In my book “El Nuevo Topo. The Paths of the Latin American Left” there is a chapter entitled “The Enigma of Lula”, because understanding that figure is not easy.
Both the right and the ultra-left have not cracked the riddle and have been devoured by it. Both underestimate what Lula stands for and do not understand the meaning of the neoliberal era and how to fight it. Neoliberalism tried to impose false dichotomies, traps for the left. Because it is about dismantling false dichotomies. To accept it is to accept the inflation/fiscal adjustment or State/civil society polarization.
The neoliberal era represented a new historical period, due to the profound transformations introduced in the last decades of the last century, without whose understanding it is not possible to understand the new forms of political struggle. It went from a period marked by polarization between two superpowers to one of hegemony by a single great superpower, a transformation with far-reaching consequences. It went from a long expansionary cycle of capitalism that Hobsbawn characterized as the “golden age of capitalism”, to a long recessive cycle, still in force and with no final horizon. And it went from the hegemony of a social welfare model, in which the State assumed -to a greater or lesser extent- responsibilities for the rights of individuals, to a liberal market model of the fight of all against all, in the face of a State reduced to its minimum proportions.
The main victim of these regressive transformations was Latin America through three main phenomena: 1) the debt crisis between the late 1970s and early 1980s, which put an end to the period of greatest economic development in the region; 2) the military dictatorships in some of the most politically important countries of the continent: Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina, affecting the fighting capacity of the popular movements. 3) neoliberal governments: Latin America was the region that had them the most and in its most radical modalities.
Thus, Latin America was also the only region in which anti-neoliberal governments arose, implemented by forces that knew how to understand the nature of neoliberalism and build governments that advanced in overcoming it.
Neoliberalism came with the end of the socialist camp and radical criticism of the role of the State and its regulations. The panorama of the left in the world changed completely: social democracy adhered to neoliberalism. And the communist parties practically disappeared or became inconsequential, along with the Trotskyist currents.
The left of the 21st century became the left of the anti-neoliberal or post-neoliberal forces, whose leaders became Hugo Chávez, Lula, Néstor and Cristina Kirchner, Pepe Mujica, Evo Morales and Rafael Correa, as leaders of anti-neoliberal governments.
Lula perfectly understood the nature of neoliberalism, including how it had managed to prevail under the banner of fighting inflation. Lula knew how to incorporate this phenomenon, understanding how inflation is a tax on workers’ wages, but no longer as a central objective and an end in itself, but as an instrument to change the fundamental priority of the government and implement social and fight inequalities.
The right tried to devour the popular leaders. He believed that it was impossible to reconcile economic growth, income distribution and inflation control. They tried to discredit Lula and other leftist leaders with accusations of corruption and populism. As well as the ultra-left, which claimed that the PT “had betrayed” the working class and was going to fail. None of these predictions came to pass.
The right had to understand that the success of the social policies of the Lula government obtained broad popular support, while the ultra-left did not resign itself to confessing that the government had served the fundamental interests of the working class and enjoyed the broadest support. popular, and that Lula’s government was the most successful in Brazilian history.
Somehow, today there are also those who do not understand Lula’s strategy. They are the ones who did not understand that the hegemony of the left was achieved by the anti-neoliberal program – prioritizing social policies, regional integration and South-South exchanges, and by rescuing the active role of the State – and by building a broad front that surpassed the isolation of the left at the political level. They are the ones who -although some supported the government of Fernando Enrique Cardoso- consider that any political alliance that goes beyond the left field is “conciliation”. As if somewhere there is a leftist government that has not organized a framework of broader alliances. There has never been a “class against class” government, as these visions seem to propose.
It is because they have a pre-Gramscian vision, they do not understand that the fundamental thing is to make or not make alliances. Power depends on who holds hegemony in these alliances. Lula, for example, ended his term with 87% support -despite 80% negative references in the media-, expressing the hegemony of the left in the country. When this happens, the secondary sectors of the power block in the government have a secondary weight, while the left imposes its fundamental objectives.
Some sectors began to feel confused by Lula’s strategy to defeat the coup and make an anti-neoliberal government triumph again. They do not realize that alone, the left would remain isolated and would be defeated again.
Today, the fundamental polarization occurs between the resumption of the development project with income distribution –represented by Lula– and the preservation of the neoliberal model, the fundamental objective of the coup. To defeat the coup forces that, although they have minimal social support, have the power of the media, the Judiciary and Congress, it is necessary to have allies that exceed the popular camp. That is why Lula proposes a broad front that includes all those who, in some way, oppose Bolsonaro. The PT government is counting on your leadership to defeat the right. They are major but essential objectives to rescue democracy and governability conditions, to resume the victorious model in the PT governments.
Whoever does not decipher Lula’s enigma is devoured by him. This is what Brazil is experiencing in 2023, with the hegemony of thought and the political leadership of Lula.
