"Zero Evictions" will only happen if there is mobilization to prevent it.

Workers' Cause Diary - Left-wing social movements fighting for housing and land have launched a campaign called "Zero Evictions Campaign – For Life in the Countryside and the City." This initiative comes in response to a massive right-wing offensive against workers fighting for housing and land, with evictions taking place amidst the pandemic. The campaign focuses on the approval of a bill that would prevent evictions in both urban and rural areas during the pandemic.

State and municipal governments are carrying out evictions against the advice of their own state bodies, such as the Human Rights Council and the Public Prosecutor's Office. The right wing is taking advantage of the disorganization of workers by weakening the organizations that represent them, such as unions and social movements.

According to the Evictions Observatory, a project by USP (University of São Paulo) and the Federal University of ABC, the situation in the state of São Paulo alone is particularly concerning, with over 1.900 families affected by evictions during the pandemic. This situation is occurring throughout the country.

The previous week, the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST) attempted a march that would culminate in a demonstration at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, the seat of the São Paulo state government, against evictions during the pandemic, but was harshly repressed by the Military Police's Shock Troops before reaching the location. This demonstrates how the right wing will treat the population that demands its rights.

The situation is so serious that the number of evictions is very high and is being carried out in a completely arbitrary manner, worrying even sectors of the bourgeoisie who are also against the evictions for fear that this policy could be the trigger for a large mobilization.

The campaign initiative is important, but the methods should be discussed and evaluated. The bourgeoisie has shown that it didn't stage a coup and put a fascist in the presidency to "debate," "dialogue," or even listen to the working class. The right wing in the National Congress, called the "centrão" (center bloc), is aligned with all the attacks carried out by the Bolsonaro government and has already demonstrated that it doesn't want any law preventing evictions during the pandemic, avoiding the approval of those already presented. And attempting any kind of maneuver within the National Congress, the Supreme Court, the Public Prosecutor's Office, or any other institutional measure to resolve the issue of evictions is, at the very least, naive.

This campaign, involving more than 40 organizations against evictions, should discuss preventing evictions by whatever means necessary. This includes large-scale campaigns denouncing the evictions, deploying significant numbers of activists to designated eviction sites, actively fighting to stop the evictions, and organizing large demonstrations.

The right wing is taking these measures because it knows there is no resistance against the evictions. It's necessary to show that the evictions will not happen the way the bourgeoisie wants, but rather that there will be struggle and confrontation with a willingness to prevent the police and the justice system from carrying out these actions. The measures being proposed, such as... lives And debates will not even begin to resolve the situation of workers who are occupying land in the city and the countryside.