Biggest mass mobilization
The worst seen since the April savage.
1965 war, when the island was occupied in the country's history by 42,000 US troops, and 5,000 Domin-
This time, the masses icans were killed. showed that they are not ready to bow to the dictates of the IMT and the threats of an army and police orce controlled by the US. SAO PAULO - In November 1983, the Workers Party (PT) launchec the campaign for "Direct Elections Now!" Since then, especially in the weeks leading up to the April 25 vote in the Chamber of Deputies, it has New hotspot in the Caribbean mushroomed into a gigantic mass movement, which has already brought
In the wake of the first clashes, the or- 10 to 20 million Brazilians into the streets (see box).
mass mobilization in the history of Brazil and one of the largest that has ganizing process in the neighborhoods and in the unions and peasant gained new momentum. The mass organizations began to collaborate more closely. The MCI the peasant women's organizations joined the Coordinating Committee of Peasant Unions. And this time, unlike in the past, the Dominican Left Front (FID - Frente de Izquierda Dominicana) (2) was able to provide the initial, decisive elements of a leadership for the struggle of the exploited and oppressed. This is a key factor that will certainly be a major obstacle to any attempts by the populist sectors of the PRD, such as the wing led by Pena Gomez, the chairperson of the Second International, or by the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) of Juan Bosch.
Jorge Blanco's government is on the defensive politically. That is why it resorted to machine guns and open repression. The crisis of this regime will continue to deepen. However, precisely as a result of this, the government is stepping up the repression. Thus, on May 7, the security services, which work hand-inglove with the CIA, arrested about a hundred trade-union and left political leaders, including Rafael Taveras, a leader of the Bloque Socialista and the FID.
In order to understand the full importance of the struggles of the Dominican masses and the late April massacre, these events have to be put in their wider context. A gigantic confrontation between revolution and counterrevolution is developing throughout the Central American and Caribbean region, which is close to the heart of American imperialism, as well as close to Cuba. This gives a particular significance to the struggles in the Dominican Republic.
Support for the Dominican working people, for the political forces united in the FID, must become an integral part of the broad movement of solidarity with the Central American revolution. 2. The FID is a coalition of eight left organ. izations, including the pro-Soviet Dominican Communist Party: the Dominican Workers Party, which has pro-Chinese origins; and the comrades of the Bloque Socialista, an independent journal Ofensiva and plays a key role in the Marxist RUUU that publishes CGT and the MCI. 4 ever developed anywhere. Jakob STUDER
"Direct elections now!" means the right of the people to vote directly for the president this year, as opposed to the projected for January 1985. The junta's scheme calls for a College of Electors to of it has been so rigged that it is a foregone conclusion that it will choose a candidate of the military.
April 25 was the day that the Chamber of Deputies was to vote on the proposal to change the Constitution to institute majority was needed. The proposal fell just 22 votes short. But even if it had passed, it would have been defeated in the Senate, where there is a guaranteed government majority. So, the failure to go over the top in the Chamber of Deputies was only a partial setback. The dictatorship, in fact, seems on its last legs.
The explanation of this massive popular explosion is obvious. Throughout the twenty years the dictatorship has ruled the country, rage has been building up against oppression, the hopeless poverty facing millions of people, the continual economic disasters, such as an inflation rate of around 200 percent. For millions of people, the struggle for their daily bread is an hour-by-hour fight for
The limited demand for "Direct elections now" has become an opening to express the pent-up feeling for bringing been retreating since 1978, when Constitutional Decree No. 5 (martial law and censorship) was repealed and since the Sao Paulo metalworkers strike in 1979, which spread to other industries and to other parts of the country. the first direct elections since 1965 were held for state governors and members of
Virtually all sections of the population have been involved in the mass movement. On the crest of innumerable, almost daily, mass rallies, meetings, the movement rose to the high point of central demonstrations in Sao
This is the biggest Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other cities.
were great "celebrations" of the freedoms that have already been won but which are still far from secure. They lasted for many hours, with a lot of music speeches, dancing and fireworks.
Brazilia, the formal capital of the country, where the ings are, was visited by demonstrators who had to travel a long way to reach the rather remote new city. An outstanding demonstration of 40,000 women on April 18.
On the night of April 25, a chorus of pot-banging (Chilean style) developed in the cities, even in the capital, which is involving tens of thousands of people accompanied the de. bate in parliament. They went on from the morning until 2:00 at night (all the parliamentary parties agreed to put off the vote until as late as possible to keep down possible reactions by the people). Many wept when the result became known. Everywhere, you heard shouts of "vergonha!" ("Shame!")
The decisive thing was that almost overnight rights were won that a short time ago still seemed far out of reach. This is the sort of thing that can only happen when there is a mass movement. The press reported openly and extensively on the campaign. The liberal Folha do Sao Paulo took an active part in the campaign, for example, by publicizing the telephone numbers of all the members of the Chamber of Deputies and recommending that people put the heat on
In the commercial mass media, the reporting was unfettered. A lot of debates and interviews were broadcast, and to some extent the media even came out in support of "Direct elections now!" a country where 30% of the population are illiterate and proportionately people read newspapers than in Saudi Arabia, radio and TV play a vital role.
Still-outlawed left parties such as the PCB (the old CP), the PC do B (proAlbania), and others began to come out into the open on a large scale, even providing speakers for the mass rallies. The
International Viewpoint 21 May 1984
military police stayed in the background for the most part and in effect did not in-
Only seeing the emotion of the comrades who worked underground through the 1960s could you realize fully how great a turn these demonstrations represented for Brazil, even though the military dictatorship here was not comparable in its grip and its ferocity to the ones in Argentina and Chile.
It should not be overlooked, even now when everything seems to be focused on democratic demands, that this mobilization is developing atop a social powderkeg. The vital question is and remains the rate of inflation - the demand for cost-of-living increases — and the 100 billion debt, which is bringing stronger and stronger pressure from the IMF for an austerity policy.
Even though the inflation rate was down a bit in April (at around 8%), every week the average cost of living goes up by 2%. And since compensatory wage increases lag far behind, this hits even the middle classes hard, to say nothing of the poorest strata. Recent years have seen losses in real wages of up to 50%. The state-guaranteed minimum wage at the moment is 60,000 cruzeiros a month, and it is now to be raised to 97,000, which represents about 145 Swiss francs (55 US dollars).
There are no reliable statistics on employment. Out of an economically active population of 48 million, about 2 million are officially counted as unemployed. And the figures also include 4.5 million "working people without income" (primembers of peasant families). Only 17 million have official work cards. A huge number, about 20 million, are in
"parallel economy," the so-called "economia invisivel," working in small handicraft businesses, such as street peddlars, on unreported substandard jobs and to a not inconsiderable extent in criminal cost-of-living increases are set without taking into consideration this subproletariat. And this is to say nothing the conditions in the countryside, especially in the Northeast, or the living and working conditions in the cities where millions of people are concentrated, such as air pollution and the long tiring daily trips people have to make, or the
So, it is not surprising that the campaign for "direct elections now" has been accompanied by the growth almost everywhere of movements for concrete demands and strikes, in particular for better provisions for cost-of-living increases. This development has also been facilitated by a slight economic upturn. The biggest strike has been the 14-day stop. page by teachers at the city schools in Sao Paulo, which has ended for the time being with a compromise. The teachers are miserably paid and can count on the support of the parents.
The regime has become seriously
Important sections of the financial and industrial bourgeoisie that International Viewpoint 21 May 1984 want stability for the sake of economic development are speaking out for direct elections now while the mass radicalization can still be channelled. The representative of these sectors, Vice-President Aureliano Chaves, while not taking part in the campaign, has come out openly for direct elections and is considered the likely winner if a direct vote were held.
The dictatorship's two candidates, the minister of the interior, Andreazza, and the corruption czar Paulo Maluff, a former governor of Sao Paulo state, are holding on for dear life to indirect elections. As a result of the campaign, they have become national hate figures.
the PDS, has split, with 54 of its deputies voting for the campaign, more than a fifth (113) of the PDS deputies did not dare to take a position, and were absent for the vote. Only 65 voted against direct elections.
President Figueiredo is drifting more than acting, and he has been unable to bring together the doves and the hawks under one umbrella. During the big demonstration in Sao Paulo on April 16, he launched his own proposal for changing the Constitution over TV. It called for reducing the presidential term of office to four years and holding direct elections in 1988. The response of the demonstrators was a giant concert of
Highpoints of the Campaign
January 12 - 50,000 in Curitiba, the capital of Parana state. This was a city because the population is most representative of the country as
January 25 - 300,000 in Sao
February 16 - 50,000 in Rio de
February 16 - 60,000 in Belem, the capital of Para state in the north.
February 25 - 300,000 in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais
March 21 - 200,000 in Rio de
April 2 - 50,000 in Londrina, a center of the coffee trade in Parana
April 5 - 80,000 in Recife, capital of Pernambuco state in the northeast.
April 10 - Over a million people in Rio de Janeiro.
April 12 - 250,000 in Goiania, the capital of Goias state in the center of
April 13 - 200,000 in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
April 16 — 1.7 million people in
April 18 - 80,000 in Vitoria, the capital of the state of Espiriti Santo, whose total population is only about
And this bait has still got no
A few days later, Figueiredo imposed martial law on the capital, Brazilia, and ten nearby cities, which was sup posed to remain in force until mid-June. Rallies were banned. All reports from the
The access roads posed to be to protect the legislators in the exercise of their functions.
These moves increased the level of
Journalists were arrested. The offices of two left newspapers were
Student demonstrations were broken up, and some leaders arrested. For a time, the climate was very tense, and the tension was further increased when a blackout hit six southern cities, including Sao Paulo. There was a lot of
People were reminded that the military are still in The military divided
However, the army itself is not united. In the Clube Militar, an old officers organization that had a liberal tradition dating from the time of the emancipation of the slaves in the last century, an opposition slate favoring direct elections is standing for the May 16 vote to
The state of emergency imposed on Brazilia is supposed to be lifted early. In the near future, a new military coup seems the most unlikely of all variants. It is not known when the president's proposal will go before the parliament, in any case it has no chance of getting a two-thirds majority. However, in his May 1 TV speech, he declared that he was not prepared to make any further concessions.
In the weeks leading up to April 25, the opposition united behind the campaign for direct elections. The common front went from the biggest opposition party, the PMDB (a combination of liberal-bourgeois, middle-class, and even working-class forces, which has the support also of the PCB and the PC do B) to the PDT (the old populist party of Goulart, who was toppled by the military in the 1964 coup; today it is represented by Brizola, the governor of Rio de Janeiro province, a collaborator of Goulart, and has the support of sections of the Social Democracy) to the PT, the class-struggle party led by Lula that came out of the 1979 metalworkers strike in Sao Paulo.
Everywhere united "Direct Elections Now" Committees. But it was only after the campaign began to mushroom, that the PMDB and the PDT recognized that they were in danger of becoming isolated and losing their chance to come to power on the back of the mass movement, that they plunged in and took the leadership. The PMDB was the quickest to reorient itself. As late as March, for example, Briwas still opposing any further demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro. It was only after the PT by itself brought 200,000 people onto the streets on March
21 that he gave in. But then his coming out in support of the movement helped to prepare the way for the mobilization of more than 10 million people on April 10, which unleashed a new upsurge.
There are several possible opposition candidates for president. They include Tancredo Neves, the governor of the state of Minas Gerais; Franco Montoro, governor of Sao Paulo state; Ulisses Guimaraes, chairperson of the PMDB; Brizola, probably the biggest electoral threat to the dictatorship's candidates; and Lula, although the PT has not yet decided whether to run him or not.
This broad unity was only possible on the limited demand for "direct elections now." In the demonstrations, little was said about the social situation, the dictates of the IMF, or a concrete governmental program. And what little was said was generally quite vague. The clearest things were said by Lula, who spoke everywhere and got by far the biggest applause, although this was deliberately played down by the media. In this campaign, he grew into a national figure.
The campaign was given a very ambiguous "mood of national unity," sed in the singing of the national anthem, the same anthem that has also served the military dictatorship. In a "third world" country dominated by imperialism, such national sentiment does of course reflect an aspiration for liberation, but not one that can lead to the solution of the problem, any more than direct elections of the president can.
Two fundamental facts have to be kept in mind and distinguished. first place, the parliamentary defeat of April 25 did not break the mass movement. The dynamic seems to still be op erating, although a momentary lull has set in. New mobilizations are in prospect. Valuable experience was accumulated in the campaign. Democratic gains were made that cannot be wiped out overnight. The working class has been politicized in a struggle against the ruling institutions. period in which the workers and peasants can win important gains.
Secondly, there is not a revolutionary situation. Nor is there a strong revolutionary force. The PT is far from being that. The majority of the party has either not yet taken a stand on the decisive questions or has taken ambiguous positions.
What is at stake now, and it is no small matter, is whether the movement will go to a definite break with the dictatorship or toward negotiations with the regime on the famous transicao ("transition") A break with the dictatorship is the fundamental precondition for the continuation, widening and radicalization of the mobilizations for "Direct elections now."
If such a break takes place, it can open up a dynamic in which there will be a greater tendency for democratic demands to combine with social ones. This could prepare the ground for the demand for a government of the workers, peasants and urban semiproletariat. The opening 6 for this exists. For example, when Montoro, the governor of Sao Paulo has, on one hand, involved himself in the direct-elections campaign as a "friend of the people" and, on the other, opposed the strike of "his" teachers. This contradiction offers the masses the possibility to draw some conclusions.
Nonetheless, the bourgeoisie still holds a lot of cards, even if the bulk of the ruling class is by no means ready to grant "direct elections," which could lead to its losing control of the movement. There is a lot of talk now about negotiations. Wheeling and dealing is traditional in this country where there is a vast federal system and network of local interests, a plethora of local bosses and
For all these interests to continue to coexist, a lot of horse trading has always been necessary. Toward a general strike?
One of the alternatives being mooted is a "buffer presidency," that is a president who would hold office only for a year or two before direct elections were
Naturally this would be ac companied only by modest reforms. It is quite possible that these two variants could be "reconciled" in the way this was done with the transition from Francoism in Spain, with an agreement like the Moncloa Pact, a pact of national unity subscribed to by the Spanish Social Democratic and Communist parties. Calls for this sort of solution are already being raised, even in the ranks of the PDS. This would mean that direct elections would be held quickly but at the expense of radical social reforms.
The PT has come out against negotiations and for the continuation of the mobilizations. But it has not yet pushed any basic demand that would mean a break with the regime, such as the call for a constituent assembly, or the institution any number of democratic Such demands could include punishment of the military officers responsible for repression and torture, autonomy for the trade unions, the right to vote for soldiers and illiterates, legalization of all parties, and a break with the IMF or an unconditional moratorium on debt payments.
The latter demand is in fact gaining ground everywhere in Latin America and slowly starting to send shivers down the spine of the imperialist bourgeoisie. The explosion in the Dominican Republic indicates its potential force.
Other possible demands would be for a radical land reform, full cost-of-living increases, an employment program, and even a governmental formula. ian Fourth Internationalists are trying to root the concept of such a program in the PT. Right now, they are propagating the idea of a national referendum, a plebiscite for "Direct elections now."
The present situation remains unclear. After April 25, the unity of the opposition has not broken down. But a spectrum of differences has developed over the question of further mobilizations and "negotiations." In the PMDB, a wing led by Tancredo is for a "buffer candidate." One that for the moment is stronger, led by Ulisses, which represents the more radical sections of the PMDB and is more directly exposed to the pressures of the mass movement is still against this
Brizola, who would not have much chance of winning at present, is also for a "buffer candidate." There is a dizzying round of declarations by the political gurus. In parliament, the pro-direct elections faction of the PDS is involved in drawing up an amendment to Fig ueiredo's proposal, designed in principle to revive that unlucky initiative.
The national Direct Elections Committee is talking about a nationwide day of action on May 13 that could bring 20 million people into the streets in every city throughout the country, although it has not yet decided on this. are also moving onto the political scene. In the wake of April 25, the CUT, the CONCLAT (1) and the public employees unions have issued a common call for a national 24-hour general strike on the of the parliamentary debate on Fig ueiredo's proposal.
This common call represents an important step forward, since before April 25 the CUT's proposal for such an action ran up against the refusal of the CONCLAT. On May 18, workers assemblies will be held throughout the country to decide on the general strike proposal and on how to organize the action. In the same spirit of unity, which is something new, the May everywhere. They were focused around
"direct elections now," and all the opposition parties participated in them, as well as the Ministries of Labor in the states governed by the opposition.
Nonetheless, the crowds that came out for May Day were disappointing, probably because of the exhaustion that followed a long series of mass mobilizations tat went on almost without letup. In Sao Bernardo, in the industrial belt around Sao Paulo, not even 2,000 people came out. In Sao Paulo itself, there was a small crowd of about 10,000, and in Rio de Janeiro about 50,000 people.
This was the first May Day in twenty years in which all the left organizations were able to participate in full freedom. Most of the speakers showed a striking clarity about the fact that a critical new phase has now opened up. Most also spoke out unambiguously against "negotiations" and "reconciliation" for a continuation of the mobilizations and for the general strike. Conciliators such as Tancredo and Brizola were hooted. The coming weeks will be decisive for the next 1. CUT, Central Unica dos Irabalhadores, was founded in the summer of 1982 by trade-unionists trying to build an independent union movement. It still represents a minority trend. concentrated in the Sao Paulo area. CONCLAT Coordenacao Nacional des Classes, unions that continue to accept the state framework.
International Viewpoint 21 May 1984