May Day Statement by the Workers’ League, Brazil
The Workers’ League (LO) of Brazil has issued a May Day statement highlighting the peoples’ struggle for liberation from imperialism. They emphasize the “unwavering resolve of the Palestinian people,” from the Al-Aqsa Flood to the present day.
They also salute the Iranian people, who have been resisting imperialist aggression by the US and Israel through self-defense and counterattacks since February 28. The Workers’ League declares that Iran stands as “the main and most decisive front in the anti-imperialist struggle today.” They also highlight the “Axis of Resistance” comprising Hezbollah (Lebanon), the Houthis (Yemen), and groups in Iraq, Syria, and the region, which are confronting imperialist attacks and the genocide against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.
It also salutes the peoples in struggle under the leadership of Maoist Communist Parties in Peru, India, Turkey, and the Philippines, as well as the resistance of the Adivasi peoples in India, led by the Communist Party of India (Maoist), who are facing persecution by the Narendra Modi government through Operation Kagaar and the betrayal of “revisionist traitors” Sonu and Satish.
140 Years of the Labor Movement’s Struggle to Reduce the Workweek
The Workers’ League commemorates the historic origins of May 1, when workers in Chicago launched a general strike demanding a reduction in the workweek. State repression was brutal, with workers being executed or sentenced to life imprisonment – though they were later released thanks to the people’s struggle.
LO writes: “Today, 140 years later, Brazilian workers are fighting for a reduction in the workday, which often exceeds 10 hours a day when commuting time is included, and frequently exceeds 12 hours […] The working class and other sectors continue to fight tirelessly for a reduction in the workday without a decrease in wages. As a result of this struggle, two bills are currently pending in Congress, and there is strong popular pressure for the immediate implementation of a reduction in the workweek without a decrease in wages.”
[…]
“This will represent a historic victory for Brazilian workers, giving them more time for rest, family life, and a more dignified existence for those who build everything yet lack rights. As usual, the opportunistic government and other politicians exploiting the situation will do everything possible to capitalize on this achievement of the working class in their dirty game of electoral farce.”
LO emphasizes the need for a General Strike of National Resistance: “Now is the time to build on this victory to further boost the mobilization of workers” and demand, among other things, a reduction of the workweek to 36 hours, the repeal of labor and pension reforms, the defense of public health and education, and land for those who work it, among other demands.
The Anti-Imperialist League of Brazil (AIL) was founded
LO highlights that “Around 200 people, representing dozens of popular movements from across the country, both urban and rural, gathered to found the Brazilian section of the International Anti-Imperialist League (AIL). The goal of the AIL, whose founding world congress took place earlier this month in Colombia, is to unify movements and demands against imperialist policies. In Brazil, the AIL calls on the population to unite their struggles for better living and working conditions under the slogans ‘Yankees out of Latin America!’ and ‘Land for those who work it!’”
Yankees Out of Latin America!
The LO statement denounces that, following its defeat in the Middle East and its failure in the Palestinian genocide, US imperialism has redirected its attention toward Latin America, treating it as its sphere of influence. “After kidnapping Maduro, imposing more blockades on Cuba, and deploying troops in Colombia, Paraguay, and Ecuador, the imperialists declared their intention to launch a military attack on our country,” LO states. Furthermore, it criticizes the US purchase of the Brazilian mining company Serra Verde, in an attempt to control the country’s rare earth minerals, as a new act of aggression against national sovereignty.
Full support for the Agrarian Revolution!
In rural Brazil, resistance against large estates and the exploitation of natural resources has intensified. “It is the Agrarian Revolution, the continuation of our people’s historic struggle for ‘land for those who live and work on it,’” LO writes. Peasants, Quilombolas, and indigenous peoples are confronting big landlords and the State, defending their lands and protecting the environment against mining and the production of commodities for the international market.
“Defending the struggle for land is defending our country’s sovereignty over its territory and its wealth,” the statement highlights, concluding with a call for unity among the working class, peasants, small landowners, and youth in the anti-imperialist struggle. “The destruction of latifundium through the worker-peasant alliance and the Agrarian Revolution is the most important task of the anti-imperialist struggle in our country.”
