Manifesto of the Left Front - Heloisa Helena President 2006

We launched this call from the Palmares, inspired by the zombie fighting force, to build the front left (PSOL - PSTU - PCB), and proclaim the candidacy of Heloisa Helena for president.

For an alternative to Brazil
Against the bankers, imperialism and the corrupt politicians
Heloisa Helena - César Benjamin

As slaves of resistance was necessary and a strong abolitionist movement to end slavery in the past, currently, to defeat modern slavery and achieve a just and sovereign country, workers, peasants, the middle classes, intellectuals and artists, Brazilian youth, poor people need to raise their voice and mobilize. The Brazilian people can not be condemned to choose between Lula and Alckmin, two candidates who defend the same neoliberal program, the same political practice marked by corruption that prevails in Congress and in the Government. The candidacy of Heloisa Helena is a real alternative to the Brazilian people against these two candidates supported by the bankers.
The Left Front wants to liberate the country from the clutches of finance capital and imperialism. Take place on this front workers, the unemployed, the millions of men and women who are in the informal economy living with great difficulty of their work, political and social organizations of workers, independent activists, in short all Brazilians who rebel against corruption and submission to the great financial capital and bankers. Let's be together in direct fights in the streets and in the mass organizations, and we will also compete in the electoral support of workers from the two blocks of the ruling class, PT and PSDB-PFL.

PT and PSDB govern for 20,000 families
The electoral battle is part of the struggle of the people. In the elections show that the bankers and big business represented by politicians and conservative parties, already govern and do not represent an alternative for Brazil. We will present a new alternative before the ruling bloc of the PT and the "opposition" of the PSDB-PFL bourgeois. They just compete and fight to occupy more political space, to see who gets the government machinery but have agreement on the essential: the neoliberal economic plan and in defense of these institutions marked by corruption. It's just a fight to see who enjoys most of the privileges of power.
The PSDB and PFL have already shown with FHC governing for the bankers, who use corruption in everyday life of power. But the right is not only with the PSDB-PFL, is also in the Lula government. Banks have even more profits with the PT government than they had with FHC, which were already fabulous. Not coincidentally donated 7.9 million to 4.3 million PT and the PSDB in the 2004 elections.
The Lula government will pay the bankers in his government about 520 billion reais of interest on public debt. Over 70% of this mountain of money will stop in the accounts of the 20,000 richest families in Brazil. Meanwhile, the government spends 5.5 billion a year in the Bolsa Família, the assistance program that is used as its main campaigner.
To fight the concentration of wealth, defend the people and change Brazil, the left front features a number of proposals. It makes a call to struggle and requests your vote.

Gain real sovereignty and national independence, breaking with imperialism and finance capital
The government's economic policy is directed to serve the interests of international markets with high interest rates, free movement of speculative capital, free remittance of profits of foreign companies, making Brazil an exporter of capital to rich countries.
External debt remains a drain of national resources. The Union budget is consumed by about 40% for payment of interest on public debt, while for investments remains less than 5%. We defend the proposal supported by the Jubilee movement against debt: suspend the payment of the foreign debt, and perform audit. Regarding the domestic debt audit defend as provided in the Constitution of 88 and discrimination in your profile to identify the speculators and the big companies for which we defend suspend payment.
Foreign groups are used in strategic areas to remit big profits to their headquarters. The strategic areas are under control of the Brazilian people as petroleum, telecommunications, energy, steel.
The proposal for a new economic and social alternative project requires structural changes that Brazilian capitalism has never held and, in the framework of neoliberal globalization, are further away than ever because they can not be performed without a break from imperialist domination.
The elimination of financial tyranny, speculation and the burden of debt, control of capital, the recovery of the capacity of intervention and state regulation, the expansion of public services, as well as redistribution and income security, job creation, land reform and urban, environmental preservation, are essential steps to overcome the distress that is steeped most of the population and meet the demands of the workers and stories of the people.
With 520 billion of debts that Lula will pay the bankers during his term, it would be possible to make a great national task force to resolve very serious social problems. We could build, for example, six million low-income housing (the housing deficit in the country) at a unit cost of 12 thousand reais, and employ this effort the mass of the country's unemployed. This money would still give to finance a real agrarian reform plan laying the 4.5 million landless families, at a cost of 17,500 reais each. And we could still double the national education budget (21 billion) and health (40.5 billion) in 2005. The sum of these initiatives, qualitative to solve the social problems of the country, would cost 394.5 billion, far less than the billions delivered Lula by the bankers.

By new truly democratic institutions that signify a new power under the direct control of the workers and the people
The Lula government has turned into the scene of a political crisis like no other exposed to the public the viscera of the regime of false democracy of economic power and corruption. It revealed the blatant way the rot of its institutions. Since the presidency and the executive to the judicial branch, through the National Congress and the political parties, the main institutions of the Republic have been identified in an overwhelming way, as instruments of the ruling classes in the service of corruption and exploitation of the people.
Lula and Alckmin are representatives of rampant corruption in this country. There's no way to spread the idea that "all is well", because the majority of the people is not so. The corruption of politicians and elites is intrinsic this capitalist system.
The presentation of a proposal for a radical democratization of power and political action should be made by combining, always and systematically, the denunciation of the decadent democracy of money and of corruption with the counterpoint of true democracy of participation and action of the workers and the people that we need to build. The need to radically democratize power by changing its class content should be repeated forcefully as a precondition for the implementation of an emergency program capable of taking the country out of crisis and to solve the problems of the majority.
We want voters can revoke the mandate of those elected and not fulfill their promises. We defend the prison and confiscation of property of corrupt and corrupting. We want a radical change in the popular representation and its mandates, through the establishment of exclusive campaign public financing, democratization of schedules for electoral propaganda in the media, on the issue of revocability of mandates, the end of the barrier clause which impedes the representation of parties or candidates without economic power. These measures have to radically attack corruption also instituting the end of privileged forums, the end of bank secrecy and tax, the salary of parliamentarians and rulers defined by referendum and linked to the minimum wage.
In order to achieve true popular sovereignty in Brazil is that the front of the left announces that the government of Heloisa Helena partner the Brazilian people will be called, through an intense day of mobilisations, to decide, have the last word on relations with imperialism (IMF, FTAA, etc.); the external and domestic debt and the need for a real national independence; agrarian and urban reform and a new statute on land ownership; the minimum wage and budget priorities; the parameters for the preservation of ecology, etc.

A new abolition to end modern slavery is needed
A huge contingent of the Brazilian people still lives in semi-slavery situation. Starting with the slavery of poorly paid waged labor and violated labor rights. There are 22 million Brazilians living in the minimum wage, one of the lowest in the world. IBGE survey reveals that 46.7% of households consider not eating enough, a rate that reaches almost 70% in the northeast. Meanwhile, five thousand richest families in the country, representing 0.01% of existing families concentrated equity equivalent to 46% of all the wealth generated every year in the country (GDP).
If Lula or Alckmin be elected the situation would get much worse. Lula has committed to implement a labor reform that will mean a very hard blow to historical conquests of workers, cutting the vacation and Christmas bonus. Super Simple government project, under discussion in Congress is already an anticipation of this reform by cutting these rights for workers in micro companies.
A confrontation of radical politics to the overexploitation of labor in Brazil, chronic unemployment and job insecurity engine, is one of the front left of the program guidelines. We want a plan of public works to absorb unemployment, alongside the reduction of working hours without salary reduction. We want to double the minimum wage immediately. By a wide land reform and controlled by field workers. We advocate the repeal of neoliberal reforms, starting with pension reform. Not to labor and union reform the government and the IMF. No to the privatization of university government reform. We want the immediate withdrawal of privatization of state enterprises, starting with the Vale do Rio Doce. Cancellation of the partial privatization of Petrobras and the auctions of oil reserves. The immediate withdrawal of the FTAA negotiations. The immediate withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti. All support the nationalization of gas in Bolivia.
In defense of working women, we advocate the creation of nurseries and pre-schools for children 0-6 years. We fight against all forms of racial and sexual discrimination. In addition, we support the severe taxation of large fortunes, the profits of the banks and big business. The public control of workers and consumers on the production of essential goods is a necessity so that income distribution occurs ending the enormous inequality that shames our country.
Since the Palmares call the workers to rebel again against the new slavery. The dignity of the worker starts with their right to work and a living wage. We must dare, you need to create the new. The new is the Left Front.

Neither Lula nor Alckmin! Heloisa Helena President!
