The last days of
September 28, 1992
BRAZIL and among the friends of the president has not stopped growing: Pero Pablo Leoni, former Secretary of Strategic Affairs, is mixed up in the scandal of the state oil firm Petrobras; Jorge Fuiza, current minister of Social Affairs, received 100,000 dollars from the Brazilian Federation of Banks as a personal dona-
THE findings of the parliamentary commission of inquiry (PCI) clearly show that Brazilian president Fernando Collor, elected in 1990 on an "anti-establishment", Mr. Clean ticket, benefited directly from the network of corruption set up by his former campaign treasurer, influential businessman Paulo Cesar Farias. With the release of the PCI's report and the beginning of Collor's trial, the president's resignation seems imminent.
tion to his electoral campaign; former presidential secretary Claudio Vieira is accused of having used confidential information to buy foreign debt bonds. Collor's own wife, former president of the Brazilian Legion of Aid (LBA), had to leave her post after the discovery of many irregularities recorded during her time in this organization. The list of examples could go on endlessly.
It is clear that this government is characterized by a long list of corrupt acti-
ALFONSO MORO — September 4, 1992
W HEN president Collor
appeared on television in early June - in an attempt to convince the population of his innocence — he had a Bible at his side. In so doing, he hoped the people would forgive him for the sins everyone knew he had committed: the acts of corruption, embezzlement and other crimes for which he is now being judged. Since then he has had further opportunities to explain himself on television; after each appearance he becomes even more unpopular than before. Indeed, a majority of Brazilians are now demanding his resignation.
### Moral foundations
Collor won the presidential elections of 1989, after a time as governor of the small and impoverished northeastern state of Alagos, with pledges to re-establish the moral foundations of society; he vowed to put an end to the mordomias (privileges) received by the marajas (the name given to public officials who enjoy significant financial and
At the same time he took aim at political parties in general, denouncing them as being responsible for the country's crisis. This approach fits in well with the neo-liberal trend sweeping the world which seeks to further distance people from political life
- a life characterized as dirty and meant only for the experienced.
In the second round of the presidential elections, only two candidates remained in the race — Collor and Luis Ignacio da Silva, popularly known as "Lula", president of the Workers' Party (PT)
and supported by the Brazilian People's
Front (FBP). Almost all the media and a big segment of the bourgeoisie supported Collor, unleashing an openly anti-communist campaign and covering up all the manoeuvres and corruption which are now coming to light.
Once in power, Collor governed the country in an authoritarian manner.
He implemented his austerity program on the population, focussing particularly on the unions, whom he accused of enjoying enormous privileges. With his intimate circle of friends, popularly known as the "Republic of Alagoas",
Collor put into place a system which confiscated people's savings and current accounts on deposit in the banks. At the same time he proposed to put an end to inflation in one fell swoop, which according to him required that everyone "tighten their belt".
A little less than two years later,
Brazil — devastated by a spiral of mounting hyper-inflation - is going through a deep economic recession.
The wealth of the country remains in the hands of a tiny privileged minority:
18% of the national wealth is concentrated in the hands of 1% of the population - one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world. At the same time, more than 18 billion dollars have been sent abroad to service the coun try's debt.
Meanwhile, the hunter of marajas showed immediately just how far his hypocritical moralizing could go.
Indeed, the corruption, influence peddling, and so on of which he is today accused are not only of his doing. Since of his mandate, the the beginning amount of corruption in the ministries vities of every kind, and Collor is in the driver's seat. This is why it is not sufficient that Collor alone resigns, and why his entire team should be condemned.
Of course, those same interest groups which before sang the praises of Collor the redeemer want to avoid such a condemnation at all costs.
Crisis of ruling order
Faced with these accusations of corruption, the political and social crisis of the Brazilian state and ruling order, which began with the end of the military dictatorship in 1984, deepens each day. We are witnessing a process of recomposition of the different social forces, whose end is far from sight. The government has lost all social legitimacy and even though the call for Collor's resignation is a correct democratic demand from an ethical point of view, it is the very model of society in the country that is at the heart of the current conflict.
The official media, the rightwing parties, the army and the bosses have demanded
"negotiated transition", in which Collor would be replaced by his vice-president Itamar Franco, former member of the Party of the Brazilian Democratic
Movement (PMDB). This would allow the continued implementation of the neo-liberal economic and social program which has already inflicted severe damage on the population since 1990.
Such an end to the current conflict, though certain not to resolve the crisis of legitimacy of the state and the regi-
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Mr. Clean?
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3
International Viewpoint # 235 • September 28, 1992
BRAZIL / FRANCE me, would produce a Collor government, without Collor.
### Explosion of scandal
It is no accident that in response to the explosion of the scandal people like the current minister of the economy, Marcilio Marques Moreira, have gone to great lengths - inside and outside the country — to insist that the economic program of the government will not change, even without Collor. In so doing, he hopes to calm the nerves of international creditors, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the Brazilian ruling class.
Everyone is now desperately trying to save their skin. Leonel Brizola, central leader of the Democratic Workers Party
(PDT) and current governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, has always held to a populist line. For some time he has been an open supporter of Collor; accordingly at the beginning of July — when proof against Collor came to light — he declared that the president was the victim of a conspiracy designed to overthrow him. In mid-August, after the demonstration of more than 150,000 people which took place in Rio de Janeiro with the slogan, among others, "the governor of Rio supports a thief" Brizola decided to change camps, hoping in this way to appear as a great defender of democracy.
We have seen the same kind of behaviour from the Liberal Front Party (PFL). It has 14% of parliamentary deputies, and has been the principal supporter of the government. Collor counted on this party to help him prevent the opening of a political trial against him, but they are now keeping their distance from him.
The press and media who had for the most part acted as propaganda agents for the government are also taking their distance, now presenting themselves as the defenders of morality and the ruling order. Papers like Folha de Sao Paulo and O Jornal do Brasil, like the television monopoly O Globo, have demanded that the whole affair be quickly settled and that, above all, the economic program applied until now should not be changed.
Role of Workers Party
The conclusions reached by the PCI cannot be explained without understanding the role played by the Workers Party. From the end of May 1992 onwards, the national executive of the PT was committed to calling for a natio4 a commission of inquiry. nal mobilization for the establishment of
They undertook political alliances with other parties, both in Parliament and in the streets. Once the PCI was designated, the PT organized the fight to ensure that the inquiry was not shut down, as was desired by those seeking to save the image of the principal defendant, president Collor.
At the beginning of July, the national leadership of the PT pledged its commitment to the struggle for Collor's
Meanwhile, inside the PT a debate took place with one side wanting to limit the political action of the party to the narrow confines of parliament - that is, defending the perspective of electoral struggle and preserving the alliance with other parties. On the other side were those who wanted to give priority to mass mobilization without abandoning the institutional terrain, arguing that, following the probable resignation of the president, Itamar
Franco's tenure in government should only be temporary so that early elections could be held.
Even if it is difficult to guarantee a real mass mobilization of the population, this second option is more correct
- even though we have yet to see the creation of a real organized movement. This is the great challenge facing the PT, the only political and social force capable of offering a genuine solution to the country's current crisis.
### Municipal elections
It should be recalled that the Collor affair is reaching its climax one month before the municipal elections, scheduled for October 1992.
Moreover, a referendum on the form of government desired by the Brazilian people is supposed to be organized for 1993. These two factors also justify the holding of early elections, all the more so since the government as such no longer exists, given its total loss of legiti-
The PT is today faced with a decisive test — the perspective of governmental power is once again on the agenda. This possibility, while it opens up a qualitatively different situation as much for Brazil as for the whole of Latin America, will not become a reality unless the actions of the PT remain clearly in the camp of radical and democratic opposition to Collor.
Above all, the majority of the population must find its voice in a conscious and organized movement - so that it is ready and able to defend a democratic and popular government. *
The mirage
of Maastricht
THE possibility of a "no"
vote in the French referendum on the
Maastricht Treaty on
European Unity on
September 20 has been widely given as one reason for the current financial crisis in Europe. But, as
Maxime Durand explains in the article below, the source of the economic disorder lies much deeper;