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Draft:Communism in Brazil

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Communism in Brazil has existed as a social or political ideology as well as a political movement since at least as early as the 1920s. The movement has given rise to various leftist factions and uprisings. It has been embodied in social movements and various political parties and in the intellectual works of various Marxist authors[1]. Currently, there are seven parties in Brazil that claim to be communist: the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB)[2] and its youth wing Union of Communist Youth (UJC)[3], the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) and its youth wing[4], the United Socialist Workers Party (PSTU) and its youth wing, Rebeldia[5], the Worker's Cause Party (PCO)[6] and the Popular Unity for Socialism (UP)[7]. The sixth party, not yet legalized, is the Brazilian Revolutionary Communist Party (PCBR)[8], the result of a split with the PCB. Similarly, the Revolutionary Communist Party is not legalized by the TSE of Brazil.

History

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Early history

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The movement, influenced by the arrival of anarchist ideas in Brazil since the late 19th century, reached its zenith with the general strike of 1917[9]. It gained further momentum with the establishment of the Communist Party – Brazilian Section of the Communist International (PCB) in 1922[9]. The party was influenced by the Russian Revolution[10] and its influence grew through its opposition to fascism during the interwar period. Initially it had a smaller number of members[11]. In 1931, a breakaway faction called the Communist League was formed as a section of the Left Opposition. The PCB faced significant repression during Getúlio Vargas's government[12] following the failed Communist insurgency of 1935.

Despite being driven underground, the PCB clandestinely supported Brazilian involvement in World War II[13], due to which its membership increased to 82,000 and its leaders were released[11]. It later underwent progressive and gradual reconstruction[14][15], particularly in Bahia, led by prominent intellectuals from the Northeast such as Jorge Amado, Carlos Marighella, Aristeu Nogueira, Diógenes Arruda Câmara, Leôncio Basbaum, Alberto Passos Guimarães, Maurício Grabois, Graciliano Ramos, Osvaldo Peralva, and Armênio Guedes. However, the party faced another prohibition during Eurico Gaspar Dutra's government, even as it maintained a significant presence in both rural and urban syndicalism and administration.

In 1962, the party split due to the emergence of a Maoist faction[16], which later adopted Marxist-Leninist principles[4]. This faction opposed the PCB's strategy of prioritizing an urban-bourgeois revolution[17][18], a directive initially criticized by figures like Jacob Gorender. During Jânio Quadros's government, the party returned to legality, refusing to use violence to achieve its political goals.[19]

Coup of 1964 and onwards

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Luis Carlos Prestes, the leader of the PCB from 1943 to 1980

During the Brazilian military dictatorship, following the enactment of Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5), the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), aligned with the Soviet Union, belatedly and without proper preparation[20], organized a congress in 1967. At this congress, the PCB resolved to support the coordination of demonstrations against martial law, while the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) pursued armed guerrilla warfare. Between 1974 and 1976, during the height of the military government’s repression, nearly 700 infiltrated militants were arrested, and more than 20 high-ranking communist leaders were killed. This wave of arrests forced the PCB into deeper clandestinity and exile. Consequently, Luís Carlos Prestes stepped down from the party’s leadership[21], transferring it to Giocondo Dias. Despite President João Figueiredo’s political liberalization, communist activists traveling to the Soviet Union continued to face arrests upon their return.[19]

Brazilian cultural production—particularly in dramaturgy, soap operas, and cinema—was notably influenced by communist militant authors[22]. However, their efforts were hampered by inexperience, police surveillance during periods of persecution, and the detachment of exiles from the country’s evolving social and political landscape[23][24]. Despite severe repression, communist influence remained strong in labor movements, notably within the Volkswagen union, which represented workers in the country’s largest company at the time.[25]

During the Diretas Já campaign for direct elections in the early 1980s[26], the PCB actively supported the movement.[27] However, during the 1978–1980 ABC Paulista strikes, the Workers’ Party (PT) rapidly gained prominence, taking advantage of the PCB’s inability to adapt to new political realities.[28] The PCB’s decline was compounded by inexperienced leadership and a lack of deep political and methodological reflection on Brazil’s changing context.[29][30]

As the PT rose to power in state and municipal governments throughout the 1990s, it ceded itself to the tools of traditional politics and disillusioned its former remaining communist members who broke away from it[31] thus creating a new social-democratic tradition aimed at countries dependent on the First World.[32] [33] In the late 1990s, an attempt was made by some PCB leaders to dissolve the party through a vote by non-affiliated members, but the effort ultimately failed.[1]

Modern day

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Communist parties like the PCB and PCdoB participated in Lula's 2002 and 2006 coalition governments.[34] In 2006, PCdoB member Aldo Rebelo, as President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Brazilian Congress, became acting President of Brazil for one day while both the president and vice president underwent medical tests. In the 2006 elections PCdoB won its first executive position in a state capital, when it won the seat of the mayor in Aracaju, the capital of Sergipe.[35] PCdoB is part of Lula's current coalition as well (Brazil of Hope.)

In July 2023 Ivan Pinheiro was expelled from the PCB[36] and subsequently founded his own party, the PCBR.[8]

Armed struggle against the Brazilian regime

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Brazilian communist uprising of 1935

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The 3rd Infantry Regiment barracks in Rio de Janeiro on fire after the communist insurrection

In 1935, a communist uprising (Portuguese: Intentona Comunista) was carried out by the ANL (National Liberation Alliance) with the support of the PCB as well as the Communist International.[37] Under the leadership of Luis Carlos Prestes, a prominent communist figure, the Comintern provided funding, propaganda, and youth programs, which helped the movement grow rapidly.[38] Revolts broke out in Natal and Recife where citizens were provided weapons to fight alongside the revolutionaries.[39] In Natal, the revolt broke out on the 23rd of November due to a fake telegram by the counter-intelligence services which claimed that the date of the revolt was pushed forward from the 27th, and was contained within 4 days. In Recife on the 24th, the revolt begun and was dominated within 2 days. In Rio de Janeiro on the 27th, unaware of the status of the revolts in the north, the revolt begun and by 1:30, the rebels surrendered.[40] After November 1935, the National Congress of Brazil approved a series of laws that restricted its own power, while the executive gained almost unlimited powers of repression. This process culminated in the coup of 10 November 1937, which closed the National Congress of Brazil, canceled the upcoming 1938 presidential elections, and installed Getúlio Vargas as a dictator. This period of dictatorship is called the Estado Novo, which lasted until 1945.[41]

Uprisings in the Brazilian military dictatorship, 1968-1972

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An armed struggle occurred against the Brazilian military dictatorship by different left-wing groups between 1968 and 1972, the most severe phase of the regime. Despite its resistance aspect, the majority of the groups that participated in the armed struggle aimed to achieve a socialist revolution in Brazil, inspired by the Chinese and Cuban revolutions. The confrontation deepened after the enactment of Institutional Act Number Five (AI-5) in 1968.[42]

Revolutionary organizations initially aimed to incite rural guerrilla warfare but became more notable for urban operations, which included fundraising activities and actions designed to support rural guerrilla campaigns and sustain clandestine infrastructure.[43] Despite some initial successes, these groups became socially isolated as the regime's repression intensified, accompanied by a disinformation campaign designed to undermine public support for the rebels. Paramilitary groups linked to the government carried out false flag operations to justify further crackdowns and deepen authoritarianism. The armed actions in the cities were short-lived. Among all the organizations involved in the armed struggle, only PCdoB managed to effectively promote rural guerrilla warfare.

The dismantling of the Araguaia guerrillas, supported by the PCdoB, in 1974 marked the collapse of the armed struggle. The conflict resulted in numerous casualties, as well as many cases of exile, imprisonment, and enforced disappearances during the dictatorship.[43]

Communist political parties active in Brazil

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Brazilian Communist Party (PCB)

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Logo of the PCB

The Brazilian Communist Party (Portuguese: Partido Comunista Brasileiro) was originally the Communist Party of Brazil (Partido Comunista do Brasil),[44] and is the oldest political party as well as communist party in Brazil. It played an important role in the history of communism in Brazil in the 20th century despite the relatively small number of members.[11] The Maoist faction, PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil) split off in the 1960s, though both communist parties were united in opposition to the Brazilian military government that ruled from 1964 to 1985. But with the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism circa 1990, the party lost power and international support. An internal coup in 1992 divided the party and formed a new party, called Popular Socialist Party, which eventually became a centre-leaning party known as Cidadania.

Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)

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Logo of PCdoB

The Communist Party of Brazil (Portuguese: Partido Comunista do Brasil, PCdoB) split off from the PCB on 18 February 1962, in the aftermath of the Sino-Soviet split.[4] It claims to be the oldest party of Brazil, however, with its official foundation date being the same as the PCB's.[45] The PCdoB officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory. It is influential in the trade union and student movements. It was outlawed after the 1964 coup d'état and PCdoB supported the armed struggle against the regime before its legalization in 1988 including the Araguaia guerrilla (1966–1974). Since 1989, PCdoB has been allied to the Workers' Party (PT) at the federal level. In 2022 it joined the Brazil of Hope coalition with the PT and the Green Party. It is currently part of the ruling coalition of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

United Socialist Worker's Party (PSTU)

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The United Socialist Workers' Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista dos Trabalhadores Unificado, PSTU) is a Trotskyist political organization and the Brazilian affiliate of the Fourth International, which follows the Morenoist tradition. The PSTU was founded on 5 June 1994[46], after being expelled from the PT.

Worker's Cause Party (PCO)

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Workers' Cause Party (Portuguese: Partido da Causa Operária, PCO) is a Brazilian political party with Trotskyist roots. Its origins date back to 1978, when a group of Trotskyist activists dissatisfied with the socialist international founded the Brazilian Trotskyist Tendency (TTB) (Portuguese: Tendência Trotskista do Brasil). The party officially registered in 1995 after its expulsion from the PT.[47]

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Popular Unity (Portuguese: Unidade Popular, UP), also known as Popular Unity for Socialism (Portuguese: Unidade Popular pelo Socialismo, UPS), is a socialist political party in Brazil. Founded on 16 June 2016 and officially registered on 10 December 2019, the UP is closely associated with homeless workers' movements. Its platform advocates for nationalizing the banking system, imposing social control over monopolies and capitalist consortia, implementing broad land reform, and promoting the collectivization of production.[48]

Brazilian Revolutionary Communist Party (PCBR)

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The PCBR was originally part of the Brazilian Communist Party until recently when it was expelled in July 2023[36]. Its leader is Ivan Pinheiro.[8]

Revolutionary Communist Party

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The Revolutionary Communist Party is an anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist party in Brazil known for its strong Stalinist orientation. Established in 1966 following a split from the PCdoB, the PCR later merged with the October 8th Revolutionary Movement (MR-8) in 1981, only to split from it in 1995. The party is a member of the International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle) (ICMLPO), a global association of anti-revisionist and Hoxhaist parties. Since the PCR is not officially registered with Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court[49], its members are ineligible to run for public office.

References

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  2. ^ admin (2010-08-14). "Identidade Visual". PCB - Partido Comunista Brasileiro (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-02-07.
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  4. ^ a b c TSE Archived 16 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Estatuto do Partido Comunista do Brasil
  5. ^ Socialista, Rebeldia-Juventude da Revolução (2022-05-20). "Manifesto do Rebeldia: A juventude trabalhadora condenada pelo capitalismo pode derrotar o sistema | Opinião SocialistaOpinião Socialista". Opinião Socialista (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-12-09.
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  14. ^ Tribuna Popular, RJ, 27/6/1946, p. 1.
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  22. ^ PRESTES, Luiz Carlos. "Letter to Aloyzio Neiva", Rio, 16/01/1983, 3 pgs.; original document, typed. (Author's private file)
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  36. ^ a b "PCB expulsa Jones Manoel e mais quatro membros". CartaCapital (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-07-31. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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