Amandla! magazine | Issue 84

and grassroots churches, and its strong
influence in leftist social organisations. In
spite of this, it continued to be, in a way,
a “Left” party with a presence among
progressive sectors of the middle classes,
but still without access to the popular and
poor masses of Brazil.
This was especially the case in regions
dominated by conservative regional
strongmen, the traditional conservative
middle classes and sectors of the economic
and social elites. During the
1990s, the most difficult task
was to persuade the economic
elites and convince the middle
classes that the PT could make
a government that could lead
the country out of economic
instability and transform the
Brazilian state into a tool for
the mitigation of poverty,
unemployment and hunger.
The end of hunger was
specifically its main focus.
This implied an engagement in
dialogue with the political centre

• this engagement was called
  discursive “deradicalisation”.
  It was not without its problems
  within the traditional alliances
  of the Brazilian Left. The most
  iconic act of this transition was
  the “Letter to the Brazilian
  people” in which, in 2002, Lula
  informed the establishment
  that he would not do away with
  “legal security” in Brazil – he
  would honour contracts signed
  by his predecessor, and wouldn’t
  change the economic rules
  adopted by him.
  That year, Lula was elected
  president in his third run for the highest
  office. The lesson is that, unlike what
  may appear to be the case, if you want to
  participate in the democratic game, it is
  possible to dialogue with broader sectors
  without losing your identity. You can still
  retain the values that can and will guide
  the government’s actions, as the PT in
  government demonstrated, particularly in
  Lula’s first two terms in office.
  Dilma’s government, which
  attempted deeper changes in the
  economic structures, failed to take note
  of the growing discontent of the middle
  classes caused by a relative loss of class
  privileges. This pushed the elites and the
  whole society to the institutional coup
  of Dilma’s impeachment. This led to the
  demonisation of the PT, the “antipetism”
  and the victory of Bolsonaro, a radical -
  and marginal - right-wing deputy of a tiny
  party, that allowed the elites to block the
  PT’s return to power in 2018.

The PT cycle

Separating Brazil from the rest of the

world, it can be said that the June 2013

revolts expressed what we call the “PT

cycle” - from its creation, to its arrival

in government and then to more than

ten years managing the Brazilian state.

Then, despite the relative bonanzas for

them, the elites and the middle classes

began to abandon the PT. They had been

forced to “put up with” it. Now they

created a breeding ground for the rhetoric

of hatred and “cultural war”. They built

“antipetism” and pushed society towards

radical right-wing options. Until then,

these had not had expression in Brazilian

society.

The corruption scandals and the

judicial persecution of the main figures of

the PT, including Lula, fed and were fed

by this climate. This led the PT to a major

setback in its electoral representation and

its worst opinion poll rating. It reached a

historical low of 20% of popular support.

For a large part of the population, the PT

became synonymous with “corruption” - a

“petista” was a thief.

PT reborn

The period between 2015 (impeachment

of Dilma) and 2019 was the worst period

in the history of the PT. It was a period

of “divorce” from society that seemed

irreparable. However, despite all the

attacks, Lula’s party has a reasonably good

chance of winning the elections on Sunday,

October 2 (or in a second round, on October

30). How did this happen? How was the

relationship rebuilt between Lula – and

perhaps the PT as a whole - and, to date,

47% of the Brazilian population?

The first factor is that Lula could

demonstrate that he was subjected to

political and legal persecution and was

arbitrarily imprisoned and tried without

evidence. The Brazilian Supreme Court

(STF) annulled the sentences against him

because they were made by a judge who

was not impartial. and was politicallly

motivated. In this way, Lula demonstrated

to society that he was unjustly imprisoned

and prevented from competing in the

2018 elections, which made Bolsonaro’s

victory possible. By redeeming himself,

he also demonstrated that he was right

when he denounced arbitrariness. Along

with his own reputation, he recovered the

reputation of the party itself, which was

once again embraced by broad sectors

of society - but strongly by the popular

sectors and the youth.

The second factor is that the large

social movements never abandoned Lula.

His link with the PT, MST, CUT, MAB

(Movimento de Atingidos por Barragens),

MTST (Movimento de Trabalhadores sem

Teto) and youth movements associated

In the same period, the new unionism also created the trade union federation, Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT)

in 1983. This gathered together the power of the workers in the labour sphere of the struggle.

Perspectives for the left