toni solo and Jorge Capelán discuss events in Brazil and the Nicaraguan right wing's failed efforts to manipulate recent protests by elderly retired people about Social Security benefits.
Click to listen
fredag 28 juni 2013
måndag 24 juni 2013
Vad händer i Brasilien?
Av Jorge Capelán, Riktpunkt.nu
Den västerländska mediebevakningen om vad som händer i Brasilien är förkastlig. Som i fallet Libyen har imperiets maskineri för hjärntvätt och psykologisk krigföring lyckats påverka hela det politiska spektrumet – inklusive tongivande medier inom det som brukar kallas för vänster.
Det som händer i det sydamerikanska landet är allt annat än en ”revolution underifrån”, och det är inte heller något folkligt uppror mot arbetarpartiet PT:s politik utan en rörelse som tillfälligt har kapats av en aggressiv of fascistisk höger med stöd från delar av medelklassen och imperiet.
Om man googlar runt lite och tittar på bilderna från demonstrationerna de senaste dagarna märker man genast att merparten av alla demonstranter som visas är vita i ett land där 52 % av befolkningen är svart – och där de flesta svarta är fattiga.
De senaste 10 åren har de svarta ökat sin medelinkomst med 43.9% medan de vita (varav merparten tillhör medel- och överklassen) har ökat sin medelinkomst med 19.8%. Detta beror på en massiv omfördelning av resurserna som både Lula och Dilma har åstadkommit.
Omkring 20-25% av brasilianerna har lyfts ut ur fattigdomen. Det är inte dessa människor som demonstrerar mot regeringen.
De som romantiserar de senaste dagarnas protester som en ”sann” revolt underifrån mot en till ytan progressiv men i själva verket nyliberal regering har en rad saker att förklara: Vad är revolutionärt och progressivt i att skandera att ”ett enat Brasilien behöver inga politiska partier”?
Hur kan man betrakta en regering som nyliberal vilka ökar de fattigas inkomster och lyfter dessa ut ur fattigdomen, en regering som visar att det är fördelningspolitiken som möjliggör tillväxten, samt att man både kan utvidga den inre marknaden via ökad folklig konsumtion och samtidigt öka exporten?
Inledningsvis hade protesterna en helt annan inriktning, de var små (som mest 3 000 personer) och Sao Paulos militariserade polis mötte dem med övervåld. Polisen gjorde det på order av borgmästaren Geraldo Alckmin som tillhör högerpartiet PSDB (formellt socialdemokratiskt, nyliberalt i praktiken). Medierna (som i Brasilien är fräna motståndare till regeringen) svartmålade protesterna och hyllade polisen.
MPL-rörelsen eller ”Movimiento Passe Livre”, som startade protesterna mot planerna på att höja biljetterna i kollektivtrafiken i Sao Paulo, är ett slags motsvarighet till Planka.nu i Sverige. Den stöds av många vänstermänniskor ur alla schatteringar, inklusive av många PT-anhängare. PT har självt avgiftsfri kollektivtrafik i sitt program! I MPL fanns grupper som var emot all partipolitik överhuvud taget, men de var inte i majoritet och inte heller skulle de slåss med andra vänstermänniskor om en partibanderoll. Programmen mot vänsteraktivisterna i demonstrationerna startade senare.
Det som hände i Sao Paulo, där det hela började, var följande:
- Den 10 juni, MPL samlar jättemycket folk till en demonstration, enligt uppgifter ca 5 000 personer. Den militariserade polisen slår till på ett brutalt sätt. Många människor över hela landet blir jätteupprörda. Tidningarna fortsätter med sin kriminaliserande retorik.
– Till nästa massmöte, den 13 juni, kommer det hela 20 000 personer till demonstrationen. Över 70 demonstranter grips av den militariserade polisen med motiveringen att de hade flaskor med vinäger för att skydda sig mot tårgasen. Många människor skadades och det hela sändes live av de stora privata tevekanalerna.
– Helgen till den 15 och 16 juni ägde flera våldsamma demonstrationer rum, främst i Belo Horizonte, Brasilia och Rio de Janeiro.
– På måndagen den 17 juni, vände samma högertidningar om och började istället uppmana folk att gå ut och demonstrera utan politiska fanor, enbart med den brasilianska flaggan. Dessa som tidigare hade kritiserat demonstranterna och hyllat polisens våldsamma ingripande. ”Ett enat Brasilien behöver inga partier”, löd (den klart fascistiska) parollen.
Ända sedan dess har stämningen ändrats radikalt i demonstrationerna. Alltför mycket viftande med den brasilianska flaggan utanför fotbollssammanhang betraktas allmänt i landet som högervridet – ja, rentav fascistiskt. En rekordsiffra på 65 000 deltog (inte 200-300 000 som det påstås). Trots att de gamla parollerna fortfarande hördes, överröstades dessa av andra, nya paroller såsom: ”sänk skatterna”, ”VM kostar för mycket”, ”ner med korruptionen”, och ”ner med utsugningen av medelklassen”. Protestens sociala sammansättning samt dess innehåll hade ändrats.
Medan MPL krävde fri kollektivtransport, bättre utbildning och bättre hälsovård, pratade den kapade rörelsen enbart om ”korruption – inte om de privata intressenas korruption, naturligtvis, och inte heller om mediemogulernas korruption. Fascistiska grupper av skinheads och andra våldsamma element dök upp på demonstrationerna och hotade med våld mot alla vänsteraktivister son bekände sig som sådana. Många blev misshandlade, inte bara i Sao Paulo, utan på många andra ställen. Inga banker eller andra kapitalistiska symboler attackerades, däremot offentliga byggnader och PT:s partilokaler samt andra vänsterorganisationers lokaler förstördes.
Det finns många vittnesmål om att polisen på många håll lät de våldsamma grupperna agera ostört utan att ingripa. Det finns också vittnesmål om att grupper av oidentifierade individer brände ner saker på öppen gata på platser som inte hade någon anknytning till demonstrationerna, förmodligen med syftet att konstruera ett scenario av kaos.
De flesta som har deltagit i demonstrationerna håller inte med högeragendan, men det är först nu de börjar inse att rörelsen har bojkottats.
Detta destabiliseringsförsök kommer inte att lyckas övergå i en ren statskupp pga. de som kapar dess ledning inte har någon politik alls.
Det handlar om grupper i Brasilien som är alltför beroende av USA och Europa och den enda politik de kan erbjuda är just den politik som det brasilianska folket inte vill ha, nämligen nyliberalismen.
Än så länge har president Dilma Rousseff försvarat demonstranternas rätt att peka på bristerna i den brasilianska demokratin samt att diskutera hur en ny politik kan utformas. PT har klart och tydligt fördömt polisens våld mot demonstranterna samtidigt som de isolerade våldshandlingarna påbörjats av de fascistiska infiltreringsgrupperna.
I fredags samlades 76 vänsterorganisationer, inklusive politiska partier, fackföreningar och sociala rörelser i Sao Paulo, för att utbyta analyser om vad som hade hänt. Grupperna, som samlar praktiskt taget hela spektret av landets vänster, inklusive partier som befinner sig i opposition till PT, beslutade om att bilda en gemensam front mot det fascistiska våldet samt att verka tillsammans för att rörelsens ursprungliga paroller återupptas. Liknande möten har hållits på många andra ställen i Brasilien denna helg.
MPL ställde tillfälligt in demonstrationerna när det stod klart att de hade kapats av fascister. Nu återupptas dessa igen, inte som opposition mot regeringen utan som ett fredligt sätt att fördjupa regeringens sociala målsättningar.
Att västerländska medier har gjort en så stor sak av demonstrationerna i landet beror på att Brasilien har befäst sin ställning som världens sjätte största ekonomi och dess utkom håller i sin hand nyckeln till Latinamerikas rörelse för självständighet gentemot Väst.
USA och dess europeiska allierade har ett klart intresse av att de krafter som utlösts i samband med demonstrationerna används med syftet att hindra Brasilien från att spela en avgörande roll i byggandet av den gryende multipolära världsordningen.
Jag menar inte att CIA ursprungligen ligger bakom protesterna, men det är högst troligt att NATO:s strateger för psykologisk krigföring har på olika sätt bidragit till försöket att bojkotta proteströrelsen.
Som av en ren händelse, förra veckan annonserades Obamas kandidat till ny USA-ambassadör i Brasilien. Hon heter Liliana Ayalde, och var stationerad i Asuncion, Paraguay, under ”expresskuppen” i fjor varpå den paraguayanska oligarkin avsatte president Fernando Lugo.
Protesterna kan bli ett tillfälle att befästa den sydamerikanska jättens befrielse från den nyliberala politiken, men de skulle också kunna leda till nya destabiliserande incidenter som så småningom skulle kunna kompromettera Latinamerikas process av integration och självbestämmande.
Än så länge har president Dilma Rousseff och hennes allierade på vänsterkanten hanterat situationen med visdom, försiktighet och politisk intelligens. Låt oss hoppas att hon, PT och dess allierade lyckas, eftersom Latinamerika behöver ett starkt Brasilien.
Jorge Capelán
söndag 23 juni 2013
NICARAGUA: Right wing politicians and ex-Sandinistas manipulate pensioners legitimate claim
Jorge Capelan and toni solo, June 23rd 2013
Tortilla con Sal.
The reactionary rich country elites are at once sinister, cynical, predictable and banal. Their various regional expressions in Asia, Africa or Latin America all apply exactly the same destabilizing tactics in every country. The vogue these days is political mimicry:
The apparent spontaneity of the pensioners' action is belied by the fact that their nationwide mobilization requires tens of thousands of dollars to fund transport, accommodation and food. Very clearly that funding comes not from the self-confessed impoverished pensioners but from the right wing groups that are so blatantly manipulating them. As has happened so often elsewhere, the cynical anti-Sandinista forces in Nicaragua have abused graphic images from other countries in support of false accusations of violence and repression by the government here.
This tactic has been used flagrantly by corporate media for as long as anyone can remember to smear target governments everywhere. The latest example here in Nicaragua is of the right wing Chamorro family owned newspaper Hoy. On the Internet, they deceitfully used a photograph of an elderly woman beaten up up the Colombian security forces to suggest non-existent violence by Nicaraguan police against vulnerable elderly citizens.
The background to the pensioners protest action is that some 45.000 people of retirement age in Nicaragua have insufficient contributions to the system to receive the full pension. The government accepts their argument that they are entitled to a reduced pension based proportionately on their lifetime contributions. No one questions their right to a minimum pension - which also is established in the law - the problem is that the pension fund cannot meet their demand without collapsing.
A large part of their contributions have vanished into thin air. People working prior to 1979 have suffered because the dictator Anastasio Somoza stole their money when he fled Nicaragua during the revolution back in 1979. Between 1990 and 2006, pensioners lost out because their contributions were squandered by the Liberal governments in power during that period. In fact, one of the first actions of the Violeta Chamorro government was to abolish by decree the provision for a reduced pension.
Subsequently, Violeta Chamorro and her parliamentary allies reformed the Constitution to so as to strip the President of the power to modify the Social Security law. Now, many of the same people responsible for that change falsely accuse President Ortega of failing to act to assist the legitimate demands of retired people who would qualify for a reduced pension. These are the same right wing politicians who argue that the system needs to be reformed, which is code for reducing benefits, because it is under funded.
In fact, since 2007, the Sandinista government led by President Daniel Ortega has practically doubled the number of affiliated workers to 674.000 and dramatically increased the number of registered employers to almost 26.000. The size of the contributions has also increased considerably. But the system still cannot afford to give the pensionless seniors what they have contributed in the past, amounting on some estimates to about 2.3 billion cordobas. The pension fund would go bankrupt!
The only solution to the problem is to increase the base of contributors to the system by expanding the number of people in formal employment contributing to the social security fund. About 70% of Nicaragua's workers are not part of the system because neoliberal policies deliberately promoted an informal free market economy with strong disincentives for creating fully-insured jobs. It is that structural neoliberalism the Sandinista government inherited in 2007 and which it has substantially changed while at the same time constantly emphasizing medium and long term sustainability.
For that reason, the government has been negotiating with the pensioners organizations during all these years. About 8.000 of them receive the Government's solidarity bonus of about 45 dollars each month, and some 200.000 food packages have been delivered. Older people benefit especially from the government's improvements to the health system and initiatives like Misión Milagro which overwhelmingly serve older people who have problems with their vision.
Right-wing politicians, the network of toxic NGOs of the so-called "civil society" plus CIA-trained groups of middle class youths have fooled some of the seniors into believing that the state must pay them regardless of the effect on the other programs that benefit them such as the generously subsidized public transport, water and electricity services or free health care.
Last week, a hundred or so pensioners "occupied" the Social Security building. They promptly were surrounded by the police which already knew what the right-wing instigators had in mind. None of the elderly people were touched, not even with the petal of a rose, and they were offered help to leave the premises. Furthermore, bus transportation already had been ordered, as well as medical check-ups, food and so on.
Faced with the failure of their plan to provoke police violence, hundreds of right-wing activists tried to join the occupation and attempted to break through the the barrier of unarmed policemen who for several hours had to patiently stand facing the right-wingers insults, blows, stones and bottles. Six policemen were seriously injured. The right-wing TV, the newspaper La Prensa and the Corporacion radio station broadcast the "event" live all day.
Now phony progressives, ex-Sandinistas and their right wing allies make absurdly false accusations that the FSLN authorities have attacked peaceful demonstrating senior citizens. On Monday, the Sandinistas will flood the streets of Managua in order to set the record straight and remind the opposition that no "Nicaraguan right-wing Spring" will take place here. Thanks to the Sandinista government, in Nicaragua, the Spring started years ago when President Daniel Ortega took office in January 2007.
Tortilla con Sal.
The reactionary rich country elites are at once sinister, cynical, predictable and banal. Their various regional expressions in Asia, Africa or Latin America all apply exactly the same destabilizing tactics in every country. The vogue these days is political mimicry:
- take over a movement with more or less legitimate demands,
- make those demands impossible to meet (make sure to get the help of ultra-leftist and other extremist useful idiots to do that)
- then try to turn that struggle into a plebiscite about the progressive or radical government target of destabilization
- if possible, foment extremely violent polarization so as to provoke civil unrest or even war.
The apparent spontaneity of the pensioners' action is belied by the fact that their nationwide mobilization requires tens of thousands of dollars to fund transport, accommodation and food. Very clearly that funding comes not from the self-confessed impoverished pensioners but from the right wing groups that are so blatantly manipulating them. As has happened so often elsewhere, the cynical anti-Sandinista forces in Nicaragua have abused graphic images from other countries in support of false accusations of violence and repression by the government here.
This tactic has been used flagrantly by corporate media for as long as anyone can remember to smear target governments everywhere. The latest example here in Nicaragua is of the right wing Chamorro family owned newspaper Hoy. On the Internet, they deceitfully used a photograph of an elderly woman beaten up up the Colombian security forces to suggest non-existent violence by Nicaraguan police against vulnerable elderly citizens.
The background to the pensioners protest action is that some 45.000 people of retirement age in Nicaragua have insufficient contributions to the system to receive the full pension. The government accepts their argument that they are entitled to a reduced pension based proportionately on their lifetime contributions. No one questions their right to a minimum pension - which also is established in the law - the problem is that the pension fund cannot meet their demand without collapsing.
A large part of their contributions have vanished into thin air. People working prior to 1979 have suffered because the dictator Anastasio Somoza stole their money when he fled Nicaragua during the revolution back in 1979. Between 1990 and 2006, pensioners lost out because their contributions were squandered by the Liberal governments in power during that period. In fact, one of the first actions of the Violeta Chamorro government was to abolish by decree the provision for a reduced pension.
Subsequently, Violeta Chamorro and her parliamentary allies reformed the Constitution to so as to strip the President of the power to modify the Social Security law. Now, many of the same people responsible for that change falsely accuse President Ortega of failing to act to assist the legitimate demands of retired people who would qualify for a reduced pension. These are the same right wing politicians who argue that the system needs to be reformed, which is code for reducing benefits, because it is under funded.
In fact, since 2007, the Sandinista government led by President Daniel Ortega has practically doubled the number of affiliated workers to 674.000 and dramatically increased the number of registered employers to almost 26.000. The size of the contributions has also increased considerably. But the system still cannot afford to give the pensionless seniors what they have contributed in the past, amounting on some estimates to about 2.3 billion cordobas. The pension fund would go bankrupt!
The only solution to the problem is to increase the base of contributors to the system by expanding the number of people in formal employment contributing to the social security fund. About 70% of Nicaragua's workers are not part of the system because neoliberal policies deliberately promoted an informal free market economy with strong disincentives for creating fully-insured jobs. It is that structural neoliberalism the Sandinista government inherited in 2007 and which it has substantially changed while at the same time constantly emphasizing medium and long term sustainability.
For that reason, the government has been negotiating with the pensioners organizations during all these years. About 8.000 of them receive the Government's solidarity bonus of about 45 dollars each month, and some 200.000 food packages have been delivered. Older people benefit especially from the government's improvements to the health system and initiatives like Misión Milagro which overwhelmingly serve older people who have problems with their vision.
Right-wing politicians, the network of toxic NGOs of the so-called "civil society" plus CIA-trained groups of middle class youths have fooled some of the seniors into believing that the state must pay them regardless of the effect on the other programs that benefit them such as the generously subsidized public transport, water and electricity services or free health care.
Last week, a hundred or so pensioners "occupied" the Social Security building. They promptly were surrounded by the police which already knew what the right-wing instigators had in mind. None of the elderly people were touched, not even with the petal of a rose, and they were offered help to leave the premises. Furthermore, bus transportation already had been ordered, as well as medical check-ups, food and so on.
Faced with the failure of their plan to provoke police violence, hundreds of right-wing activists tried to join the occupation and attempted to break through the the barrier of unarmed policemen who for several hours had to patiently stand facing the right-wingers insults, blows, stones and bottles. Six policemen were seriously injured. The right-wing TV, the newspaper La Prensa and the Corporacion radio station broadcast the "event" live all day.
Now phony progressives, ex-Sandinistas and their right wing allies make absurdly false accusations that the FSLN authorities have attacked peaceful demonstrating senior citizens. On Monday, the Sandinistas will flood the streets of Managua in order to set the record straight and remind the opposition that no "Nicaraguan right-wing Spring" will take place here. Thanks to the Sandinista government, in Nicaragua, the Spring started years ago when President Daniel Ortega took office in January 2007.
onsdag 19 juni 2013
When FB calls the shots, revolutionaries should worry
By Jorge Capelán, Tortilla con Sal.
When Facebook's Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, say it's revolutionary one should be wary. The past 10 day's protests in Brazil have been hailed by most progressives in the West as well as by activists and politically committed people all over the world as a revolutionary event. Although they might have a positive political effect, they are not revolutionary per se, and they actually could be used by forces interested in preventing Brazil from playing a decisive role in the budding multipolar world order.
During the last 10 days, a movement has grown, apparently out of thin air, demanding "changes" in Latin America's largest country. According to various reports, it all started with small demonstrations of less than 3.000 people protesting against the rise of 20 cents of Real (less than USD 0.10) in the price of the ticket of the collective transportation system in the city of Sao Paulo. Now it's tens of thousands of people demonstrating in tens of cities all over the country. The demonstrators protest not only against the price and lousy quality of collective transportation, but also against the deficiencies in other public services such as education and health care. They protest against the building of expensive stadiums to host the coming soccer World Championship instead of cheap housing projects, as well as against the corruption of a political system designed to render ineffective any attempt to carry out deep changes.
All this sounds wonderful but, it has to be said, this is not a revolutionary situation.
Who can imagine a revolution ousting a government which has shown that economic policy is not about first creating wealth in order to later distribute it, but the other way around? What is revolutionary about destabilizing a government that has proved that one can both expand the internal market through popular consumption and boost exports? Those are two of the basic tenets of neoliberal Capitalism, and both have been crushed to pieces by Lula's and Rousseff's governments.
These protests are taking place in a country where a progressive government has managed to lift 40-50 million people (about 20-25% of the population) out of poverty. The Brazilian middle class is the one with the largest growth in Latin America - from about 20% in the 1990's to 50% or more today. Inflation is under control and real wages are rising; unemployement is at a all-time low and the government is very popular. Even today, after images of police repression against the demonstrators have been broadcasted, with a popularity drop of 8%, 55% of the Brazilians have a positive view of the government and 77% think President Dilma Rousseff is doing a good job.
Initially, the protesters were met with violence by the authorities, but the government's attitude promptly changed to a conciliatory one. In several cities, the local governments have cancelled their plans to raise the bus ticket and are open to dialogue with the demonstrators.
According to president Rousseff "the protests show the value of democracy and reveal that the citizen are demanding their rights". She condemned isolated cases of violence but valued the prevailingly peaceful attitude of the participants in the protests. That, she said, is "proof of the greatness of our democracy and of the civic character of our people, and is a direct message to those in charge at all levels".
The issues raised by the protesters are not baseless - they are acknowledged as problems by the government and by ruling PT's leaders. Even many of their criticisms of PT itself have been acknowledged by Lula and others. The neoliberal political system is one of the forces holding back Brazil's development. But this is not an insurrection. 250.000 demonstrators do not make a revolution in a country of 205 million. 1/1000% does not make a revolution. Political majorities do. The left in Brazil does not have a majority of its own and is dependent on broad alliances in order to govern, which in turn reflects on its ability to deepen the changes.
These demonstrations have been compared to the mass mobilizations that took place in 1984 and 1990. In 1984, millions of Brazilians took to the streets to demand democratic elections. In 1990, it was to force the then president Collor de Mello to renounce. 250.000 Brazilians today is not much considering that the country's population is 30% larger and is more urbanized. Back in the 80's and 90's, it was political parties and social movements, with clear agendas and slogans with a common objective that took to the streets. Those were organic movements, with strong roots among the popular sectors.
It is not clear who is leading today's protests in Brazil. There is a strong anti-establishment sentiment and a mixture of left-wing and right-wing agendas of urbanized middle-class strata.
It's been said that these demonstrations were convoked through the social media. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world's richest men (13 billion dollars) holds a sign in front of the camera: "IT'S NOT 20 CENTS! #CHANGEBRAZIL!" Revolution? Come on... Zuckerberg got the seed capital to start his firm from CIA's front In-Q-Tel. Facebook, one of the capo di tutti capi in the Internet is a regular informant of the National Security Agency, it was revealed a couple of days ago. In fact, the revelations go, FB and companies such as Apple, Google and Yahoo gave the agency "direct" and unrestricted access to their servers.
I'm not saying that Facebook organized the protests, but it's clear that the CIA's department for Cyberwarfare has a stake on what is going on in Brazil.
The protests may be an opportunity to consolidate the South American giant's rupture away from neoliberal policies, but they might also lead to further destabilizing incidents which in the short or medium term could compromise the process of integration and independence of our continent. So far Dilma Rousseff has reacted wisely. Let's hope she and the PT succeed, because we need a strong Brazil.
When Facebook's Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, say it's revolutionary one should be wary. The past 10 day's protests in Brazil have been hailed by most progressives in the West as well as by activists and politically committed people all over the world as a revolutionary event. Although they might have a positive political effect, they are not revolutionary per se, and they actually could be used by forces interested in preventing Brazil from playing a decisive role in the budding multipolar world order.
During the last 10 days, a movement has grown, apparently out of thin air, demanding "changes" in Latin America's largest country. According to various reports, it all started with small demonstrations of less than 3.000 people protesting against the rise of 20 cents of Real (less than USD 0.10) in the price of the ticket of the collective transportation system in the city of Sao Paulo. Now it's tens of thousands of people demonstrating in tens of cities all over the country. The demonstrators protest not only against the price and lousy quality of collective transportation, but also against the deficiencies in other public services such as education and health care. They protest against the building of expensive stadiums to host the coming soccer World Championship instead of cheap housing projects, as well as against the corruption of a political system designed to render ineffective any attempt to carry out deep changes.
All this sounds wonderful but, it has to be said, this is not a revolutionary situation.
Who can imagine a revolution ousting a government which has shown that economic policy is not about first creating wealth in order to later distribute it, but the other way around? What is revolutionary about destabilizing a government that has proved that one can both expand the internal market through popular consumption and boost exports? Those are two of the basic tenets of neoliberal Capitalism, and both have been crushed to pieces by Lula's and Rousseff's governments.
These protests are taking place in a country where a progressive government has managed to lift 40-50 million people (about 20-25% of the population) out of poverty. The Brazilian middle class is the one with the largest growth in Latin America - from about 20% in the 1990's to 50% or more today. Inflation is under control and real wages are rising; unemployement is at a all-time low and the government is very popular. Even today, after images of police repression against the demonstrators have been broadcasted, with a popularity drop of 8%, 55% of the Brazilians have a positive view of the government and 77% think President Dilma Rousseff is doing a good job.
Initially, the protesters were met with violence by the authorities, but the government's attitude promptly changed to a conciliatory one. In several cities, the local governments have cancelled their plans to raise the bus ticket and are open to dialogue with the demonstrators.
According to president Rousseff "the protests show the value of democracy and reveal that the citizen are demanding their rights". She condemned isolated cases of violence but valued the prevailingly peaceful attitude of the participants in the protests. That, she said, is "proof of the greatness of our democracy and of the civic character of our people, and is a direct message to those in charge at all levels".
The issues raised by the protesters are not baseless - they are acknowledged as problems by the government and by ruling PT's leaders. Even many of their criticisms of PT itself have been acknowledged by Lula and others. The neoliberal political system is one of the forces holding back Brazil's development. But this is not an insurrection. 250.000 demonstrators do not make a revolution in a country of 205 million. 1/1000% does not make a revolution. Political majorities do. The left in Brazil does not have a majority of its own and is dependent on broad alliances in order to govern, which in turn reflects on its ability to deepen the changes.
These demonstrations have been compared to the mass mobilizations that took place in 1984 and 1990. In 1984, millions of Brazilians took to the streets to demand democratic elections. In 1990, it was to force the then president Collor de Mello to renounce. 250.000 Brazilians today is not much considering that the country's population is 30% larger and is more urbanized. Back in the 80's and 90's, it was political parties and social movements, with clear agendas and slogans with a common objective that took to the streets. Those were organic movements, with strong roots among the popular sectors.
It is not clear who is leading today's protests in Brazil. There is a strong anti-establishment sentiment and a mixture of left-wing and right-wing agendas of urbanized middle-class strata.
It's been said that these demonstrations were convoked through the social media. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world's richest men (13 billion dollars) holds a sign in front of the camera: "IT'S NOT 20 CENTS! #CHANGEBRAZIL!" Revolution? Come on... Zuckerberg got the seed capital to start his firm from CIA's front In-Q-Tel. Facebook, one of the capo di tutti capi in the Internet is a regular informant of the National Security Agency, it was revealed a couple of days ago. In fact, the revelations go, FB and companies such as Apple, Google and Yahoo gave the agency "direct" and unrestricted access to their servers.
I'm not saying that Facebook organized the protests, but it's clear that the CIA's department for Cyberwarfare has a stake on what is going on in Brazil.
The protests may be an opportunity to consolidate the South American giant's rupture away from neoliberal policies, but they might also lead to further destabilizing incidents which in the short or medium term could compromise the process of integration and independence of our continent. So far Dilma Rousseff has reacted wisely. Let's hope she and the PT succeed, because we need a strong Brazil.
Audio commentary : some aspects of the significance of Nicaragua's Inter-Oceanic Canal
Jorge Capelan and toni solo discuss various aspects of the planned Inter-Oceanic Canal which was formally launched on Friday June 15th 2013.
Click to listen
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