Entities, intellectuals and activists point out a series of essential measures to combat the pandemic

Out with Bolsonaro: for a class and anti-imperialist policy to fight the pandemic

At this point, in the second half of April, it has already become clear that the main obstacle to combating the coronavirus pandemic that is plaguing Brazil is Bolsonaro’s mismanagement, who, in wild speeches, called for the country’s “return to normality”, abandoning totally or almost entirely mandatory quarantine, ignoring all universally recognized health regulations and precautions, all in the name of “saving the economy”. An economy dominated by large financial capital, already largely benefited by the Central Bank, which made R$ 1,216 trillion available this year to Brazilian banks, which is equivalent to 16,7% of GDP. Compare this figure with the “package” announced by the government of BRL 88,2 billion to fight the pandemic: it is equivalent to 7,5% of the funds made available to banks. The “anti-pandemic” funds announced by the economic team, on the other hand, basically refer to the rollover or restructuring of debts of states and municipalities, and the possible use of credit lines, with a much smaller percentage being destined to the effective increase the health capacity of the country. The “aid” for unemployed and informal workers, BRL 600,00 per capita, is not enough to be a palliative (temporary, besides).

The mismanagement installed in the country is evident in the fact that the presidential office is in fact under military intervention, through the Chief of Staff, Braga Neto, and the orientation of the Ministry of Health (Luiz Henrique Mandetta) is partially different from the presidential one, although subordinated This is the issue of “selective distancing”, replacing the quarantine that prevails today, with potentially catastrophic consequences, which are already manifesting themselves in regions and states such as the Amazon, endangering the survival of indigenous populations (original peoples) as a whole . According to international scientific sources: “Two out of three infections of the new coronavirus were caused by people who were not diagnosed with the virus or who did not show symptoms”. This means that infected people who feel healthy or have very mild symptoms are unknowingly spreading the virus, laying the groundwork for a humanitarian disaster if preventive norms are relaxed rather than deepened. Because of this, the protest pots against the president, with the “Fora Bolsonaro” dominating the voices (although the PT is opposed to this slogan), were heard in all capitals and even in medium and small cities. size of the country.

In addition to the precarious health conditions existing in Brazil, due to decades of disinvestment and budget cuts, especially in the areas of health, with the dismantling of the SUS, and in education (including higher education, the basis for training health professionals), the historical subordination of the country, deepened today, to the great dominant powers in international capitalism. The US government, headed by Donald Trump, in acts of international piracy, has appropriated, through bribery mixed with force, hospital preventive equipment (PPE), tests and artificial respirators for critically ill patients, manufactured in China and destined for other countries. countries, including Brazil. The policy of privatization and deindustrialization deprived Brazil of the possibility of producing these equipment and reagents on a large scale, and today we see the consequences of this. Some countries protested against the US attitude, the person responsible for the WHO did so verbally, but Bolsonaro's Brazil remained silent. To top it off, the Trump administration announced a policy of financial boycott of the WHO, in addition to boycotting any means of international coordination to fight the pandemic. A new domestic and international policy is needed to ensure the survival of the Brazilian people and oppressed peoples around the world.

In Brazil, it will not come from a “changing of the guard” (with Mourão replacing Bolsonaro at the head of a militarized cabinet), nor from the current legislative composition, which surprised by the speed with which it started to deal with measures such as the suspension of contracts and the cut in salaries of public and private employees, reaching up to 50% of the salary, supposedly to contain state spending (in the case of public servants), allocating more resources to combating the pandemic, and to avoid the closure of companies, reducing the payroll . For countless workers, engaged with fixed expenses of all kinds, such cuts would, in many cases, mean receiving a negative paycheck at the end of the month, creating a wave of social misery and defaults and repossession of goods (movable and immovable) en masse.

The ongoing ideological operation consists of presenting the economic crisis as a product of the health crisis (a supposedly random and out of control factor) when, in fact, that one preceded the pandemic, which openly manifested and sharpened it. Brazil is the country in Latin America with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with the highest number of deaths and the highest underreporting. An international survey established that Brazil detects only 11% of its coronavirus cases. For the exploited, for the great majorities, leaving the management of the crisis in the hands of the Bolsonaro government would mean a humanitarian disaster. The Brazilian government’s script on the coronavirus corresponded to the policy of imperialism. The rejection of quarantine to allow the mass spread of the virus was initially heralded by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the most cost-effective “method” for financial capital. The fantasy that mass contagion would trigger natural immunity was immediately rejected by all health experts. The USA followed a similar line, with the only difference that its implementation abandoned any protocol and was imposed through the usual lies of Donald Trump. The result was a frightening scenario, as can be seen in New York and the USA taken by the contagion of the virus.

The WHO warned that the fight against the epidemic required not only total restriction, but also massive tests to detect the advance of the virus. The Brazilian government does neither one nor the other. The concealment of the situation promoted by the Minister of Health – praised as “the adult in the room” – was functional to the policy dictated by Bolsonaro. The same minister announced that the policy to prevent contagion in the slums and urban outskirts involves… an agreement with militiamen and drug dealers. And also with big capital. The first “anti-coronavirus” economic package authorized companies to reduce wages, an insignificant monthly aid of 200 reais, for three months, for 40 million workers thrown into informality, tax benefits for large companies and the purchase of government bonds by the Central Bank , in response to the financial market drought. The clash with the Legislature ended up raising that amount to R$600, to avoid a social catastrophe that could turn into a political earthquake.

To complete, under the command of Donald Trump, Bolsonaro launched a provocation against China, which opened a fissure in his political base of support. Pressure from the agribusiness bourgeoisie (China is Brazil's biggest trading partner, responsible for 30% of its exports) has placed the government in a situation of extreme weakness, in the midst of a political crisis that dances to the sound of pots and pans and diary of the number of contagion cases and deaths. The Brazilian capitalist class is deeply divided, and its political system fractured. The world's leading consulting firm for assessing “political risk” has detected the possibility of an “institutional crisis” in Brazil, accelerating a capital flight that is already measurable on a daily basis.

The only viable way out for the workers and exploited is to impose a centralization of all the country's resources, based on a single social and economic plan, under the mobilization and leadership of the workers themselves. Companies have started to lay off workers (including in the critical transport sector, responsible for the logistics of distributing food and medicine): we must demand a ban on any and all layoffs in a situation of national and social emergency. Control of the financial system by workers in the sector, in order to avoid capital flight and the emptying of the country, is also on the agenda, putting the perspective of its nationalization on the agenda. Combating the epidemic requires centralized action that places all of the nation's economic, material and human resources at the service of stopping contagion and treating the disease while there is no proven effective vaccine, guaranteeing food security and health for the entire population, expanding the capacity of the health system to serve all patients, prioritizing the production and distribution of work items for health professionals. The willingness of workers and students in the health area already exists: more than 700 have signed up to work voluntarily in the fight against the pandemic, risking their health, across the country. It remains to provide them with the political and material means to do so.

It is necessary to transform the country's production system in line with the needs posed by the economic and health crisis scenario. Health professionals denounce the lack of basic medical equipment and supplies. The government has gone so far as to require doctors and nurses to reuse protective masks. Telemarketing workers, industrial workers, food and medicine distributors have started fighting processes to demand guarantees of safety and hygiene. In favelas and peripheries, community committees take on the task of establishing sanitary surveillance to reduce the spread of the plague. The recent strike by metallurgists in São Paulo demanding paid vacations is the tip of an iceberg that tends to grow.

It is necessary to defend:

1. Prohibition of the dismissal of male and female employees, servants and public servants.

2. Immediate interruption of work provision, in the public and private sectors, in all activities not directly related to the preservation of life, without prejudice to the full receipt of wages.

3. Immediate interruption of work, in the public and private sectors, of workers over sixty years of age, pregnant women and others included in risk groups, regardless of the activity carried out, without prejudice to the full receipt of wages.

4. In activities essential to the preservation of life that cannot be interrupted, obligation to provide, by the public and private employer, including outsourced and informal workers, the means necessary for safe travel to the work environment and protective equipment individual and collective protection necessary to reduce risks.

5. Determining the immediate payment of an additional life-threatening premium to all professionals who cannot interrupt their activities.

6. Observance of the limitation of working hours for workers subject to telework.

7. Basic income payment for all families with an income below the minimum wage indicated by DIEESE, in February 2020.

8. Extension of the period for receiving unemployment insurance for an indefinite period.

9. Prohibition of eviction orders for non-payment of rent and prohibition of interruption in the supply of electricity, gas, water, due to default by families that have an income equal to or less than the minimum indicated by DIEESE.

10. Suspension of collection of taxes and bills related to essential services, during the period of health crisis.

11. Priority allocation of the public budget to essential activities related to public health, with immediate revocation of Constitutional Amendment 95.

12. Non-payment of internal and external debt, largely responsible for the fiscal crisis, preserving the savings of active or retired workers.

13. Immediate and very summary collection of the State's biggest debtors.

14. Tax on financial institutions, proportional to the net profit obtained in 2019, to be used for the construction of temporary hospitals and the free supply of food and medicine to all who need them.

15. General tax on the country's large fortunes, on profits and dividends, with a view to constituting a public fund, under workers' control, to combat the pandemic by all means.

16. Nationalization and centralization of hospitals and health posts to immediately meet the needs of the general population. SUS control over all beds in the country.

17. Imposition on large carriers and airlines and road companies to enable free transport of food and medicine to all Brazilian cities.

18. Popular control and inspection of drug, fuel and food prices.

19. Breaking of patents and large-scale manufacturing of medicines necessary for the medical treatment of Covid-19.

20. Subsidy for the large-scale manufacture of mechanical respirators, sterilization and asepsis products and individual and collective protection equipment for the health area, to be distributed throughout the national territory.

21. Use of the entire hotel network available for emergency care for individuals at risk in favelas, homeless people, in extremely precarious housing conditions with large families, and for women and young people who are victims of domestic violence.

All industries in charge of producing for health, and for supplying the population, must move to a six-hour working day, in which “social distance” and all safety and hygiene measures are observed, which implies establishing a fourth work shift. The conversion of large industrial facilities for the production of respirators and other medical devices must be carried out under workers' control. Popular control of prices and supplies must be put on the agenda, given the scarcity and rising prices of basic necessities in supermarkets. The essential principle that must guide the response to the crisis is that the needs of workers and the population must have absolute priority over the interests of private benefit.

Respond to the pandemic, which strongly affects the working class and the country as a whole, with the methods of class struggle and the anti-imperialist struggle, in defense of work and the Brazilian nation and of unity with the workers of Latin America who are already moving in the same direction.

NEPPOS (Center for Studies and Research in Social Policy – ​​University of Brasília, UnB) – NEPFE (Center for Studies and Research on Favelas and Popular Spaces – Fluminense Federal University, UFF) - NESSOP (Nucleus of Studies in Social Work and Popular Organization – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – BC (Class Bulletin) – LPS (Struggle for Socialism) – Study and Research Group on Historical-Dialectic Materialism and Education (Faculty of Education – University of Brasília) – Walnice Nogueira Galvão (Full Professor and Emeritus FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Michael Löwy (Director of Research and Professor Emeritus – CNRS France) – Plínio de Arruda Sampaio Jr (Professor at the Institute of Economics – State University of Campinas, Unicamp) – Ildo Luís Sauer (Full Professor at the Institute of Energy and Environment, IEE – University of São Paulo – former Director of Petrobras) - João Adolfo Hansen (Retired Full Professor DLCV-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Marly Gomes Vianna (Retired Professor at the Federal University of São Carlos – Professor at the Salgado de Oliveira University, and Strategic Studies Center at Unicamp) - Pedro Paulo de Abreu Pinheiro “Pepe” (Founder and leader of the National Federation of Postal Workers [FENTECT] and SINTECT-MG [Union of Workers at Postal Companies of Minas Gerais]) - Robson Gomes Silva (President of SINTECT-MG and Director of FENTECT) - Rosane Maria CordeiroCoordinator of SINDADOS/MG [Union of Employees in Data Processing, IT Services and Similar Companies]) – Cleide Donaria de Oliveira (Director of the Union of Municipal Public Servants of Belo Horizonte [SINDIBEL]) - Felipe Silveira Malacco (Director of the UFMG Postgraduate Association) - Iná Camargo Costa (Teacher Retired Holder FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Cristine Hirsch Monteiro (Full Professor DFP/CCS – Federal University of Paraíba) - Osvaldo Coggiola (Full Professor of History, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Paulo Martins (Full Professor DLCV – Deputy Director FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Flavio Wolf de Aguiar (Writer, Journalist, Retired Professor, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Sean Purdy (Associate Professor History, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Luiz Henrique Schuh (Retired Full Professor Veterinary – Federal University of Pelotas, UFPel - former President of the Andes-National Union) – Sylvia Caiuby Novaes (Full Professor of Anthropology FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Eblin Farage (Social Service Professor – Fluminense Federal University, UFF) - Ana Claudia Marques (Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology – Department of Anthropology, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – David Maciel (Professor History – Federal University of Goiás) – Paulo Sérgio Ribeiro de Pinho (Former Director Union of Bank Employees of Belo Horizonte) – Antonio Rago Filho (Full Professor – Pontifical Catholic University, PUC/Sao Paulo) - Nise Maria Tavares Jinkings (Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Lincoln Secco (Full Professor FFLCH – University of Sao Paulo) – Adriana D'Agostini (Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC – President of the Andes-SN Union Section) - Carlos Zeron (Full Professor FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Maria Cristina Wissenbach (Associate Professor History-FFLCH – University of São Paulo) - Jorge Luis da Silva Grespan (Full Professor History-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Eduardo Pinto e Silva (Professor Doctor Department of Education – Federal University of São Carlos, UFSCar) – Ana Paula Pacheco (Professor of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature - FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Pablo Schwartz (Professor of Classical and Vernacular Letters-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Sylvia Bassetto (Retired History Teacher-FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Otávio Augusto Alves de Oliveira (Civil Engineering Professor – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – César Augusto Minto (Professor of Educational Policy, Faculty of Education, FE - University of São Paulo) – Marta Maria Chagas de Carvalho (Professor Doctor Retired Faculty of Education - University of São Paulo) – Camila Potyara Pereira (Professor of Social Service – University of Brasília, UnB) - Luiz Bernardo Pericás (Full Professor Of history FFLCH – University of São Paulo, “Intellectual of the Year” by the Brazilian Union of Writers, 2016) – Luana Saturnino Tvardovskas (Professor of History-IFCH – State University of Campinas, Unicamp) – Adma Muhana (Professor of Portuguese Literature FFLCH-DLCV – University of São Paulo) – Leon Kossovitch (Retired Full Professor Philosophy, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Antônio José Vale da Costa “Tomzé” (Retired Professor – Federal University of the Amazon) – Ieda Maria Alves (Full Professor Philology and Portuguese Language, DLCV-FFLCH - University of Sao Paulo) – Renato da Silva Queiroz (Retired Professor Anthropology FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Ricardo Musse (Associate Professor of Sociology-FFLCH – University of São Paulo) - Gustavo Olesko (Professor Doctor – Federal Institute of Paraná) - Waldemar Ferreira Neto (Professor DLCV-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Celia Regina Vendramini (Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Olga Ferreira Coelho Sansone (Linguistics Professor, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Margareth Santos (DLM Professor, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Ana Lucia Gomes Muniz (Professor at the Federal University of Tocantins, UFT) – Adrián Pablo Fanjul (Associate Professor DLM, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Alcides Celso Oliveira Villaça (Full Professor of Brazilian Literature, DLCV-FFLCH - University of Sao Paulo) – Luiz Renato Martins (Full Professor ECA – University of São Paulo) – Erlando Reses (Professor Doctor – University of Brasilia, UnB) – Flo Menezes (Full Professor at School of Arts – Paulista State University, Unesp) – Marinalva Oliveira (Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ – former President of Andes-National Union) - Manoel Fernandes de Souza (Associate Professor of Geography-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Astrid Baecker Ávila (Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Carlos Roberto Figueiredo Nogueira (Retired Full Professor FFLCH - University of São Paulo) – Jacob Paiva (Adjunct Professor – Federal University of Amazonas, UFAM) – Paulo Marcos Borges Rizzo (Retired Professor Faculty of Architecture – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC - former President of the Andes-National Union) – Maria Teresa dos Santos (Professor of Social Service – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Janete Luzia Leite (Full Professor at the School of Social Work – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ) – Antonio Bosi (Professor Doctor Department of History – University of Western Paraná, Unioeste) – José Menezes Gomes (Associate Professor of Economics – Federal University of Alagoas, UFAL – Committee for the Cancellation of External Debt, CADTM) – Bartira Cabral by Silveira Grandi (Retired Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Maria Rosângela Batistoni (Retired Social Work Professor – Federal University of the State of São Paulo, Unifesp) – Mauricio Alves da Silva (PhD Professor of Geography – Federal University of Tocantins, UFT) – Neila Nunes de Souza (Professor of Letters – Federal University of Tocantins, UFT) - Camila Oliveira (Professor at UAEEDU – Federal University of Jataí) - Fernando Santos (Professor at UAEEDU – Federal University of Jataí) – Maria Regina de Ávila Moreira (PhD Professor of Social Service – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Gilberto Correia da Silva (Professor of Journalism – Unirg University – Gurupi-Tocantins) – Ana Maria Ramos Estevão (Retired Free Lecturer at the Paulista State University – Unesp, Adjunct Professor at the Federal University of São Paulo – Campus Baixada Santista) – Alexandre Aguiar dos Santos (Professor of Law – Federal University of Goiás, UFG) – Paulo Barsotti (Professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation – São Paulo) – Jean-Pierre Chauvin (Professor School of Communications and Art - University of São Paulo) – Adriana Dantas (Agronomist - Popular Educator) – Elizabeth Orletti (Adjunct Professor of Social Service, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro – UNIRIO) - Olinda Evangelista (Professor at the Education Center – Federal University of Santa Catarina, UFSC) – Erika Moreira Martins (Researcher GPPES – State University of Campinas, Unicamp) – Santiago Marimbondo and Juca Lima (Blog “Quilombo Spartacus”) – Daniel Costa (RD Curricular Committee of the History Course at EFLCH – Federal University of the State of São Paulo, Unifesp) – Adilson Mendes (Associate Researcher at Cinemateca Brasileira) – Carlos Alberto Vieira Borba (Professor of History and Social Sciences - Metropolitan University of Santos, UNIMES) – Igor Barreto Estevam (Geography student - University of São Paulo) - Maria Beatriz Costa Abramides(Coordinator of NEAM-Nucleus of Studies and Research in Marxist Deepening in Social Work at PUC – Vice-President of APROPUC) - Joao dos Reis Silva Jr. (Professor at the Department of Education - Federal University of Sao Carlos, UFSCar) – Cristiana Vasconcelos Lopes (Teacher State Education Network - Mato Grosso do South) – Tania Celestino Macêdo (Senior Full Professor – FFLCH-DLCV – University of Sao Paulo) - Deni Alfaro Rubbo (History teacher - State University of Mato Grosso do Sul) – Neide Maia González (Professor at the Department of Modern Letters, FFLCH – University of São Paulo) – Laura Souza Fonseca (Associate Professor of Education FACED – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) – Marcos Antonio Silva (Full Professor History-FFLCH – University of São Paulo) - Margaret Rago (Full Professor History-IFCH – State University of Campinas, Unicamp) -  Robert Charles Ponge (Retired Full Professor – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) - Francisco Alambert (Associate Professor History-FFLCH - University of São Paulo) -  Joao Antonio Corrêa Filho (Professor Doctor – Federal University of São João del Rei, UFSJ) – Carlos Alberto Gonçalves (Full Professor Biochemistry - Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) - Rubens Luiz Rodrigues (Professor and Director of Association of Higher Education Teachers of Juiz de Fora [APES]] – Ramon Peña Castro (Retired Professor Social Sciences - Federal University of São Carlos,  UFSCAR) - Flávio Bezerra de Farias (Full Professor of Economics – Federal University of Maranhão, UFMA) – Julio Silvio de Sousa Bueno Filho (Full Professor, Department of Statistics – Federal University of Lavras) – Luciana Aliaga (Professor Doctor DCS/CCHLA – Federal University of Paraíba, UFPB) – Aldair Oliveira de Andrade (Professor at ICSEZ – Federal University of Amazonas, UFAM) – Nilson de Souza Cardoso (Assistant Professor Biological Sciences – State University of Ceará, Faculty of Education of Crateús [UECE/FAEC]) - Renato Paulo Saul (Retired Full Professor – University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Unisinos) – Dan Gabriel D'Onofre (Professor Department of Home Economics and Hospitality - Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRRJ) - Carlos Bauer (Professor of the Graduate Program in Education – Universidade Nove de Julho, Uninove) – Luiz Henrique dos Santos Blume (Professor History – UESC, State University of Santa Cruz) – Joacir TN Medeiros (Collaborating Professor – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) - Omar Francisco Rosler (Educational Consultant – Porto Alegre – RS) - Andrea Schaeffer (State Teaching Network Teacher – Rio Grande do Sul) – Peterson Pessôa (UNIVESP Facilitator – PhD Student, PPGHE/USP) and the signatures follow…