Brazil’s Elections Part of China-U.S. Imperialist Rivalry

Brazil’s ongoing fight to impeach President Dilma Rousseff under charges of corruption is being touted as an effort to restore “democracy” from the political and economic turmoil that the country finds itself in. But make no mistake: Brazil’s current political and economic dilemma represents the inherent failure that is capitalist democracy. So why is congress really trying to impeach Rousseff? Like in capitalist democracies everywhere, Brazil’s ruling classes are fighting neck-and-neck to shift the country’s alliance along pro-U.S and pro-China imperialist lines. But no matter which capitalist calls the shots, Brazil’s working class is always the target. Neither Dilma Rousseff’s phony left party or its opposition serve working-class interests.
In fact, workers in every part of the world should be wary of the political parties and politicians that brand themselves as the savior of “democracy.” Democracies can never benefit the working class because they exist entirely to full the pockets of capitalist bosses, whether the bosses be pro-U.S. or pro-China. From U.S.’s Bernie Sanders to France’s Marine Le Pen, politicians have one goal in mind: to maintain the profit system of capitalism that benefits a few and exploits the masses. Their tactics are different but the goal remains the same. The Progressive Labor Party is the only party that represents the true interest of the working class. Our goal is to smash capitalism and rid the world of fail systems such as democracies, which pay lip services to the international working class. We champion a communist world where racism, nationalism, sexism, poverty and wars are no longer the seeds that workers reap.        
Dilma Rousseff along with members of her left-leaning Workers Party (PT) is facing accusation of corruption that might possibly hand the reins of political power to the equally corrupt right-wing conservative parties. The accusations stem from her alleged role with the now financially strap energy company, Petrobras. Rousseff, once chair of Petrobras, is believed to have accepted bribes from the energy company to finance her presidential campaign (NYT 12/03/15).
Mass streets protests along with judicial hearings make the call for impeachment seem like a call for justice. However, the demand to impeach Rousseff is a racist call by Brazil’s upper class, which is majority white, to turn economic tides in their favor. Their racist sentiment mirrors that of U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump and his supporters to “Make America Great Again.”  Above all, calls for Rousseff impeachment represent the struggle between pro U.S. and pro-China forces for control of Brazil and Latin America’s rich resources.
U.S. Tries to Counter China’s Pivot to Latin America
Brazil’s conservative parties along with its’ U.S imperialist backers are envious of China’s political and economic influence under Rousseff’s administration. In the subsequent years after the PT first took power championing economic and political influence for the masses of Brazil, Brazil’s trade with China soared while its share with the U.S. plunged. Shunning U.S claim to the Latin America, Brazil and China continued to develop deep ties, manipulating workers’ anti-U.S. imperialism into supporting a capitalist “multi-polar world” with China as its’ imperialist master. China’s influence remains intact to this day: in 2015, China and Brazil signed a series of investment and trade deals that totaled billions of dollars (The Guardian, 05/19/2015).
U.S. capitalist bosses’ imperialist quandaries extend beyond Brazil to include Latin America as a whole. They are on because China is engulfing Latin America into its’ imperialist sphere of influence. China’s investment in Latin America, for example, increased more than 20-fold, from $12 billion in 2000 to $285 billion in 2014 (NYT 10/3/2015). As a result, the U.S. ruling class is reconsidering its’ imperialist ambitions to focus entirely on countering China’s influence in the Eastern Pacific. In a recent report titled: “Expanding the Rebalance: Confronting China in Latin America,” Daniel Morgan, a senior military officer argue:
The growing cooperation between the governments in both regions and China presents political, economic, and military challenges that call for the incorporation of the Western Hemisphere into an Asian-Pacific Strategy… without a trans-Pacific strategy a U.S. regional approach will only create strategic risks and enable China to draw on its influence in the Western Hemisphere to support its interest elsewhere.
It is no wonder that U.S. capitalist bosses and their lackeys in Brazil are up in arms to out China and its’ servant, Rousseff.
Brazil: Infested with Racism, Sexism
Rousseff and her allies do not have the answers to stop U.S. imperialism, so workers should not heed their screams of injustice. While advocating economic reforms for the Brazil’s working class, the PT has partnered with big businesses. For instance, it has wasted tremendous money and resources to hold the money laundering 2018 World Cup, while many workers continue to live in abject poverty. Black workers in particular continue to suffer under the PT’s reign. Black workers, for example, represent 70 percent of those living in poverty. Like their U.S. counterparts, they are more likely to be murdered by killer cops. They are also shut out from leadership positions. A glaring example is President Rousseff’s cabinet: all except one minister is white (03/23/15).
Women and indigenous workers have also felt the brunt of the PT’s imperialist policies. Instead of focusing on these workers, the PT has been concentrating on Brazil’s imperialist rise rather than environmental and social objectives which disproportionally affect these workers. The PT is just a phony-leftist party playing the imperialist game. Brazil’s working class along with the entire working class of Latin America will be the pawns in this game for world domination.
March on May Day!
Like the political parties in Brazil, political parties and their puppet politicians in the U.S. and elsewhere are ploys to channel workers’ anger into support for different capitalist bosses. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Dilma Rousseff and others want to maintain the chaos that is capitalism. Voting for politicians thus remains futile because no real change can come from a system that is not meant for us.
That is why the Progressive Labor Party say: Don’t Vote, Organize! A communist system built for and by the international working class is the only system that will truly represent our interest. Join PLP has we marched on April 27th to demand a better world for workers: a communist world.  On this day, May Day, we affirm our connections with workers around the world in the struggle for a communist world free of sexism, racism and imperialist war. Join PLP in making this world a reality.