The demonstrations of June 19

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By IGOR FELIPPE SANTOS*

The organization of two expressive acts in a period of three weeks demonstrates that the mobilization remains firm, but the last day did not represent a leap in quality

The June 19 demonstrations were expressive and maintained the vigor of popular forces in the streets, with the mobilization of more than 750 thousand people in more than 400 municipalities. There was a quantitative leap compared to the May 29 journey, especially in relation to expansion into new cities. Even with the expansion of entities in the call, the acts in the capitals did not have a significant growth in the number of participants.

The colors of the Brazilian flag, green and yellow, appeared most prominently on giant flags, banners and posters amidst the sea of ​​red. The day had a profile of demonstrators in the big cities very similar to the previous day, with segments from the middle sectors, student youth and leaders of working class organizations. That is, there was a “horizontal expansion” in these social strata, with low participation of the working class in the big cities.

The organization of acts in a greater number of medium and small municipalities had a relevant weight in the increase in the number of mobilized and opens up room for expanding the participation of segments of society, such as layers of the working class and rural workers.

The mark of 500 deaths from the coronavirus and demonstrations across the country boosted action on social media. There were more than 202 participants on Twitter, with more than 1.8 million posts. Bolsonarism was isolated, with 20% of the posts, while the opposition field was divided into groups of organizations and political leaders, press and journalists, and artists and public figures.

The TV networks covered the acts from Saturday morning, presented the agendas (against President Bolsonaro, for the acceleration of vaccination and for income policies, such as emergency aid of R$600) and announced the organizations responsible for the call (Frente Brasil Popular, People Without Fear Front and Black Coalition). They gave the scale of the acts, with shots from sound cars and aerial images from drones or helicopters. On Sunday, the main printed newspapers had photos on their cover and published articles about the demonstration, presenting data from the organizers.

Concerns about the sanitary measures in the acts were recognized by the business press, which recorded, once again, that the protesters wore masks, differentiating from the Bolsonarist protests, and that the organizers reinforced the need to maintain distance and use gel alcohol in the sound car. .

The organization of two expressive acts in a period of three weeks demonstrates that the mobilization remains firm, but the last day did not represent a leap in quality. The convening of the first mass demonstration by the left during the pandemic, the 29/5 marked the change in the conjuncture to a more favorable situation for the popular forces. That is why the demonstrations in May had an exceptional effect, because they generated curiosity and surprise, with the mobilization of thousands of people across the country, the result of the psychosocial effect of taking to the streets for the first time to protest and express the indignation with the government.

In light of this, the protests of June 19 had, in comparison, a smaller socio-political impact. This diagnosis multiplies the challenges for the popular forces in relation to the next days to keep the level high and avoid a certain “banalization”, calling for acts in a short period of time, with a similar number of participants and the same guidelines. More mobilizing than signaling the non-Bolsonarist right, which is quite weakened in the political scenario, massification involves attracting segments of the mass of workers.

The need to take a qualitative leap to defeat President Jair Bolsonaro and move forward in the tactical offensive of the popular forces requires intensifying a process of mobilization based on the categories, with the adhesion of the trade union centrals, and work in the most popular neighborhoods, involving larger layers of society. working class, which may be possible only after vaccination covers most of the population.

It is also necessary to discuss the mass lines to aggregate the working class of the big cities. The flags of the demonstrations, which have unity in the slogan “Bolsonaro Out”, need to gain greater concreteness, expressing the problems experienced by the majority and presenting possible proposals to be implemented to densify segments that move from economic interests.

*Igor Felipe Santos is a journalist.

 

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