Will Brazil Be the Next Venezuela?
Photo: Gustavo Moreno/AP
HAVANA TIMES – The vast majority of Brazilians I know here in the south of the country are against Lula and his Workers’ Party.
This is not a coincidence. Populism does not take hold the same way in societies with a certain level of development, and we are in Curitiba, the capital of one of the most well off states in the country.
In the southern region, composed of the states of Parana, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, separatist movements have emerged, supported by the belief that the rest of the country is a burden to their development.
To put it bluntly, things work well enough here that there is no need for a “masked figure” who promises to take from the rich to give to the poor. They know that in this “giving” and “taking,” where the economy suffers, there is also room for corruption.
From here in the south, Lula da Silva’s rise to power seems like usurpation. It is said he won by means of electoral fraud, but in my view, his messianic rhetoric would have been enough.
Brazil is a rich country, although, except for the blessed states, the reality is quite sad. There is a shortage of jobs, money, schools, hospitals, even roads.
It is not surprising for the remaining 23 states of the country to cling to that leftist promise, with its handouts that, in the end, come from taxpayers’ pockets and distort the relations of production.
Leftist governments do not improve Brazil. The people live poorly, but not badly enough to rise up and exert any pressure on politicians.
Lula, Rousseff, and their companions, in their time, have implemented a palliative handout, instead of focusing their government agendas on scientific, technological, economic, civic, and sustainable development. They limit themselves to the emotional aspect, to pity, promoting the utopia of equality.
The right has been exaggerated and degenerated, and not charismatic enough to rid Brazilian mentality of leftism. And here we are, after a pandemic that has affected the global economy, with prices rising more and more every day, and people asking: how long will this last?
Just to cite one example, according to the specialized media outlet G1, beef prices increased by an average of 11% in the last year.
The value of products is rising much faster than wages, which encourages crime, organized crime, and labor abandonment. Brazilians do not want to work for so little money.
Under different circumstances, businesses would have been forced to give in, but here we are, Cubans and Venezuelans, filling the vacancies to keep the system going.
What if there are five positions and only two are filled? It doesn’t matter, immigrants do all the work. We, who have fled leftist regimes, are now the valves of a left-leaning capitalism.
Brazilians are interested in the reality of our countries of origin, but no matter how much we try, they can’t get close to the idea of what they are like. ‘You have to live it to understand it,’ I conclude discouraged.
Many talk about Lula as a factor of change. They see in him a danger that their country could end up being like Venezuela, or Cuba. And I, who have already given up too many things to get here, don’t even want to imagine it.”
Why is it that those in the southern hemisphere seem to embrace socialism yet flee to capitalism (US, Canada, Spain etc) as they see the opportunities are not within their own systems of government? Does the recognition that it is too late to fix their own system come too late?