Lula was not invited to walk with Mandela.

On Thursday, July 23, the governor of Maranhão, Flávio Dino, affiliated with the PCdoB, published an article in the newspaper O Globo entitled Walking with MandelaIn this text, Dino argues that it is fundamental to defend democracy from Jair Bolsonaro's authoritarian outbursts. He then calls on "Lula supporters, labor activists, socialists, communists, greens, social democrats" to unite and fight together because they all have "a great role" to play.

In his article, Flávio Dino raises the real possibility of a second term for Jair Bolsonaro. Recent polls indicate that this hypothesis is not as unrealistic as sectors of the left would like to believe. For Dino, a second term for Bolsonaro would tend to "foster a feeling of approval and induce even greater audacity on the part" of his despotic mind. I believe he is right in this analysis. Backed by the approval of a second term and allied with and supported by the most crude wings of the Brazilian armed forces, Bolsonaro could advance his dictatorial project.

Flávio Dino calls on the center and the left to unite because “political democracy, workers' rights, and freedom of expression are threatened by violence, threats, and manipulation, such as that promoted by the 'hate cabinet'”. According to him, this union will only be possible if the opposition political forces free themselves from the past. “It's time to look to the future,” urges the governor of Maranhão. He is right on this point. Dino cites the example of Nelson Mandela, who fought against… apartheid Uniting the center and the left, he emphasizes the importance of reaching the center of the political spectrum and unifying the left. To achieve this goal, he states that "programmatic adjustments" are essential. He calls on progressives to look to the future and overcome their disputes, which "revolve more around past events than proposals for the future." I also agree with him on this point, as I have already indicated in... columns above.

Flávio Dino's article lacks clarity regarding his proposal. We don't know if his intention is to defeat Bolsonaro – and for what purpose – or to defend democracy. interview on the Boa Noite 247 program, given on the night his column was published in O Globo, when asked about the status of the lawsuit... lawfare Regarding the case of which former President Lula was a victim, Dino equivocated. He stated that he is in favor of annulling the proceedings against the former president, but did not clarify whether he is against Lava Jato. He went on to say that among those with whom he wants to build alliances, there are those who are not in favor of annulling these proceedings and that this issue would be a factor of discord that could prevent the construction of a broad range of alliances and, therefore, this topic should be excluded from the alliance negotiations. Would this proposed alliance be against Bolsonaro only, or in defense of democracy? If it is in defense of democracy, fighting for the annulment of Lava Jato is an element that must be prioritized, without which it is not possible to build a strong democracy in Brazil. Dino was a federal judge and knows that one of the most pressing issues in a process of democratization in Brazil is to re-discuss the entire Brazilian legal system. Furthermore, if Dino intends to rally the "Lula supporters" as he wrote in his article, he needs to make the Lava Jato investigation a fundamental element in consolidating the umbrella alliance. 

To seek an agreement with a ruling class that supported and sponsored the lawfare Responsible for the imprisonment of those who were not formally charged, for the deindustrialization of Brazil, for attacks on workers' rights, for unemployment, for the increase in hunger and poverty, for the transformation of Brazil into a neocolony, and for bringing a genocidal project to power without establishing a minimum standard for the agreement, is to legitimize the classist project of Brazil's submission to imperialism. 

I'm curious to know if O Globo would have published the article if Dino had criticized Lava Jato and Sérgio Moro, as well as defended the annulment of the proceedings against Lula and important PT leaders, and advocated for Bolsonaro's removal from office.

With all due respect to the differences in scale, what Flávio Dino is proposing is as if, at the end of World War II, the German right wing proposed to unify and pacify Germany without judging and condemning all Nazi war criminals (not all were judged, and history has shown that post-war German governments used many Nazi criminals in their ranks to fight for "freedom," against communism, with the approval of the US and England).

Dino published his column in the newspaper O Globo, an organ of the industrial press that has been campaigning to attract the right wing of the PT (Workers' Party) and isolate important party leaders such as José Dirceu, Gleise Hoffmann, and, above all, Lula. This strategy also seeks to build a certain acceptance of the PT among its conservative readers, on the condition that the party agrees to disconnect or isolate those whom the Globo Organizations consider to be its rotten core, that is, its most representative leaders.

The article in question becomes a piece of propaganda in the hands of this unscrupulous ruling class that staged a coup against democracy. By publishing articles about Flávio Dino and other opposition political figures, O Globo is refurbishing its own image, posing as a democratic media outlet where the left has a voice. At the same time, it sets the agenda for the opposition to Bolsonaro and repositions itself on the political chessboard in order to, once again, change things to maintain the status quo. This article is yet another move by the Globo Organizations to isolate the left from the PT and favor the continuation of neoliberal economic policies that significantly increase the exploitation of Brazilian workers and the concentration of income in our already unequal country, condemning Brazil to occupy a peripheral position in the world capitalist order.

Flávio Dino advocates for a very broad alliance, but he forgot to define its purpose and what it defends. He vaguely speaks of defending democracy from Bolsonaro's authoritarian outbursts. For a communist, conducting a political analysis by personalizing the discussion around the actions of an individual, without analyzing the historical subjects whose interests this individual seeks to personify and consolidate, is a methodological error. It is not credible that he thinks that removing Bolsonaro will magically redemocratize Brazil. Bolsonaro is responsible for implementing public and economic policies and measures that favor the class segments whose interests he represents. Removing Bolsonaro and leaving Paulo Guedes is a relatively insignificant change.

The PT (Workers' Party) and Lula never refused to form alliances, as long as they were guided by clear objectives, as long as they defended the "Out with Bolsonaro" movement and the interests of the workers and the Brazilian people. The governments of Lula and Dilma demonstrated this capacity for alliances, sometimes even excessive, that has characterized the PT since the 2000s.

Not reviewing all actions of Lava Jato is to accept the lawfare To accept and legitimize consensual legal practice is to accept interference from the U.S. State Department in Brazil's internal affairs; it is to allow our economic and foreign policies to be planned in Washington and implemented and executed by the puppets that the U.S. government places in strategic political positions within the Brazilian government. Democracy and lawfare These are contradictions in terms, and it is not possible for the two to coexist in the same political regime.

A broad umbrella front is needed not only to overthrow Bolsonaro, but also to establish a popular, nationalist, and sovereign national project. For this to happen, it is essential to invite Lula and the left wing of the PT to walk alongside Mandela.