A victory for the nation over the coup regime: the battle for Eletrobras.

247 "It was past 23 pm on Tuesday, June 10th, when, during a session of the Chamber of Deputies, the president of the house, Rodrigo Maia DEM/RJ, addressing Deputy Orlando Silva PCdoB/SP, announced that Bill 9463/2018, concerning the privatization of Eletrobras, would not be voted on that year," recalls engineer Ikaro Chaves, union leader of the Union of Urban Workers of the Federal District (STIU-DF).

Maia said the proposal will not be voted on this year. "There was the consecration of a victory for Brazilians in the midst of a dark era, and it may well be the harbinger of a turning point in the national situation," says Chaves.

According to the engineer, "it was up to the electrical workers and their representative organizations to organize the resistance. Because it was an unequal struggle between a relatively small category and a government that had not lost a single vote in Congress until then, allied with capital and the media oligopoly, the chosen path was to bring together the broadest possible sectors, not restricting itself to the left, which at that time had less than 100 votes in the Chamber of Deputies."

"Persistent and competent work in parliamentary coordination, great care with the legal front, and the category's engagement in the battle of communication, primarily using social media, formed the three pillars of the struggle," he says. "It soon became clear that the privatization of the largest electricity company in Latin America would not be the walk in the park that the Temer government imagined. In the debates held in Congress, it became evident that it was nothing more than a big deal, which would bring no benefit to the population; on the contrary, it would only lead to further increases in consumers' electricity bills, in addition to compromising the country's energy security and national sovereignty itself," he adds.

According to Chaves, "by showing that the cost of privatization would fall on the consumer and that any parliamentarian who supported privatization would be voting for an increase in electricity bills, we managed to win the people over to our side, a fact confirmed by research institutes that showed a rejection of privatization by up to 70% of people."

"With just over two months to go before the October elections, one thing is certain: the Temer government has completely lost its validity, proving incapable of completing its own dismantling agenda, but at this point, that's irrelevant. The fundamental question now is whether only the government will be defeated in the elections, or whether its project, championed by several right-wing and far-right candidates, will also be."