Tuesday, January 5, 2021

In defense of life and people, CTB demands Immunization Now!




In its last meeting in the year 2020, held on December 17 and 18, the CTB's National Board of Directors celebrated the 13th anniversary of the Central, founded on December 12, 2007, and approved the following political resolution:

 

1- Brazil reaches the end of 2020 punished by covid-19, mass unemployment and an irresponsible, denialist and corrupt government, which behaves like a true genocide. The disease claimed the lives of 183,822,000 Brazilians by December 16. The number of deaths grew again and the state health departments registered 968 deaths in 24 hours by covid-19 on December 16, not counting SP. It means that the country is back to the level of more than 1 thousand deaths per day. More than 7 million people have already been infected.

 

2- The sanitary tragedy is not a fatality of fate, but the inevitable result of the inaction and negationism of President Jair Bolsonaro, which is why he was denounced by ABJD (Brazilian Association of Jurists for Democracy) in the ICC (International Criminal Court) for a crime against humanity and his policy was classified as homicidal by the Society of Medicine and Surgery of Rio de Janeiro. It is not by chance that Brazil today occupies the second position in the ranking of countries with more deaths per Covid-19 behind the USA and ahead of India. The three champions are governed by leaders of the extreme right who have neglected the lethality of the disease.

 

3- Reflecting the progress and achievements of science, associated with the concentration of efforts and resources to combat the disease, vaccines were developed and tested in record time, demonstrated remarkable efficacy and are already being applied in China, the USA, Russia, and England. Many other nations, including neighboring Argentina, have already purchased the vaccine and should begin its application later this month.

 

4- In contrast, Brazil does not even have an immunization plan and logistics. Jair Bolsonaro stimulates the propagation of Fake News against the vaccine, has opened a bizarre war against governors and does everything in his power to sabotage the immunization, including demanding the signature of a term of responsibility of those who will be vaccinated. We run the risk of staying at the end of the vaccination line and the price will be paid in human lives.

 

5- The insane conduct of the leader of the extreme Brazilian right arouses strong indignation in broad sectors of Brazilian society, which mobilize throughout the country to demand Immunization Now!

 

6- The working class is the main victim of the pandemic, to which it has become more exposed and vulnerable, as well as of mass unemployment and the fall or even total loss of income. For this reason, the National Direction of CTB guides leaders and class activists to occupy the front line of battles for immediate vaccination, extension of emergency aid and a plan to combat unemployment anchored in public investments.

 

7- The pandemic has highlighted the importance of the Unified Health System (SUS) and the popular struggle for its strengthening.

 

8- Hand in hand with the health crisis is the depression of the economies and, in its wake, the devastation of labor markets. Hundreds of millions of jobs have been destroyed in the world.

 

9- In Brazil, the IBGE's open unemployment rate rose to 14.4%, breaking a new historical record. More than half the working age population has no occupation, which translates into a colossal waste of productive forces and immeasurable suffering for the poorest and most vulnerable sections of our working class.

 

10- The approval of emergency aid in Congress alleviated the social situation and prevented a deeper plunge of the economy into recession, but it was halved by the government and expires this month. In alliance with the other centers, the CTB is fighting for the extension of the benefit as long as the pandemic and mass unemployment last, as well as for the rescue of the original value of R$ 600.00.

 

11- Amidst the adversities and the crisis it is necessary to highlight some positive news, such as the MAS victory in Bolivia, the calling of an exclusive National Constituent Assembly with equal gender composition in Chile, the defeat of the Republican Donald Trump in the USA, the approval of an extraordinary tax on great fortunes in Argentina, and the electoral victory of progressive forces in Venezuela and Uruguay.

 

12- This set of events signals the weakening of the conservative wave that has invaded the American continent in recent years and a change in the direction of the political winds. It also attests to the failure of neoliberalism, which only produces social misery and economic stagnation.

 

13- In Brazil, amidst the whirlwind of bad news, it is necessary to emphasize the victory in the approval and regulation of Fundeb and the defeat in the Senate of the maneuvers of private politicians and scholarship holders to divert resources from the fund to private schools, churches, and the S System.

 

14- The international situation has also been marked by the escalation of the conflict between the US and China for the economic and geopolitical leadership of the world, a duel destined to play a determining role in the movements of international diplomacy over the coming decades.

 

15- The elections held on November 15 and 29 (second round) revealed the emptying of the stock market bubble which, in 2018, resulted in the election of several governors and congressmen, in addition to the president himself, with an appreciable mass of votes for extreme-right candidates. The majority of the candidates supported directly by the Bolsonaro were defeated in the ballot, which on the other hand resulted in a significant advance of the DEM and other right-wing and center-right subtitles housed in the so-called Centrão.

 

16- The defeat of the Bolsonaro candidates reflects popular discontent with the government's obscurantist and reactionary course, which is especially evident in metropolitan regions and within youth.

 

17- Another notable fact of the plea, which deserves further reflection, was the record level of abstention, which on average reached 29.5% of the electorate in the second round. Although influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, the phenomenon reflects the discouragement and massive depoliticization within the Brazilian people, as well as the strong presence and participation of militia in the electoral process in many municipalities, mainly cariocas.

 

18- Although worn out, Bolsonaro and the scholarship still have an appreciable political and social base that should not be underestimated. In addition, the retired captain made a renegotiation with Centão and now entered the dispute for the presidency of the Federal House. It should also be noted that the policy of neoliberal restoration is in tune with the interests of the ruling classes and has broad support within the national and foreign bourgeoisie.

 

19- The government persists in the minimum state policy, founded on the containment of public investments, privatizations, and the handing over of the people's patrimony to the big capitalists, especially foreigners. It attacks the civil service and public services with its proposal of administrative reform. It wants to impose the so-called green and yellow card, allowing hiring outside the CLT.

 

20- In unity with the other central offices, social movements and progressive forces, the CTB defends an economic policy that is opposed to neoliberalism and that supposes the repeal of EC 95 and the end of the harmful freezing of public spending; a substantial increase in public investment in infrastructure, health, education, science and housing; the expansion of credit and support for small entrepreneurs and family farmers; auditing of public debt and a progressive tax reform with a reduction in the share of indirect taxes in the burden, progressive increase in inheritance tax rates and taxation of large fortunes and remittances abroad of profits and dividends, correction of the table and change in IRPF rates.

 

21- Without the broad mobilization of the working class and all democratic and popular forces, it will not be possible to avoid further setbacks. We must intensify struggles in defense of the interests and rights of the working class, of public property, and against the privatizations and administrative reform of Paulo Guedes, accumulating forces to defeat the Bolsonaro and pave the way for a new project of national development, with democracy, sovereignty, and valorization of labor.

 

22- The Executive Board of CTB wishes a happy end to the year for the class leaderships and the Brazilian working class as a whole, while reiterating the need to intensify resistance and the fight against retrocession.


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