By the Unified Socialist Workers’ Party – Brazil
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 9, the president of the world’s leading imperialist power, Donald Trump, announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian products. However, unlike Trump’s tariff war against the rest of the world, the main argument used by the leader of imperialism was his defense of former president and lackey Jair Bolsonaro, who is under investigation and on trial for attempted coup.
The imposition of tariffs on semi-colonial countries such as Brazil constitutes, in itself, an attack on sovereignty. Justifying the sanctions by defending Bolsonaro constitutes an unprecedented escalation by his administration against Brazil’s self-determination. In other words, Trump is attacking Brazil at Bolsonaro’s behest! A total disgrace! Trump wants to decide who the Brazilian people elect. He is trying to circumvent Brazilian justice and guarantee impunity for the coup leader who has always treated him with unwavering loyalty while protecting big US tech companies so they can continue spreading fake news and disinformation that favors the far right.
Fake news, incidentally, is reflected in the “letter” Trump sent to Lula. Contrary to what the US president claims, trade relations between Brazil and the US are not “unfair” to imperialism. On the contrary, Brazil has had a trade deficit with the US for 16 years. This is precisely because, in recent years, Brazil has regressed in its role in the international division of labor. It is increasingly specializing in the export of primary products, to the point of depending on imports of industrial products with higher added value and technology.
This scandal further reveals how the Brazilian far right is subservient and servile to imperialism, and how hypocritical its supposedly patriotic rhetoric is. They advocate direct interference in the country to safeguard their interests and guarantee impunity for the coup plotters. Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, who has “self-exiled” himself to the United States, has been planning this reprisal against the country for months, issuing direct threats and sending “messages” to Lula’s government and the Federal Supreme Court (STF).
The working class must demand a response from Lula’s government that opposes the economic policies it has been imposing, which deepen the country’s subordination and surrender, whether through the privatization of sectors such as oil or through the fiscal framework that drains the resources and wealth produced by the working class to large banks and foreign investors through public debt. Furthermore, it does not address the extreme right-wing coup regime, whether by handing over ministries to extreme right-wing parties or outsourcing the fight against coups to the judiciary.
We must reject Trump’s attack and the servility of the far right! Trump, hands off Brazil! Lula, no more conciliation! No amnesty for the coup plotters! Jail for Bolsonaro and all the coup plotters!
