#91: Elections, Fascism, and Popular Resistance in Brazil

The Ex-Worker

In Brazil, a three-way contest is unfolding between the far right in the streets, the institutional electoral left in the halls of power, and autonomous radical movements caught between them. When authoritarian president Jair Bolsonaro was narrowly defeated at the polls in October, a popular right-wing movement emerged to contest the election results, culminating in a protest in which Bolsonaro supporters stormed government buildings in the capital of Brasilia. In this episode, we share two articles in which Brazilian anarchists analyze these developments: the first, published in October shortly after the election, assesses the limits of electoral strategies as pathways to social transformation or checks to fascist power; the second, published just after the right-wing attack on government buildings in January, analyzes the similarities and differences between the events in the US and in Brazil, and argues for the urgent necessity of autonomous direct action to counter both the limits of the left and the threat of the right. Anarchists in the United States and beyond can learn much from our Brazilian comrades as we strategize to push back against rising fascism in our own contexts. {March 3, 2023}

-------SHOW NOTES------

• Table of Contents:
  • Introduction {0:36}
  • Left Electoralism, Fascist Direct Action, and Anti-Fascist Resistance:The Brazilian Elections of 2022 {3:26}
  • You Don’t Defeat Fascism at the Polls {5:25}
  • Autonomous and Anti-Fascist Resistance {11:28}
  • Shine the Light of a Dead Star {15:18}
  • January 8, the Brazilian January 6: Tracking the Rise of Fascism from the United States to Brazil {21:59}
  • Elections Do Not Stop Fascism {24:41}
  • The Revolt of Those Escorted by Cops {29:59}
  • A Local Manifestation of a Global Fascist Wave {34:35}
  • Conclusion {41:30}

• This episode narrates two previously published articles: Left Electoralism, Fascist Direct Action, and Anti-Fascist Resistance:The Brazilian Elections of 2022 (November 6, 2022) and [January 8, the Brazilian January 6: Tracking the Rise of Fascism from the United States to Brazil](https://crimethinc.com/2023/01/10/january–8-the-brazilian-january–6-tracking-the-rise-of-fascism (January 10, 2023).

• If you or folks you know speak/read Portuguese, check out pt.crimethinc.com, where you’ll find dozens of Brazilian Portuguese translations of articles and zines.

• This episode makes a lot of references—here are some links to learn more about them! The articles speak of the Latin American “Pink Tide” of progressive electoral victories beginning in 2008, which itself drew on momentum from popular uprisings across the region in the preceding decades, including the 1989 Caracazo uprising in Venezuela and the reintroduction of democracy in Brazil and Chile (which didn’t make people free—see the Brazilian anarchist critique of their democracy, or our critique of democracy itself, for some insights as to why). There’s also discussion of the 2013 mass protests against the government’s effort to raise public transportation prices and the 2014 protests against the FIFA World Cup.

• Want to learn more about resistance in Brazil in recent years? Check out Fighting in Brazil: Three Years of Revolt, Repression, and Reaction (2017), Brazil 2016–17: The Political Crisis and Coup d’État—An Anarchist Analysis (2018), Brazil: Rivers of Blood—Peace Is War, Security Is Hazardous, and Citizens Are the Targets of the State (2018), From Punk to Indigenous Solidarity: Four Decades of Anarchism in Brazil—An Interview (2021), Brazil: Epicenter of the Virus of Populism A Year of Catastrophe and Resistance (2021), and more. You can also listen to past Ex-Worker episodes on the 2014 World Cup protests and the 2013 fare hike protests. Printable zine versions are available for many of these articles, too!

• To learn more about trucker strikes and blockades as a popular right-wing tactics, see our coverage of the 2022 truck blockades in Ottawa, right-wing Chilean truck blockades in opposition to indigenous Mapuche activism, and a mainstream news account about how the CIA financed trucker strikes in 1972 and 1973 to disrupt the leftist administration of Salvador Allende in Chile.