Brazil

The second day of the Pan American Conference provided a real taste of the most advanced workers’ struggles in Brazil and other countries in Latin America. Peasant leaders, Bolivian miners’ leaders, factory leaders, all spoke about the terrible conditions and expressed their determination to struggle. The idea of factory occupations as an answer to the bosses’ closing of factories dominated the discussion, as did a deep-seated desire to struggle for international socialism.

On Friday one thousand workers gathered in the Cipla plant in Brazil and decided to reduce the working week in the factory to 30 hours. The factory is run by the workers and they are doing it in a very efficient manner, an example to workers in all countries. Workers can run factories and therefore they could also run society. Alan Woods was among the comrades who addressed the meeting, getting a rapturous applause from the workers present.

On Wednesday Alan Woods spoke to 200 workers at the occupied CIPLA plant in Joinville, Brazil. He was invited to speak on Workers’ Control and the Struggle for Socialism.

Yesterday, Alan Woods spoke at another meeting in the Camara de Vesadoria in Joinville, where around 200 workers had gathered to listen to him speaking on the general world situation. The meeting was introduced by Serge Goulart, leader of the occupied factories movement in Brazil, and present in the audience was also Roberto Chavez, the general secretary of the Bolivian Miners’ Federation.

After his successful trip to Venezuela, the editor of Marxist.com, Alan Woods, accepted an invitation to speak at an important conference of workers in occupied factories from all over Latin America. The conference is taking place this weekend in the industrial city of Joinville in the south of Brazil. It is being organized by CIPLA, an occupied plastics factory in Joinville.

The first round in the Brazilian elections can only mean further instability for the largest country in Latin America. The Brazilian ruling class looks with fear at the developing revolutions in Venezuela, Bolivia, and Mexico. At any time, over any issue, the masses of Brazil could rise up

Trezentos representantes dostrabalhadores das fabricas ocupadas do Brasil, do MST, do Centro de Direitos Humanos (CDH), representantes de trabalhadores de fábricas ameaçadas de fechamento ou demitidos, representantes de sindicatos, da CUT, do movimento popular, da juventude trabalhadora, com a participação fraterna de representantes de fábricas recuperadas na Venezuela, na Argentina, no Uruguai, na Bolívia, nos reunimos no auditório da Cipla, e discutimos democrática e livremente como organizar e mobilizar nossas forças para que nenhum posto mais de trabalho seja perdido e como conquistar a...

Back in April the judicial authorities issued threats to imprison the workers and militants occupying the Cipla and Interfibra factories in Joinville, Brazil. Now at last the campaign we played a big role in promoting has at least achieved a partial victory. Serge Goulart wrote to us explaining the present state of play.

On Thursday, July 14, a group of Young Socialists and representatives of the Editorial Board of Der Funke organised a picket in front of the Brazilian embassy to protest against the threatened repression of the Cipla and Interfibra workers who have occupied their factories to defend their jobs.

In 2002 the workers of Cipla and Interfibra occupied their factories to defend 1,000 jobs. In the last few days the possibility of imprisonment of the coordinator of the Factory Council, Serge Goulart, and the occupation by the police of these factories is increasing. We appeal to all trade unionists and left politicians, to all the progressive organisations internationally, to workers and youth in general, to send resolutions demanding an immediate cessation to the threats against the workers of the occupied factories in Brazil.

Judicial authorities have issued threats to imprison the workers and militants occupying the Cipla and Interfibra factories in the city Joinville (state of Santa Catarina, in the south of Brazil). We publish below the press release that was issued by the Factory Council of Cipla/Interfibra, for the information of all labour organisations, as well as workers and labour activists.

The victory of Lula well over a year ago in Brazil represented a dramatic shift to the left in Brazilian society. However, the Lula government once elected quickly moved to applying the programme of the bosses. This is preparing new contradictions within the Brazilian labour movement.

To scenes of wild rejoicing on the streets, the people of Brazil celebrated the landslide victory of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of the Workers’ Party (PT). This was undoubtedly a heavy blow struck by the masses against the corrupt and degenerate oligarchy that has ruled Brazil for decades. It has caused shock waves that will reverberate throughout the whole of Latin America and beyond. Now however a period opens up in which the PT government will come under enormous pressure from two sides, the bourgeoisie and the workers and poor. Alan Woods outlines the tasks facing the Brazilian working class.