The people are victims and not responsible for the misfortunes they suffer.

We are living through a desperate phase of our existence as a society. While we notice that the working people are being exploited with increasing violence and intensity every day, we also realize that a large part of these same people act as political support for those who are truly responsible for their exploitation.

Upon learning of the new leadership composition of both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, we are astonished to find ourselves confronted with the macabre configuration that has brought together the worst elements to occupy positions where the best should be present. It is appalling to realize that, at the same time as voting for Lula for president of the nation, the Brazilian people chose to elect the most reactionary parliament in our entire post-military dictatorship history. How can we accept that those who handed over the leadership of the nation to someone openly aligned with popular expectations also chose to occupy the legislative bodies a majority of visceral enemies of everything concerning the interests of the workers?

One of the first impulses we are compelled to express is enormous anger and indignation at the lack of awareness and understanding on the part of some who, even while being among the main victims of the ruling classes, continue to serve as pawns for the monstrous interests reflected in Nazism-Bolsonarism-Neo-Pentecostalism, neoliberalism, and large financial and agro-export capital in general.

But it is important to recognize that this initial motivation stems much more from a lack of responsibility on the part of those of us who consider ourselves agents of the left-wing political forces involved in structural transformations than from any fault of our humble people. And this opinion does not derive from any false modesty, but rather from a realistic assessment of the role we play in the struggles of the working majorities.

However, our most vulnerable people are doubly victimized by this monstrous scheme which, in addition to sucking the blood of its prey, manages to manipulate their weaknesses to induce them to act in favor of their own tormentors.

A well-informed and intellectually well-educated left should never fail to understand the vulnerable state of our popular masses. It is unacceptable that we do not understand that their lack of critical capacity is due to the circumstances of the immense social isolation in which the people of our peripheries survive.

We cannot claim to be the political vanguard of the working class without first assimilating the conviction that life in society is the only means by which human groups can acquire awareness of their true dimension in interaction with the rest of their fellow beings. How can we expect those who have long been abandoned to their fate to develop their critical capacity to the point of clearly distinguishing who faithfully expresses their class interests?

Therefore, instead of directing our astonishment at the poor who are swayed by the appeals of Nazism-Bolsonarism-Neo-Pentecostalism, we should ask ourselves: Why do we leave this entire significant population of humble and needy extraction completely at the mercy of the most hardened enemies of popular causes? Why are we not alongside these people, sharing their daily lives, seeking to make them reflect on their own difficulties? If the forces of the far-right Nazi-Bolsonarist-Neo-Pentecostal movement are willing to carry out their diabolical work of deforming our people, why don't we dedicate ourselves to educating them in pursuit of their true objectives and needs?

What I mean by what I have just expressed is that the main factor that allows us to have a significant number of humble and hardworking people supporting the most nefarious representatives of capitalist evil is our absence, our non-presence alongside those who most depend on and need our help to escape the world of darkness into which they have been cast. We cannot and should not blame the victims for the crime being committed against them.

However, we shouldn't nurture the illusion that simply returning to our people in their workplaces and homes will quickly make everything work as we would like it to. Certainly, we cannot expect everything to be resolved with a wave of a magic wand! This will be a laborious and long-term task.

As we know, it is much easier to destroy than to build. Consequently, construction tasks are invariably much more time-consuming and require far more dedication and tenacity. In turn, reconstruction tasks, as a rule, tend to be even more arduous, since they also need to overcome the resistance that arose and developed in previous failed attempts at building.

Therefore, we are faced with an immense task that will demand our complete dedication and must absorb all our attention and energy. Only by being imbued with confidence in the grandeur of our cause and our commitment will we be able to overcome the obstacles we will have to confront. It is something that requires, above all, the conviction that the struggle in favor of the working people is the most valuable thing in the life of a revolutionary.

And speaking of a true popular revolution, this will only be real if it is carried out actively and consciously by the working masses themselves. Our intention, consciously or unconsciously, should never aim to eliminate the active role of the people in building a new, more just and equitable world.