Less than a year after being installed in power via a constitutional coup, the government of Brazilian President Michel Temer is teetering on the brink of collapse.
Plagued by corruption scandals 鈥 the same pretext used by the right-wing controlled judiciary and parliament to topple centre-left president Dilma Rousseff 鈥 and popularity figures in the single digits, the Temer regime is now facing a growing revolt from below demanding 鈥渄irect elections now!鈥
A year on from the parliamentary coup that ousted former聽Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil has become a neoliberal disaster and approval ratings for the incumbent right-wing聽government have slumped to record low levels.
The democratically-elected president was ousted in May last year without any proof of wrongdoing. Michel Temer, who then served as vice president, was installed as interim president.聽On August 31, Rousseff was formally removed from office.
The full vote in the lower house of Brazil鈥檚 Congress on the government鈥檚 plan to聽聽will be delayed until the end of May, amid ongoing protests against it.
If passed, the controversial bill would cut benefits, raise social security contributions by civil servants and set a minimum retirement age of 65 years in a country where people work on average until 54 years.
More than 35 million people in Brazil launched one of biggest general strikes in the country鈥檚 history against President Michel Temer鈥檚 neoliberal reforms on April 28, bringing the country to a standstill.
The strike was largely organised by Unified Workers Central (CUT), the largest union federation in Latin America. It was backed by the Workers Party (PT) of Dilma Rousseff, the elected president overthrown in an institutional coup last year.
Dozens of other unions, grassroots groups teachers, church leaders and civil servants also threw their support behind the strike.
Hundreds of Brazilian artists demonstrated on March 27 outside the Municipal Theatre in Sao Paulo on World Theatre Day to protest against the freezing of funds allocated for culture.
The cultural protest is one of the biggest of its kind in the country in decades, as artists, students, workers and other social movements rail against the austerity agenda under the neoliberal government of unelected President Michel Temer.
Massive mobilisations involving 1 million people across Brazil and a mood for general strike unlike anything seen in some time marked March 15, as various organised sectors came onto the streets to protest a packet of pension and labour聽reforms proposed by the government of President Michel Temer.
On Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal聽readers can find an interview with leading ecosocialist voice Daniel Tanuro as well as聽articles looking at the ongoing fallout of the Brexit vote聽and the origins of arguably the most famous slogan in revolutionary history: "All power to the Soviets!"
Reflecting on recent experiences of dealing with the right鈥檚 return to power in their own countries, close to 100 social movements and activists from Brazil and Argentina have signed a statement calling on the people of Ecuador to vote against right-wing neoliberal banker Gulliermo Lasso in the second round presidential run-off scheduled for April 2.聽
Among them are activists from Via Campesina, the Rural Landless Workers Movement (MST), the Popular Brazil Front (FBP) the United Workers Central (CUT), the Argentine Workers Central union confederation (CTA) and the Association of State Employees (ATE Capital).
Brazilians took to the streets in a nationwide protest on March 15 against President Michel pension reform plan. "This is the first unified mobilisation this year and opens the calendar of an intense agenda that we will have in 2017 to denounce the setbacks that penalise workers, such as reforms to the retirement system and labour legislation," said the organisers in a statement.
The Brazilian football team El Cruzeiro wore T-shirts highlighting the many issues that women in the South American country still face on a daily basis. Meanwhile, a similar initiative was announced by the Costa Rican football league. On March 8, players did not celebrate goals scored as part of a campaign meant to express solidarity with women victims of violence.
As expected, once Brazil鈥檚 October regional elections were over, the Michel Temer government launched a large-scale offensive against workers, youth and the people in general.
At the heart of this offensive is Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) 241, which essentially imposes a freeze on government expenditure for the next 20 years.
A group of right-wing extremists stormed the chamber of the lower house of the Brazilian Congress on November 16 demanding the military stage a coup to root out 鈥渋nstitutionalised communism鈥 in the country.
According to the BBC, the right-wing demonstrators pushed past guards, injuring some, before breaking a glass door to gain entry to the chamber.