centralize available resources to address the ills of the pandemic and to strengthen the SUS (Brazilian public health system), including the “single waiting list for hospital beds”;

– to extend support for the unemployed, informal workers, and those infected, for six months, with extraordinary aid equivalent to one minimum wage and without charges for public services;

– to organize and carry out solidarity relief initiatives for the most affected popular classes, extending to the sick, those infected and their families;

– to protect essential jobs in the public service and private monopolies, prohibiting layoffs and supporting small businesses that maintain employment;

– to repeal measures that are hostile to popular rights, social spending, state-owned enterprises, and national sovereignty, including wage cuts in the public and private sectors;

– to investigate allegations of crimes committed by the Presidency and its group, with punishment through existing legal means, including impeachment;

– to request international support in the form of material, technical and human aid, especially from countries with a proven track record, expertise and conduct of solidarity, such as China, Cuba and Russia;

– To promote joint initiatives and demonstrations with entities or individuals belonging to different political and ideological positions.

Today, the slogans that can summarize the opposition's struggle are: a broad front against self-coup attempts to save the democratic regime; emergency public health measures and support for the working classes; defense of labor rights and no reduction of rights; unity against the reactionary far-right in the municipal elections; an end to the Bolsonaro government and its policies. These slogans should be complemented by municipal, state, and sectoral demands. The slogan "Out with Bolsonaro" is relevant in the agitation work, provided it is not exclusive, but integrated with the general tactic, which implies multiple initiatives, sums of support, and ramifications.