Brazil: Comrade Joaquim Passos, present in struggle!
We hereby publish an unofficial translation of an article by A Nova Democracia:
Joaquim, 38, born in Nova América, a great comrade in the struggle, had 18 siblings and was loved by many, ended his life struggling to try to give himself and dozens of families a new life.
Text sent by activists who fought alongside Joaquim
On January 1, 2025, the life of our dear comrade Joaquim da Silva Passos came to an end. He reported pain in his lower back and, the day before, went to an Emergency Care Unit (UPA) to seek care.
There, with the utmost disregard, he was only prescribed pain medication, without any deeper investigation into his health conditions, which clearly required greater care. On the contrary, they went to the absurd length of discharging Joaquim, who, without any assistance from the health system, had to walk 10 km to his home. When he got there, he laid down on the bench at home and died right there, hours after being released by the UPA.
What happened was a crime of murder due to the negligence of the state. The cities government is responsible, because it is scrapping the health system, stealing millions of people’s money through corruption and all kinds of shenanigans, and leaving the people in the lurch without their right to health.
Comrade Joaquim’s death is also the result of this old bourgeois-landlord state, which grinds people down, and especially of the latifundia, which prevents the economy from developing, throws people into misery and the worst situations, denies people land and a dignified life, where many die little by little due to the lack of basic rights that are denied to the people so that one or two rich land thieves can live in luxury. In fact, big landlords and the town hall go hand in hand. Historically, all the mayors have pursued a policy of giving everything to the landowners and big farmers and nothing to the people.
Joaquim, 38, born in Nova América, a great companion in the struggle, had 18 siblings and was loved by many. He ended his life struggling to give himself and dozens of families a new life. From a family of great importance to the struggle for land, Joaquim was one of the thousands of people in our state who have still not achieved their goal of conquering their dream piece of land.
After his funeral, dozens of family members and comrades in the struggle for land, with justifiable indignation, went to the UPA to express their protest at the flogging of our comrade.
The people’s workers deserve to live another life, a life without these daily storms and absurdities. Until when will this happen? Until when are we going to let our own people live and die like this? We want justice for our comrade, we want health care that really serves the people, a state that serves them, we want an end to the latifundium that create misery and oppression, we want change. We want a piece of land to work and live on with dignity. We want a new life and a new society and we will struggle hard to achieve this!
Comrade Joaquim, present, in struggle!
