5th November 2022
A victory for Lula in Brazil – resistance is possible
Capitalism has always sold itself to the public as being a system based upon democracy. In spite of the vast differences in wealth between the rich and the poor; the huge gulf in life opportunities; the systemic prejudices which working class people, ethnic minorities, women and others have to deal with; in spite of these things, capitalism is heralded by its apologists as the apogee of democracy.
The basis of this claim is that there are regular elections. Voters have the chance to change the party or President in office and return an alternative. The models across capitalist states vary. The British state has an unelected Head, in the form of King Charles III, who occupies that position across 14 Commonwealth countries.
The United States and France have Presidential systems with degrees of power federated to States or Departments. Germany has a President as Head of State but the real power lies with the Chancellor, usually the leader of the biggest party in the Parliament following an election and, in most cases, coalition negotiations. The system in Italy is similar.
Whichever version of ‘democracy’ capitalist states adopt, the underlying principle is that the system itself must not change or be challenged. The fact that there are elections gives the illusion of choice and possible change, so long as the edifice of capital itself is not challenged.
Any challenge from the Left is routinely dealt with by a mobilisation of state media to vilify or even criminalise leaders. The experience of Lula da Silva in Brazil, jailed for trumped up corruption charges, is one example. The anti-Semitism smear campaign launched against former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is another.
The prospect of the threat of disinvestment, a run on the banks and general economic chaos, is usually part of the armoury of the political establishment, seeking to head off any threat to their wealth and privilege.
The return to the Presidency of Lula da Silva in Brazil is a major step forward for the Left, consistent with much of Latin America, but outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro was slow to concede defeat and his supporters have continued to protest against the result. The forces behind Bolsonaro will no doubt be threatened by Lula’s pledge to end deforestation in the Amazon as well as shifting the emphasis of state policy towards helping the poor.
The forces of the Left, the poor and the dispossessed in Brazil will need to be highly organised to resist the inevitable challenges there will be to Lula’s return to the Presidency. The fact that Lula clearly won the election for the Presidency will not prevent the right wing from questioning his authority or seeking to overturn the result.
Other recent and up and coming elections challenge the claim of capitalism to be democratic in different ways. The neo-fascist Brothers of Italy polled the highest number of votes in recent Italian elections and, in coalition with the Forza Italia party of discredited playboy, Silvio Berlusconi, and the right wing League, now boast Italy’s Prime Minister in the form of Giorgia Meloni.
Meloni is an open admirer of former fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, and her presence will strengthen a growing right wing bloc within the European Union. Meloni’s right wing agenda will do nothing to help Italy’s working class as well as actively pursuing an agenda which puts in question LGBT rights, abortion rights and immigration policies. Meloni was a protégé of Republican strategist and Donald Trump ally, Steve Bannon, who headlined her party conferences in Italy before the Covid-19 pandemic. Meloni may have won an election but can her rise to the top in Italian politics really be seen as a victory for democracy?
Similar questions arise from the return to the Premiership of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel where recent elections have put a right wing bloc in power. The grouping includes Religious Zionism, the third biggest party in the Knesset. Its leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, are known for their anti-Arab rhetoric. The former has called for the deportation of citizens deemed “disloyal”, while the latter has called for Arab political parties to be outlawed.
Netanyahu himself has never taken a progressive line on the question of Palestine but the inclusion of Religious Zionism in the new government will not only alarm many left-wing and centrist Israelis, but also Israeli Arabs, who make up a fifth of the population. That it will add to already tense relationships with the Palestinian Authority, due to Israel’s illegal occupation and settlement programme, is an understatement. Once again, an election victory, but a step forward for democracy?
The up and coming mid-term elections in in the United States will take place in the shadow of the attempted coup by Donald Trump supporters in January 2020. The Make America Great Again movement is still alive and is given ‘intellectual’ cover through the right wing America First Policy Institute (AFPI) think tank. In their own words AFPI priorities include “finish the wall, deliver peace through strength, make America energy independent, make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, fighting government corruption by draining the swamp.” The AFPI claim to have put ‘boots on the ground’ in 32 US states in advance of the mid-term elections in order to pursue its right wing agenda.
The right wing surge in the US is also characterised by the movement to ‘take America back for God’, a coalition of Christian nationalists, explicitly endorsed by Trump and, unsurprisingly, pursuing a similar right wing agenda. Victory for the Republicans in the mid-term, or worse still 2024 presidential elections, will see the US move even further to the right. The threat to workers and minorities rights will be significant, the threat to world peace will increase dramatically. Elections will ostensibly be the route to power but will this improve democracy?
These are not places which capitalism has not already visited, with tragic consequences. The rise of the Axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan culminated in World War 2 when these creatures of the most reactionary elements of international capital slipped the leash. Capitalism is not adverse to toying with, or openly endorsing fascism, if it will serve its short term purpose.
That may involve using the path of elections to give a veneer of democracy. It may result in the more open use of force to assert its power against the challenge of the people. The Palestinians know this. Black and ethnic minority communities and migrants to the US know this. The migrants fleeing NATO sponsored wars to what they assume will be a safe haven in Europe know this.
Working class unity, solidarity and true internationalism of the people, not the phoney internationalism of the EU leaders and others, is the route to overcoming such outcomes. Building that unity, solidarity and internationalism is one of the most pressing tasks of the Left if a shift to the Right is to be resisted and ultimately defeated.
Avanti Populo 