The criminalization of politics and the promise of eliminating "leftist ideology" resulted in the victory of anti-politics. If it were possible to summarize in a single sentence what led to Bolsonaro's victory in the 2018 presidential elections, perhaps this was the most comprehensive and emblematic. Of course, there are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in our philosophy, as William Shakespeare said over 400 years ago.

Among them, the crisis of capitalism that hit the world's main economies in 2008, contaminating the entire global economy and accelerating geopolitical conflicts over the dispute of international hegemony between US imperialism and the power bloc established from the constitution of the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

This backdrop of the dispute for global power is important for understanding both the events in Latin America as well as the growth of the ultra-right in the United States itself and in other countries of the world.

Latin America, a pebble in the U.S. shoe

The experiences of democratic and popular governments in Latin America have been a determining factor in accelerating the realignment of forces in international geopolitics and effectively threatening the power of the United States. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela, not all at the same time nor to the same extent, became obstacles to US economic and political interests in the region. We might recall the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that was derailed and, on the other hand, the strengthening of Mercosur, the creation of the Bank of the South and UNASUR.

Brazil and Venezuela played a key role in this process. Whether due to the weight of their economies on the continent, or because of their size and the natural wealth they possess.

Failed coups in Venezuela

There have been numerous attempts to overthrow former President Hugo Chávez and now Nicolás Maduro. Coups, political destabilization, economic sabotage, imposition of international resolutions and sanctions against Venezuela, manipulation of international public opinion – which tries to characterize the country as a dictatorship - among other initiatives that have failed so far. The response of the Venezuelan people has been to affirm their sovereignty and defend the social achievements that have changed the country in the last 20 years.

From early on, the Bolivarian government has centered its political actions on the fields of education, culture and communication. Openly left-wing, a defender of socialism and of the construction of the Great Homeland, Hugo Chávez understood, perhaps more than all the other governments of the democratic and popular camp that emerged on the continent, that, in addition to providing employment, housing, health and a better quality of life for the people, it was necessary to fight for ideas within society. In other words, it was necessary to dispute ideological hegemony against neoliberal thinking and to question the paradigms of capitalism. Raising society's level of consciousness is empowerment. And a society aware of its rights and duties does not bow to coups orchestrated by a parasitic elite, such as that of Venezuela, and by US interests in that country's oil reserves.

Elections, plebiscites, constituents and other instruments of popular participation in the definition of the directions of the State and the choice of its representatives have shown that, even with problems and criticism, the majority of Venezuelans bet on and want to maintain the Bolivarian governments.

A victorious coup in Brazil

Unfortunately, in Brazil, history has followed a different path. Among the many factors that differentiate the Venezuelan experience from the Brazilian one, the element of the dispute of ideas in society is one that is worth highlighting. Unlike the Bolivarian governments, the Lula and Dilma governments in Brazil have refrained from confronting neoliberal thinking – whether in the economy, in culture, or in social values. They believed that it would be possible to build a project of economic and social development with income distribution, combatting inequalities and, oriented by the defense of regional integration, sovereignty and global leadership of Latin American countries, in alliance with the private communication oligopolies that historically have been the spokespersons and representatives of the Brazilian and international economic elite.

While in Venezuela Chávez and then Maduro did not shy away from debating sensitive issues with society and confronting international propaganda against their governments, in Brazil, Lula and Dilma renounced their role of showing society that their public policies on education, health, housing, employment and income were different because they came from a different vision of society. They even renounced to defend themselves publicly from the political destabilization campaign that had its first episode – known as Mensalão – back in 2005, up until the media-legal-parliamentary coup of 2016.

The fuel for this campaign was the argument of corruption. If in Brazil, politics and social movements are already treated negatively by the media and considered by society as something evil, from the Lula and Dilma governments the discourse of criminalization of politics was expanded, but in a more virulent way and with a defined target – the left, and within the left, its largest party – the Workers' Party (PT). Nevertheless, even with the huge media campaign against the PT and the left, Lula was re-elected, and he then postulated Dilma, who was also re-elected. In other words, the perception of the people, the concrete improvement of the material conditions of people's lives still prevailed over the attempts to criminalize the left and the PT.

Hence, the Brazilian right realized that it was necessary to go even further, to break the democratic order. The coup came. But the right also realized that the coup was not enough; it was necessary to arrest the greatest political leader in the country's recent history. Lula was sentenced and imprisoned without proof, in a process that took place outside the rules of due process and totally at the margin of the Constitution. It was necessary to remove Lula from circulation and prevent him from becoming candidate for President of the Republic. Even after he was arrested, Lula remained in first place in all the polls of voting intentions, until the eve of the ratification of the candidacies.

Bolsonaro: a side effect of the right-wing coup

The entire campaign of criminalization of politics, of the left and social movements took place in a simultaneous and synchronized way in the mass media and on the Internet. In the mainstream media, it gained relevance and credibility; in the Internet – particularly in social networks – it gained scale, speed and was re-signified to provoke emotion in people – fear, anger, hatred, prejudice.

This campaign reached the entire traditional party system. The neoliberal right represented mainly by the PSDB of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Geraldo Alckmin and co. – and all the other parties – were also pushed into the common sense ditch that it was necessary to attack politics. This was not exactly the objective of the economic elite, which had Geraldo Alckmin as its candidate. But when they realized he wouldn't take off, they quickly got behind Bolsonaro to prevent Haddad (the PT candidate) from winning the election.

Bolsonaro – and the conservative thinking he represents – has mustered a legion of followers and activists to spread lies, slander and to build an image that he was the candidate who broke with traditional politics, the family man, the defender of God and of Brazil. He, an ex-military who had occupied a seat as a federal deputy in the House of Representatives since 1990, 27 years ago, nonetheless projected himself as the candidate who represented the break with politics.

And in his discourse – in addition to religious fundamentalism and his preaching in defense of the family, homophobia and machismo – appears a central enemy to be attacked: the left, the PT and all forms of activism, as he himself stated on several occasions. He and his minions have established themselves as the spokespersons for the struggle against left-wing ideology, Marxism, socialism, "left-wing populist dictators" - among them Venezuela.

Jair Bolsonaro attacks Nicolás Maduro at every opportunity. He affirms that Brazil will align itself with the world to free Venezuelans from oppression. He denounces the Venezuelan government, arguing that there is no political freedom for opponents and no democracy in that country. Yet this discourse comes from a man who was only elected because in Brazil, the main leader of the opposition is a political prisoner. Bolsonaro accuses Venezuelans of impeding the existence of the opposition, but in several moments of the campaign he preached the physical elimination of leftist militants: "let's shoot the shotgun," he said in Acre; then he said the Brazilian dictatorship's mistake had been "to torture and not kill," and in the speech broadcast live during the rally of the second round, he was even more explicit when he said the "red hooligans will be banned from the country".

Beginnings of the government show authoritarian traits

In less than two months (as I write this article), the Jair Bolsonaro government wallows amid countless allegations of corruption affecting ministers, parliamentarians of his party, the PSL, and his offspring. A presidential decree has already facilitated access to firearms in Brazil (as promised in the campaign, that he would arm good citizens to defend themselves against “terrorists” of the Landless Workers’ Movement -MST- and bandits); a package from Minister Sérgio Moro (the appeal judge who unduly arrested Lula) paving the way for putting an end to the presumption of innocence and to due legal process.  Fundamental rights are eliminated, the police are encouraged to kill and the judiciary to make arrests. In addition, the anti-terrorism law, which typifies social organizations as criminals, is being fast-tracked, opening a legal path to attack, for example, the MST. The Access to Information Law has also been amended, increasing the number of public servants with the power to classify documents as secret and ultra-secret. And, in addition, there is an open attack on the press, which shows that it is part of the policy of this government to violate freedom of expression in the country.

In addition, part of his government has expressed itself in favor of intervention in Venezuela, makes propaganda for Juan Guaidó and announced the sending of a "humanitarian" mission to the neighboring country, supporting the coup-plotting movements of Trump and imperialism.

All this shows that Jair Bolsonaro and his government do not have any moral authority for attacking the sovereignty and popular will of the people of Venezuela and, much less, for criticizing the government of Nicolas Maduro.

The world is immersed in a profound dispute over political, economic and ideological orientations. Capitalism, in order to maintain its profits and its power, in this historic moment, needs to be imposed by the force of ideas and, if necessary, by physical force. What is at stake in Venezuela and in other countries is precisely resistance to the offensive of capitalism.

13/02/2019

(Translated from Spanish for ALAI by Jordan Bishop)

- Renata Mielli is a journalist, general coordinator of the National Forum for the Democratization of Communication and general secretary of the Barão de Itararé Center for Alternative Media Studies.