Article from JLO # 0 (May-June/95)

The plan of monetary stabilisation sponsored by foreign financial ca-pital on behalf of Latin American countries has in Brazil its expression of biggest boldness. Its task is recolonize this country dilapidating an economy that used to occupy, in the backward countries’ rank, the position of "giant" and that in 1960s would present levels of growth only comparable with the Soviet economy from 1930s to 1950s.

By causing the national economy to be retreated in world-wide market to an "agroexporting" role almost identical with that which played in the beginning of 20th century, the imperialism comes up to limits in which a great part of national bourgeoisie intends to keep positions adopted in the years of massive inversions of multinational capital in the country. This sector that is dependent upon the foreign financial capital and that occupies a position of minority partner in important branches of economy such as car, electronic, and chemical sectors, or even controlling indirectly via A state-owned companies, key branches such as oil extraction, energetic production and telephony, does not intend to be summarily excluded from this society. Instead of offering a "nationalistic" or "progressivist" resistance to imperialism-oriented recolonization, this bourgeois sector desires to enter into a "agreement" by which they can preserve their own interests in order to shift their capital upon the migratory currents from world-wide speculative capital.

These contradictions among different bourgeois sectors representing distinct economic branches, from the agrarian oligarchy, passing by the national industrial monopolies to the sectors intimately associated with the foreign financial capital as well as with the direct confrontation with very radical worker and mass movement, has put the political regime and very bourgeois state in a position of deep instability and economic crises. These crises till now do not turn directly into openly revolutionary stage due to enormous blockade imposed upon worker’s class by syndicalist bureaucracy and petty bourgeois leaderships.

Political instability and crisis are essential elements of current political stage among the correlation of social forces arising in the point of transition between the military regime and the democratising one. The overpowering economic crisis shaking the fragile and caricatured institutions of formal democracy quickly wrecks the national bourgeoisie attempts to structure in Brazil a steadfast democratic regime. The national bourgeoisie is completely incapable of solving historically the serious Brazilian problems, such as land monopolism, unemployment, high levels of absolute poverty, low wages, regional inequalities, external debts, etc. On this condition, the pretension of the social-democratic left of consolidating a fully democratic and politically stable regime is entirely utopian and reactionary.

Two moments of political crisis marked the current stage subsequent to down fall of military regime knocked down by the mobilisations of "Diretas Já (Direct Elections Now), in so far as they concentrated, from viewpoint of class struggle, a possibility of political rupture, making the passage to a revolutionary stage: the Brazilian Popular Front Campaign — FBP in 1989 and "Fora Collor!" Movement. Instead of being phenomena without any relation between themselves, they represent a thread of continuity of political crisis from regime with unfoldments important for the current conjuncture.

With the unfoldment of masses dynamic galvanised by the FBP Campaign the Presidential election in 1989 represented much more than a mere "institutional e-vent" in the bourgeois political calendar. It signified a relief valve from complete collapse of new regime after the military leaving the stage of action. In this landmark, the Brazilian Popular Front Campaign, headed by Lula, becomes an ample, crowded mass movement, reaching the point of exceeding the "Diretas Já" Campaign — the greatest mass movement ever seen in national history. A front of class collaboration based on an enormous radicalism of workers and mass movement emerges at the horizon starting from a imminent electoral victory of FBP campaign. In view of pulverization of its traditional candidates and parties (PDS, PMDB, PFL) as well as in view of the great fear that the FBP victory would release more and more deeply the forces of worker movement, the bourgeoisie and the imperialism decide in favour of an emergency exit. When they promotes a very shameful electoral fraud, they state victorious Collor whose candidature is no better than a representative of marginal sectors of north-eastern agrarian oligarchy destitute of any insertion from industrial and financial bourgeoisie and supported by a fictitious party fabricated on the eve of elections. The PT (Brazilian Workers Party) leadership that, since the working up of the FBP program, would seek to form an organic bond with sectors of "democratic" and "progressives" bourgeoisie, agrees shamefully with the electoral fraud. Proceeding thus, this party wholly demobilises the mass movement under pretence of that they would have been defeated by "the shirtless (the poorest sector of Brazilian society) would had elected him and seeks to negotiate a safe-conduct so that his victory in 1994 could be accepted without traumas by imperialism and national bourgeoisie.

The Collor "victory", instead of solving or even stanching the deep political crisis of democratising regime, only postpones for a brief lapse of time that which would take place convulsively if the FBP would come to power. Even so, the ultimate unfoldings to subsequent fall of Collor Government evince the great disposition of mass movement in exceeding the narrow limits of democratising bourgeois regime.

The Collor Government receives the charge of beginning the process of reforming the state as well as fitting the Brazilian economy for new demands of foreign financial capital, operation already in progress in all Latin America.

It were evident that a feeble government having no social, parliamentary basis were entirely impotent to being the helmsman of this large-scale operation despite having the critical support of the PT leadership that, in view of first measure took to control inflationary crisis by confiscation of 70% of national saving banks, stated that, if would be in power, would do the same.

The measures adopted by President Collor — first the popular saving banks confiscation, wage squeeze and theft of retirement incomes, afterwards the beginning of privatisation process, drastic cut in the funds that were intended for public sectors such as health, education and housing — awake popular anger that would soon exploded.

In this condition, in the heart of bourgeoisie an internal struggle breaks out that, in a first moment, brings almost all ministry to down; and, in a second moment, emerges in form of a public scandal: the government is blamed for benefiting a sector of the Alagoan agrarian oligarchy. The population watches astonished to washing of dirty linen in public in very pro-government political forces. The PT "Opposition" remains paralysed for fear that, in only one blow, the unsteady the Collor Government collapses. However a simple spontaneously student protest march, in commemorating the Day of Student (8/11/92), lifts the great blockade of leaderships, releasing the accrued hatred of population and thereby paving the way for national demonstrations for "Get out Collor!" The mobilisation only not gets a wider character by participation of worker’s class because of blockade of petty bourgeois leadership of the PT. The imperialism and bourgeoisie could not more prevent the Collor from the free fall, at the risk of an insurrectional overthrow of regime and consequent ascension of worker’s class. The National Congress starts a political manoeuvre of transition that appoints the vice-president Itamar Franco.

The Brazilian Workers Party plays decisive part in the impeachment process deviating completely from route of mobilisations "Fora, Collor!" to institutional course. Result of the articulation among the PMDB, the PSDB and the PFL, the impeachment should ensure a government of "national agreement" with the representation of all parties, including the PT. To Lulist bureaucracy, this would represent the ante-room of his own government in an "overwhelming electoral victory in 1994".

The bourgeoisie, extremely languid, prepares itself to adopt preventing measures in relation to a future government of popular front such as adoption of parliamentarism. The PT majoritarian leadership supports the bourgeois manoeuvre of convoking a plebiscite in favour of change of government system. Simultaneously, a process of discussions with PSDB starts, called "preferential electoral ally" both for presidential elections and for the state governments.

However, the plebiscite manoeuvre fails. The most of people consider the adoption of parliamentarism as a coup d’état for weakening the worker future government, making it hostage of Parliament. In very internal consultation into Brazilian Workers Party, Lula and all chiefly leaders were defeated. In spite of fact that almost the whole national political parties had advocated the parliamentarism, the favourable voting was a positive fiasco.

The defeat of parliamentarism aggravated much more the crisis of regime and, particularly, of the Parliament, that, much more demoralised, resorted to so-called Constitutional Revision, another imposition from imperialism for that moment. Incapable of going ahead with privatisation program restricted to iron and steel sector, and with the National Congress paralysed with respect to Constitutional Revision owing to demands of foreign financial capital, the Itamar Government goes through its worse crisis.

In the meantime, the scandal of Budget in the Congress blows up, in dimensions greater than denunciations against Collor. In this particular case, the incident involves all parties that were the axis of bourgeois representation since the military dictatorship — the PMDB and the PFL — beyond its satellites-parties such as the PSB e the PPR. The fuse of crisis was the disclosure for a high officer of Congress of that ‘the construction companies and economic groups would exert control in the Parliament on voting of Union Yearly Budget and control almost the totality of parliamentarians who used to approve overinvoiced projects." The Itamar Government was entirely lost, paralysed and without any initiative in carrying through the imperialist plans. The so-called "national agreement" government would beg for coming to an end.

In this crisis, the Brazilian Workers Party (PT) and most of leftist organisations unveiled its anti-worker character behaving like mere appendices of democratic bourgeois regime. The objective disclosure of real character of representative democracy as an instrument of great economic groups paved way to ample work of agitation for necessity of establishment of real socialist system, where the private property would not determine, by direct control of Parliament and Executive, Brazilian destinations.

In socialism, on the contrary, the control of political institutions is determined by supreme organisations of very workers who, controlling the whole of economy, in terms of his own historical interests and necessities, will eliminate the parasitic and corrupt role of capitalists and their economic corporations. This work of arousing public interest should develop itself in connection with most insurgent trends of mass movement that had been restrained and turned away since the "Get out Collor" movement towards institutional bourgeois way out.

However, the left, headed by Brazilian Workers Party, ensures anew a way out for the bankrupted regime. In agreement if with the bourgeoisie, the PT  advocates the institution of a CPI (Parliamentary Committee of Inquest) in National Congress in order to guarantee that the crisis located in very Parliament is got round and suppressed by sacrifice of a few deputies considered "corrupt". The word of command adopt-ted by the PT, "CPI Pra Valer" (CPI for Real) reflected its deep connection with the bourgeois state and its putrefied institutions. The pseudo-Trotskyist, the PSTU and Causa Operária, in their turn, gave a demonstration of positive ideological bankruptcy. They assumed the word of command adopted by the PT, launching themselves in defence of "CPI nelles todos" (CPI in everybody) and "Eleições Gerais" (General Elections), when all situation would require exactly the contrary. They should have denounced the fraudulent character of representative elections in the democratic regime, where the capital "elects" its representatives in keeping with its economic and political interests, and to point out a worker solution independent of the parliamentary crisis and, consequently, of the very bourgeois state.

After Parliamentary crisis is got round, the Itamar Government prepares itself to face presidential elections. These pointed out that Lula would be invincible candidate in face of all bourgeois alternatives. The PT leadership, after having ensured the swearing in of "collorful" Vice-President and supported his government during all its crises, seeks to accredit itself before national and foreign financial capital as unique candidature capable of carrying through the imperialist program of national recolonization. Lula travels to New York in 1994 having in view to present to bankers from Fifth Avenue the credentials of his program: to maintain the paying of the foreign debt, to fulfil all treaties with the IMF, to advocate the privatisation programs, to submit the national economy to alignment determined by imperialism via Mercosul. Moreover, he guarantees effectively his control of mass movement in Brazil by defusing from New York a national strike of federal civil servants presenting a tendency to unification of several categories towards to a general strike. This signalling of the PT gives a pause for breath to the Itamar Government who both creates the plan of monetary stabilisation termed "Real" and indicates his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, prospective candidate to Presidency, frustrating in this way definitely a coalition so dreamed by the PT.

The Itamar Government edits a provisory measure creating the URV, monetary unit equivalent to dollar. He converts the wages to an average below inflation, while all other goods have its prices converted in a more elevated level. Moreover, The National Congress votes the creation of a economic fund, Emergency Social Fund. By doing this, it aims at draining most of resources from social, health and educational areas to cover a future embezzlement in the National Treasury caused by artificial equivalence of unit of currency, preparing the way to continue the country sell-out process interrupted at Collor Government fall. The PT leadership not only fails to criticise wages confiscation but also their congressmen vote yes on the Congress plan. Within the Worker Unique Centre (CUT), the Brazilian Workers Party takes to pieces, category by category (civil servants, teachers, metalworkers, oil workers, bank employees, postmen, etc), the entire worker resistance to plan, imposing a complete paralysis to mass movement.

The bourgeoisie succeeds in stopping temporarily a stage of successive crises that go from the collapse of New Republic to Collor Fall, from defeat of parliamentarism to Budget CPI. When all trends would point at a great social explosion and the complete lost of control of  the political process, the bourgeoisie, with the direct collaboration of the PT and its popular front, ensures the stability in the presidential succession, betting on the victory of his direct representative — Cardoso — who was far behind Lula in electoral polls.

The Brazilian Popular Front, headed by the PT, on the contrary of 1989, was based on a great mass mobilisation. Its campaign that was built on a high level of integration into imperialism would not constitute a channel by which the proletariat could express their independent action. In view of migration of financial support to the Cardoso candidature, materialised, for instance, in the operational change of Rede Globo that a short while before used to fed sympathies for Lula, Brazilian Popular Front reacts as one who disputes despairingly the place of Presidency candidate favourite of large economic groups, stating that Lula "will follow out to Plano Real, for his program is identical with Cardoso. The unique difference are the social agencies that will implement this program." (Aloísio Mercadante, Gazeta Mercantil, 15 August, 1994).

The Lula candidature, by way of the CUT, miscarries again a powerful strike threatening to bring together 50,000 oil workers. During September 1994 he "joins efforts" with the Federation of Industries from State of São Paulo (FIESP), allowing to the Itamar Government to defuse quickly the ABC metalworkers’ strike and negotiate a way out by which the workers suspend the strike even with the squeezed wages and the car assembler companies with reduced taxes.

The campaign of the Brazilian Popular Front (FBP) begins ebbing, obliging the candidate to Vice-President Bisol to be replaced, because of vehement accusations on corruption, and paving the way to elevating artificially Cardoso in electoral polls, so that he appears on the home straight with strong superiority over Lula, eliminating thus the possibility of second round. The figures show a great turn: four months before election time, the Brazilian Workers Party led the public opinion poll with 40% of intentions of voting, but Cardoso wins the elections on first round with 54% of valid votes. The explanation given by the PT and political analysts belonging to the Right and the Left of which the phenomena was result from a supposed success of Plano Real does not correspond with reality at all. The Lula’s defeat was the direct product of his own policy, which made him hostage of dynamic imposed by the bourgeoisie.

After breaking all resistance to Plan, the bourgeoisie set free to making the transition ItamarCardoso in its favourite way, namely, resorting to a series of fraudulent means: public opinion institutes with results manipulated to present identical results; adulteration and omission of disastrous economic data, etc. The electoral fraud that would be put into practice transpired thro-ugh Government’s own pores in episodes such as "Ricuperogate" one and reaches the point of Leonel Brizola to state in television program on Election Day (3 October) that, "what the public opinion institutes could not do in favour of Cardoso’s victory, the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) computers will do it, and the PT does know this."

The PT leadership, instead of denunciating the clamorous electoral trick that could unmask the fraudulent regime, congratulates the PSDB in just beginning of vote’s score on having carried out an ethical campaign, and makes a commitment to making not opposition seeing that the future  government would be an honest one. On second around of state government elections, the so desired coalition between the Brazilian Workers Party and the Tucanos was consolidated. In the state of São Paulo, Lula’s party supports state government candidate Mario Covas. In Brasilia, it is time for PSDB reciprocating kindness. On this pretext, the PT sectors started supporting Cardoso and receiving ministries, like is the case of Francisco Weffort and Augusto Fran-co. However, this must not cause astonish-ment, for these already belonged ideologically on other side, by advocating social democracy and market economy.

Concerning to 1994 Elections, the pseudo-Trotskyist left split up in two positions: the Causa Operária and the PSTU. The former would advocate the position of critical support to Lula candidature and mechanically transport the reality from 1989 to 1994 without taking into account the deep changes took places in international and national scenery; the popular front would adopted in 1994 a dynamic different of that followed by BrazilianPopular Front in 1989, despite of maintaining the same character of class collaboration. The difference would resid in direct integration of the FBP into foreign financial capital and no longer to national bourgeoisie’s shadow like in 1989. This position could be summarised in only point: to defend the continuity to Plano Real, the entrance door to a series of economic and political measures taken by the MFI. In order to carry through its object, the FBP had to cause the work movement to be retreated developing a electoral campaign "coldly" and without any polarisation with bosses’ candidates or any mass action. In this context, the policy that met the best conditions for a revolutionary and classist intervention was the laun-chment of an ample campaign in favour of the null vote in connection with the necessity of defeating Plano Real by unification of struggles bound for general strike.

In spite of completely bourgeois character of Lula candidature (not due to its social position, but for its pro-imperialist program), the political shrewd manoeuvres of Causa Operária undertook to advocate Lula as "traditional" candidature of worker movement (CO, # 200, 27 September, 1994). The CO would disapprove of the Plano Real, at the same time that would approve the candidate who advocated the continuity of this Plano. With the subsequent disclosure of real sponsors of the FBP campaign in 1994 — groups such as Itaú bank, Odebrecht etc. — got crystal clear that, for the national bourgeoisie and imperialism, both candidatures would represent their interests. Having obtained comparable economic stability through treacherous policy from the Brazilian Popular Front, they decided finally on Cardoso, who was their direct representative. The Causa Operária (CO), in addition to its political capitulation before the Brazilian Popular Front, gets worse when the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Cardoso Government confesses in national network the electoral fraud. In so-called Ricuperogate episode, the CO would advocate that the "clean and democratic elections" should be held "under the supervision of an electoral committee controlled by all democratic parties and bodies", asking for the PT "one national day of struggle against the electoral manipulation" (Pamphlet Mobilising For Free and Democratic Elections, 7 July, 1994).

These pseudo-Trotskyists are not "able" to see that the very PT was accomplice of this fraud and that their democratising way out — elections controlled by all bourgeois parties — only would help to legitimate more and more the electoral fraud organised by trusts and monopolies. Only a new power sprung from worker mobilisations could find solutions for democratic tasks that the bourgeoisie is incapable of solving. Requiring that a co-ordination of parties and "democratic" bodies such as PMDB, PSDB, PDT, OAB, CNBB etc. carry out a fully democratic electoral process is the same that require that the Ruralist Democratic Union (UDR) confiscates large landed states! The CO accusation was empty of any content capable of exceeding the limits of very bourgeois state and its democratising regime. The CO makes two mistakes: it intended to perfect the bourgeois democratic state with the formation of a bourgeois electoral co-ordination and it was omissive when it failed to denunciate the participation of PT in this fraud. This could dislodged an important evasion in worker sectors that gravitates around PT orbit, due to highly compromising positions this party with the manipulation and swindle perpetrated by bourgeoisie.

In that elections, the Causa Operária omitted to develop an ample campaign for the construction of a revolutionary worker party in order to, after Cardoso victory, presenting the necessity of legalisation of a new party dislodged of any political battle or programmatic delimitation to reformism.

Other pseudo-Trotskyist variant represented by the PSTU — a centrist group, fruit of union of fusion of Morenist former CS with leftist syndicalist bureaucrats — would express the deepening of integration of petty bourgeois currents to policy of reforming bourgeois state under the leadership of a popular front. The debut of the PSTU as political party, after exclusion of the CS from the PT, that according to Morenists, resulted from its "positions contrary to PT coalitions with bourgeois parties", is marked by its organic integration to Brazilian Popular Front, connecting them with bourgeois parties and politicians, such as Miguel Arraes, Valdir Pires and Roberto Freire. According to the PSTU, its admission in popular front was subordinated to tactical goals as the electing of a strong parliamentary bench. This justifies its abandonment of the most important Trotskyist axis in its struggle against the policy of social democratic and Stalinist leadership according to Transitional Program says, "the Fourth International has not nor can take place in any popular fronts. It opposes unyieldingly to all political groups tied to bourgeoisie apron strin-gs" (Leon Trotsky, Transitional Program). The PSTU repeats the populist-front policy with leftist whitewash, just like the old Spanish POUM showing its true colours: an organisation that subordinates the historical interests of Worker’s Class to strategy of defeat of popular front.

Cardoso’s victory marks the deepening of the imperialist project of national recolonization introduced by the Itamar Government at the launch of Plano Real.

With inflationary stabilisation caused by artificial increase in value of national monetary unit in relation to dollar, Brazilian state "burns" two thirds of its exchange reserves evaluated in around 30 billion of dollars. The beneficiaries of this transaction — the great bodies associated with foreign financial capital — by transforming its bills of public debt or National Treasure Bonus, piled up overnight about 12 billion of dollars. This is only a small sample of a big transaction of parasitically complete demolition of the national economy.

The composition of new government, PSDB-PFL, will be substantially enlarged with the entry of the PMDB and the PPR in ministries and, indirectly, even the PT by nomination of its former general secretary Francisco Weffort, showing the deep integration of the PT to the Cardoso Government. We should stress the hegemonic importance of the state of São Paulo industrial bourgeoisie (FIESP) in the composition of the new cabinet. It occupies key positions in the government (Treasury and Central Bank), which represents a preventive attitude against the rapacious economic interests of the imperialism.

After consolidating the foundations of Plano Real, Cardoso engages in carrying out his fundamental aims of the project of national recolonization, as much in economic ground as in institutional one, in order to harmonise two intervention fronts. From economic standpoint, the effects of Mexican collapse and imminent Argentinean bankruptcy make the state to elevate the rates of interest charged by Central Bank to exorbitant levels taking into account the inflationary fall.

By doing it, Cardoso attempts desperately to avoid the exit of speculative capital anchored as much in stock exchanges as public bills. This evasion could make entire shipwreck of state in first months of the Cardoso management.

One of fundamental characteristics of pos-Real national economy is the indiscriminate opening to industrial imports that bankrupts entire branches of Brazilian industrial estate. The immediate consequence of imperialist reco-lonization is the incessant wealth concentration in the hands of a smaller and smaller group of capitalists via bankruptcy or "tidying up" of "non-competitive" companies by mammoth financial monopolies causing startling growing of unemployment and social poverty in Brazil.

The direct result from this policy is the gigantic accumulation of deficit in balance of trade that, from November 1994 to May 1995, already surpasses 5 billions of dollars (Jornal do Brasil, 27 May). We should emphasise that prior Plano Real Brazil was the unique Latin American country presenting surplus rates in its balance of trade. In order to cover the embezzlement brought about by debit balance as much of imports over exports as the embezzlement of the National Exchequer due to constant extortion of exchange reserves hardly exhausted — the Central Bank charges the second biggest interest rates in word market, hypertrophying the foreign debt.

The Cardoso Government will pay foreign financial capital only the interests: something around 15 billions of dollars, as if it would be not sufficient a big part made in 1994 by Itamar-Cardoso doubles giving to multinationals settled in Brazil "not less than 9 billions of dollars in the form of several tax incentives" (O Estado de São Paulo, January 25, 1995).

In short, national economy became hostage of migratory currents of foreign financial capital that, in only one withdrawal, could bankrupt a State completely dependent of a vicious circle imposed by imperialism.

The submission of our country to interests of financial oligarchy forces the Cardoso Government to resume the so-called Constitutional Revision aspired since the Collor Government and started unsuccessfully by Itamar Government. To succeed in this operation, it needs to refit the State legal structures for new demands of the IMF. In this sense, the bankruptcy of state-owned monopoly of piping gas, oil, telecommunications, etc. represents the first step in the process of privatisation in state-owned main companies such as Petrobrás, Telebrás, Vale do Rio Doce, etc. The other end of "Reform" consist in eliminating historic conquests gained by the proletariat such as social welfare, public education, wage adjustment etc.

The big commercial co-under, named National Congress, could not also refrain from giving as a present to great monopolist groups a generous tax reform, aiming for enlarging even more tax subsidies and exemptions, fabulous benefits granted by the bourgeois state.

Besides refusing to take any initiative of independent resistance to imperialist plans, the PT and the CUT syndicalist bureaucracy also decide criminally to take part (legitimate) in fateful Revision. The CUT reaches to supreme nonsense of signing the proposal for tax reform prepared by the FIESP. The PT, in turn, vote for the end of state-owned monopoly of piping gas. The worker movement should learn an important lesson from shameful betrayal of the CUT and the PT. It should adopt a policy contrary to destruction of conquets and to sell-out of Brazil to imperialism. In this moment, the only solution is to break with the paralysis imposed by populist-front leaderships and to begin an ample mobilisation indicating to worker’s class an independent way out.

Even though the recolonization process has obtained some progress because of the lack of a classist and revolutionary leadership in the mass movement. This process does not go on unharmed at successive crises produced for its own effects.  The constant bourgeois conflicts, expressed in disagreements among very government supporters, more especially in the heart of very Treasury team, reflects the dispute between national industrial bourgeoisie sectors and foreign financial oligarchy. The Cardoso Government tries to act like arbitrator of different bourgeois segments, but its limits are very narrow owing to structural crisis of regime.

The bankruptcy of state-owned financial system (BANESPA, BA-NERJ etc) as well as the IMF demand for immediate privatisation of this sector has engendered internal crises between the the state of São Paulo Governor (PSDB) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Other source of quarrel is the bankruptcy of the exportation sector harmed by overvaluation of real that stands in working thanks to Advance Payment of Exchange Control (ACC): long term loans with interests subsidised by state. The agrarian oligarchies choked by elevated interests have obtained, with its strong influence in Parliament, favours and traded its debts in state-owned bank in exchange for political support to this regime.

The days of most of national bourgeoisie are numbered and it pressures Cardoso so that he goes more slowly with the plans of recolonization concerning the opening of national market to foreign financial capital. These dependent capitalists are completely powerless to go against their own squashing caused by foreign financial capital and try to make up for each cent robbed by imperialism, by increasing the exploitation of the worker’s class, by squeezing wage, by swelling unemployed army, by destroying all labour achievements and by intensifying the wild paces of output; and this with legal and police support of the government.

All this conjuncture points out in prospect of a gigantic political crisis caused not only by interbourgeois disputes but also by entering on stage of the proletariat that starts drawing up a revolt against to the destruction of social welfare, destabilisation of civil servants, privatisation of stated-owned companies and other attacks against their life conditions.

The ascension of the worker movement states the fact that workers are willing to rebel against the wage squeeze, unemployment and Cardoso’s constitutional reform. The demonstration of popular repudiation, the resistance to attacks from government and the strikes of different classes manifested in scattered struggles is the first obstacle to be faced. In despite of its isolated spontaneous form, the struggles have a tendency to become general.

The unique solution to overcome to stage of dispersal and atomisation of resistance to bosses’ attacks is the construction of a unitarian axis of intervention of the whole of the exploited, transforming categories or bran-ches of category struggles into a struggle of all worker’s class against the bourgeois regime. For the purpose of this, the whole of classist activism, the bases of struggling categories, the CUT, Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), the Popular Movement Centre and the UNE (National Union of Students) should break with the corporatism and dispersal convoking a massive National Conference of Worker and Popular Movement, that springs from the bases of all struggling sectors against current regime. Instead of doing nothing more than syndicalist character, such as the CUT assembly in which only affiliated syndicates take part, it should comprise all social sectors that struggle against the Cardoso Government: unemployed, ho-meless, retired persons, metalworkers, students, landless labourers, oil workers, civil servants, transforming the partial struggle against the attacks suffered by each category into a general struggle of all the exploited and oppressed. An association that satisfies the present needs for organisation and struggle of the exploited has to be founded in a more worker ample democracy, securing the participation of all the exploited sectors that are willing to wage a class struggle against the bourgeois government and regime. We need a forum erected from bases of each struggling category, from places of work, living and study and from land occupations.

The National Conference of Worker and Popular Movement assumes the fundamental prospect of unifying and centralising the struggles with ample participation of workers in order to endow them with a independent worker program that attends to the whole demands of the exploited, structuring a plan of struggles that puts the General Leadership into agenda for indeterminate time.

In order that a plan of struggle is a true propelling crowbar of union of the exploited, the political axis should raise the slogan: DOWN WITH CARDOSO AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM! This policy is suitable to channel all mass repudiation expressed into different acts against the government and the in progress strikes against the ruling centre of capitalist policy in this country. The deepening of unitarian mobilisation of the oppressed workers and youth should serve to put in hands of the very worker’s class an independent solution for capitalist crisis. Defeating Cardoso and his plan means in this moment to uproot the central basis of imperialism, represented by the government of great monopolies. The unification and centralisation of struggles against the recolonization of Brazil must have as political axis the construction of a power alternative to bosses’ one by the fight for a government of urban and rural workers and student organisations. At the same time, the youthful LIGA BOLCHEVIQUE INTERNACIONALISTA convokes the whole worker, peasant and student vanguard to forge the unique tool capable of defeat the bourgeoisie and capitalist barbarism — the Revolutionary Worker Party, the unique way to delimitation and overcoming of the leaderships betraying the worker movement.

The fight for unifying under a worker program the whole exploited against the Cardoso government — agent of imperialist recolonization — should base on the following claims:

For minimum wage that satisfies the needs of a worker family;
For the end of unemployment: jobs galore for all population. For sliding scale of working hours without wages reduction;
For public social welfare led by workers. For retired person’s wages equal to active workers;
For the end or annulment of all privatisation.
For the worker control of production.
For the state-owned monopoly of oil, telecommunications, mining, energy etc. under worker’s control;
For state-isation of financial system.
For the radical land reform led by workers with expropriation of productive large landed state.
For public, lay, free and qualitative education managed by workers.
For general strike for indeterminate time to bring Cardoso and his constitutional reform down.
For the non-payment of internal and foreign debt and break with the IMF
For the worker and peasants organizations’ government.