ELECTIONS BRAZIL / 2002

During the last presidential elections of 2002 the Brazilian Greens were divided: either support Lula or go independently with their own candidate. Those who wanted an independent path in the first phase of the elections prevailed (a candidate only wins in the first phase if he obtains 50% plus one of the votes); at that moment, many left the party to support Lula in the first phase and participated in the design of his program as was the case of our only Representative Fernando Gabeira. In the runoff the Greens supported Lula based on a program called "For a sustainable Brazil" whereby the Partido dos Trabalhadores formalized an agreement with the Greens and the environmentalists.

With Lula's victory, hope once more visited the soul of the Brazilian people. It was under this framework that we started our relationship with the government, including our six Congressmen and the Minister of Culture participating in a very broad ideological coalition, where communists, liberals, labor, social democrats and many old foxes of the Brazilian political elite co-habitate. The Greens who have chosen an independent path are going through trying times, being surprised and runover by the government's coalition. We are accumulating many defeats.

Unfortunately, the ideological base and important issues of our program such as nuclear, Indians and democratic freedom amongst others have not been embodied into the core of the strategic decision making process of the government. Decision making is centralized, and the PT Congressmen and their allies are not consulted; the obsession with fixing the economy and promoting development dwarfs other issues into no more than accessories.

That's what happened with the Provisional Measure (a governmental decree that becomes immediately enforceable until appreciated by Congress) that authorized the use of transgenic seeds smuggled into the country; we had to challenge this act at the STJ - "Supreme Court" so the Brazilian society could understand that our position is against the use of transgenics without a prior study of its environmental impact as stated in our Constitution. One month before this happened, we were taken by another Provisional Measure allowing the imports of used tires from Mercosul, a measure that is against our environmental legislation. The same occurred with the statement of President Lula whereby the Pantanal do Matogrosso, one of the world's most important ecosystems and protected by our Constitution, will be developed via industrialization, mineral extraction, and agricultural and cattle raising activities.

Regarding democratic freedom, we have made clear our opposition to the government's silence on the human rights violation in Cuba, where journalists and intellectuals are jailed and others are executed. We could not agree either with the Brazilian vote in Geneva for the ousting of "reporters without frontiers" from the Human Rights Council. Our understanding is that personal relationships and friendships should not prevail over the interests of the State.

On the nuclear front, one more defeat: the government favors the continuity of the Angra 3 nuclear powerplant. The Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Roberto Amaral, a socialist and member of the government's coalition, with no mention of the peaceful objectives associated with the programs, has supported the continuity of the Brazilian Nuclear Program which includes uranium enrichment and the development of a nuclear submarine for military purposes.

The most important setback for us, however, was the non-demarcation of the Indian reserves which are guaranteed by the Constitution. The government has submitted to the ruralist coalition and has not demarcated the Raposa Serra do Sol Indian reserve, which is solely dependent on the political goodwill of the Ministry of Justice.

Minister Marina Silva is outcast within the government. The Ministry of Environment has become a kind of "non-governmental organization" whereby the Minister is heard, but disconsidered by the government.

The Greens in Brazil are going through difficult times. We began to work anticipating that what happened in Europe would also happen here, i.e., the union of Greens and Labor, in a scenario where the Partido dos Trabalhadores would play the same role as the European Social Democracy. We have discovered, however, that the core of decisions in the Partido dos Trabalhadores is closer to that of the communist leaders of Eastern Europe, where a new model including environmental variables is inadmissible.

The perspectives for alliances are still uncertain: we have chosen the path of ideological independence, seeking to differentiate ourselves in the programmatic issues which are non-negotiable for the Greens and voting with the government when our program is not affected. We wish the best for Lula's government, as it embodies the hopes of the Brazilian people. It is however mandatory, a change in the relation of forces within the government and in order to achieve this we have opted for standing tall before society, being this the shortest path to what could be called the "greening" of the Lula da Silva government.

The Greens and the Lula da Silva Government
by Marco Antonio Mroz
National Secretary of International Relations, Brazilian Green Party
http://www.pv.org.br

E-mail