Bolsonaro convicted while new mass demonstrations heat up the streets of Brazil

On 12 September 2025, Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for the crimes of leading a criminal organisation, attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law, coup d'état, damage to national public property and damage to listed property of historic significance.

[Originally published in Portuguese]

The case, led by Supreme Federal Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, will still judge several ‘nuclei’ of individuals involved in what the mainstream media has popularised as the ‘Coup Plot’.

The latter involved the invasion of the headquarters of the three branches of government in Brasilia on 8 January 2023, in an episode very similar to the invasion of the Capitol in the United States, with the aim of putting Jair Bolsonaro in charge of the country, in defiance of the election outcome.

Newspapers the world over have been effusive in their praise of the example of strength shown by Brazilian democracy, in the desperate attempt to save its degenerate and demoralised institutions.

However, the most important thing for the working class is not merely to convict Bolsonaro and his generals as individuals, but rather to defeat Bolsonarism as a political movement. Whether this will actually happen with this trial is another story. But for now, in Brazil and around the world, this blow by the ‘establishment’ against the ‘outsider’ is being celebrated.

Brazil in turmoil: from the June Days to the rise of Bolsonarism

Brazil was not immune to the 2008 crisis. What began as a “little wave”, in Lula's words, soon became a tsunami that would sweep away the social partnership of the New Republic and throw the country into the stormy seas of open class struggle, marked by strong social polarisation.

In 2013, around the same time as the Arab Spring, mass mobilisations led by young people exploded from the North to the South of the country. These began as a struggle against increases in bus and metro fares in large cities, but soon escalated into a struggle against the existing order under the slogan “it's not just about 20 cents” (the amount added to fares in some cities).

In all major cities of the country, we saw street demonstrations with hundreds of thousands of people. The largest were in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with demonstrations exceeding 400,000 and one million participants respectively.

The vast majority who took to the streets did not know exactly what they wanted, but practically everyone knew what they did not want. This contradiction was expressed in a similar way to so many other mass movements that we have seen emerge in the world in recent times. It was a powerful movement that swept away everything before it, winning all kinds of concessions and victories at first, only to be directed into channels that pose no threat to the capitalist order, giving way to the reaction of the bourgeoisie.

This is the consequence of the lack of a mass party rooted in the working class and youth, with a clear Marxist programme oriented towards overcoming capitalism.

After the titanic struggles of the working class in the 1970s and 1980s – which culminated in the creation of the Workers' Party (PT) and the largest trade union centre in Latin America, the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) – the PT became the main party of the working class.

However, in 2013, it was precisely this party that was in government at both the federal level and at the municipal level in many large cities, such as in São Paulo, the scene of the largest mobilisations in the country. These mobilisations involved a whole generation of young people who had not participated in the construction of the PT, but who had grown up under its governments and who now took to the streets to settle scores with both it and all the other parties.

The history of the PT – from its birth to its degeneration – is a topic for another article. But its weight as the ‘only’ left-wing point of reference capable of standing before the masses, upon being integrated into the odious order of bourgeois democracy, left a vacuum of any left-wing alternative.

This paved the way for the right to gain by leaps and bounds, with the creation of various youth movements – the most significant of which was the Free Brazil Movement (MBL) – and, in the first instance, a renewal of the traditional parties of the right.

After the June 2013 protests achieved their initial stated goal – the reduction of transport fares – the movement went down to defeat. It failed to advance class consciousness to the degree needed to bring forth independent organisations of the workers and youth seeking to overthrow the existing order.

After all, the recognised leadership of the June 2013 Free Pass Movement (MPL) did not constitute a party with a clear programme and democratic structures that could live up to the aspirations of the masses that supported it. It did not know what to do in the face of what the movement had become.

The youth still managed to mount a response, with school occupations in 21 states as well as the Federal District (where Brasília is situated). This was the so-called ‘secondary school spring’, in 2016. However, the pendulum swung back to the right, spurred on by real problems but presenting distorted solutions, while the Lula-led left preferred to distort reality and sow disillusionment with empty promises.

In the 2014 elections, the second party in the duopoly that dominated Brazilian politics in the last decade – the right-wing Social Democratic Party (PSDB) – narrowly lost the elections to Dilma Rousseff's PT. Those supposed champions of democracy in the mainstream media, who are now leading the attacks against Bolsonaro, launched an intense campaign at the time to reverse the election results.

It was impossible to strike a blow against the PT without further demoralising the institutions of bourgeois rule / Image: José Cruz, Wikimedia Commons

This culminated in the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in 2016, with her vice-president, Michel Temer, taking over the presidency. Immediately, this government intensified all of the austerity attacks initiated by Dilma. But they also took measures to cut off Chinese capital’s access to billion-dollar projects such as 5G internet infrastructure and operation of the Angra nuclear power plant.

As if that were not enough, Lula’s imprisonment in 2018 – based on a fraudulent anti-corruption probe, ‘Operation Car Wash’ – crowned the process of attempting to clean up the system. But it was all in vain.

The Workers' Party was so intimately connected to the rest of the bourgeois order that it was impossible to strike a blow against it without further demoralising the institutions of bourgeois rule and the vast majority of the ruling class’ traditional parties. This operation had such significance that it gained the support of American imperialism, although that deserves an article of its own.

It is worth noting that this maneuver was not only planned by the Brazilian ruling class, which saw in it an opportunity to replace the PT with a party ‘more its own’. It was also planned by American imperialism, which had watched with alarm as Chinese capital had increased its penetration into Brazil. China had gained ground as the PT governments sought to balance between it and the US.

It was precisely in this context that, in 2018, ‘Bolsonarism’ exploded onto the scene as a mass movement. This was likened to ‘a bolt from a clear blue sky’ by the bourgeois analysts. As with Trumpism and its variants in England, France, Romania, etc., its strength lies not in the individual personal characteristics of Bolsonaro, but rather in the profound movement of the class struggle.

More specifically, its strength lay in the deepening of the crisis, the ebb and flow of previous struggles and the total demoralisation of the institutions of bourgeois rule. It was made possible by the absence of a workers’ party with a Marxist programme that has the ear of millions and is able point to a way out of the quagmire in which capitalism finds itself trapped.

While the entire right wing, since 2014, has rested the rejection of traditional politics and the ‘fight against corruption,’ Bolsonaro, a deputy that was relatively unknown outside the state of Rio de Janeiro, took things to a qualitatively new level. He rejected bourgeois politics and democracy as a whole. He says he wants to tear down the hated institutions, he denounces crippled bourgeois democracy and presents himself as the candidate who will ‘put an end to all of it’.

Bolsonarism is a distorted and reactionary expression of latent anti-establishment sentiment, armed with the most reactionary ideas. It clashes, above all, with young people and the most oppressed sectors of society, such as women, black people and LGBT people. Through this programme, Bolsonaro was carried on the shoulders of millions, imposing the first electoral defeat on the PT at the federal level since 1998.

The ruling class clashes

Bolsonaro was certainly not the bourgeoisie’s first choice. Any hope that he might lead a stable government for capitalism quickly vanished. Once again, young people led the attack, while reformist leaders lamented that Brazil had become a fascist country.

In May 2019, during the ‘Education Tsunami’, two million students across Brazil marched, chanting, ‘Fora Bolsonaro’ (‘Bolsonaro Out’) in the country’s main capitals. This was preceded by a carnival in February 2019, dominated by cries of ‘Fora Bolsonaro’. This was followed by the strike movement against the pension counter-reform.

It was clear to the serious strategists of capital, that Bolsonaro’s belligerent attitude could precipitate a widespread confrontation with the working class and youth, the outcome of which was totally unpredictable.

In addition to his erratic behaviour and constant conflicts with the traditional representatives of the bourgeoisie in Brazil, his government expressed a tendency to prioritise the short-term interests of his clique over the collective interests of an important part of the bourgeoisie.

The pandemic intensified the crisis of the Bolsonaro government / Image: Palácio do Planalto, Wikimedia Commons

This caused the latter to make a 180-degree turn, and after exactly 580 days, in November 2019, former President Lula was released from jail. His case was annulled, and he became eligible to run for office again. He was tasked with the clear mission of running in 2022 and defeating Bolsonaro at the polls.

The pandemic intensified the crisis of the Bolsonaro government. The constant worsening of living conditions, the hundreds of thousands of deaths (according to the underreported estimates of the official data), and the president's mockery of people dying from lack of air, sparked massive protests. These were organised outside of the old, rotten trade union structures linked to the PT. The masses began to fill the streets, demanding the immediate overthrow of the Bolsonaro government.

Lula, now eligible to stand in elections, used all the weight of his apparatus to convert the ‘Fora Bolsonaro’ protests into ‘Fora Bolsonaro 2022’ – that is, into his election campaign to return to the Presidential Palace. The plan worked, although Lula only won by a very narrow margin. Despite the attempted coup and all kinds of manoeuvres during the elections, Lula took office again alongside Geraldo Alckmin, a strongman of the bourgeoisie and enemy of the working class.

The fluctuating policy of the bourgeoisie towards Lula and the PT expresses divisions at the top of society. Despite his instincts as a born conciliator, Lula has not been able to paper over the antagonisms in society. In fact, they have only increased.

The ruling class and its representatives are divided. Immediately following Bolsonaro’s conviction by the judiciary, the legislature, through the Chamber of Deputies, began pushing forward the Constitutional Amendment Bill (PEC) for amnesty.

This would grant amnesty to all those involved in the coup attempt, including Bolsonaro himself. In addition, another proposed bill (the Shielding Amendment) aims to make it impossible for the Supreme Federal Court to try any parliamentary deputy without first being voted on by the deputies themselves, by secret ballot! The Shielding Amendment was approved in the first vote, with the support of part of the PT, showing how low this party – born of the struggles of the working class – has finally sunk.

It is clear that a central element of the dispute over Bolsonaro’s fate is the inability of several parties and professional politicians to survive electorally without Bolsonaro and his family. But there is also a very important element of dispute between the major world powers. This is expressed through the struggle between different layers of the bourgeoisie, each subordinated to different imperialist powers, or seeking to balance between them.

The tasks of communists in the coming period

With the end of the imperialist truce that held together under American hegemony since the end of the Second World War, Brazil has become the scene of imperialist disputes. While the Trump administration raises the banner of defending Bolsonaro, its real motives are to defend American capital against Chinese imperialism, which has become its biggest competitor in Brazil in recent decades.

While the Trump administration raises the banner of defending Bolsonaro, its real motives are to defend American capital against Chinese imperialism / Image: Palácio do Planalto, Wikimedia Commons

Lula rides the wave of the struggle ‘against American imperialism’ by leaning on Chinese imperialism. Whatever the nationality of his master, it is clear that under capitalism his government is incapable of carrying out reforms, of reversing the series of attacks on social security and labour rights, or of undoing the privatisations carried out in recent decades.

It is true that Lula’s tactic has been effective in the first instance. As I write these lines, a massive demonstration is taking place in the country’s main capitals, with around 100,000 demonstrators on the streets of São Paulo against the amnesty and Shielding amendments. As a result, 51 of 81 senators have already declared themselves against the Shielding amendment! This only shows that the working class and youth are not defeated and are still prepared to fight hard battles.

But Lula’s small gain in popularity will ultimately face a harsh reality test. The tactic of balancing between the imperialist powers, as PT governments have historically attempted to do, is impossible in the new world situation that has opened up. The false choice presented to workers and youth between American or Chinese capital will very soon be revealed for what it really is: the choice of who will reap the profits from the misery that capitalism has planned for the working class in the coming period.

Based on an understanding of this reality, communists have the task of connecting with the broad layers that demonstrate a healthy revulsion towards Bolsonaro and his plans. Communists must also channel distorted expressions of anger against the system in the direction of revolutionary struggle.

We must stand in solidarity with the masses who celebrate Bolsonaro’s conviction, as it is an expression of their deep class hatred against the most despicable aspects of class society. But at the same time, we must warn that the working class cannot trust bourgeois justice in its struggle against reaction.

This is the same bourgeois justice that convicted Lula solely to keep him out of the electoral race. Bourgeois justice serves the interests of the ruling class. In the struggle against the right wing and in defence of democratic rights, the working class can only rely on its own strength and methods of struggle: mass demonstrations, assemblies and strikes.

Bolsonarism has won broad electoral support, including among sections of the working class and the poor, based on its demagogic, anti-establishment rhetoric and the absence of any serious alternative on the left. To defeat it, we must put forward a class-based policy that confronts the capitalist system as a whole as a solution to the problems of employment, precariousness, housing, etc. – not a policy of abstract ‘defence of democracy’.

We must demonstrate, by patiently explaining and fighting shoulder to shoulder with these millions of Brazilians, that only the working class, with its methods of struggle, is capable of defending democratic freedoms against the bourgeois institutions that have produced this caricature of democracy.

Our future is not limited to choosing between masters. There are no saviours who will solve everything for us. We must take our destinies into our own hands and make our own history. For this, a correct understanding of the current world situation – of the end of the imperialist truce – is fundamental to developing a policy that is confirmed by the reality before the millions who are desperately seeking a way out of the current situation.

Revolutions happen regardless of the existence of revolutionary parties. Our role is therefore to build a revolutionary organisation with a Marxist programme that is capable of winning the confidence of the class in time and playing a decisive role in events.

Lenin, like my grandmother, used to say: “Life teaches.” And the entire history of the workers’ movement to date fills us with confidence to say that, armed with the correct ideas, the coming events will teach the most advanced layers that their place is in the Brazilian section of the Revolutionary Communist International!