Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad will run for the presidential elections second-round runoff. The elections happen in a moment when the working class is disgusted with unemployment, violence and corruption which took over the country after 13 years of Workers Party rule and Michel Temer administration. That is a situation which no one can stand anymore.

The general feeling of wrath has placed workers and the poor at war. We are facing a tremendous political and social polarization against this true class war against the poor.

The working class is fighting back the backlash on labor and social rights through strikes, territory reclaim – both urban and rural, demonstrations for diverse democratic rights and other actions carried out by the oppressed and the exploited. We highlight all women’s mobilizations whose peak was carried out on September 29, 2018 when powerful demonstrations were held under the slogan “#elenão against Bolsonaro! We also highlight the largest general strike in decades which was recently held. All this resistance shows that the working class is not defeated despite of worsening living conditions.

During the elections, Bolsonaro, a supporter of the dictatorship and torture, spread racism, sexism and prejudice against the poor and northeastern Brazilians, provocations at service of the rich and for labor and social rights withdrawal. On top of supporting the military dictatorship and torturers, he threatens democratic liberties and workers’ organizations like the unions.

The socallled “end of activism” Bolsonaro supports means an effort to stop our right to fight, to carry out strikes and demonstrations for land, housing and for labor and social rights. He wants to stop through repression the right of women, the Black, peasants, native-Brazilians, quilombo-dwellers and LGBTs to stand for their demands. As a result we are facing a proto-fascist backlash: assaults, beatings and even killings of people who oppose that excluding and oppressive agenda for the end of civil liberties.

It is clear for us that our task is to defeat Bolsonaro both in the runoff and on the streets as, if elected, he will rule to attack mobilizations, leaders and democratic liberties with active support from the Armed Forces, and particularly for that reason we need to defeat him.

We shall not allow any space for that dreadful agenda to be carried out. Therefore, respecting the autonomy and the workers’ democracy of each and every affiliated organization, we call the working class to vote against Bolsonaro.

We must emphasize that the call to vote 13 (the Workers Party number) in the runoff to defeat Bolsonaro has the sole goal of preventing him and his allies to take the presidency of the republic.

We reiterate that our main arena to defeat both dictatorial and class-collaboration agendas will always be direct action, self-defense and open challenge against that agenda and their representatives. We must declare that this stand does not imply in any illusion or concession to the Workers Party, their allies and their class-collaboration perspective against which we have always fought for more than a decade.

For these reasons we still stick to class independence and we will be, eventually, in opposition to a Workers Party administration since day one.

On top of this orientation regarding the runoff, our Labor and People’s Federation once more call all labor federations and other mass movement organizations to immediately prepare a general strike. That is necessary for president Temer announcements that he might pass the pension reform this year but also for the fact that, whoever wins the elections, there will be strong backlash against labor and social rights to meet the interests of the “markets”. In order to fight back we must support joint calls as the one carried out by all labor federations to call a general strike to stop the pension reform (“Reforma da Previdência: Se botar pra votar, o Brasil vai parar, de novo”!)

We call all affiliated organizations to address this resolution in their decision-making bodies, to take it to the rank-and-file and other social movements so that we can build a broad unity in action starting from the runoff for labor and social rights and in defense of democratic liberties.

– Dictatorship Never More!

– Vote 13 To Defeat Bolsonaro!

– Opposition To Eventual Workers Party Administration From Day One!

– For A New General Strike Against Anyone Who Attacks Our Rights!

– For The Immediate Withdrawal Of All Reforms Passed By Temer!

– Immediate Suspension Of The Payment Of Public Debt!

– For Jobs, Wages, Land And Housing!

– Better Wages; Freezing Of Food Prices And Public Services!

– In Defense Of Public Employees And Public Service!

– Prison And Assets Confiscation Of All The Corrupted And Corrupters!

São Paulo, October 11, 2018.

CSP-Conlutas National Executive Secretariat