The fascism that inhabits Brazil

By Jeferson Miola, for 247                        

Lula's epic victory on October 30th did not eradicate the fascism that inhabits Brazil. It would be very naive, in fact, to expect some magical and instantaneous solution to such a complex challenge with deep historical roots.

Fascism has been present in Brazil for ancient times; it found fertile ground and easily took root through a racist, slave-owning, patriarchal, and brutal elite like the Brazilian one.

In times like the present, of acute distributive conflict, the "drastic" capitalist solution of fascism is always a "temptation" considered by a dominant oligarchy that is not very fond of democracy, but very attached to the indomitable and pornographic desire for accumulation – as evidenced by the uproar surrounding the Bolsa Família amendment.

This explains why sectors of big capital, beneficiaries of the fascist-Bolsonarist plunder, only belatedly decided to embark on the "Noah's Ark" of democracy symbolized by the Lula/Alckmin candidacy.

Lula, the Workers' Party (PT), and the left are equivalent to the Jews, the Gypsies, the communists, and the gays of Nazi Germany in the 1930s; they are the enemies that need to be exterminated.

The fascists who are terrorizing the country were already among us; they pre-existed in a latent form long before assuming their current organic and militant form, which is aggressive and radicalized.

The fascists have been here for a long time; they are not extraterrestrial beings. They frequent and share the same social, family, school, and professional environments as us.

Fascism is deeply entrenched in Brazilian society. And it has agents infiltrated within state institutions – the Attorney General's Office, Public Prosecutor's Offices, Federal Police, Federal Highway Police, military police, Armed Forces, judiciary, federal universities, etc.

Moro and Dallagnol, as well as other judges, prosecutors, police officers, tax inspectors, and appeals court justices, are notorious examples of the militant actions of fascist agents who instrumentalize their public positions to impose the far-right's power project.

Bolsonaro is a vector of fascism; he gave voice and representation to the resentful and bitter. By "opening the sewer lid," Bolsonaro unleashed into the public arena this energy that had previously been contained in the underground of digital platforms. There is still no easy formula to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

Bolsonarism, the hegemonic fascist faction in Brazil, has a charismatic, militia-linked, militaristic leader connected to religious fanaticism, and enjoys the support of broad popular masses, not just middle-class sectors.

In recent weeks, fascist violence has intensified against voters, Lula supporters, and against journalists, artists, politicians, judges, and ministers of the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) and STF (Supreme Federal Court) who do not endorse the anti-democratic and criminal practices of the fascist hordes. Actions by armed Bolsonaro supporters have also begun to emerge, foreshadowing the formation of fascist militias.

As long as these fascist atrocities are not exemplarily punished according to the law and their perpetrators are not arrested, fascist vandalism and violence are bound to escalate.

From January 1st onwards, Bolsonaro's supporters will no longer be able to use the powerful government machine through which they advanced the construction of a reactionary, archaic, and authoritarian power project, with a view to a fascist counter-revolution.

This is great news for the survival of Brazil's faltering democracy. Had the military government been re-elected, Brazil would already be plunged into darkness.

It is predictable that since Lula's victory, Bolsonaro has become politically depleted. The acts of violence and fascist terror perpetrated by Bolsonaro's supporters must have scared away a significant portion of the 58 million non-Bolsonaro voters [many of them anti-PT] who voted for him.

Nevertheless, Bolsonarism remains the main faction of the Brazilian far-right and also a strategically important link in the international extremist and fascist machinery.

Bolsonaro's leadership capacity in the coming period will depend, however, on overcoming numerous obstacles he will face in the criminal sphere. Regardless of this, however, Bolsonarism is expected to mount a combative and destructive opposition to the Lula/Alckmin government.

Fascism remains alive, engaged, combative, armed, and defying the rule of law.

The commitment to containing fascism will be an ongoing task, requiring years of coordinated effort from Brazilian society, extending beyond a four-year government term, to de-fascistize Brazil in a manner similar to the denazification process undertaken by post-Nazi Germany.