The Worker’s Party parliamentary caucus in the Lower House repudiates the fascist acts of right wing agribusiness actors in Rio Grande do Sul state during the caravan of the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which began last Monday, March 19.
Since de beginning of the caravan activities, in the city of Bagé, a group used paramilitary militia tactics to attack the entourage vehicles with stones and other objects. In addition, militiamen also assaulted PT supporters. A group attacked four women with fascist violence violence in Cruz Alta and others supporters of Lula in each city along the way.
From the first day of the caravan the local, state and federal authorities – including the state governor and the ministers of Public Security and Justice – were notified by the PT regarding the threats and violent actions of the militiamen. Despite this, the belligerence of the rural militias did not cease and, in some moments, even increased.
The climax of this violence occurred on Friday, April 23, in Passo Fundo, where the access road to the city was blocked and buses were stoned by the fascist mob that acted as a holder of the privileges of the lords of colonial times.
We denounce to the world the deepening of the rupture of democracy in Brazil, a process composed of a series of measures of exception adopted in the face of the omission – and of the complicity, in many cases – of the State in the face of growing political violence against the left in general and the Worker’s Party (PT) in particular.
As parliamentarians elected by popular vote to represent the ideals of the Workers’ Party (PT), we will continue to hold public debates across the country and will not be intimidated by anyone. The Lula for Brazil caravan will continue until the end, always firmly defending Lula’s right to run for the presidency in the October elections.
Brasília, March 23, 2018
_Paulo Pimenta (PT-RS), PT leader in Lower House.
