The lower house of Brazil’s parliament has moved to annul Rousseff’s impeachment, but only the movements can stop the coup. Orlando Hill introduces and translates an official statement from CUT

CUT is Brazil’s largest federation of trade unions. Despite the decision to annul the impeachment proceedings against Dilma Rouseff, the social movements have decided to maintain the series of demonstrations, to be held this Tuesday, 10 May.  According to Guilherme Boulos from the Workers’ Homeless Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores sem Teto) “it is an illusion to think that the coup can be stopped in the Congress. It is only through our mobilisation in the streets that we can stop it.”

The Brazilian workers and students are clear that it is their mobilisation that is guaranteeing the success of barring the impeachment and defending workers’ rights. No impeachment, no to fiscal austerity. Not an inch of the workers’ rights will be taken. The original version in Portuguese can be found on the CUT website. 

CUT’s official statement on the decision taken by the speaker of the lower house to prevent the coup

The interim lower house speaker, Waldir Maranhão (Progressive Party), annulled on Monday, 9 May the session held between 15 and 17 April, which approved the impeachment proceedings, the coup against President Dilma Rousseff.

For CUT, besides having indeed heard the voice of the streets, protesting daily against the current coup in Brazil, Maranhão took an extremely well-founded decision. He listed the irregular and illegal manner the impeachment process had been conducted and determined that a new vote be held.

Maranhão found procedural flaws in the vote and cited three of them in his decision: 1) political parties could not have closed issue – the deputies had to vote according to their personal convictions and freely; 2) Members could not publicly announce their votes before the completion of the vote; 3) the rules of procedure of the House of Representatives was overlooked by former house speaker, Eduardo Cunha, the leader of the coup.

Maranhão’s decision is a demonstration that the posture of the social movements was correct to denounce to the world that what is going on in Brazil is not impeachment proceedings and, yes, a coup against democracy and against the rights of workers, a forged coup in the lower house of congress chaired by a delinquent, according to Brazil’s General Prosecutor Rodrigo Janot.

The pressure from the streets, workers, youth, artists and lawyers in Brazil and around the world, led to the removal of Eduardo Cunha (the previous house speaker) from congress and the loss of the control of the coup which he and Vice President Michel Temer have been plotting to take power and assume the presidency without having won a single vote.

The coup-plotters will try all kinds of resources to overturn Maranhão’s decision. This makes the National Day of Industrial Action, on Tuesday, 10 May, essential for the life of Brazil and the working class. We reiterate the call to all trade unions and branches across the country and to all those who defend democracy. And it is in the streets that we will once and for all avert this coup against Brazil and against the working class.

There is not going to be a coup, we’ll be in the streets!

We are strong, we are CUT!

São Paulo, May 9, 2016

CUT National Executive