The governments of Argentine President Alberto Fernández and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva have officially rejoined the Union of South American Nations, reports Peoples Dispatch/Globetrotter News Service.
Brazil
Recording of a public forum on the Brazilian elections featuring Luana Alves and Andre Mozor.
After a series of setbacks in 2015-19 suggested to many observers that the era of leftist governance in Latin America was over, the picture today is very different. A recent Alborada forum looked at what lies behind the Latin American left’s resurgence.
Brazilian solidarity activists rallied in Sydney on April 7.
Speakers called for the release of jailed former Brazilian president Lula Da Silva and spoke out against the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro and its attacks on democracy.
The body of Carlos Alexandre Pereira Maria was found on April 8 in a bullet-riddled car in Curumau, east of Rio de Janeiro, local media reported.
Pereira, 37, had been cited to testify in court as part of the investigation of the March 14 assassination of councilwoman and socialist activist Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. Franco was a strong opponent of the military take-over of Mare, a poor neighbourhood in Rio home to about 140,000 people.
Police brutally repressed thousands of Brazilians who took the streets on June 30 to oppose austerity measures and the Michel Temer government. The actions were part of the second general strike in three months.
The “general strike” included work stoppages by teachers and workers in the banking, metals, health care and oil refinery sector, among others.
The full vote in the lower house of Brazil’s Congress on the government’s plan to reform the pension system will be delayed until the end of May, amid ongoing protests against it.
If passed, the controversial bill would cut benefits, raise social security contributions by civil servants and set a minimum retirement age of 65 years in a country where people work on average until 54 years.
Guest speaker: Luana Alves, Sao Paulo socialist city councillor, activist with the Socialist Left Movement (MES) tendency within the Socialism and Freedom Party (PSOL) — Brazil’s largest radical anti-capitalist party.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Brazil in defence of democracy, amid fears that far-right President Jair Bolsonaro may attempt a coup if he fails to be re-elected in October.
Find out more about the situation and the fight back on the streets at this forum hosted by Green Left and Socialist Alliance.
