Parliamentary Front in defense of national sovereignty

In the National Congress, inspired by Congressman Patrus Ananias and with the support of a group of senators, including Roberto Requião and Lindberg Farias, a supra-partisan parliamentary front is being organized in defense of national sovereignty. Perhaps never in republican history has such an initiative been more timely. The sovereignty of the Brazilian state is at risk given the ongoing program of unparalleled denationalization, which is even attacking some historical icons of the national economy, such as Petrobras.

In the avalanche of recent initiatives by the Temer government, it is clear that a program to dismantle the public sector and what remains of the national private sector is underway. Society has neither the time nor the information regarding this alienating process, since the mainstream media, which shapes public opinion, is literally sold to the financial system, which is the main beneficiary of the privatization scheme. The ultimate goal is to sell off public assets at rock-bottom prices to make room for the private sector, especially the international sector.

The vultures of the financial system profit from intermediation. They are not interested in buying state-owned and private national companies to maintain jobs and generate technology. They only want to seize them for a pittance, to then resell them or, in the case of private companies, to close them down and transform them into local representations of major international brands. This is happening right under the nose of Brazilian society with the encouragement of the government, which is showing itself to be entirely sold out to privatization.

The Parliamentary Front should be a platform for denouncing this situation, informing the people, and educating them about what is happening. It will only be meaningful if it has a real capacity for mobilization. Its creators do not want to see it limited to the National Congress. The debate on the defense of sovereignty must be taken to the general public in order to enable some form of popular mobilization that can withstand the government's denationalizing zeal under effective pressure from public opinion.

It is noteworthy, by the way, that there is a lack of dissemination of information about the dismantling of Petrobras. The company, the largest in Brazil and Latin America, is being divided into pieces for the purpose of piecemeal privatization. This is a crime against national sovereignty, considering that Petrobras is a fundamental piece in the Brazilian energy structure. It should be strengthened and maintained as an instrument for job creation, investment, and technology. In this sense, it is the most strategic of our companies, and yet it is being dismantled.

In the case of what remains of national companies, after the privatization frenzy that began during the Collor administration but has intensified now, the immediate threat is to eliminate the national content law, which safeguards a space for development for the capital goods industry. Along the same lines, the privatizing leadership of the BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank) wants to eliminate the TJLP (Long-Term Interest Rate), which is the only long-term financing scheme in the Brazilian economy. The privatization wave is also expressed in PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships), which only exist if they depend on public money.

It is hoped that the Parliamentary Front will awaken the national business community from its cowardice, forging a potential alliance with the working class and university institutions that develop technology for business use. Without this, the Government will not back down from its alienating purpose, which translates into true crimes against the nation. In this regard, Senator Roberto Requião believes that a clear warning should be issued: there will be no legal security for the traitors of the nation and their buyers. The theft will be reversed when the people regain power.