The unquestionable leadership of José Dirceu

When the opposition, colluding with sectors of the mainstream press and the judiciary, set the stage and the lights to justify the conviction of former minister José Dirceu, even without concrete evidence, they knew exactly what they were doing.

They were removing the country's most prominent political leader from the Workers' Party and attempting to fatally damage the image of former President Lula and his party. They were targeting not only the 2014 elections but also the future leadership of Brazil for decades to come.

The opposition's intention is clear: they want to destroy Lula's legacy, to return to power an elite that governs for the elites and no longer a government focused on defending the working class, its organization, awareness, and development. And, obviously, they intend to destroy everything that the awareness and organization of society spontaneously generate in benefits for the country.

Zé Dirceu's speech on Tuesday the 5th, to a warm audience of over 700 people in the Legislative Chamber, was calm and reflective. His voice had the tone of someone who doesn't need to shout or use catchy phrases to convince. At no point did he complain. His words were precise: he analyzed the past and the present, and predicted the future.

"The PT must prepare to wage a serious battle. We will have tough years ahead. The right wing is beginning to radicalize the political struggle in this country. The trial of case 470 on the eve of the second round of elections was not intended, in any way, to do justice but rather to undermine the PT's leadership, to put the leadership of our party on the line. This became very clear to me," said Dirceu.

I echo the words of my comrade Dirceu: discussing, disseminating, and propagating Lula's legacy throughout Brazil is one of our priority tasks today. This includes holding seminars to discuss the party's role and its program for the nation, along with a broad membership drive and training for its leaders. Its headquarters should be cultural spaces where the direction of the party, which today represents 25% of Brazilians, is discussed.

We all remember what it meant to be a member of the Workers' Party (PT) in the 1980s. We fought against the dictatorship, we broke down barriers of all kinds. The construction of the PT was democratic. The party broadened democracy, strengthened unions, popular participation, social control, and the participation of society in state bodies.

We held conferences throughout the country to discuss public policies on health, education, land rights, and equitable and just social development. When we came to power, we already had 20 years of contact with unions, universities, social movements, and society.

It was through these contacts that the PT (Workers' Party) built its program. Paraphrasing my comrade Zé Dirceu, I reaffirm: “We didn't invent a program to govern Brazil. It was forged with experience, sweat, and tears. We did this so that people from the working class could become deputies, senators, governors, and presidents of the republic. To prove that they could govern better than the dominant elites up to that point.”

Upon assuming office in January 2003, Lula said that we had to put the people within Brazil and Brazil within the world. And that happened. Today, more than ever, the Brazilian people are proud to be Brazilian. We took a great step towards growth while fighting social inequality and poverty. We grew and shared the pie. This was a political change and, above all, a cultural change.

We began to govern democratically. The State began to serve the people, public savings were directed towards the development of the country, and it began to finance infrastructure, agrarian reform, family farming, and housing for those who didn't even dare to dream of owning their own home.

These are all consequences of this cultural and political change, visible when comparing the indicators of the FHC and Lula governments. The unemployment rate fell from 10,5% to 4%; the minimum wage increased from US$56 to US$306; the number of formal jobs rose from 5 million to 17 million; our international reserves increased from 16 billion to 372 billion. Today's Brazil is clearly a different Brazil. 

What will be our biggest challenge for the coming years? Dirceu answers: to dialogue, to convince, to show the youth and society that we govern in favor of the majority of this country. To build a civic consciousness that supports these transformations. Our enemies are trying to dismantle what we have done. That is the main obstacle.

What the right wing wants is to convince society, through cultural apparatuses that don't show reality, especially the mainstream media, that we are a continuation of the FHC government. We have never been so different.

In short, the message from comrade Zé Dirceu, delivered with the tranquility of wise men and leaders, is that all the opposition's actions are aimed at preventing the continuation of the PT's project of change, supported by the Brazilian people. But the right wing won't get away with this. We, PT militants, social movements, and other progressive forces, are prepared to defend tooth and nail the course that Brazil has achieved.