By Ricardo Gebrim*

The neo-fascist character of Bolsonaro and his political movement is made explicit in the same dimension as the current health crisis and economic worsens.

Your bluffs increase, at the same rate as military denials

Social networks have multiplied videos of a young journalist – who actually infiltrated the movement to write her story -, Jessica Almeida, calling for the formation of what she calls the “Group of 300”, whose name is inspired by the “300 of Sparta ”. In the advertisements published, the strong point is the promise of extermination of the left.

In the interviews he gave about the camp in Brasília to intimidate the STF, moments of paramilitary training and the study of topics such as “strategy and intelligence” are revealed. Videos and photos are also prohibited, they require appropriate clothing for physical combat training and they collect cell phones,”

The word “fascist” derives from the fascio littorio – an ancient symbol of the Republic and the Roman Empire represented by a bundle of sticks tied around an ax whose ends are visible.

In 1919, Mussolini launched the “Fasci Italiani di Combattimento”, paramilitary groups that attacked leftist militants. They intimidated trade unionists, strikers and socialist and communist militants using all means: beatings and murders. They were the backbone of the fascist advance.

Inevitable to notice the resemblance.

When looking closely at neo-fascism, it has already been pointed out that its articulation in social networks, as an instrument of constant mobilizations, fulfills the role of a political party: forming, organizing and pointing out struggles for its supporters.

Now, his movement takes on a new format, incorporating groups with paramilitary discourse and attitudes that perform publicly, recruit supporters and exercise in public places.

The neo-fascist character of Bolsonaro and his political movement is made explicit in the same dimension as the current health crisis and economic worsens.

His bluffs increase, in the same proportion as military denials. A game of comings and goings, generating permanent tension, deepening instability at a time when the nation most needs to concentrate on facing the pandemic, in the face of a catastrophe that is already looming.

While the Navy and Air Force remain silent, the press publishes daily statements in off of Army generals, who warn that they will not embark on adventures, while they follow and reinforce their presence in the administrative apparatus of the government.

In this disconcerting game of attacks and apparent setbacks, Bolsonaro is moving forward with his project and is on the offensive.

His anti-democratic discourse, his anti-national symbology of appearing surrounded by the flags of the USA and Israel, are becoming natural, throwing the opposition, which is increasingly broad, to an insufficient reaction, limited to issuing notes and political declarations.

Its project, as a neo-fascist force, is clear and becomes explicit at every moment, to establish a new political regime, suppressing the democratic spaces of the 1988 Constitution.

In this context, even though it isolates itself before the STF and the National Congress, it continues to intimidate, using its mobilized base as its main lever, increasingly assuming the typical objectives of fascism.

United around the ultra-neoliberal program, which at that moment generates a deep uncertainty about its achievement, the liberal bourgeois representations, even though they are supporters of authoritarian mechanisms, want to preserve their democratic spaces and are hesitantly opposed to the political proposal of control of power by neo-fascism.

However, the bourgeois fractions, fundamental to ensure a necessary power bloc for any Bonapartist intention, although divided on the issue of social isolation, have not yet signaled any disruption of the economic program that has given them cohesion since the 2016 coup, depending increasingly on public resources and, consequently, the control of the administrative machine.

Moments of deep crisis favor the concentration of power, valuing repressive measures that privilege economic sectors to the detriment of the needs of the majority of the people.

On the other hand, leftist forces, restricted to advertising through social networks due to the necessary coherence with social isolation, carry out specific actions that suffer from the ability to represent the social strength of the working classes.

With so many favorable conditions, Bolsonaro's initiatives guide the political scene, while his ability to maintain mobilizations in the midst of social isolation, with a true and irresponsible monopoly of the streets, exerts a deterrent effect on impeachment attempts, as well as the modality of conviction for common crime by the STF.

And, what is more serious, the more it is attacked, the more intense will be the reaction of neo-fascism, which once installed and organized as a social force, the more aggressive it will become.

Even if the circumstances are unfavorable for a struggle with social force and the confrontation takes place between interbourgeois political representations, it is essential to build a broad specific unit around the slogan Out Bolsonaro!

But this, the fight against the common enemy, cannot be confused with a Broad Front. A political front is endowed with a program and seeks to build a common strategy.

The left forces need to conform around a popular democratic program, necessary to resume the representation of the working classes and their main allies. Without it, it will not be possible to voice popular interests again, remaining out of the political scene, even if social tensions and despair push for struggle.

*Ricardo Gebrim is a lawyer and member of the National Board of Popular Consultation.