By CAMILA MORENO*
About the acts of May 29th and the struggles to come.
The acts of May 29 that asked for Bolsonaro to be out, vaccines for all and all through the SUS and emergency aid of 600 reais, were like a river running into the sea. Can't stop. They took place in more than 240 cities in the country, mobilizing more than 500 thousand people.
The mobilizations released the suppressed cry of a large part of the population that, since the beginning of the pandemic, has been looking for safe ways to protest against a neo-fascist, ultraliberal and genocidal government.
We are witnessing an organization rarely seen in acts of great mobilization. Distribution of PFF2 masks and the like at various points, hand sanitizer sprayed by organizers and an attempt to ensure social distancing, albeit with difficulties.
Lots of young people on the street. A lot of people who dream. A lot of people who struggle daily. Creative posters. Red flags. PT Stars. Windows support. Strength in networks. Artists, influencers, leaders. Juliette, Gil do Vigor, Lewis Hamilton, Morena Bacarin, Renata Sorrah, Preta Ferreira, Ailton Krenak, Zeca Baleiro, Elisa Lucinda, Gleisi Hoffmann, Benedita da Silva, João Paulo Rodrigues, Raimundo Bonfim. Thousands of voices that together echo far beyond our ears.
The acts of May 29 were so successful and so strong that they confused the narrative of Bolsonarism and the mainstream media. Bolsonarism, always so agile in disputing narratives, was divided between saying that they were empty and that there was no social distancing. The Globe and Estadão were able to not feature the acts on their Sunday covers. A shame.
The role that the mainstream media played by not giving due dimension to the acts in their journalistic coverage reinforces the importance of the hegemony dispute at play. The importance of defeating Bolsonarist and neo-fascist thinking, which will not happen by force of thought or by notes of repudiation, only. It is necessary to dialogue with people. We need to be alert and strong. It is necessary to dispute minds, hearts and values.
There is no doubt that the success of the mobilization was due to the unity built between the leftist and popular forces from the Campaign Fora Bolsonaro. It is necessary to value and preserve this unit that for more than a year has been organizing fights against this genocidal government and its policy that punishes the people.
It is true that no Brazilian would like to be on the street at this time of health crisis. We all want to preserve lives, including our own. But this is a government that has left us no options. We know the risks of the pandemic, but we also know that the vast majority of people submit to it every day in the struggle for survival, for food on their plate.
There is no return in the social street struggles against Bolsonaro and they are fundamental to face this government of backwardness, hunger and death. We will not defeat this genocidal government by inertia and new street demonstrations have already been called for June 19th. For a vaccine for everyone, for SUS, for emergency aid of R$600 until the end of the pandemic, against cuts in education, against violence and racism, in defense of public services and our sovereignty, against administrative reform and privatizations!
You can't stop a river when it flows into the sea, and you can't silence a Brazil when it wants to shout: Bolsonaro out!
*Camila Moreno is a member of the National Executive of the PT of the National Campaign Fora Bolsonaro.