1 January 2023
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement
Today We Celebrate the Inauguration of Lula da Silva
Today Lula Da Silva will be inaugurated as the president of the Brazil.
New Year’s Day is always a time to recommit to the future. For our movement that means renewing our commitment to the universal struggle to defend human dignity against all forms of oppression.
New Year’s Day is also a time to remember the struggles of the past. The Haitian Revolution against slavery triumphed on 1 January 1804, and the Cuban Revolution triumphed on 1 January 1959. The Zapatista uprising in Mexico, which led to the creation of rural communes, was announced on 1 January 1994.
Lula’s return to the presidency restores hope for the poor and marginalised in Brazil after the terrible years under Jair Bolsonaro. Hope is also restored for the preservation of the Amazon.
Like many of our members Lula was born into a poor rural family and then moved to a shack in a city as a child. After growing up in Sao Paolo he became a factory worker and then emerged as the leader of the metal workers’ union, and then the Brazilian working class in general.
It often happens that people who grew up poor go on to betray the oppressed when they get access to power. We know this very well in South Africa.
However, during Lula’s first presidency there were huge gains for the oppressed in Brazil. These gains lead to a major right-wing offensive culminating in Bolsonaro taking power. Lula had remained close to the unions and movements while in power. This was one of his ‘crimes’ in the eyes of the elites. Bolsonaro moved quickly to attack the progressive organisations of the poor and the working class and the MST political school, where a number of our members have studied and taught, was raided by police on several occasions. Sometimes the army was used. Freedom of expression and speech were also curtailed under Bolsonaro’s regime. There is evidence that he was involved in the 2018 assassination of Marielle Franco, the left-wing councillor, in Rio de Janeiro. We feel a deep solidarity with progressive movements under attack, where ever they may be in the world. Bolsonaro is as much our enemy as the ANC.
Our comrades in the MST, the Landless Workers’ Movement, worked very hard to oppose Bolsonaro, to support Lula when he was jailed and to support the campaign to remove Bolsonaro from power and have Lula elected. Today we continue to celebrate with our comrades in the MST. Of course it will be necessary for the unions, movements and grassroots organisations across Brazil to continue work to build their power so that democracy and popular power can be built from below.
This is a victory for all of us who want to see a better world, a world where the equality of all human beings will be the order of the day. Today is a new year rich in hope for the poor and working class of the world.
We also mourn with the Brazilian people and the people of the world as we have lost Pele, the greatest footballer of all time. His brilliance in the beautiful game won him admirers around the world. Like Lionel Messy and Diego Maradona he was born into a poor family and his brilliance showed the world that those of us who are excluded, oppressed and disrespected have as much to contribute to humanity as everyone else. Impoverishment and oppression try to turn people into waste. We struggle to defend the dignity of every human being because we know the value of every human being.
We send our condolences to Pele’s family who have been with him throughout the time that he spent in hospital.
Last year was a hard year for us. We lost three comrades to assassination and one to a police murder. Maphiwe Gasela, Landu Tshazi and Sniko Miya spent Christmas and New Year’s eve in Westville Prison after being arrested, again, on bogus charges. Their bail application has been repeatedly postponed (18 November, 13 December and 20 December) for ‘reasons’ that are nothing but an expression of contempt for us by the criminal justice system. They were scheduled to finally appear for their bail hearing on 29 December but it was postponed again. This time the reason given was that the court had no water.
The struggle continues.
Contact:
Thapelo Mohapi 084 576 5117
Snenhlanhla Mncanyana 073 832 3331
Mqapheli Bonono 073 067 3234