A-Infos (en) Brazil, OSL: Popular Plebiscite: Why Won't We Participate? (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The OSL states that it will not direct its members toward the 2025 
Popular Plebiscite, an initiative promoted by sectors of the 
pro-government left that seeks to mobilize the public around proposals 
such as taxing large fortunes and reducing working hours. ---- Although 
the issues discussed are important, it seems clear to us that the 
initiative is subordinated to a logic of legitimizing the federal 
government's policies and preparing for the 2026 electoral cycle, rather 
than a mobilization aimed at confronting the Brazilian ruling classes. 
The structure of the plebiscite, marked by the strong presence of 
left-wing parties that make up or support the current government (such 
as the Workers' Party (PT), Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), and major 
sectors of the PSOL), as well as major trade unions, demonstrates a 
central objective: to rebuild the government's social base and create an 
environment of "controlled mobilization" that serves as political 
capital for the next election.

An Electoral Instrument vs. Class Struggle?

The plebiscite is presented as "popular," but its nature is 
fundamentally instrumental. Its entire construction-from the collection 
of symbolic votes to the delivery of results to the National Congress 
and the Supreme Federal Court-is geared toward reaffirming Lula's 
strategy of class conciliation, while the objective living conditions of 
the people continue to deteriorate. It is a political marketing 
operation aimed at generating legitimacy for the government at a time of 
popularity crisis (even with renewed vigor after Donald Trump's taxation 
and the Bolsonaro clan's shenanigans) and an internal dispute over the 
presidential succession.

Mobilization without confrontation and reinforcement of institutional 
illusions

Besides being ineffective from a practical standpoint, the plebiscite in 
question reinforces illusions about the possibility of social 
transformation without direct and independent struggle. In doing so, it 
disarms the working class and pushes urgent and legitimate issues-such 
as the fight to end the 6x1 wage scale-into the realm of 
institutionality, far from the realms of real conflict with employers. 
This demobilizes workers and relieves unions, many of which are led by 
the same sectors organizing the plebiscite, of the obligation to 
organize concrete struggles and direct confrontations with capital. 
Transferring the struggle to the "symbolic vote" serves as a safety 
valve to channel pressure from the base without jeopardizing the 
stability of the current social pact.

Contrast between symbolic campaign and concrete reality

While the government is running an ostensibly symbolic political 
campaign with the plebiscite, its concrete actions in parliament and in 
public administration continue to run counter to the interests of the 
working class. Recent data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of 
Geography and Statistics) reveal the rise of precariousness and 
informality: more than 118 million Brazilians live without a stable and 
decent income, facing exhausting workdays, low wages, and minimum wages 
well below what is necessary for survival, lower even than in 
neighboring countries. Persistent inflation on basic foodstuffs erodes 
purchasing power, while 80.5% of families earning up to three minimum 
wages are in debt.

In the countryside, violence and environmental destruction are on the 
rise, with no real prospects for agrarian reform or social housing 
policies. Laws and constitutional amendments (PECs) that criminalize 
popular struggles strengthen state repression. Despite all this, the 
Lula administration remains loyal to the interests of banks, 
agribusiness, and the ruling elite, ignoring the most basic demands of 
the oppressed classes.

Our task: building self-managed popular power outside the State

The Libertarian Socialist Organization (OSL) reaffirms that there is no 
institutional solution to the dilemmas faced by the working class and 
oppressed peoples. The electoral route, even with a "popular" veneer, 
serves only to channel dissatisfaction within the framework of the 
system. Our struggle is for a different kind of politics: built from the 
bottom up, through direct action, self-organization, and a break with 
the State and the capitalist order.

We will not participate in the 2025 Popular Plebiscite because we 
consider it part of an effort to rebuild the ruling class social pact 
and prepare for the 2026 election campaign. Our non-participation does 
not mean that-in the heart of the popular struggle, in the class 
struggle-we will stop debating and mobilizing around these important 
issues for all workers. The question is: Why mobilize resources for a 
plebiscite and not for organizing a general strike?

Instead of a symbolic plebiscite, we need concrete struggle, class 
independence, and direct action against the bosses!

Libertarian Socialist Organization
July 24, 2025

https://socialismolibertario.net/2025/07/25/plebiscito-popular-por-que-nao-vamos-participar/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en