By Verónica O’Kelly

Automatic translation made by AI.

Above all, the first round of the election leaves us with one task and one conclusion: it is urgent to defeat the far right, but this will not be possible unless Lula takes a more radical stance—not only in his rhetoric but also through concrete measures that break with neoliberal policies and truly respond to the demands of the working and popular majorities.

Polarization continues to define the current situation, and it is through this lens that we must interpret reality in order to transform it. That is why the mobilization has already begun. Across the country, there are various calls to action to bring about a change of course in the runoff election. This mobilization is our only chance to defeat the far right at the polls and in the streets!

The Bolsonarista plague must be eradicated

The return of the far right to power in Brazil would be a blow to the Brazilian and Latin American working class. Flávio, Jair Bolsonaro’s son—who oversees direct relations with the militias and is responsible for part of the family’s corrupt business dealings—emerges strengthened from the first round and is poised to win the election on October 25. This must be prevented, in self-defense, because the Brazilian far right—strongly backed by and aligned with Trump—intends to launch a fierce offensive against the people.

But it won’t all be smooth sailing for him. In Brazil, as in the rest of the world, the working class is resisting the reactionary offensive that far-right governments are trying to impose. That is why Jair Bolsonaro lost the 2022 election, and that is precisely why a potential Flávio Bolsonaro administration will have to face the same situation.

Workers, young people, women, LGBTQIA+ people, Black people, and Indigenous people are not willing to give up the gains they have made. The far right is mistaken if it thinks it will have an unchallenged government. It will face a great deal of struggle and resistance.

The reconciliation of Lula’s supporters paves the way for the growth of Bolsonarism

The picanha and the beer never made it to the table. What did arrive was inflation, low wages, job insecurity, and cuts to social spending. While the usual suspects get richer, the majority of people are struggling more and more. This—and nothing else—is the main reason why Lula lost in the first round.

During his four years in office, Lula negotiated with the Centrão, the traditional right, and the far right itself. He sold off hard-won rights and refused to respond to the demands of the masses who had carried him to the presidency in 2022. He also set out to undermine social movements, as we saw, for example, in the struggle against the 6×1 workweek. He dashed the hopes of broad sectors of the population, and now, on the campaign trail, he aims to regain that support through nothing more than eloquent speeches.

We need to speak with real, concrete facts that truly address people’s realities. The far-right Bolsonarists gained strength precisely by capitalizing on that frustration among the masses. If he wants to win the runoff election, Lula must respond to the demands of working people and the poor.

To defeat Bolsonarism, we must urgently put a program that supports the working class front and center!

A protest is taking place across nearly the entire country; in many places, it has taken on an almost spontaneous character, bringing together thousands of people who want to defeat Bolsonarism and prevent Flávio Bolsonaro from winning the runoff election.

It is essential to strengthen this mobilization process by participating in it and taking initiatives to help it grow. Building on this mobilization, we must defend and strengthen a program: the working-class program.

• End the 6×1 workday now! Against the precariousness of work and for the recognition of app workers!
• Raise wages and control prices! To prevent inflation from continuing to erode the population’s purchasing power.
• Down with the Fiscal Framework and suspend public debt payments! Money for the people, not for the bankers!
• Revoke the counter-reforms!
• Urgent funding for policies to combat gender-based violence, femicide, and transfemicide!
• Stop deforestation, oil drilling at river mouths, and the expansion of agribusiness! Let’s work toward an agroecological and sustainable model that meets the needs of the people.

Vote to defeat Bolsonarism. Build to overcome Lulism and the PT!

Defeating Bolsonarism at the polls is an immediate necessity. But we cannot stop there. The experience of recent years shows that it is not enough to alternate between political projects that, despite their differences, keep the working class subject to the limits and interests of the capitalist order. That is why, even as we confront the far right, we need to build a political tool that goes beyond Lula and the PT—an alternative that overcomes the politics of class conciliation, adaptation to the system, and the successive betrayals of the factions that abandoned the perspective of socialist transformation.

We need an anti-capitalist and socialist party, built by the working class, the youth, and the popular sectors engaged in struggle. A party independent of capitalists, bankers, and governments—one that does not trade its principles for positions, deals, or crumbs—and that has as its ultimate goal a society free from exploitation and oppression.

If you, too, understand that we need to move beyond the path that led the left toward accommodation and compromise with those in power, this effort must take place now—in the struggles and in the streets. It’s time to build an anti-capitalist and socialist alternative—join us!