In defense of our heritage: PT and the government

To the comrades of the PT (Workers' Party).

I am certain that much of what I have written here is in the minds and hearts of the men and women who have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to building an instrument of struggle called the PT (Workers' Party). I decided to put my thoughts and feelings on paper after many dialogues, during which all the interlocutors showed themselves to be indignant, frightened, distressed, and also confused, but with immense willingness and strength to defend our heritage: this PT/government binomial. Yes, it is a binomial. Anyone who thinks that one will overcome this moment without the other is mistaken.

Our first priority, in this darkness generated by the storm of events, is to be certain of who we are. We cannot, at any moment, have an identity crisis: we were born from the strength of the excluded, we gave birth to a project for them, we took detours, we sought shortcuts, but our greatest objective is the construction of a Brazil without social exclusion, without prejudice, discrimination, and that radicalizes democracy in its broadest sense. The PT was born for this objective; its existence has no other reason than to be an instrument in this pursuit.

If we are certain of who we are, if we “look in the mirror of our history” and take pride in our existence as a legacy that has already inspired so many countries and so many struggles, it is time to continue our reflection. Let no one, absolutely no one, representing the interests that have plunged the people into misery and abandonment for centuries, let no one representing the private interests that appropriate the State, come to tell us who we are by trying to destroy what we symbolize: the hope of the majority of Brazilians. And hope, my brothers and sisters on this journey, is the only thing left for millions who were born deprived of the benefits of the State.

It is also time to recognize that Brazilian institutions function, in part, because we have invested heavily in making that happen. The Lula and Dilma governments strengthened democratic institutions. Today, they function and have the legitimacy to do so.

If corruption is endemic and pervades government institutions, it must be fought very hard. Comrades, we have always defended this. We were the ones who adopted participatory budgeting, accountability in popular assemblies, and the radicalization of transparency as public policy. All this since our first mayoral terms. Those who disrespected our history are wrong. If people used the PT (Workers' Party) for enrichment, every time this is proven, they must pay, and we must be the first to defend their punishment. I repeat: we were born, and our existence is only justified, by being the largest and most robust instrument of struggle "for the integral liberation of the Brazilian people." We cannot and will not serve other interests.

It's time to proudly reclaim our recent achievements. We elected a working-class leader, a migrant from the Northeast, someone who represents a break from the political logic of the Brazilian elite, the man who dreamed the dreams of the PT and the CUT, reinventing the organization of social movements in Brazil. This, our collective project, took our comrade Lula to the ramp of the Planalto Palace. Historically, this already went far beyond what the national intellectual elite could ever have formulated. But we showed that we could do more.

The strength of our collective project broke paradigms once again, and we elected the first female president of Brazil. Not just a female leader, our comrade Dilma was forged in torture sessions, in hideouts and cells, impositions of the period when democracy was imprisoned; yes, "a daughter of the generation of years that never ended," a fruit of our dedication, received the presidential sash from the worker "who never studied." Comrades, our capacity to understand reality, to build politics, to dedicate ourselves to our dreams broke the dominant logic of Brazilian history.

In 12 years of the same project, we transformed public policies. We brought 40 million Brazilians, who lived hidden in the dungeons of misery, into the economic and social spheres, showing that social ascension is possible. Education became the driving force for the future of a youth that never had a future. Black people, women, and indigenous people entered the national agenda; we combated prejudice; we spoke of equality among all Brazilians, not as an unattainable dream, but as something tangible in our daily lives. The Brazilian state began to function not as an instrument of a minority, but to bring rights and benefits to every corner of this continental country. Brazil became a country for everyone.

We are now beginning our fourth term with the same project. Yes, it is the same project, the result of inspiration and much collective struggle. This start of yet another cycle is marked by the conservative offensive, the worst in the history of the Republic.

What's new? Did we think that the Brazilian elite, fueled by a resurgence of right-wing mobilizations across the continent, would simply stand by and watch us succeed each other in the presidency, consolidating our project? Did we think that the responsibility for the stagnation of the economic growth cycle, intensified by the international crisis, would be attributed to the volatile and opportunistic international capitalist financial casino? That the elites who fight to maintain an archaic national state, carrying the remnants of a country that no longer exists, would be held responsible? Did we think that those who accuse us today, who are also the same ones building trenches against structural reforms, would be benevolent towards us? I repeat, what's new?

There's nothing new here, comrades. There are, however, mistakes in our political landscape. Never in our history have we so easily assimilated the opportunistic discourse of a coup-plotting right wing, and never have we been so paralyzed.

Our project built a Brazil of equal opportunities, and we are on the path to definitively overcoming inequality. Our project put Brazil on its feet before the world, creating a new political and economic geography for South America, Africa became a priority in international relations, and we diversified our trade. Brazil definitively broke free from its dependence on the North. Our project faced the worst global economic crisis, allowing Brazil to grow responsibly.

Now we want more.

Let's adjust our economy so that we can continue growing with social justice. Let's implement economic measures now so that we can increasingly provide guarantees to investors, attract investment to our infrastructure and production, generating more jobs and opportunities. It's time for our country to consolidate its development in a homogeneous way, overcoming regional inequalities. We have a lot of room to grow by fostering our exports and our domestic market.

Those who have brought Brazil safely to this point, preventing the international crisis from penalizing our business owners, entrepreneurs, and especially our workers, will know how to lead Brazil safely to an even more promising future.

But our project goes beyond the economic agenda. Only we can lead the battle for true political and electoral reform. Only we can call for a mobilization for tax and fiscal reform that reduces the burden on the poorest, only we can, historically, be at the forefront of a project for a Brazil that grows sustainably, without exploitation of workers and destruction of natural resources, only we can articulate a political field that does not allow setbacks in civil and citizen rights.

Without the PT (Workers' Party), there will be no strong left in Brazil, no progressive and transformative field. Without the PT, the excluded, the youth, Black people, women, Indigenous people, workers, and victims of prejudice will lose their most robust instrument in the fight for true equality.

Comrades: There are moments in history when doubt leads to defeat, and there are moments when retreat leads to annihilation. It is time to "take our history into our own hands," and with certainty at the forefront, reinvigorate our dreams and go into political struggle.

We are who we are because we have history, we are who we are because we have the capacity to fight, we are who we are because we have the intelligence and wisdom of those who were born and raised in adversity, we are who we are because we never gave up. We are who we are because we learned to persevere, and it was through perseverance that we transformed Brazil.

On to victory!