> A "Red" Government in the South of Brazil > > by Michael Löwy > > For ten years, the Brazilian Workers Party (PT) has run > city hall in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul > state (on the border with Uruguay) and one of the main > cities in the country. The PT is quite an original party, > founded in 1980 by unionists, leftist Christians, and > Marxist militants, all convinced that the emancipation of > the workers will be the task of the workers themselves and > stirred by the desire to invent a different, radical, > democratic, libertarian socialism that breaks with the old > models of Stalinism and social democracy. The current > mayor, Raul Pont, a former director of the teachers' union, > belongs to the PT's most radical current, the Socialist > Democracy tendency, which bases itself on the Fourth > International. > > The PT's "reds" (the color of the party's flag) have won > city hall three times because their management of municipal > affairs is radically different from that of the various > bourgeois politicians: no corruption, no nepotism, a > priority for the needs of poor and working-class > neighborhoods and, above all, an inspiring experiment with > direct democracy called the participatory budget. > > This is a system that lets local populations in each > neighborhood of Porto Alegre decide, in assemblies that are > open to the entire population, the priorities for the > public budget allocated to their locality. In other words, > it is the population itself which determines, in an > original demonstration of direct democracy, if the budget's > funds should be used to build a road, a school, or a > medical center. Subsequent assemblies let the population > monitor the implementation of the chosen projects, while a > City Council of the Participatory Budget, made up of > delegates elected by the assemblies, manages the > distribution of the budget to the different neighborhoods, > following criteria decided on in common. > > Admittedly, it is only a minority of the population-some > tens of thousands of people in Porto Alegre-that > participate in the participatory budget assemblies, but > since the assemblies are open to the whole population, the > system enjoys a great legitimacy and popularity. The > participatory budget is, without a doubt, one of the main > reasons for the PT's electoral victories in the Porto > Alegre municipal races and, more recently, the elections > for the Rio Grande do Sul state government. > > This state is one of the most important in the country in > terms of population and economic development. The majority > of its population is made up of descendants of European > immigrants, notably Italian and German. It is traditionally > oriented to the left but, for some time, the dominant > tendency was the "workerist" populism of President Vargas > and his political heir, Leonel Brizola. It is only since > the end of the 1980s that the hegemonic force on the left > has become, in the state capital, the Workers Party. > Significantly, Rio Grande do Sul is one of the main bases > of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), now Brazil's > most important social movement. The MST is not just the > organized expression of the struggle of the poor for a > radical agrarian reform, but also the central reference > point for all the forces in Brazil's "civil society" (which > includes unions, churches, leftist parties, professional > associations, and university teachers) that are struggling > against neoliberalism. > > A few months ago, PT candidate Olivio Dutra won the > gubernatorial elections. For the first time in Brazil's > history, one of the country's most important states is > administered by a team that bases itself on socialism and > the interests of working people. Olivio Dutra is a former > bankworkers union director and a well-known figure on the > PT's left; he defines himself, according to a conversation > we had a few months ago, as a "Christian Marxist." The > elected vice-governor, Miguel Rossetto, belongs, like the > mayor of the state capital, to the Socialist Democracy > tendency. > > One of the first initiatives of the new government has been > to keep its promise to launch the participatory budget on a > statewide level. Grassroots assemblies have been held in > all the state's municipalities and in the neighborhoods of > the larger cities. The success of this initiative has > infuriated the rightwing opposition, which controls the > state legislature. (Legislative elections in Brazil > traditionally favor the right, because of the way the > electoral system works, but also because of the weight of > "clientelism" and of voter apathy toward this type of > election.) One of the leaders of the right has tried to use > the courts to block the process of direct democracy. After > a number of legal adventures, this attempt has failed and > the assemblies have been held as anticipated. > > The main problem of the new Rio Grande do Sul government is > the gigantic debt to the federal government that was left > by the previous governor, Antonio Britto, a politician of > neoliberal orientation. Britto promised to pay this debt . > . by privatizing the state's main public services, like > electricity and transportation! Olivio Dutra and his > comrades, who are resolutely hostile to the neoliberal > policies of dismantling and privatizing public services, > absolutely rejected this solution, which was advocated both > by the local right and by the federal government of > President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former leftist > sociologist who was converted to the religion of the market > and turned into a fanatic for neoliberal globalization. > > So a real tug-of-war has begun between the new Rio Grande > do Sul government, which would rather not go on paying this > absurd debt (for which it isn't responsible) and the > federal government, which is threatening not to turn over > to the state the part of the national revenue assigned to > it. Beyond its complex technical and legal aspects, this is > a political battle between the neoliberalism of the > dominant classes and an attempt (which the elite considers > "heretical" and highly dangerous) to provide an example of > an alternative politics in service of the needs of the > working class. This is a difficult fight and it is by no > means certain that Olivio Dutra and his Workers Party > comrades can win. Indeed, the outcome of the confrontation > will depend on what happens in the other regions of Brazil > and the attitude taken by the other governors elected by > the opposition, who are generally more moderate than the > one from the "red South." > > The new government has initiated an interesting > environmental program as well. For years, environmental > defense movements and the MST have struggled against the > genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that North American > agro-industrial monopolies like Monsanto are trying at all > costs to introduce into Brazil, with the discreet support > of President Cardoso and the federal government. At stake > is the protection of the environment, the health of > consumers, and the autonomy of peasants, threatened by > monster seeds of the Terminator variety-genetically > modified to keep farmers from being able to use part of > their yield to sow the land for the next season and forcing > them to buy their seeds from Monsanto over again each year. > > Now Olivio Dutra and his secretary of agriculture, who is > close to the MST, have decided to forbid all imports of > transgenetic seeds. To the great dismay of Monsanto and > Co., they have proclaimed the state of Rio Grande do Sul > "free from transgenetic products" and have started to set > up a certification system allowing them to ensure an > internationally recognized label for local products such as > soy. Several European distribution companies, alarmed by > consumers' refusal to buy products containing GMOs, are > beginning to get interested in the "traditional" production > of Rio Grande do Sul. The Agricultural Association, > controlled by the big capitalists and landowners, is in > favor of the GMOs and charges that the government's > initiative is a "Machiavellian conspiracy to impose, along > with the MST, agrarian reform. . . ." > > We know, of course, that it's not possible to have > socialism in one country, still less in one state. These > experiments are still new and fragile; they are taking > place in a country devastated by neoliberal policies, > strangled by international debt, and dominated by a > voracious and parasitic oligarchy; a country whose level of > social inequality is one of the highest in the world, > taking the form of a real social apartheid. But for those > who refuse to accept capitalism as the horizon of human > history beyond which we cannot pass, who refuse to accept > neoliberalism as the only possible form of modernity, the > innovative endeavors of the socialist, environmentalist, > and democratic Brazilian left represent a hope for the > future. > > MICHAEL LÖWY is a frequent contributor to Monthly Review > and the author of On Changing the World (Humanities Press). > > <http://www.monthlyreview.org/1100lowy.htm> > > > > -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
