Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.

On Wednesday evening, in São Paulo (Brazil), I walked past a wall that had on it the slogan – Marielle Presente. This referred to the assassination of Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro on 14 March of this year. On Thursday, at 4pm, a march across Rio took place under the banner – Quanto mais tem que morrer pra essa guerra acabar? (How Many More Have to Die for This War to End?). It has been 120 days since the murder of Marielle Franco – a socialist, a bisexual black woman, a champion of the downtrodden in Brazil’s favelas. Under international pressure, the government in Brazil agreed to an investigation – which appears to go nowhere. There is no confidence that the investigation will develop. The lead prosecutor in the case – Homero Freitas Filho – said that this is a ‘complicated crime’ and that the ‘lack of information’ and the ‘real motivation of the crime’ are the ‘main difficulties’. It is hard to have confidence in such a process. This is the same judiciary that has been so cavalier with the facts when it comes to the incarceration of the left’s presidential candidate, Lula (please read the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research dossier on the fight for democracy in Brazil). Continue reading →

by Vijay Prashad, The Tricontinental

Experiences of South Africa’s Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM or the Shack Dwellers) and Brazil’s Movement dos Trabalhadores See Terra (MST or the Landless Workers Movement) as well as that of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) as well as the All-India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) – both mass organisations of the Indian communist movement – show the efficacy of building worker and peasant power in the areas where workers and peasants live.

Experiences from across the Global South show us that the Left will have to prove by its work in the arena of social reproduction that it is indeed a better alternative to religious and charitable organisations as well as the mafia. Left organisations are already working to create platforms to assist the working-class in its fights for water and electricity, housing and street services, schools and healthcare – but at the same time working alongside the working class as it begins to deliver these services in a relatively autonomous fashion. This is dangerous activity. It means undermining the gangs, the religious groups and the NGOs – all of whom have great stakes in this kind of work.

Attachments

In the Ruins of the Present