Parallel government with Zé de Abreu: will we embrace this opportunity?

I'm provoking this by borrowing from Isaac Deutscher the idea of ​​"ironies of history": will Trump's circus in Venezuela, with Juan Guaidó's self-proclaimed presidency, produce a reverse reversal in Brazil?

The fact is Zé de Abreu (listen to his First official statement, on TV 247.This opens up possibilities that the contradictions of the Brazilian political system have prevented until now. Would Dória have been mayor of São Paulo, and later governor of the state, if Erundina had sided with Haddad in 2016? And in Rio, couldn't Freixo and Jandira have prevented Crivella, and later Witzel? And in 2018, couldn't the catastrophe have been avoided by a timely understanding between Ciro and Lula?

No, it wasn't possible, unfortunately it wasn't. The nature and compromises of the Brazilian political and party system prevented it. And then came the deluge. Now it's up to each of the actors in that impotence to assess their responsibility, but the problem runs deeper, it's systemic, rooted in the logic of the system.

But we need to move beyond crying over spilled milk.

Well, Zé de Abreu, a major figure in the cultural scene, didn't build himself up as a "condottieri," he never solicited votes, and his biography doesn't bind him to the need to navigate party structures or campaign in popular elections. His mission can end, and be grand, by enabling an electoral victory in 2022, for him or any leader from the democratic field against the forces of backwardness, with the maturation of a government program that can begin right now.

Of course, a Zé de Abreu government will not have the power to impose taxes, appoint, dismiss, issue Provisional Measures, and all that other things that only a government invested with constitutional power can do.

On the other hand, it can have the power to lead even the greatest political leaders, insofar as it demonstrates vision and the ability to articulate and create convergences in society. And we can achieve that.

Perhaps the first step should be within a Ministry of Communications, uniting the best progressive minds we have in communication in an integrated communication project with society, fully utilizing the communication infrastructures that already exist in unions, universities, civil society entities (OAB, CNBB, etc.), religions, etc., to reach families and individuals scattered throughout the territories. After all, opinions can no longer be won at the factory gates, as factories are disappearing, and with them the traditional structures of unions. On the other hand, building a collective intelligence in communication that utilizes existing channels, from community radio to union media and academic journals, can constitute a surprising power of social mobilization.

But that's not all. Let's imagine a Ministry of Agriculture that seeks to restore the international credibility indispensable to the resumption of our exports to China and that counters the justified ill will of Europe towards the official government's measures against the Amazon. A Ministry of Agriculture under José de Abreu could develop the capacity to mediate between the democratic sectors of society and agribusiness, which may already be realizing that it has gone too far in "getting used to it"... And this Ministry of Agriculture should seek to preserve our technological heritage, painstakingly built in 40 Embrapa research centers, without which there wouldn't even be Brazilian soybeans. Now, a stroke of the pen by these irresponsible lunatics, like those that have been detonating organizations such as Funai and Ibama, could destroy an Embrapa. And, if a unified voice in defense of Brazil doesn't rise up in time, we could be surprised by something like that at any moment…

And what about a Ministry of Justice that can counter Minister Moro's insane package in the eyes of the public, with a robust and convincing reform proposal that fully utilizes all the knowledge produced over decades in the Legislative, Judicial, university, and civil society organizations (for example, the Brazilian Forum on Public Security) for a truly democratic and just justice system? Tens of thousands of hours of excellent intellect have been spent on proposals for Judicial and Public Security Reform. Are we going to let this intellect evaporate? Clearly, we need leadership, with the status of a Minister, who may not have a budget (though they may have some resources raised from international sources), but who can possess the most fundamental ingredient: the power to catalyze processes. Yes, it's about applying the principle of Chaos Theory to Brazilian politics, the attractors that coagulate the forces of a system.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security is another urgent task force, to confront the euphemistic Social Security Reform, educating (again, the Ministry of Communications) and organizing resistance in society against this predatory attack on the rights of the most vulnerable sectors of society and the middle class. It is necessary to unite the forces of the vast ecosystem of institutions that are fragmented, each conducting its own small communication campaign to raise awareness among some social segment. Nothing more than articulation and coordination is needed, as technical intelligence has proven abundant (for those who doubt this, I suggest a look at Google or YouTube).

Likewise, the Ministry of Health is responsible for organizing the defense of the SUS (Unified Health System), but also for generating ways for communities to assume, where possible, roles in community self-management in health. Now, consider that it is a horizontal organization of nurses that has achieved market leadership in the Netherlands in the provision of "home care" services. Does this exclude the private sector? Not necessarily, it just becomes less totally dependent on the market. There is a precious asset of knowledge and human energy in the thousands of people who participated in the Municipal, State, and National Health Conferences since the creation of this system, which is a Brazilian original. It could collapse like a house of cards, having lost the articulation that was the role of the State. Let us recognize that it is possible to sustain this memory and the capacity for articulation, without the State, through the orchestration of processes that can happen in a network, in dozens of public universities, dozens of research institutes, and hundreds of collectives of public health professionals spread throughout the country.

What is needed, a pen? No, what is needed is to catalyze, signal, orchestrate, and build collective processes that fully utilize the vast asset that Brazil has developed in terms of people, who are currently discouraged and gradually losing perspective. It is about breathing life into these human contingents, which include thousands of PhDs, Masters, specialists, and managers. It is about management, for which there is no shortage of skills. Money? It can come, if people organize themselves to present projects: Open Society Foundation, Ford Foundation, European Union, JICA, etc…

And that brings us to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs: relations with governments may be more difficult, but international relations with development organizations, universities, and labor unions in North America, Europe, and Asia are entirely possible, and can even count on MRE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) personnel abroad. Now, ambassadors from a parallel government of Zé de Abreu, with the grace, humor, and informality that are in their DNA, can have a fluency abroad that official diplomacy cannot, and which takes advantage of the shock that we know exists throughout the world in relation to the misgovernment that is in place.

Here is the contribution of a self-proclaimed political scientist, which I am not, but hopefully many people will proclaim themselves as such so that together we can wrest our future from the hands of this coalition of militiamen with corrupt individuals, market fundamentalists, and imposters of religions that preach hatred instead of love.

Zé de Abreu is a gift, thanks to Guaidó. A countryman would say that the horse is passing by saddled at our door, and it's up to us to decide whether to jump on it or not. Jump, and fast. May this spread like wildfire through newsrooms, unions, university faculty associations, and social movements. We no longer have the right to hesitate. We must jump quickly.

After all, as another backwoodsman, Guimarães Rosa, said: frogs don't jump for beauty, but for necessity.