For Dilma, the country has 'three knots' to untie: the media, the financial sector, and oil.

By Vitor Nuzzi, Current Brazil Network - After identifying laws 13.467 (labor "reform", "the saddest moment of the agenda") and 13.429 (unlimited outsourcing) as the main defeats imposed on workers, former President Dilma Rousseff considered the impeachment politically a failure, for not having continuity from an electoral point of view and for not having managed to "destroy" her adversaries, such as the PT, herself, former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the trade union movement. "I think the coup is a political failure," she said, during a visit to the Bank Workers Union of São Paulo, Osasco and Region, in the central region of the capital of São Paulo, on the evening of this Thursday (14).

Dilma opened a series of debates at the organization, with former Minister of Social Security Carlos Gabas as the first presenter. "Two worldviews will polarize the electoral contest: one that promotes barbarity by focusing solely on speculative capital to the detriment of people's well-being, and another that defends humanity, freedoms, and the achievements of the people," said Gabas. Also present were former Minister Eleonora Menicucci, of the Secretariat for Policies for Women, and São Paulo city councilman and former senator Eduardo Suplicy.

According to the former president, the country has "three knots" to untie: the concentration of the media and the financial sector, as well as the oil strategy. She includes the attempt to reduce the bank spread as one of the factors contributing to its downfall.

Dilma stated that the "coup-plotting party" has no candidate. Furthermore, it managed to bring back "the box of monsters, which is the far-right," a segment that occupies a part of the conservative space. But "they couldn't destroy us," she added, referring to "Lulopetismo" (the political movement associated with Lula and the Workers' Party) and reminding everyone that the battles will continue. "We only have one way out: to fight and resist."

Lava Jato and institutions

Referring to so-called lawfare, "the use of law as a way to destroy the enemy," she said she considered Operation Lava Jato absurd in relation to the former president. The "third phase of the coup," as she put it, was Lula's imprisonment. "This process is ongoing." But Dilma added that, even so, it increased his popularity and reduced his disapproval rating. She also considered the recent truckers' movement a "powerful moment": "Not because of what they express in their ideology, but because they suffer, like all workers, and they demonstrated."

According to the former president, in addition to attacking the law, the coup destroyed institutions. "The barbarity lies in not recognizing that politics is important, that democracy is possible without parties, without political leadership, without community, union, and women's initiatives," she said, referring to the topic of the debate. "We cannot think it's okay to hand over Embraer to Boeing, which is Embraer's biggest competitor. We cannot think it's okay that they destroy the national state," she stated.

After the coup in 2016, when "we were being stoned," Dilma believes that "we have already turned things around a bit." For her, after the elections it may be necessary to convene a constituent assembly "or a very tough process within the next parliament." The election, she added, should demonstrate the capacity for resistance. "I'm betting all my chips, I'd put my hand in the fire for us. We were never the intolerant ones, those who spewed hatred, who created confrontation, conflict, and fighting."

Dilma considers it "extremely difficult" that there will be no elections this year, as some fear. "They would have a greater problem of legality and legitimacy than they have today, and look, they already have a huge problem," she commented. The former president said she has "no intention" of returning to the presidency, but reiterated that "annulling the impeachment is a historical imperative."

She also refuted what she cited as a neoliberal thesis, "a characteristic of Aécio Neves," which is the so-called management shock. "If I have a single conclusion, after having been Chief of Staff to President Lula and my years as president, there is only one conclusion, which is absolutely ingrained in me: it is not possible to do more with less just because of management. It's a lie," Dilma stated. "Managing better is not about alchemy and magic, it's about spending public money correctly, honestly, and transparently. Managing better doesn't perform the miracle of loaves and fishes. This is one of the biggest, since the word is fashionable, fake news I've ever seen."

A proponent of tax reform, she expressed support for the CPMF (a tax on financial transactions) and taxation on dividends, inheritances, and large fortunes. She also noted, in comparison to the "Tucano pilot plans" (referring to the PSDB party's previous policies), that "we never created social programs for 100 people, but for millions." However, she spoke of a "new stage" in this area: "This is income. We have to take a further step. We will have to redistribute wealth."

After Gabas, who will be running for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, former Petrobras president José Sergio Gabrielli is expected to participate in the debate series. "We will demonstrate that Brazil can and should continue with the economic growth and social inclusion policies initiated by President Lula," stated the former Minister of Social Security.