The dismantling of the national economy: much more than a farce.

The Americans spelled the expression lame duck (lame duck) to describe a president whose days in office are numbered and who remains there guarding the seat for his successor. With his power diminished, all that remains for him is to tidy up his drawers.

Typically, this void is observed between the elections and the inauguration of the new president, when the former incumbent sees the grass growing on the threshold of his office. It is also a period of vacuum, as the new president is, at the moment, merely a figurehead of power.

Michel Temer, our lame duck, however, arrived at the Presidency like a puppet, an actor without his own voice, trying to play a role written by the gods of the market. He has always been a pompous charlatan, a false jurist and false intellectual, without brilliance, without charisma, without leadership, without votes, an intruder rejected by public opinion, which dedicates contempt and rejection to him at levels never before seen.

Presidentialism, as we have practiced it since 1889, does not tolerate the absence of power, and today the current president is a mere nuisance – who, however, given the circumstances, and considering the expectations created by the elections next October, will need to continue pretending that he still presides over the Republic, conducting ceremonies and avoiding popular contact.

With four months to go before elections far from any resolution (when even the list of candidates is not defined, on the right or the left), and six months before the transfer of the office to which he illegitimately ascended, Michel Temer is a mere figurehead in the farce of the presidency he seized in 2016.

The play being forced upon us by an illegitimate government would be nothing more than a farce, staged and sung by minor actors, were it not for the fact that we are experiencing, almost without reaction, the planned dismantling of the national economy, the destruction of our sovereignty, the dismantling of public schools and universities, and within them, of science and technology, the restrictions on labor rights, deindustrialization and unemployment, the plundering of the State, the end of social protection—in short, a deliberate scorched-earth policy.

The duck remains lame, because it's lame, but the destruction of the country needs to be contained.

The government, in its death throes, is doubly illegitimate because it both stems from a fraud—the impeachment coup—and is implementing (under the control of the market and in alliance with a Congress nearing its end of term) an economic program rejected by the electorate in four successive presidential elections.

But, despite the president's irrelevance, the gang continues dismantling the economy. In the midst of a worsening internal crisis (political and economic), and deaf and blind to the announcements of the international crisis, they insist on privatizing Eletrobras and weakening public banks, starting with BNDES, our main development agency.

It is still too early to assess the full extent of the truckers' strike-lockout, but this near-insurrection should immediately serve as a testament to the incompatibility of neoliberalism with national interests.

Petrobras could be a good 'case study'.

In this regard, nothing is more exemplary than the administration of Dr. Pedro Parente, whose legacy, along with the depletion of Petrobras' assets, leaves untouched a pricing policy that increases internal production costs and consumer prices, causing unrest among a population of over two hundred million people, after penalizing two million truck drivers, both self-employed and salaried.

For the truckers' strike, which was victorious even from a political standpoint, regardless of its original objectives, the support of the population played a major role, as important as the logistics that supported the strike movement, offering paths and lessons for those who want to learn from the experience, which justifies the panic that gripped the Planalto Palace and its surroundings.

On the other hand, and only secondarily, the strike exposed the country's unsustainable dependence on road transport, with the disregard for modes such as rail and waterway networks after the destruction of coastal shipping and the shipbuilding industry in a country that has its main capitals, economic centers and population concentration on its coast (7.367 km) and no less than 30 km of navigable rivers.

But this is a topic that requires its own analysis.

A man of the so-called market, serving the market while he presided over Petrobras, Pedro Parente announces his resignation exactly in the middle of Friday's trading session, causing, as expected, and possibly as desired, a fall in shares on the São Paulo and New York stock exchanges, prompting speculators to buy at the artificial low to sell at the inevitable high in two or three days.

Petrobras' shares, as expected, plummeted to the point that trading was halted on the stock exchanges, while the dollar, also predicted, rose again. Ultimately, the company recorded a loss exceeding R$ 50 billion in market value.

But on the fourth of this month, to no one's surprise, the shares rose again, 8,42%, closing at R$ 17,58. Those who knew, or 'guessed', won. But these 'coincidences' are not exhausted.

On the same Friday that Parente left, while the oil company's shares fell 15%, BRF's shares rose 11%. The market explains: for months, the now former president of Petrobras has been expected to take over the leadership of BRF's board, replacing Abílio Diniz, and now there is speculation that, with a millionaire salary and without having to observe a quarantine period, he may actually assume the presidency of the conglomerate.

There is still no word from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the escapades of the highly praised manager.

The great, and perhaps only, alternative left to us under the circumstances – and the experience gained from the strike is available to everyone – is popular mobilization, firstly to contain the anti-national and anti-popular fury of the dying government and, secondly, to ensure the electoral process, without delays, without the power grabs that those in power always resort to when they see themselves on the verge of defeat.

Incidentally, President Cármen Lúcia's decision to set a date for the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to decide whether the political system can be changed by amendment, without popular consultation, contrary to all Brazilian republican constitutions and two plebiscites, cannot be considered a trivial matter. Coincidentally or not, Minister Gilmar Mendes, Temer's clown, has already presented to the Federal Senate, in his name and that of his boss, a reform project aimed at implementing what he calls 'semi-presidentialism'.

Both initiatives, whether coordinated or not, coincide with the worsening government crisis, which has so far manifested itself in the electoral failure of its prospective candidates.

For all the obvious reasons – once bitten, twice shy – it is necessary to maintain and strengthen popular mobilization, both by questioning the illegitimate government and by anticipating the electoral campaign, with candidates in the streets, and from the outset, guaranteeing the elections, to ensure that they will be held without coups or special treatment, whether legislative or judicial.

Miscellaneous notes:

1. At the evangelical march in São Paulo (May 31), three politicians were admitted and consecrated: Doria, Bolsonaro, and Márcio França.
2. When will we find out who ordered Marielle's murder? PSOL seems very quiet.