Lula da Silva: Brazil's sinful social democracy is back

Brazil's former social democrat president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated far-right incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro in Sunday's runoff and was thus elected head of state for the third time, confirmed the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).

"Election mathematically defined (elected)," the agency indicated on its website, noting that, with 99.98 percent of the centers counted, Lula is left with 50.90 percent of the votes against 49.10 percent for Bolsonaro. 

Brazil: Is social democracy the solution for the people?

By Nikos Mottas.

After four years of far-right Bolsonaro government, the old known social democracy is back in Brazil. Lula da Silva's electoral victory consists the culmination of social democracy's recent resurgence in Latin America, following the rise of Lopez Obrador in Mexico, Gabriel Boric in Chile and Gustavo Petro in Colombia.

Once again, opportunist left-wing forces will celebrate the victory of Lula da Silva, presenting it as a political triumph that will allegedly bring positive developments for the Brazilian working class and the popular strata. Without doubt, Bolsonaro's defeat would be positive news, but the major question that arises is the following: Does social democracy provide a real alternative solution to the dominance of the capital in Brazil? 

Brazil presidential election: Meet the Communist Party candidates Sofia Manzano and Antônio Alves

The Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) has presented its pre-candidates for the presidential election of October 2nd. Sofia Manzano, professor and economist, is the presidential nominee and Antonio Alves, trade unionist, has been selected as the candidate vice president. 

 

The PCB candidates have presented an anti-capitalist political program while engaging in dialogue with workers throughout Brazil about their needs and demands. 

Sofia Manzano: “Communism is the most generous proposal humanity has ever produced”

PCB presidential candidate Sofia Manzano (pcb.org.br)

“Communism is the most generous proposal humanity has ever produced”, said Sofia Manzano, the  candidate of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) for October's presidential election, during an interview with “Brasil de Fato” newspaper earlier this month.

Talking about the centenary of the PCB, which was celebrated on March 25th, and the current struggle of Brazil's communists, Manzano pointed out that the Communist Party emerged as a need of the working class to organize herself along the lines of the example that the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution presented. 

Brazilian Communist Party launches Sofia Manzano as pre-candidate for 2022 presidential election

In a statement, the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) announced that Sofia Manzano will be its pre-candidate for the presidential elections that are scheduled to take place on 2 October 2022. 

 The full statement in English and Portuguese is the following:

The Central Committee of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), meeting this weekend, decided to launch professor Sofia Manzano as a pre-candidate for the presidency of the Republic. Economist, PhD in Economic History from USP and PCB activist since the age of 17, Sofia Manzano is a professor at the State University of Southwest Bahia (UESB) and has a long trajectory in the struggles of youth and the trade union movement.