The farce of pointing out attempted coup serves to justify the left’s immobilism, which calls for repression against its enemies.
After January 8 of this year, exactly eight days into the Lula government, a crisis opened up. A Bolsonarist demonstration invaded the three main government buildings in Brasilia:Congress, the Planalto Palace and the Federal Supreme Court, in a demonstration of the elected government’s total weakness. Since then, much has been said about the event being an attempted coup, which was later defeated by the repression of some citizens who participated in the event. In addition, part of the left characterized the event as a repeat of Euromaidan.
Euromaidan was a series of protests that took place around Maidan Square in Ukraine’s capital Kiev in 2014. The protests were directly influenced by the European Union and the USA, and their agenda was directed against a rapprochement of the Ukrainian government with Russia, as well as accusations of corruption against the then president. The protests quickly took on a character of opposition to the government, which eventually led to the fall of the president and the takeover of power by NATO puppets in a regime that was backed by militias armed Nazis initially infiltrated the Maidan Square protests to radicalize the process. The protests eventually turned into armed clashes against the police. Snipers were used to assassinate protesters, catalyzing the uprising, such snipers were agents provocateurs in the service of imperialism, which escalated the situation into armed conflict. As a result of that coup, today’s war between Russia and NATO is taking place in Ukraine.
Compared to this, January 8 in Brasilia bears no resemblance whatsoever. In Brasilia, the protesters didn’t even have a gun. Despite taking over the headquarters of the three powers, there was nothing else, they just withdrew after vandalizing works of art, offices, etc. So much so that the left, repeating the litany of the bourgeois press, points out that a coup was avoided after the fact, something that makes absolutely no sense. How could a coup attempt be prevented after it had been carried out? There would have to be a struggle against the coup and the overthrow of the coup regime set up which, in fact, bears not even the slightest resemblance to reality.
The correct characterization of the event is that it was an attempt to destabilize the government, which it did. President Lula is now going through a crisis that began with the protest. Yet another event was the attempt to blockade fuel refineries throughout Brazil, an act of sabotage. These blockades would make no sense alongside a direct offensive against the government offices, but they make perfect sense if it is an offensive not to immediately overthrow the new president, but to weaken and sabotage the government. This is an apt description of the situation. The alleged coup attempt also did not present a leadership, a central figure, and former president Jair Bolsonaro is out of the country. The so-called coup attempt is much more like another political process, which also occurs in another country, but in this case in Venezuela. There, attacks on refineries and transmission towers, various acts of sabotage are used in an attempt to destabilize the popular government of Nicolas Maduro. The scenario is similar and tends to repeat itself in Brazil. The government relies on the institutions instead of the workers. Coup institutions to stop the false coup. If the situation continues, the tendency is the progressive demoralization of the government elected by the workers, and even the fall of the government, but not now. January 8 may have had the participation of imperialism, of the CIA, just like Euromaidan, but not like Euromaidan. Here is reflected a dissatisfaction with the entire political regime, not just the presidency, and this is demonstrated by the invasion of the National Congress and the STF. Yet it did not occur because of anyone’s attempt to seize power. Another fact adds to this.
The invasion of the buildings in the Praça dos Três Poderes occurred not because of the strength of the demonstration, which included about 4,000 people. It occurred because of the inaction of the forces of repression at all levels. The military and federal police, and even the armed forces, have not barred and have not even tried to bar the protesters from entering the buildings, which characterizes an organization of the tops of these forces with the protests in an attempt to destabilize the government. What presents a gloomy scenario, the dome of the armed forces stands squarely against the government.
The coup thesis ignores the Ministry of Justice, which did not organize the defense against the demonstration, which had been previously and widely called, in a public way, and ignores the most important thing: the generals. The left needs to face reality.
We need to organize and mobilize the workers to confront the most reactionary forces of the regime. Otherwise, we will have a new coup on our hands, and it will not be so simple to resolve the situation under the unified force of all repression.
