Brazil: Mangue Vermelho and Movimento Ventania Join the Combative Protest Against the Fascist Military Police in Recife

We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by People’s Revolutionary Student Movement (MEPR) on August 13.

On August 2, yet another crime against the people was committed by the fascist military police of the state of Pernambuco. Marble worker Ailton Virgílio Vasconcelos, known in his community as Guiça, was cowardly murdered by an off-duty police officer. The officer, already known in the region for his history of harassment, spent the night drinking and got into a altercation after harassing a woman and attempting to shoot her husband, who, outraged by the situation, decided to intervene. The bullet struck Guiça and bystanders at the scene called the military police, who, upon arrival, blocked access to medical assistance, leading to the worker’s death. After the murder, the Military Police officer of Pernambuco cowardly fled in his car. The crime occurred around 4:00 p.m. in Praça da Várzea, a neighborhood where the Federal University of Pernambuco is located and which is home to a strong, combative, and independent student movement.

The day after the heinous murder, Ailton’s family and the masses outraged by the incident rose up in protest and blocked Afonso Olindense Avenue, one of the neighborhood’s main road, disrupting traffic in the area for several hours. On August 7, around 5 p.m., students and workers joined together in a new demonstration, stepping up their resistance and completely blocking Caxangá Avenue – the main road in Recife’s West Zone and the primary access route to Camaragibe. The demonstration caused heavy traffic in the area, leading to a gridlock stretching from the West Zone all the way to the city center. The protest was monitored from start to finish by the criminal military police, who, rifles in hand, tried at every turn to break up the demonstration. There were repeated attempts of “dialogue” to get the protesters to clear the street, at least partially, but the workers and students participating in the demonstration stood firm in their decision, clearing the avenue only when the victim’s family – who had organized the protest – asked them to do so. Throughout the protest, even with the constant police presence, more and more demonstrators joined in – some who had known Guiça for a long time and others who, seeing the justice of the demonstration, decided to join the protest. The protesters chanted slogans demanding justice: “Criminal military police must be punished!” and “Igor, murderer!” – slogans that reflect the anger of the masses in the face of the injustice committed by the despicable military police of the state of Pernambuco.

Protesters form a human chain to block Caxangá Avenue from end to end

Throughout the demonstration, the flags representing Recife’s combative youth waved, firmly fulfilling the duty of young revolutionaries to serve the people wholeheartedly and to connect deeply with the struggles of the broadest masses of our society. Comrade Stalin stated: “The revolutionary youth is the reserve and shock troop of the revolution.” It is the duty of all youth committed to the destruction of this old society of misery and servitude to follow Comrade Stalin’s guidance with all their might, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the masses, and not to fear the onslaught of the reactionaries for even a second.

Here I advanced a criterion which I regard as the only valid one. How should we judge whether a youth is a revolutionary? How can we tell? There can only be one criterion, namely, whether or not he is willing to integrate himself with the broad masses of workers and peasants and does so in practice. (Mao Tse-tung in The Orientation of the Youth Movement – May 4, 1939)

JUSTICE FOR GUIÇA!

IT IS RIGHT TO REBEL!