The construction of a general strike should be on the agenda in the unity of social organisations and labour federations

It is becoming increasingly urgent to oust Bolsonaro, Mourão and their gang. The reasons are countless: stimulating agglomerations, disregard for the deaths and mass infection of the virus, for the unemployment and hunger that grow every day and put the nation in dark times. To make the context of complete scorn worse, the news from the government are about schemes of payment of bribes for the purchase of vaccines. In brief: so that people in the government could earn some money, hundreds of thousands of families mourned the death of their loved ones.

About the scandals with suspicions of corruption involving the purchase of vaccines against covid-19, it is known so far that a representative of the Ministry of Health would have demanded from an intermediary company the sum of 1 dollar for each dose purchased by the government. The value of the corruption could reach almost R$ 1 billion for the purchase of 200 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The suspicion of corruption is present in two other episodes of vaccine purchases. Both are under investigation by the Senate. These are the cases of the overpriced purchase of the Covaxin vaccine, with the direct involvement of President Jair Bolsonaro, and the suspicious purchase of 60 million doses of the Convidencia vaccine, through yet another intermediary company, Becher Farmacêutica do Brasil, which is also investigated by the Federal Police and the Public Ministry for fraud.

In relation to Covaxin, according to the testimony of Deputy Luis Miranda (DEM), Bolsonaro would have been warned in March this year about corruption and, even so, would not have acted to prevent the crime of overbilling. Even without the endorsement of Anvisa (agency that validates the use of vaccines), the Ministry of Health signed the contract with a value much higher than other vaccines already purchased. Covaxin would cost 15 dollars a dose, while Pfizer cost 10 dollars per unit. The doses of Convidencia would cost 17 dollars a unit, even more expensive than Covaxin.  Thus also falls to the ground the government’s justification for the delay in purchasing the Pfizer vaccine, since Bolsonaro had said that one of the reasons was the high price of the vaccine.

In the midst of the latest scandals, organizations and political forces submitted on 31 June the so-called “super petition” for Bolsonaro’s impeachment, on a day marked by a strong rally in Brasilia, Federal District. The document, prepared by the Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy (ABJD), gathers 23 crimes committed by Bolsonaro, such as neglecting the pandemic, attacks on the free exercise of the three powers and democratic freedoms, including the most recent case that points to the president’s prevarication in the case of negotiations for the purchase of the Indian vaccine Covaxin, with strong evidence of corruption and requests for bribes. 

The president is more dangerous than the virus

Despite the fact that Brazil has Covid-19 death toll of 518,066, and daily numbers of new deaths and new cases, the organised movement and the working class have assessed that the urgency for the overthrow of the Bolsonaro government requires the presence of the masses in street protests.

It is the case of the black, poor and peripheral population, who die as a result of the virus, hunger or police shootings. It is also the case of the indigenous peoples, who have been camping in Brasilia since the beginning of June and remain mobilised in front of the Supreme Court (STF), for the trial of the Temporal Milestone thesis, which attacks the right to demarcation of indigenous lands. This specific issue, which restricts the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples, was to be judged by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on 30/6, however, and most probably due to pressure from the mobilisations, the Court’s decision was to postpone the analysis to 25 August.

This reality highlights the need to take to the streets and strengthen the mobilizations on July 3, as well as the national demonstration previously scheduled for July 24, because we know that it is not this Congress that will solve our problems, but the people in the streets united to oust Bolsonaro and Mourão. We call again to the labour federations to unify in the struggle and build the General Strike, to stop the country and production and fight back with a deadly punch against this government that wants our death.

And remember that we will stay on the streets safely, respecting the use of masks, alcohol gel and social distance. The fight is urgent! Out with Bolsonaro and Mourão, now!