Government is 'military force plus financial system', says Gilberto Carvalho

Vitor Nuzzi, from Rebuildables - "Those in government are the military," said former minister Gilberto Carvalho today (17), during an event held in São Paulo. "The military force plus the financial system will be calling the shots," he added, also speaking of a change of methods – of the trade union movement and the left – and of joining forces. "We will have to unite a lot. The worst thing we can do now is underestimate what is happening," said Carvalho, referring to aspects of the current administration that, according to him, may divert attention from measures that are being and will be implemented.

The end of the Ministry of Labor and the transfer of the field of union registration to the Ministry of Justice – namely Sergio Moro – is, according to the former minister in the Lula and Dilma governments, a harbinger of "persecution and criminalization" of union entities. "It was precisely the criminalization that prevented us from winning the election," he added, citing the imprisonment of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Carvalho also argued that the movements should rethink their strategies. "We have to review our working methods," he commented, suggesting that the use of leaflets and sound trucks is no longer as effective as before. "Our forms of communication have to be revolutionized. Let's have the courage to review our methods. I belong to a party that has to review its methods," the Workers' Party member added.

But he also predicts a decline in the Bolsonaro government. "This idol, if he has a head of gold, has feet of clay," he stated.

The former minister attended the opening of a photographic exhibition commemorating the 86th anniversary of the São Paulo Metalworkers Union (Força Sindical), in the Liberdade neighborhood, in the central region of the capital. Leaders from various labor unions participated, including the president of the National Confederation of Metalworkers of the CUT, Paulo Cayres. Several representatives of the former São Paulo metalworkers' opposition were also present.

The opening of the exhibition, which runs until February 15, coincided with the date of the assassination of metalworker Manoel Fiel Filho at the DOI-Codi in 1976. There are also references to Santo Dias da Silva, who was killed during a picket line at a factory during the 1979 strike.

"The attack on workers' rights was brutal last year. And everything indicates that it will be worse from now on," stated Miguel Torres, president of the Metalworkers' Union and the Força Sindical labor federation. According to him, the government's objective is to "end" the labor movement, the only one that can resist attacks against social rights in an organized way.