The number of children who eat less than three meals a day has increased since 2016 coup. The data came from the Health Ministery through its Food and Nutrition Surveillance System, and was disclosed by the very capitalist press.
In 2015, according to official data, 76% of all children in the country had the three main meals a day. But the following year, in which Dilma Rousseff was overthrown, the percentage of children fed with three meals fell to 42%. The numbers kept dropping along the years, in 2019 the first year of Bolsonaro government and before the pandemic, the percentage was as little as 28%. Last year, in 2020, the year of the pandemic, the rate reached the lowest level in the last six years with only 21% of children having three meals a day. The data also pointed out that by October of the present year 26% of children were able to eat the three meals. To put in another way, in every 100 children 74 eat less than three times a day. Millions of them are having only one meal when they do not get to stay without eating all day.
The situation tends to get worse because of the hight inflationary, driven by fuel and food prices, and prospects for the biggest economic setback, according to economic analyses. It is important to highlight that this tendency is global.
The Economy Ministry along with “The Market” have lowered their forecasting regarding the growth of the Brazilian economy again. While the Economy Ministery insists on announcing a 5% GPD for this year, organizations linked to banks reduced this estimate from 4.93% at first to 4.88%. A clear backspace conjectures. For the next year, the prognosis is yet of deterioration of the Economy, the calculations of rise for the GPD are only 0.9%.
The inflation rates are around 10% or more, with even more serious outcome for most of the families, which are 70% of the population, who are living with up to three minimum wages, that is, R$100 a day. This whole situation is not random; it is a policy imposed by imperialism to seize the country and the population economy for profits in favour of banks and business monopolies. A policy followed passively by the vendee-homeland government of the coup regime.
It is possible to notice the engagement of the bourgeoise, meaning bankers and right-wing Parties, to this plan through their fierce objection to the financial auxiliar programs launched by the government during the pandemic. The “auxilio emergencial” (emergency assistance) and the recently created “auxilio Brasil” (Brazil aid). The bourgeoise argues that those programs will affect the economy since the public budget must be altered to cover these assistances.Under the pretext of fiscal austerity, bankers press the government against the “Brazil aid”- with provision for duration until the end of 2022 – while they amount to more than 52% of the federal public budget from taxes paid by workers, something around R$ 2,500 trillion into a few people. Whereas the aid proposed by Bolsonaro, which would help tens of millions of Brazilians, would cost little more than R$ 32 billion.
The policy of those who promoted the coup and have benefited from it is to expropriate the poor population, to exploit even more those who have nothing to sustain the billion-dollar profits of those parasites whose are increasingly supported by state resources, stolen from the population, in addition to increase in the exploitation of the working class throughout the world. Faced with situation, there is no room for agreement. The working-class need to present their own program, fight independently against the bourgeoisie parasites and their reactionary political parties. This agenda was discussed on the National Plenary for Out Bolsonaro, Lula President. The program resulted as follows.
Against unemployment and layoffs: Reduction of working hours for a maximum of 35 hours per week; forbidden resignation; readmission of all those dismissed during the pandemic; occupation and control over closing down industry by the workers.
Against expropriation of wages: Full replacement of 100% wage losses; mobile wage scale, due the rise of inflation rate; automatic wage increase when the living cost rises 3%; vital minimum wage that meet the real cost of living, which is R$ 6,500 deliberated by workers organizations.
Real emergency assistance of – at least – one minimum wage, while the chaos caused by the pandemic last.
Down with privatizations and destruction of the national economy: union of the workers whose jobs are being threatened by the end of the national ownership of business like Correios (Mail Service), Eletrobras (Electricity Company), Petrobras (Petroleum Company), ports, etc.; cancellation and return to the national state of the companies that had gone for the private sector, like Vale (Mine Company), banks, telephony, etc.
End of expropriation of national wealth: Completely national ownership of the petroleum, return of this company to the national control of its workers, including reserves and refineries. End of the dictatorship of banks and expropriation of the people:
Nationalization of financial system: single state bank; cancellation of external and internal debts; consumption taxes and wages have to end, tax only for capitalists’ profits and large fortunes.
