Hugo Albuquerque is the publisher of Jacobin Brasil.
Far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s refusal to act over COVID-19 doomed the country to a 600,000 death toll. This week, the Brazilian Senate voted to put him on trial — bringing hope he’ll finally be held to account for his murderous actions.
The case against former Brazilian president Lula da Silva is over and fully discredited. Now the path is clear for Lula to take on Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing government and save Brazilian democracy.
With former Brazilian president Lula da Silva now eligible to run in next year’s election, Jair Bolsonaro’s grip on power is looking weaker than ever before. Amid the tide of reaction, Lula’s return means there is finally some hope for democracy and social justice in Brazil.
Brazil is still dominated by Jair Bolsonaro’s unhinged reactionary politics. Which makes it all the more incredible that the leftist housing organizer Guilherme Boulos recently defied all expectations by making it to a runoff in São Paulo’s upcoming mayoral election.
Before he became Vietnam’s foremost communist, Ho Chi Minh traveled across Europe and the Americas as a ship’s cook. In Rio de Janeiro, he encountered a world of inequality, but also of defiant class solidarity — an experience that helped forge one of the twentieth century’s greatest revolutionaries.
With Jair Bolsonaro at the helm, Brazil’s democracy is in crisis. Veteran of the Brazilian left and the armed struggle against the dictatorship, and a principal strategist of the Workers’ Party, José “Zé” Dirceu spoke to Jacobin about the need for a broad front coalition to defeat Bolsonarismo.
Jair Bolsonaro is still refusing to implement basic isolation measures to protect Brazilians against the onslaught of COVID-19, hurtling the country toward disaster. Now his negligence is feeding widespread dissent, and even his former allies are calling for the far-right leader’s removal.
Brazilian vice-presidential candidate Manuela D’Ávila on misogyny in politics, the ruling class’s motivations for keeping Lula jailed, and what’s driving the far right’s resurgence.