#Together with whom? For the union of those who truly believe in democracy.

Hello, comrades! How are you all? Here we are, in another week of the pandemic, where our dear governors have decided to ease restrictions on commerce amidst daily records of confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19. Worst of all, the contradictions of Brazilians don't stop there. The Brazilian left wants to ally itself with those who ousted democracy under the guise of defending it. Let's see.

You may have seen that last week some movements were launched on the internet, such as Estamos Juntos (We Are Together) and Somos 70% (We Are 70%), in opposition to the Jair Bolsonaro government. The main theme is the same: it is necessary to unite Brazilians, from different ideological backgrounds, against the current government, in the face of the current crises: health, economic and political. 

What was most successful was the "We Are Together" movement, which went viral on social media with the hashtag #juntos (together). Major media outlets gave publicity to the manifesto. On the movement's website, there is a text stating the objective of the demonstration. I will quote what I consider most important.

“We are many, we are together, and we form a broad and diverse, supra-partisan front that values ​​politics and works to ensure that society responds in a more mature, conscious, and effective way to the crimes and abuses of any government. [...] Left, center, and right united to defend the law, order, politics, ethics, families, the vote, science, truth, respect and appreciation of diversity, freedom of the press, the importance of art, the preservation of the environment, and responsibility in the economy. We defend a public administration that is reverent to the Constitution, bold in the fight against corruption and inequality, and truly committed to the education, security, and health of the population. We defend a more developed, happier, and fairer country.” 

Beautiful, isn't it? The movement has already received over sixteen hundred signatures. Among them, I highlight those of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, TV presenter and presidential candidate Luciano Huck, federal deputy Tábata Amaral, and others.

And on social media, I saw several people from the progressive camp applauding the idea and signing the manifesto. Frankly, I think it's a grave mistake for the Brazilian left to be associated with movements like this, or with these people. Defending democracy and institutions is extremely important, and we should indeed fight for it. But not alongside people who:

1 – They openly supported the impeachment of former President Dilma in 2016, without any crime of responsibility having been committed, causing a huge fracture in democracy;

2 – They favored imprisonment after conviction in the second instance with the sole objective of preventing the favorite in the 2018 election from participating, thus violating the Brazilian Constitution of 1988;

3 – Those who openly declared their vote for President Jair Bolsonaro or abstained from voting in the second round of elections;

4 – That they were completely in favor of the Spending Cap Amendment, the Labor Reform, and the Pension Reform, causing terrible damage to the working class and the national public service.

“Ah, Matheus, but this is a time for unity.” Yes! I agree! However, unity among those who have always believed in and defended democracy and the Constitution. We are in this scenario today because of the democratic rupture we experienced in 2016. Furthermore, many of us today accuse the politics of conciliation as one of the factors that led to the fall of the Workers' Party from power. If we are critical of this politics, why on earth would we go back to following it? The #juntos movement, for example, in its presentation, cites shallow, generic, and unobjective concepts. There is no mention of a defined project, which increases the insecurity of being part of the movement. It's impossible to know which paths the signatories will take politically.

Aligning with coup plotters will only strengthen them. In 2022, they will brazenly take to the podium claiming they "overthrew the corrupt left and the fascist right," positioning themselves as champions of morality, justice, and democracy. But when will they acknowledge the harm they caused by removing a democratically elected president?

We demand so much self-criticism from the PT (Workers' Party), so that there can be a renewal in the party and in the national progressive movement, and are we going to accept by our side those who don't have the courage to admit they were wrong in 2016 and 2018? What is the logic of such a movement? 

“Ah, Matheus! We have to unite against fascism!” Yes, my friend. However, we need to be with our own. With those who took to the streets in 2016 and 2018. Who led demonstrations, who confronted the coup plotters head-on, who opposed alliances with politicians and parties that ousted Dilma in the last elections. These are the people we need. 

“Oh, Matheus! We don’t have the strength for that!” And does the Centrão [center-right political bloc] have it? Does the so-called “democratic right” have it? No, friends! We don’t. What we need is to put forward a political project for debate. It’s about listening to the demands of the workers; understanding the change in the employer-employee relationship; listening to the aspirations of young people, adults, and the elderly; listening to the voices of the periphery, who suffer from poverty, lack of opportunities, and police violence; it’s about engaging in dialogue with intellectuals who think about the country, among so many other actors, actresses, and social groups. 

When this union has been formed, when we present a political project to debate with the population, then we will have a strong movement. What we have today is a narrative war, in which we lose because the other side has corporate funding and a flood of fake news. 

Joining forces with people who only defend democracy when it suits them demonstrates naiveté and desperation. It's like "sleeping with the enemy" again, as we did for 13 years. It's playing "Russian roulette" with our own fate and our future.