Fernando Alcoforado *
The presidential elections of Brazil will be decided in the second round between Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad. In our article Brasil rumo ao suicídio coletivo da nação? (Brazil towards the collective suicide of the nation?), we affirm that “the collective suicide of the Brazilian nation may occur if the next presidential elections of Brazil are decided in the second round between Jair Bolsonaro of extreme right, of fascist tendency, and Fernando Haddad of the left, of socialist tendency. It is considered a collective suicide of a nation when its people choose a path that will inevitably lead to political, economic and social disaster. Nazi Germany is an example of a nation’s collective suicide when its people were confronted with extreme political violence among left-wing Communist and right-wing factions of Nazi tendencies, backed the acts practiced by Adolf Hitler after his rise to power and suffered the consequences of Nazi dictatorship and military defeat in World War II with all its evil consequences”.
We affirm in the aforementioned article that “whether Bolsonaro or Haddad is the winner of the presidential election, Brazil may be convulsed, in these circumstances, by political violence between left and right. This means that neither Bolsonaro nor Haddad will acquire the conditions of governability. Those who think that the outcome of the elections will be accepted by those who are defeated and that governability can only be achieved with the support of the majority of Parliament in an extremely divided society like Brazil they are wrong. The conflict between the ideological extremes will inevitably lead Brazil to a social conflagration or to an unprecedented civil war in its history, which may result in the establishment of a fascist dictatorship of the extreme right, either with Bolsonaro’s victory or with the victory of Haddad that would be removed of the power through a coup d’État”.
It is important to note that frustration with politics, extreme polarization and intolerance are ingredients for the emergence of authoritarian regimes, especially when they are fueled by a protracted economic crisis, mass unemployment and fear as we nowadays live. This is Brazil of the contemporary era. The risk of a political-institutional retrogression is very clear. Authoritarian regimes can arise by electoral routes as occurred in Germany in the 1930s of the twentieth century when the Nazi party grew in elections, with popular support. Hitler came to power in 1933, thanks to frustration with the Weimar Republic, which was unable to solve the gigantic post-World War I economic crisis. In Brazil, growing disrepute with democratic institutions, parties, the Legislative, Executive and Judiciary, fueled by political polarization, opening a dangerous space for the advent of fascism. While a significant part of the population feels orphans and disbelievers in the institutions, organized groups of extreme right, anti-Lula, celebrate the victory of Bolsonaro in the first round of the presidential elections that vocalizes the discredit in the democratic system of popular appeal. Faced with these facts, the formation of a broad democratic, antifascist front is fundamental.
In order to prevent fascism from winning in the second round of presidential elections, it is urgent to form an antifascist democratic front to defeat Bolsonaro in the second round of presidential elections because his fascist speech is based on the cult of order, state violence, authoritarian government, social disregard for vulnerable and fragile groups, and anti-communism. The Bolsonaro danger lies in oppression, male supremacy, homophobia, racism, hatred of the poor. Fascism supporters consider that the cause of Brazil’s current ills is related to corruption and the use of the state by parties with a communist tendency. The fascists seek to purify Brazilian society from the toxic influences of parties and political leaders, especially those linked to the PT and its allies, who would be to blame for the unfortunate situation in which the Brazilian nation lives. History tells us that once it reaches power, the fascists can destroy the last vestiges of a democratic government in Brazil.
In the escalation of fascism in Brazil, the alliance between conservative elite and conservative parties is being held with candidate Bolsonaro. In order to oppose the advance of fascism and to prevent Bolsonaro’s victory in the second round of the presidential elections, it is necessary to build an antifascist democratic front that, unifying left-wing political forces and democratic liberals, seeks the peaceful coexistence between antagonistic social classes and political parties, also antagonistic, electing Fernando Haddad as President of the Republic as long as he makes a commitment to celebrate a political and social pact that meets the multiple interests at stake. Without this solution, Brazil will be condemned to political suicide.
The anti-fascist democratic front should only be constituted and support Fernando Haddad in the second round of presidential elections on the condition that he commit to a government that seeks the union of the Brazilian people around a common project of political, economic and social development . It is important that Fernando Haddad convince and win the votes in the second round of the Bolsonaro voters who voted for him because he represents the fight against corruption, PT (Workers Party) and its leader Lula. It is necessary that Fernando Haddad affirms convincingly that he will be intransigent in the fight against corruption and that he will make a government of national union that will not follow the dictates of the PT and of Lula. To add votes of leftists and liberals in a broad anti-fascist democratic front, it is necessary that Fernando Haddad, being elected, put into practice, a government program that reflects the expectations of broad sectors of Brazilian society.
It should be noted that the collective suicide of the Brazilian nation will not occur only to prevent Bolsonaro from winning the second round of presidential elections. It is also necessary to support Fernando Haddad in power, ensuring his governability, if he wins the elections. This governability will only exist since Fernando Haddad governs with a wide range of political alliances whose program of radically democratic government reflects the expectations of broad sectors of Brazilian society. The anti-fascist democratic front is the guarantee that there will be no political-institutional retrogression in Brazil.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 78, holder of the CONFEA / CREA System Medal of Merit, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 14 books addressing issues such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world and The Great Scientific, Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World.
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