Left in the maze

The book by journalist Thais Oyama and the text by Professor Everton Rodrigo Santos are fundamental to understanding the ideology, objectives, and methods of Bolsonarism. Yes, Bolsonarism has an ideology, objectives, and a method.

The ideology of Bolsonarism is that of the Superior War College. Founded in 1949, the ESG is a Institute for Advanced Studies in Politics, Defense and Strategy, a member of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense. 

According to Professor Everton Rodrigo Santos, PhD in Political Science from UFRGS, ESG would be a "locus of production of symbolic forms of an ideological type, which from 1974 to 1989, during the transition to democracy in Brazil, served to “"to sustain lasting asymmetrical relations of domination between civilians and the military, thereby crystallizing its ideological character." 

Bolsonarism engages with ESG ideology and values: (a) the institutionalization of the national security state; (B) the existence of a repressive apparatus; (w) an economic development model for the country (At this point, there is a certain clash between the ideology of ESG, which is statist and developmentalist, and the model of Paulo Guedes, which is ultraliberal, privatizing, and focused on the financial market). 

All the military presidents, especially Geisel and Figueiredo, sought to legitimize the successions of governments as a continuation of the "revolution of 64" (a euphemism for the 64 hit); the project was the "institutionalization of the revolution", that is, to incorporate the institutional acts of the Constitution"revolution", “reinforcing asymmetrical power relations".  

The ideology of Bolsonarism finds its ideological basis in the ESG (Superior War College), seeking to legitimize the 1964 coup, the authoritarian regime, and all the violence and crimes committed during that period. 

For its part, the ESG (Superior War College) was instrumental in the psychosocial strategy of the authoritarian regime, as it aimed to influence the mentality of citizens, seeking to make them internalize values ​​and ideas that legitimized the regime's actions, strategies, politics, military and economic policies; in turn, Bolsonarism, supported by historical revisionism, leveraged by the factory of... fake news And through social media, he found an army of people who had internalized the authoritarian values ​​that guided the governments from 1964 to 1985.

All Bolsonarism needed was a banner and an enemy, elements necessary for unifying its actions. The banner is that of morality and the fight against corruption, and the enemy is communism, the PT (Workers' Party), and President Lula. If during the military dictatorship the internal enemy, identified at the ESG (Superior War College), was international communism, whose objective was the destruction of Western culture and civilization, today the internal enemy has returned to being communism, the PT, President Lula, and all those who oppose the authoritarian values ​​of Bolsonarism. 

Professor Everton Rodrigo Santos transcribes excerpts from ESG documents that are self-explanatory:If today the international communism and anarchism They are at the gates of our citadels; we must rise up against them."; "The Brazilian family, through its women, held public protest marches, and finally, the redeeming revolution came."; "Everything was heading towards the abyss. National collapse was imminent. The people began to feel it, and from that feeling, rumors reached the Armed Forces. There was a need for a reaction, which occurred on March 31, 1964.""A Revolution of March 31, 1964, Without a doubt, it was one of the most important events in our history in this half of the 20th century, (...) it safeguarded order and social peace, while at the same time guiding the behavior of politicians who lived according to their personal interests.".

Bolsonarism uses the same rhetoric as in 1964, the same methods. Bolsonaro represents a far-right power project, with no commitment to democracy, institutions, or the population. We cannot forget that at a dinner with representatives of the far-right in the United States, Bolsonaro admitted that he came to power to carry out a project of national demolition and destruction, in his words: "Brazil is not an open field where we will build things for our people. We have to deconstruct a lot of things."At the same dinner, he stated that Brazil was heading towards communism." 

Bolsonaro does what he wants, says what he wants, encourages anti-democratic demonstrations, and nothing happens; there is no valid reaction from democratic sectors, much less from the left. The left is lost in the labyrinth of institutionalism, has distanced itself from the population, and, as I have already written here on 247, its members are extremely worried about the next elections.

What to do? What should the left propose and lead?

First and foremost, it is up to the PT, PDT, PSOL, MST, PSB, PSDB, DEM, MDB, FIESP, CUT, CGT, FEBRABAN, OAB, ABI, AJUFE, AJD, the Armed Forces, and so many other democratic forces from left to right, to sit at the same table and propose a path of unity that guarantees institutional peace for the country. Today, institutional peace and social and economic development depend on the removal of President Jair Bolsonaro.

After that, each one goes their own way, seeking to assert their ideology within the rules of the democratic game.

In the words of Roberto Mangabeira Unger, we have to seize the moment, because the “Crises raise the temperature of politics and help to melt frozen definitions (...). Deprived of the help of the crisis, the left seems condemned to a holding pattern (...)”. We cannot remain in this labyrinth, we cannot wait, and the "bill" cannot be the next elections, but the democratic project of the nation.