Brazil

At the beginning of February the Esquerda Marxista (Marxist Left) group in Brazil held its congress, where they unanimously voted in favour of their affiliation to the International Marxist Tendency. The addition of this important grouping, which gathers within its ranks leaders of the occupied factories, of the Black Socialist Movement, important trade unionists and many revolutionary youth, marks a major milestone in the building of a genuine Marxist International in Latin America and the world.

José Carlos Miranda of the Black Socialist Movement and Roque José Ferreira of the FNITST-CUT (Railway workers), spoke in the Brazilian parliament against the new race laws being proposed by the government on November 26. Here we provide the videos.

After 40 days of suffering and struggle, the workers of Flasko (the worker-occupied factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil) managed to re-establish electricity supply to the factory from the CPFL electricity company.

We have received the latest Bulletin of the Occupied Factories in Brazil (in Portuguese and PDF format) dedicated to the struggle to regain control of CIPLA and Interfibra after the judge imposed an administrator and sacked all the delegates to the Factory Councils. Download the bulletin here.

On June 29, the workers of Flasko received good news: the federal judge José Maria Barreto Pedrazolli, from the Campinas/SP circuit, ruled that the electricity company CPFL should reestablish electricity supply "in the face of clear danger of damage" to the factory.

In this video interview (in Spanish), Serge Goulart, the national coordinator of the Occupied Factories Movement in Brazil gives an overview of the latest situation of the struggle against the decision of the Lula government to organise a judicial-police intervention against CIPLA and Interfibra and the attacks on the workers at Flaskó.

The court appointed administrator at Cipla has been at it again. After being expelled from Flasko after an attempt to sack the Factory Committee there, he has now threatened to “crush” the workers. Facing pressure from all side, the workers at Flasko are standing firm in the defence of workers’ control, their jobs, and their factories.

Flasko workers have successfully defended their factory for a second time. You can see video footage of yesterday’s event and read an appeal from the workers for solidarity in defending the factory and their jobs.

The newly appointed administrator of Cipla/Interifbra recently visited Flasko, another occupied factory, and attempted to sack the general coordinator of the Factory Council. The intention is clear, the Brazilian ruling class wants to crush the occupied factory movement. Urgent solidarity is needed to defend the workers, their jobs, and the occupied factory movement.

After the brutal police intervention in the Cipla factory at the end of May the solidarity campaign has been gaining momentum. On June 13 a rally was held outside the factory with many trade union delegations taking part from Brazil as well as representatives of occupied factories from Argentina, Paraguay and Venezuela.

As part of the international campaign in support of CIPLA workers, Hands off Venezuela and Young Socialist activists gathered yesterday in front of the Brazilian embassy in Vienna. In Belgium and Germany also the struggle of the CIPLA/Interfibra workers in Joinville was taken up with the Brazilian Embassy.

Response to Judge Oziel Francisco de Sousa, who decided upon the invasion of CIPLA by 150 armed police with the aim of closing the plant. As we received this article we heard the news that the administrator has abolished the 30-hour week and reintroduced 40 hours, a clear indication of the real intentions of the bosses.

With court orders and arrest warrants against the management of the Flasko factory, which operates under workers’ control, the decision has been made to hand over the administration of the company to an administrator under the control of the old bosses. The administrator named by the judge has already dismissed 50 workers, starting with all the members of the Factory Council elected by the workers’ assembly.

Earlier this year a Spanish comrade visited the occupied factories in Brazil and wrote this report. This was before 150 armed police raided the factory on orders of a judge. This report gives you a taste of what the CIPLA workers had achieved. We must not allow all this to be destroyed. Please take part in the international solidarity campaign and raise this issue wherever you can in the labour movement.

The workers of the occupied factory CIPLA were surprised this morning by 150 men, heavily armed, from the Federal Police, who invaded the factory in order to arrest the members of the factory committee.

Few people know about the true history of the abolition of slavery in Brazil. The veteran revolutionary and leader of the Black Socialist movement in Brazil, José Carlos Miranda, puts the record straight. Also available in Portuguese.