From Brasília
A breath of hope comes from Saint Paulthe largest city in Brazil, and, I am sure, will gain strength throughout the country: the definition of the candidacy of Lula and Alckmin for the Presidency of the Republic represents a historic agreement of political forces willing to put aside their differences to fight together in defense of democracy.
In the 2022 elections we need to defeat the delay lead by Bolsonarism, which turned Brazil into a pit of misery, rising inflation and inhuman inequality. We want to overcome once and for all the crisis that we have been experiencing for six years, since the coup against President Dilma Rousseffin 2016.
The PT reiterates its commitment to the fight for social justicein a country that for centuries has relegated the majority of its people to misery and ignorance, to hunger and poverty.
Everyone heard the promises of the coup plotters: it was only a matter of removing Dilma so that people’s lives could improve. But the reality is very different. Now we have inflation again at alarming levels.
Let us remember what the Brazilian reality was like during the PT period. With Lula, inflation was 3.14% in 2006. Now the cumulative index in the last 12 months it already exceeds 12%. The April index reached 1.73%, the largest increase for an April in 27 years!
The figures are staggering and show how the current government’s criminal economic policy has plunged the country into backwardness.
And fuel prices? In 2003, Lula’s first year, a liter of gasoline cost 2.21 reais. In 2014, with Dilma, R$ 2.98. Now, the average price is R$ 6.81. The President of the Republic managed to produce the largest increase in diesel and gasoline in 20 years. In 2022 alone there were 7 price readjustments. In 2021, the price of diesel rose by 64.7% and that of gasoline, by 68.6%.
And unemployment? Life has gotten a lot worse for the working class. Brazil is currently the runner-up in unemployment among the G-20 countries. Among 102 countries, Brazil has the ninth highest unemployment and is expected to end 2022 at 13.7%, according to the IMF, well above the world average of 7.7%.
According to IBGE, the official statistics institute of Brazil, today we have 12 million unemployed, of which 4.7 million more than two years ago. The scenario is worse in classes D and E, the poorest, which represent 81% of this total.
In 2014, with Dilma, the country closed the year with the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded: 4.8%. Since 2016, the year of the coup, unemployment has remained above double digits. The situation has worsened since the “labor reform” of 2017.
With the PT in government, people’s lives improved, the country was removed from the UN Hunger Map, 30 million people were lifted out of poverty, the specter of foreign debt was transformed into reserves of 370 billion dollars, we became the 6th largest economy in the world, we were protagonists of respect on the world stage.
After the coup and the rise of the negationist and anti-nationalist president, everything got worse. Hunger returned, incomes fell, inflation exploded, we collapsed the twelfth largest economy in the world and became an international pariah.
Lula is the only candidate who has the qualities of a statesmanessential to rescue hope, guarantee dignity and opportunities to workers, reduce the scourge of inequality and ensure a better future for future generations.
The progressive sectors of the economy –industry, commerce, bankers– trust Lula and his ability to rescue the country from recession.
No wonder Lula is on the cover of the magazine Time. The world recognizes him as a leader capable of leading Brazil with the authority and knowledge of those who have already done so much, and with the will and determination of those who can do even more and better.
Paulo Rocha is the leader of the Workers’ Party in the Brazilian Federal Senate.