It was know this week that Michelzinho, the 7 year-old son of the interim president Michel Temer, has R$2 million in real state. A young kid so rich, whose father in Presidency does not worry at all about the millions of parents currently unemployed. It was also informed Lulinha, former president Lula’s younger son, received R$10 millions for his company, and nobody knows very well why.
By PSTU – Brazil.
Disparity between rich and poor in Brazil is one of the greatest in the world. In 2006, around 5% of the richest ones had 40% of the entire income of the country. In 2012, those same 5% ‘devoured’ 44%. This social inequality continued to increase even during PT’s administration, on the contrary of what the misleading propaganda of the former government says.
Lula was right when he said the rich never made so much money as during his administration. The truth is they are paying, in one year of interests and commissions of public debt, the equivalent of what would be 15 years of Bolsa Familia [Family Grant]. Meaning, the government is paying to the bankers and the few rich families in one year the same amount it destines to 42 million poor in 15 years.
To guarantee the profits of bankers, entrepreneurs and the tiny minority of rich and super rich, they want the workers to pay for this crisis. And everything is valid to it.
Massive dismissals
The unemployment increased again. According the IBGE [Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics], 1.5 millions lost their jobs only during the last trimester. As if this was not enough, they still suffer cut of salaries, rate increase, cuts in education, health and social budget.
They increase the exploitation of the workers and the money they get from taxes, also coming from the workers’ pocket, to pay usurer interests and pay the rich, holders of debt securities.
Temer’s government and his Minister of Treasure, Henrique Meirelles, are proposing an expenditure ceiling that implies a brutal cut to public spent, aiming to increase even more the amount destined to pay the debt. They also want to attack the retirement funds.
Meanwhile, the boatyard Inahúma, located in Caju, Rio de Janeiro, is about to close. The owners cheated on workers’ regarding their rights, and did not pay what they owe them of PLR [Profit Sharing Policy].
On one side, a bourgeois kid has R$2 million in real state. On the other, millions of workers leaving sweat and blood at work, being exploited, earning a misery, conditioned by unemployment and being constantly deceived. And they still have the new Temer government (just like the old government of Dilma), this Congress and the bosses to attack even more the ones below, and throw the crisis on our backs.
Unify the struggles and build a general strike
In the boatyard Inahúma, the workers rose and stopped the production, going over the union led by CUT and CTB, aligned with the bosses. Their strike is strong and radicalized.
But the Inahúma workers are not the only ones struggling around the country. There are struggles everywhere: workers, teachers, drivers, students. Only in Rio Grande do Sul, there are almost 200 occupied schools. In Rio de Janeiro, Ceará and São Paulo, the schools’ struggle is also strong. There are struggles among the poor people from the peripheries, the popular sectors, the black people and women that went on the streets to struggle against the Culture of Rape. What kind of country is this, where a 16 year-old girl is raped by 33 men and she is the one responsible for it?
We need to unify the struggles, take the streets and build a general strike to stop the country and put them all out. Temer and all of them out! We also need to end this economic policy that takes from the poor to give to the rich.
This is a weak government and it can be overthrown, the same way we can defeat unemployment and cuts, and make the rich pay for the crisis: through the struggle.
For the struggle to grow, we need to support the proposals of action of CSP-Conlutas and have mobilization initiative, to unify the struggles and generalize them to defeat Temer, but not for Dilma to come back. In the end, Dilma was there to do the same thing Temer is doing now.
On the other hand, entities, unions and meetings must demand for the CUT and other entities to come build the general strike with us.
If we follow the example of France, Temer can be overthrown. Out with Temer, out with all of them! General Elections now, with new rules! Thourgh mobilization, we can build an alternative of the ones below: a socialist workers’ government, driven by popular councils.
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Translation: Sofía Ballack.
