Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after voting in the second round of the presidential elections, hours before his victory was announced, in São Paulo on October 30, 2022. Photo: Carl de Souza/AFP.
By Emir Sader – Dec 26, 2023
It was a better year for us in Brazil. Definitely. First of all, because we had the first year of a new Lula government, leaving the Bolsonaro years behind. When the latter was no longer an option, Bolsonaro was defeated, although not necessarily Bolsonarism. The ideological and political struggle to consolidate democracy and advance anti-neoliberalism continues.
This year allowed the Brazilian government to resume the prioritization of social policies. Specifically, the rescuing of traditional programs, starting with Bolsa Familia, followed by others and adding new programs to tackle the inequality that continues in Brazil.
Because the country’s central economic problem was not addressed, speculative capital remains the fundamental axis of Brazil’s economy. Private banks demonstrate this hegemony. Financial speculation and high interest rates continue to dominate Brazil’s economy.
It is true that unemployment has decreased, that inequality has decreased, and that social exclusion has decreased. But none of this reaches the streets. The widespread street scenes throughout the country continue to be those of people left behind, sleeping on the streets, with entire families occupying the sidewalks. When we see them, we always wonder: when and with what mechanisms will these people be rescued?
Lula always said that governing is taking care of the people. These hundreds of thousands of people have no one to take care of them. As if governments do not reach them.
Our greatest hope is that these scenes stop filling our streets and squares. That there will no longer be people not being taken care of.
Brazil improved in 2023 because we once again have a democratic national government that speaks, through Lula, for all Brazilians. That, once again, is respected in the world. Brazil has a reputable president who is responsible for pacifying war and conflict around the world.
Brazil has returned to a positive path. It has democracy, prioritizes social policies, and pays attention to the most disadvantaged. It looks at neighboring countries with attention and concern to help them.
We still do not know what 2024 will be like. There is a great possibility that Donald Trump–if he becomes a candidate–will once again be president of the United States with strange, aggressive and isolationist positions.
We know that the wounds that hurt us most today–Palestine and Argentina–are unlikely to change. Palestinian children will continue to be the cruelest victims of war in the world. While Brazil is coming out of its worst moment, Argentina is just beginning to enter it.
Largely thanks to Lula’s presidency, 2023 was a better year for us. If Lula runs for reelection—as he already hinted—we could have a very special political period: another seven years of Brazil with Lula. We will have to take advantage of this particular historical situation with a strategic project that takes advantage of these conditions to implement profound transformations in the country, making this period a historical, unique and irreversible one.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
Emir Sader
Emir Simão Sader is a Brazilian sociologist and political scientist of Lebanese origin. He received all his higher education credentials from the University of São Paulo. He did his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, his master’s degree in political philosophy and his doctoral degree in political science.
