DEBATE 1747 DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232017226.02472017 - - - Political cycles, Impeachment, Left, Left, Impeachment, cycles, Political This textThis givesbrief a reconstruction role of the judiciary, and in particular‘Oper of of the judiciary, role and the conflict-besetrelationation Carwash’; ship between the new evangelicaland churches concludes socialThe essay movements. the LGBT with an assessment of the defeat and isolation of the left and also moment, at this suggests that be could the kernel of a in particular, democracy, renewed of the left. project words Key Development democracy, dent Dilma Rousseff, which was a ‘coup’ effected ‘coup’ which a dent was Dilma Rousseff, through parliament, and situates it at the end of periodsthree of politics republic: in the Brazilian and democratizing; the second, broader, the first, with force as the Party) of the age the PT (Workers’ shorter, on the left;the hegemony and the third, these phases Together, the cycle of its governments. constitutea crisis although a not ofthe republic, institutionalruptureof the country’s structure, paperThe forward puts of Exception’. ‘State a nor issues:main developmentalistthe three project in implemented the governments by of PT, the constructionalliance companies; with the ’s Abstract Abstract Presi of impeachmentof the process of Brazil’s The republic in crisis possibilitiesThe republic and future 1 Centro de Estudos Estudos de Centro RJ Brasil. RJ Brasil. Janeiro de Rio [email protected] 1 Fiocruz. Estratégicos, Brasil 4036/10º, Av. 21040-361 Manguinhos. José Maurício Domingues Maurício José 1748

Domingues JM Isolation and impeachment her adversary from the PSDB party. Thus, she lost a considerable part of the social base that Brazil is at present immersed in one of the most elected her. Finally, she had also to contend with serious crises of its history. A long cycle of de- the permanent damage produced by ‘Operation mocratization, beginning in the 1970s with the Carwash’, which located a vast scheme of cor- struggle against the military dictatorship that ruption in Petrobras – the national oil company started in 1964, came to a close – accompanied by and an icon of Brazilian development – during the end of a cycle in which the uncontested hege- the administrations of the PT, in which the party mony of the Brazilian left was held by the Work- participated, together with the PMBD of Temer, ers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores - PT), and and especially the Partido Popular (PP – of the has come to the end of its electoral cycle, with the center-right), although part of the left argue that impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. The there was a selectivity in the investigations. economy is going badly, and the country is now The event that sealed the fate of the Rousseff making retrograde steps1-3. government, bringing the PT cycle to an end, Dilma Rousseff, politically unskilled – espe- was a parliamentary coup. The country is now cially compared to her mentor Luiz Inácio Lula disturbed, by an impeachment process that was da Silva – made innumerable errors during her clothed in legality, but which a significant part of periods in government. The effect was to alienate the population regard as illegitimate. On the oth- most of society, in particular the middle classes er hand it is true that the majority of the popula- (doctors, scientists, a large part of the judicia- tion did support it (although, also, without any ry), and also of the ascending poorer classes, as affection for the Vice-president, Michel Temer, of well as the fact that she and the PT found them- the PMDB, who took over as President). There selves, at the end, facing their principal allies as was, however, no ‘rupture of the country’s insti- opponents: initially the Brazilian Socialist Party tutional fabric’, and the impeachment went ahead (Partido Socialista Brasileiro– PSB), and later the along exactly the same lines as the case which had Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (Partido previously deposed President Fernando Collor do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro – PMDB). de Mello in the 1990s – who was even more un- Many people still argue that, from the societal popular, and politically isolated at the end of his point of view, the central problem was to have government. The proceedings against Collor were based the project of the PT on consumption, thus in part what provided legitimacy for their recent preventing politicization of the rising poorer sec- repetition. As a parliamentary coup, the impeach- tors. Others, on the contrary, complain about the ment is in no way similar to nor compares with massive demonstrations of 2013, in which thou- the military coup of 1964, nor the ‘regime of ex- sands of young people from all over the country ception’, as some would like to argue, nor even spread into the streets, with a very fluid range of with any adequate definition of a ‘coup-d’état’. discontents and demands. These analysts under- Nor should it be seen as a process of atavistic stand those demonstrations to have been in op- throwback for Brazil – in which democracy is position to Rousseff and the PT – in this author’s unable to develop due to a perverse and peculiar opinion this point of view tends to indicate a cer- historic inheritance. In reality, the regime of accu- tain political ‘autism’ on the part of the PT. mulation that is capitalism is at present polarized, The fact is that Rousseff and the PT did not inequalities are increasing and the welfare state is in reality succeed in giving responses to a con- receding where it was put in place – all over the text that was both intricate and challenging. As world, democracy is being restricted. a result they lost the support of agents that place But this did not mean that the impeachment themselves in the center of the political spectrum, process was not traumatic. It was, apart from allowing them to incline toward the right. As if anything else, initially conducted by Eduardo this were not enough, the situation of the Bra- Cunha, Chair of the lower house of Congress, and zilian economy was worsening, due to the global a sinister figure: he was removed from office after economic situation, and also to the mistakes that doing the dirty work that was expected of him, the President herself made in her first period of and finished up being imprisoned on suspicions office. Further, having run a campaign that polar- of corruption, which then expanded to include ized the political debate, positioning herself more obstruction of justice, and other issues. Added to to the left than she had previously, even before this is the phenomenon that does not escape the taking office in her second government Rousseff population’s observation, that a large part of the adopted the adjustment policies of Aécio Neves, motivation for the impeachment was the desire 1749 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 22(6):1747-1758, 2017

to put a brake on Operation Carwash before it composition of the present leadership contin- reached and, more destructively and more deep- ue to be visible in various dimensions, with the ly, overwhelmed politicians of the PMDB, the threat of retrograde movements in terms of civi- PSDB and other groupings. One of the basic ob- lization hanging in the air. Clearly, this has to do jectives of the coup against Rousseff – sacrificing with Brazil’s current situation of economic dif- the PT – was, for many political agents, in fact the ficulty and stress, but it goes a lot further than need to escape justice, and indeed prison, and the that. The corruption and the illegitimacy of the agenda of the neoliberals joined up with this as a political system are visible, and are demoralizing. secondary goal, even though it was a priority for On the other hand there is a social energy that the leaders of Brazilian business, and for interna- seeks ways to express itself in the contrary di- tional capital. rection, without yet having found where to flow These are the basic outlines of the current and develop itself fully. Some people suggest that political context. However, the problems are cer- in the present situation one is seeing a terminal tainly much deeper. To start with, the forces of crisis of the ‘New Republic’. This is an exagger- the center-right and the right have nothing to ation. The Republic’s institutions and indeed its offer other than a resumption of a more pitiless horizon of imagination and of rights remain, economic neoliberalism and a more restrict- but there is without doubt a crisis of the republic ed social liberalism (based on politics focused which we need to recognize could, unfortunately, for the poorest people in the population). The be overcome by a move in a frankly anti-popu- Temer government and its PMDB party un- lar direction. It is worth noting that the Brazilian til recently were striving to avoid adoption of a crisis and the debacle of the PT party are taking hard adjustment and embrace of that neoliberal place in a context of general attrition of the left agenda (initially establishing limits on spending in Latin America. It is possible that a period of for health and education, science and technol- sub-continental hegemony of the center-right ogy, and government workers’ salaries; reforms may be opening, with a corporate discourse. of the social security system and the labor laws; even though the fragilization of Petrobras and The issue of development and the struggles the opening of the Pre-Sal oil deposits layer to within the dominant classes foreign companies were already in progress). But the defeat of the left, and especially of the PT, in Let us start with the idea of development. the 2016 municipal elections have smoothed the Cardoso sought to implement a moderated vari- way for them to adopt the neoliberal adjustment. ant of neoliberalism, with social brushstrokes, Further, it was what they promised to the leaders and also deepen Brazil’s involvement in the glob- of business, and what the international agencies al economy in the direction of a re-primarization are expecting and hoping for. This seems to be which improved our semi-peripheral position. the only thing that the PSDB has, in its turn, to He had the virtue of combating uncontrolled propose: a program that is still more restricted inflation. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on taking than the one that Fernando Henrique Cardoso over the presidency, followed a similar route, but (its principal leader) put into practice in his two as from the 2008 crisis, finished up adopting a presidential terms. The new directions proposed more state interventionist model with anticycli- by the PMDB, for their part, established “a bridge cal policies, and also took a bet on the develop- toward the future”, with a clear, though implicit, ment of the Pre-Salt oil deposits and of the oil influence of the ‘public choice’ school, with their industry to re-launch the Brazilian economy. A denunciation of so-called ‘rent-seekers’, and neo- ‘neo-developmentalist’ approach took shape, and liberal economic viewpoint4. To distance critics, this was deepened in Rousseff’s first government. more explicit social-liberal policies, focused on Without planning nor effective discussion with the poorer parts of the population, were added society, full of errors and after a conflict with fi- at a second stage5. All of this indicates that we nancial capital without social support, the new will have a long and difficult interval ahead of us, ‘economic matrix’, and what was called the ‘de- even if the neoliberal project comes to be mod- velopmentalist approach’, both sank beneath the ulated due to the brutal budgeting restrictions waves.6 which are already being projected as a function This ‘neo-developmentalism’ had at its cen- of, indeed, their own proposals. ter the not very clear proposal for an alliance Nothing is very clear in this moment – other between the PT Party and the major Brazilian than the fact that the morbid symptoms of de- contractors, especially Odebrecht – for develop- 1750

Domingues JM ment of a capitalism that would give power to the Now this has necessarily come to a halt, although party and economic muscle to those companies, the volumes of lending and the involvement of and also to important sectors of agribusiness. In the BNDES in the ownership and management practice, however, this policy came up against of the companies has increased accentuatedly conflicts within the dominant classes themselves. during the governments led by the PT, giving an An element to be highlighted in the pres- impulse to the capitalist sectors of Brazil, which ent scenario is, clearly, the imprisonment of the in some cases includes the choice of ‘national owners and directors of contractors involved champions’, and their internationalization. In re- in corruption schemes of Petrobras which were ality, although some sectors of the economy have brought to light by the ‘Operation Carwash’ in- been de-nationalized with the processes of pri- vestigation, with the open support of the leading vatization of the Cardoso period and the process media, and silence from other sectors. It is thus of purchase of companies continues in various worth looking at the relationships between the areas, the internal Brazilian bourgeoisie remains various fractions of the bourgeoisie itself, which vigorous9,10 – but, clearly, divided. were very much fractured at this moment. It is known that the civil engineering sector, Not long ago it would have been difficult to led by Odebrecht and other giant companies, had imagine – essentially until the arrival of Lula in great support from the Lula governments, that the presidency – that those companies would the programs of major works and infrastructure have been at risk, because of corruption. Further, favored them, and that they expanded their ar- it would have been almost impossible to suppose eas of operation. The sector has been presenting that the Globo Group (previously called Organi- itself as one of the most internationalized faces zações Globo) – which today expresses the main of Brazilian capitalism, with multi-million dol- organic intellectual components of a large part lar contracts in Latin America and indeed in of the Brazilian bourgeoisie and is in a manner Africa, and also in other regions of the world. of speaking its de facto principal political party Could it be that this alone is capable of gener- (as is usually the case with the communications ating a climate of belligerence against it by some media in contemporary Latin America7) – would factions of capital that do not receive the same give its support to the operations of the judicia- treatment and support? Perhaps. But the fact is ry and would promote continuous exposure in that the hegemony of financial capital has not the media of the owners and directors of those really been changed, and it continues to have, in companies. It is important to highlight that the general, high profitability, capturing large por- Marinho family, owner of the Globo Group, is, tions of Brazil’s national wealth (in spite of the according to Forbes, the richest family in Brazil, ill-prepared standoffs against it during the first with net worth of US$28.9 billion (followed by Rousseff government, in which she came out the the owners of Banco Safra, and the Ermírio de loser). Moraes family); and after that followed main- Agribusiness and mining received an in- ly by bankers (Salles, Villela, Aguiar, Setúbal), creasingly favorable treatment. This took place owners of construction companies (Camargo, through the agricultural policy and the policy on Odebrecht) and representatives of agribusiness federal government lands, including in relation (Maggi, and Batista [no relation of Eike Batis- to the indigenous peoples, who have been mas- ta]8). After all, these people are some of the prin- sacred as never before since the opening of Bra- cipal representatives of Brazilian capital, and all zil to democracy; but also by the support of the the indications are that there is an image of them BNDES and the proposal of the Mining Code, carrying out this type of transaction of appropri- which delivers vast spaces to large Brazilian and ation of national revenue through over-invoiced foreign companies. This is to say nothing of the works for a very long time. disastrous measures to provide relief of taxation Although it is known that in Brazil we have (which accompanied the neoliberal line of argu- what is called “connection capitalism”9, in which ment that Brazil’s problem was the costs that the the state and companies are closely involved with private sector faces, even though this has not tak- each other, in this case through construction en the form of restriction on increase in the price contracts but in a more general way, also involv- of the workforce). These provisions to lighten ing decisive action by the BNDES – although this companies’ costs could have amply favored in- does not necessarily always presuppose corrup- dustry, if they had had a counterpart investment tion it can also be said that it is present in several by the companies that borrowed money cheaply, transactions, as the case of Petrobras indicates. especially from the Brazilian Development Bank 1751 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 22(6):1747-1758, 2017

(BNDES) – which did not happen11-13. The issue which in one way or another have been managing appears, however, to be above all political. to get their development going. In Latin Ameri- While all the interests benefited in some way ca, what prevails is de facto liberalism, and in the or another from the support of the BNDES, the final analysis, the influence of the United States location of the problem seems to be in the idea and the historic links of the local bourgeoisies of a deeper alliance between governments led by with the countries of the center of the capitalist the PT and the contractors. It is one thing to take system clearly have a decisive role. advantage of cheap credit and the schemes that have been set up for misappropriation of money Democracy and justice from the state companies and from the state in general. It is another to construct, based on this, Democracy in Brazil, starting from the im- a more systematic and lasting alliance of a polit- peachment crisis, is not going well. This has ical nature, including from the point of view of a brought the judicial system into the front line, national project in which both have a central po- where it is now a highlight of the current context. sition. This option turns out to be unacceptable Dealing with this major system today in Brazil is to other factions of the bourgeoisie. One could a prickly task. When this question is combined try to find the finger of the United States in the with the crisis of the political system, the prob- attack on the contractors, on the basis that they lem becomes even more prickly. were occupying spaces that in principle should A simple response to the reality of the coun- be reserved to companies of the US, but there is try would accuse the state of being an apparatus no concrete evidence for this. The line is clear- of the bourgeoisie, resuming a Marxist reading ly drawn: Take advantage of opportunities and that does not even make any use of the theoret- make profit, yes; deeper alliances, though, never ical advances that can be found in the works of – since they would constitute a view of organi- authors like Gramsci and Poulantzas, who see zation of the society and of the state that would in the state and in society a field of struggles for contradict what the sectors of the bourgeoisie hegemony. This apparatus, according to the re- with greater capacity for leadership are project- stricted argument, is currently turned against the ing for the country, that is to say, according to all left, with its deep reserves of strength, and mak- the indications: a return to a neoliberalism that is ing the best of the small errors committed by the more thoroughbred and radical. PT and its allies in the struggle to improve the These companies will not, however, cease to living conditions of the Brazilian people (and for be one of the pillars of Brazilian capital – they some, not even those errors are taken at all deeply will continue to be economically, socially and into consideration). politically powerful. They will have two options: A second point of view opens with a ques- either (i) accept and absorb the fact that the role tion: Why have the Federal Public Attorneys of political leadership in Brazilian capitalism is (MPF) and the Federal Police (PF) – which were denied to them; or (ii) seek to resume a protag- never homogeneous and, at least in the case of onist position in whatever way possible, in what- the former, had strong links with the PT when in ever project provides the opportunity. Either way opposition, promoting many accusations against it is certain that there will be profound scars, and the PSDB and against bourgeois personalities it is probable that the relationships between these such as Daniel Dantas – now thrown themselves factions of the bourgeoisie will never be the same against exactly that same PT? As well as the mis- again. appropriations of funds connected with corrup- What is there to be done with a development tion, in which the PT did in fact get involved, the project that today seems more like a mirage than hypothesis has been raised that it was precisely a possibility, with Latin America once again be- Lula’s lenience in relation to these scandals that ing thrust back into the past? What coalition can involved the PSDB (especially the Banesta- leverage a project that redefines the challenge and do episode, in the 1990s), that produced such proposals to overcome it? The idea of a neo-de- a negative effect. According to this argument, velopmentalist movement that is strong appears by blocking investigations, Lula aroused the ill not to be sustainable, but without science and will and indeed the ire of these corporations to technology, and without a certain degree of which is added, in particular, the Federal Police re-industrialization, Brazil will drift further away – which his government (following a trend that from the countries of the center and from oth- was present in the last of the Cardoso years) did ers, in particular China, on the semi-periphery, in fact help to equip and develop14,15. In reality, 1752

Domingues JM the world of Brazilian law is today very complex: be those corporations, which are very privileged it has been democratized, but it continues to be and well-off today. That is to say, the first of these very stratified and to be subject to little external two theses negates the second, and vice-versa, control, probably due to some mistakes by the even though some grain of truth can be found legislators of the 1988 constitution in shaping it. in both, to the effect that a possible bias on the In general, it looks as if the families that hold on part of the upper middle class might project itself to the positions of highest prestige are those that against union leaders and militants of the left. have occupied them already for a very long time. It is worth underlining, however, that on This applies especially to the judges and law- innumerable occasions judges and members of yers, while the public attorneys’ offices and the the public attorneys’ office have taken openly legal aid attorneys, for example, are less ‘elitist’ democratic and progressive positions (without (and, also, have a higher proportion of women). necessarily having a commitment to the status Among lawyers, the broad-based national and quo of the left). Indeed, it is impossible also to state-level structure of the Brazilian Bar Associ- suppose that the idea that the greater or large ation (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil – OAB), in part of the Brazilian judiciary is conservative is reaction to the proliferation of doubtful-quality false. More studies would be necessary for us to law faculties, uses the exam for admission to the have a clearer view of the situation. If liberalism profession as a way of eliminating professionals appears to have the hegemony in the judiciary, it who are supposedly little qualified. It in turn is is not necessarily neoliberalism, but often a rec- controlled by the large law offices and the lawyers ognition of the value of the Constitution and of with the greatest prestige in the country. It has rights – by a group taking the view referred to as an enormous power over the general structure of ‘neo-constitutionalism’. This would be in spite of the judiciary system16,17. the disagreements as to the validity of this point Further, the operators of the judiciary today of view, and as to whether or not it tends to add form a group of public servants without parallel to identification of Brazilian law – arising as it in Brazil – with an income(legal and semi-legal, does from European continental civil law, the legitimate and illegitimate) that makes them part common law of the Anglo-Saxon matrix – and of at least the higher middle class, as well as having thus increases its flexibility, with a certain posi- the lack of external control which today, in spite tive degree of judicialization of politics and so- of the existence of the National Council of Justice cial relations19-22. In the case of corporations for (Conselho Nacional de Justiça – CNJ), still seems which the very functioning of the apparatus of to characterize the corporation as a whole. In the the state – with honesty and universalism, in Federal Public Attorneys’ Office alone, 50% of principle, according to the ‘ideological’ elements the attorneys and sub-procurators are paid more in general so strongly present in these collectives than the ceiling of R$ 33,700.00 (the salary of the – and the policy, internal to itself and external, in Chair of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), and society, are perceived as so important, there are many in reality earn almost double this18. Could many factors that intervene and have to be taken this – if it is indeed true, let us underline – ex- into account. If to this is added the idea that the plain an anti-PT bias on the part of the more or PT governments had taken corruption even fur- less significant sectors of the judiciary due to this ther, institutionalizing it – which seems to be the insertion of ‘class’? Perhaps in part yes, although perception of at least some of the sectors – the a preemptory affirmation would require a great situation is severely aggravated, in spite of these deal more study – although this alone would not (neo)patrimonialist schemes, which involve state explain an apparent change in the points of view and society, having existed in Brazil for centuries, of these operators. Could this be explained by the in all their severity in devaluation of citizenship, middle classes having distanced themselves from and theft from the state. the PT, or even having become opponents of the An effectively republican, democratic con- PT, in particular because (as many suggest or af- ception grounded on the defense of the State of firm loudly though without any basis in fact or Rule of Law, which is today more than necessary, argument) of the ascension of the poorest classes cannot omit to accentuate the combat of this under the Lula and Dilma governments? There is type of neopatrimonialism – which has noth- a certain plausibility in these theories, but when ing ‘traditional’ in it, and is linked directly to the applied directly to the judiciary, they are lacking modernization of Brazil7. It is not by chance that precisely because if there is any group that has the large contractors are fundamental protago- not been threatened by this ascension, it would nists of it. But it is no good disrespecting individ- 1753 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 22(6):1747-1758, 2017

ual guarantees so as to guarantee what would be public – which was always kept shackled by the the rights of society, as is sometimes argued. Two PSDB governments – dissolved at this moment, wrongs do not make a right. for reasons that are still unclear, whether because The current prominence of the judiciary be- Aragão and the PT wanted to pressure Janot to gan with ‘Operation Carwash’. This began in 2014, preserve the party and the contractors (which, casually, with an investigation of money launder- the argument would say, would be to preserve the ing involving a gas station in Curitiba, Paraná Brazilian economy), or because he did not like State, and evolved to discover a major scheme of the methods of the operation which, according corruption, for campaign financing, but also for to critics, involve abuses. If there are by chance personal enrichment, in Petrobras. The PP, the any abuses, this is a long way from characterizing PMDB and the PT were the most affected parties. a ‘regime of exception’ – which, if we were to take The office of the Procurator General of the Re- the argument seriously, would have been the situ- public, responsible for upholding the institutions ation at all times in Brazil, where violation of cit- of the republic, is the engine of the operation, izens’ constitutional guarantees is unfortunately mobilizing the Federal Public Attorneys, as its a reiterated aspect of reality (except when it is a apex (the procurators remain independent, how- case of powerful citizens). ever). They have also been extracting information However, what this produces is once again about other schemes of corruption and about the isolation of the left. For the purpose of this al- congressmen of all the parties, including in rela- liance and the promotion, clearly a restructuring tion to the present President of the Republic, Mi- of forces is insinuated. The death of the Supreme chel Temer. Part of the problem is that those who Court rapporteur of the Operation Carwash case, have the privilege of ‘special jurisdiction’ may be Teori Zavascki, also, at the very least, holds up the judged only by the Federal Supreme Court. In re- process. Even so, the internal aim and project ality, with the PT having been seriously hit, and of the Public Attorneys’ Office itself should not former President Lula himself becoming a defen- ever be left out of account. This is why Opera- dant at first instance in the area of jurisdiction tion Carwash continues to go forward, especially of the judge Sérgio Moro, there is an enormous as a result of the plea-bargain accusation against pressure to close off Operation Carwash once and Brazil’s largest contractor, Odebrecht, which has for all, and to ‘stop the bleeding’(as an import- the effect of including the entire spectrum of the ant figure of the PMDB expressed it in a record- political system, including the ‘tribal chiefs’ of all ed conversation). Thus, the unilateralness that is the parties. The possibility of an accusatory plea being flagged in this operation will be confirmed, bargain by Cunha could also gravely destabilize even if only a posteriori. the Temer government. Beyond this, fundamen- Once more, it will be easy to criticize the judi- tal tasks continue to be: (i) achieving a more fine- ciary and what often comes across as its elitism. If tuned control of the police; (ii) strengthening the it is not yet clear how this story will end, it is even State of the Rule of Law;(iii) ensuring that the less easy to understand the workings of the Feder- Public Attorneys are impartial and operate with al Public Attorneys’ Office. This is a corporation public discretion, at any level; and (iv) guarantee- that has strengthened itself greatly, benefitting ing and amplifying rights25. from great functional independence and having Frequently one hears it said that the judicia- shown strong political willfulness and initiative, ry in Brazil at this moment has a vocation of the characteristics which combine with the view ‘Pretorian’ type and is wanting to dominate the that in Brazil civil society is weak, ‘lacking the political scenario. Indeed, the situation in which strength, of itself’, to defend its rights (the ‘un- there is great fragility in the political system, and shakable’ rights, under the Constitution) against corporations like the military come to the cen- the state23. Until now one of the few cracks in the ter of the scene and lay their hands on power, is facade that has enabled us to get a view of the a known phenomenon. The classic example of internal political evolution of this corporation – this is the discussion by Marx26 about the Bona- which is very powerful externally, and closed – partism of the years1840-1850 in France, at the is the letter in which former Justice Minister of moment of implosion of the political system and Rousseff’s government, Eugênio Aragão24, previ- crisis in the relationship in the French Parliament ously a close ally of the present Procurator-Gen- between the representatives and those represent- eral, Rodrigo Janot, lets off steam. Strangely, what ed. Historically, military coups crystalize the defi- would appear to be a joint action to give effec- nition of this type of crisis and its consequences, tiveness to the Procuratorship-General of the Re- especially in Latin America. 1754

Domingues JM The crisis of the Brazilian political system at income for electoral purposes, seek exactly the this moment – since the demonstrations of 2013 contrary: to keep the political system closed and – is indeed an acute one. It has affected all the ensure the hegemony of the large parties. All the political forces. Electoral financing by companies smaller parties, such as the Socialism and Liber- – now prohibited by the Supreme Court – has ty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade – PSOL) led them to a situation of total distancing from and the Sustainability Network (Rede Sustent- citizens, which in the case of the PT has been abilidade), for example, would be outside the worsened by an enormous hubris in the exercise parliament and deprived of public funds. A con- of power, not even taking the care to maintain servative way out of the crisis would try to make much dialog, much less public dialog, with the this a permanent reality, but it seems to us to be organizations that traditionally provided them a definite recipe for further problems some years with support. In reality, the system seeks to escape ahead – since rebuilding the bridges between the any social pressure – of which the impeachment political system of society and the political sys- itself is in part the expression, even if the popula- tem of the state will not be an easy task, if indeed tion desires it, its execution serving to protect the there is any political will for it. The risk is obvi- groups which have been in power longest. ous: That under a democratic structure we might In this author’s view, insisting on a supposed see an advanced liberal-oligarchical regime be- Pretorian point of view by the judiciary would coming stronger, under very limited democratic be to take the argument too far, in spite of a cer- clothing, which, in alliance with the oligopolized tain voluntarism by the federal public attorneys large media and financial capital, might cause the and, in some sectors, inspiration from the Clean maximum possible restriction on the role of par- Hands (‘Mani Pulite’) Operation of Italy27. Is true ticipation by the populace. that the judiciary, in particular as a result of the If the transition from the military regime to weakness and demoralization of the political sys- democracy in the 1980s left certain questions tem, has assumed a significant protagonisim. But ill-resolved, and restrictions on participation by it does not aim to take over power and govern. the population, the direction of that democra- Many in the federal public attorneys’ offices may tization has continued to be dominant until re- be assuming for themselves the role of moralizers cently. The very ascension of the PT to power was of the system and radical combatants of corrup- an expression of this, transforming that period tion, but it is unlikely that they will go beyond of mobilization into “institutionalizing citizen- this. Not, indeed, even if they wanted to: the fact ship”. The process at this present moment tends that the political system is beginning to react and in the opposite direction, although this has not trying in fact to block the next steps of the oper- been fully crystalized and there is a certain social ation demonstrates the judiciary’s frailty as a po- standoff, since the population does not appear litical instrument. It remains to be seen how the to be happy to accept the subtraction of social situation will evolve, especially as a result of the rights that it perceives as being intended to im- accusations already made, or which have yet to be pose upon it. However, in spite of the weakness made. If it is true that the Public Attorneys’ Of- of the organized left today, there is sedimented in fices see themselves as “the political agent of the the mind of the population the notion that they law”15, this does not mean that they act as sub- have rights and, in part as a fruit of the progress stitute for the political system or prevail over it. made by the coalition governments led by the In any event, it is clear that for Brazil to over- PT in social matters, probably a certain minimal come these impasses a major rearrangement and standard of living for the population as a whole renovation of the political system is necessary. should be obeyed. The situation in fact contin- The parties have suffered significant wear and ues to be fluid, and its final direction has not at tear – starting with the PT. Since June 2013 a all been decided, although the initiative is clearly large quota of their energy has been invested in with the forces of the right, including with ele- the effort to insulate themselves and neutralize ments of police repression, beginning to appear the challenges launched by citizens. The reforms openly. that are being proposed, in the electoral system What will happen will depend on whether we and in terms of barrier clauses, and forcing the succeed in forcing the present cycle, the outline return of electoral financing by companies (pro- of which is currently being delineated more pre- hibited by the Supreme Court), as well as an am- cisely, more in the direction of democracy than nesty for those who used illegal undeclared cash oligarchy. 1755 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 22(6):1747-1758, 2017

Social and cultural pluralism feasible solution. There is no reason to expect or suppose the abandonment of the agenda, on the One subject that has mobilized a lot of, gen- other hand, due to the anxiety to win the support erally acid, argument in Brazil is the tension of the other, nor to accept a position of attack between the evangelical Christian movements, if the other does not accept the agenda of those with their strong participation in politics, and movements. In one way or another, evangelicals, the issues of pluralization of the family, and sex- on the one side, and on the other side LGTB uality, as evidenced by the LGBT militancy and movements and individuals whose ways of living feminism which, now revived and rejuvenated, are different from those accepted as essential by has re-emerged strongly in recent years, and also the majority of religions, need to converse, even in relation to the question of abortion. There is if only to disagree, which is not always the case in reason for a brief commentary here, since this is practice. A platform that unifies all is impossible an issue with very great negative potential; many – there will continue to be contradictions – but point to it as being central in the current ‘wave of common agendas can be constructed. conservatism’28. While pluralism can have a democratizing There are in reality many variations between aspect, if badly treated it can fragment and gen- the evangelical groups – as there are between erate standoffs in which violence – physical and Catholics, in spite of the formal unity of that re- symbolic – prevails. Whatever is the case, it is in- ligion, who are sometimes extremely conserva- evitable in contemporary Brazilian society. It is tive. Thus, one should not think that the former necessary to articulate it politically for it to have present themselves in a politically or electorally progressive productivity, within a wider struggle uniform way. But the strength of the machines of for rights. their churches and common positions on many issues should not be left out of account – north- Looking toward the future eir frequent statements of a conservative or even reactionary inclination in Congress, in particu- In spite of the media and of the business lar when moral issues are at stake. One should leaders, the legitimacy of the Temer government in any event highlight the Brazilian Republican is low, and its stability is arguable. It is true that Party (Partido Republicano Brasileiro– PRB), the PMDB succeeded in electing the majority of which is directly linked to the Igreja Universal do mayors throughout Brazil, but basically small Reino de Deus (‘Universal Church of the Reign of towns, and making use of clientelism. The weak- God’), which appears to have its own, and vig- ness of the left is even more evidence, with pow- orous, political project17,29. At the same time so- erful defeats of the PT all over Brazil, although cial pluralization, and the pluralization of iden- the PSOL has made some advances in these tity that we find today in Brazilian society – of elections and the Brazilian Communist Party which, indeed the emergence of the evangelical (PCdoB) has maintained some strongholds. The religions is an expression – is channeled in part Democratic Labor Party (Partido Democrático by the pluralization of gender identities, forms of Trabalhista – PDT), with the presence of its po- family structure and sexuality, and also, in certain tential presidential candidate Ciro Gomes, main- currents, even taking the form of an opposition tained strength in the northeast, inclining itself to feminism. Conflicts are inevitable, also with to the center-left, but the Rede Party, under the the Catholics, without needing necessarily to be leadership of Marina Silva, has not succeeded, at antagonistic. Further, there is space for transfor- least for now, in opening a new field in the center mations over time, such as those that happen in of the political spectrum. the confluence between evangelicals, Catholics The PSBD gained a significant strength – sur- and those that are exploring forms of sexuality prising in its intensity – in the present munici- which at least until recently were not prevalent. pal elections. This was above all, but not only, in One can argue that this agenda of customs the state of São Paulo, under the leadership of and rights should not be the center of the pro- governor Geraldo Alckmin, who, we note, was gressive agenda. According to this argument, it only moderately involved in the mobilization has the power also to divide, unlike the economic for impeachment (very probably he will be the and social questions, which have a greater ca- party’s candidate for the presidency). The DEM pacity for bringing people together into groups. (Democratas) Party, a former stronghold of the While this indeed has a basis in truth, it is nec- military dictatorship; the PP (profoundly hit by essary to be clear that its abandonment is not a the Petrobras scandal), also of the right; the Bra- 1756

Domingues JM zilian Socialist Party (PSB),currently located in a although elections are important, winning them center-right position; and the PRB and its evan- at any cost should not be a priority, especially at gelical base – among several others– complete this moment of disorientation and incapacity to the multifaceted current picture of the political establish a clear strategy. The left’s immediate system. At this moment it is, overall, strongly in- horizon should be to emerge from its current clined to the right, including some elements try- isolation. This means working to build a new cy- ing to constitute a militant base in society, like the cle in which the political forces of the right do Free Brazil Movement (MBL), which has been not hold the initiative, or at least one in which a important since the campaign for impeachment. dispute can be once again established. Obviously Finally, the negative view that a large part fighting elections is important, but one should of the population have today of politics has ex- not believe, especially at this moment, that they pressed itself in a higher number of abstentions, are everything, or the most important thing, in and null and blank votes, especially affecting the politics, and for this purpose there is a need to electorate on the left. Whether a re-legitimization re-establish the capacity for dialog and joint con- of the political system could come from a return struction, perhaps with a new democratic center to a leading role for the PSDB remains to be seen. helping it to be created. An example is the city of São Paulo, a stronghold There are two decisive issues in this context: of the PSDB, where João Dória was elected Mayor Democracy, and Development. in the first round – but with only 3,085,187 votes – Taking Development first: The neo-develop- less than the sum of blank, null votes and absten- mentalism has once again shown its limits, and tions. This also happened with democracy has not been in any way deepened (PRB), who ran against Marcelo Freixo (PSOL) in the last decade, in which the population, also, for Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, in a run-off; and there was not called upon to mobilize. A new model of were similar occurrences all over Brazil30. development is necessary, which is more realis- If the press, to wear down the PT, as well as tic in the (semi) periphery of liberal capitalism placing itself above the formal political system, and advanced especially in terms of rethinking has a responsibility in this, and the judiciary has the meaning of development itself. This should succeeded in marginalizing the professional pol- include the relationship with nature and social iticians, that is really their problem – although equality, without omitting to combat financial many political scientists have strangely tried to capital, and the plunder carried out through the reverse the equation, talking of the practice of public debt, and also seeking to widen the spaces “anti-politics” and even of making it illegal – as of autonomy of Brazil and of Latin America. It if the parties had nothing to do with this and as could be – going against the tide of the gener- if unaware that this “anti-politics” is often the de- alized financialization of the economy, includ- sire to create another politics, even if the desire ing social policy – a resumption of the idea of finds it difficult to express itself, and conservative ‘sustainable development’, and based on meeting sectors frequently find business people to chan- the demand for social rights by a part of the pop- nel this desire. ulation (transport, health, education, also with It is also a fact that the conservative-oriented an emphasis on technological development, as stabilization that might settle in, from these elec- Gadelha31 in part suggests). Before we concern toral victories and from the start of the neoliber- ourselves with labels, it is essential to delineate al reform – with the approval of Constitutional their concrete outlines in a broad debate with so- Amendment 241, which froze public spending ciety, as transparent and mobilizing as possible. for 20 years – might be threatened by further This brings into play the second and in reality progress in Operation Carwash. The crisis con- the most important question to be considered: tinues, and proposals for an indirect election of the question of Democracy. a new President of the Republic by Congress in The limitations of our democracy are evident 2017 are already circulating, in the event that the – indeed, this is a global problem, although it has government does not survive and/or the Rous- particularly unattractive outlines in our country. seff-Temer ticket turns out to be impugned (as a Our most urgent task is to deepen it by popular unit) by the Higher Electoral Court (TSE) for ir- participation, in all ways and manners, and also regularities in campaign financing that have been through widening of the public sphere and the revealed by the latest plea-bargain accusations. sphere of debate. It is also decisive for auto-com- Whatever happens, a renewal of the left is a prehension by the left itself, which needs to be- project that will take time to be consolidated; and come less state-led, although the questions of 1757 Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 22(6):1747-1758, 2017

how to dispute the state and transform it should a vast proletariat of people providing services, not be ignored. To what extent the political par- poor and largely living in the world of informal ties are an instrument that is capable of operating markets; traditional middle classes and others these changes is a doubtful question, since they who have more recently ascended; an industrial increasingly seek links with the state apparatus. worker class which tends to be fatally shrinking; It is within the organizations of civil society that and rural workers of many types, some of which this needs, thus, to be articulated. The democratic wish to be seen as ‘peasants’. The country’s dom- sphere of imagination has always been to some ex- inant classes are divided, and it is not clear what tent owned by the left – also anti-patrimonialist, the small and medium-sized businessmen want in spite of the mistakes to the contrary that have – they appear to be tired of the economic con- been vocalized in recent times – and intransigent fusions of Rousseff, of having embraced a more in maintaining the veto of corporate financing of purely neoliberal vision, but will not necessarily campaigns, and also of democratization of com- be forever imprisoned by it. Further, a large part munication and of the public sphere. This is a case of the identity and the power of the traditional of pre-eminence of egalitarian liberty, in which all middle classes comes from their belonging to of us have the same social power (which includes very important corporations, for example, the economic and political power). It is crucial to re- judiciary and the medical profession. Unless we sume this sphere of imagination, going much fur- wish to go back to a politics of the ‘class against ther than denunciation of the 2016 impeachment class’ type, in the style of the worst mistakes made as a coup; and also, to believe in and work for re- by the Third International – or ‘poor’ against newal and democratization of parties and the or- ‘rich’, as was tried here, with the results that we ganizations of the populace. A notable example of now witness – it is fundamental to discover how this is the massive occupations of public schools to hold a dialog with these sectors, how to gain by secondary students, all over the country, at this hegemony over one part of them, neutralize an- moment, as well as what the Frente Brasil Popular other part, and reduce the influence of its more and the Frente Brasil Medo – which bring together conservative sectors. various organizations – have shown us. (The lat- A coalition of the left is important, but what ter is in principle closer to new social movements, is decisive for this is to facilitate the emergence while the former is more traditionally linked to of a new center that is more democratic; if this the PT and the Brazilian Communist Party). is not done, Brazil will continue to be a prisoner Finally, the question that underlines all this is of the PMDB and of similar forces. Democracy which coalition can advance a democratic proj- needs much more than this to enable it to be ect, grounded on expansion of rights and the deepened, starting with a refusal of neo-patrimo- quest for a more generous development model. nialist practices of pillaging the state – whether This type of strategic question has always been to provide underhand illicit financing of election put to emancipatory thought. It has been lacking campaigns, or for personal enrichment – and go- in Brazil for a very long time, however – other ing on to a change in the content of the relation- than the pathetic and ill-starred attempted to cre- ship between the state and society, and invention ate a ‘new middle class’ that would be neoliberal of new forms for it to take. This is where the in- and consumerist, and would be faithful to the PT teraction that will create the future of projects for and its project. Brazil has the following groups: emancipation will happen. 1758

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