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The Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil
reaches absurd heights.

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Hundreds of thousands of people dead,
cities collapsing.

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We knew that bolsonarism would leave a
legacy of repression, violations and death.

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But the health crisis is pushing
these consequences to the extreme.

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In Manaus oxygen is lacking
and victims of Covid-19

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and other diseases are suffocating

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while the president and his ministers
say they "can't do anything."

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There is no more emergency financial relief,
and evictions continue despite the pandemic.

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To make matters worse, the president stands
alone, even among the global far right,

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by denying the pandemic, sabotaging medical
discourse and vaccination initiatives,

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and recommending bogus
"early treatments" for the disease -

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an idea that even
Donald Trump abandoned months ago.

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Bolsonaro is the last supporter still
faithful to Trump's delusions,

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reproducing his narrative
of electoral fraud

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and being the only world leader to
support the speeches that justified

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the invasion of the US Capitol by
a crowd of fascists on January 6.

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And it goes further:

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despite winning his last election,

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Bolsonaro is the only politician in
the world to claim, without proof,

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that the Brazilian electoral
system is rigged.

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He claims that if the country does
not abandon electronic voting

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and return to paper ballots,

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there will also be manipulation
in the 2022 elections.

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In doing so, he is already threatening a
reaction if he is not successfully re-elected.

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Like Trump, Bolsonaro thrives on the
radicalization of political polarization,

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which ensures a small but
faithful support base.

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His supporters work within
an identitarian logic,

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whereby facts and scientific
data do not matter

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unless they support the
political narrative of the leader.

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In this case, following medical
recommendations is not a health issue,

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but rather a performative act,
carried out as part of a dispute

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between the reactionary extreme right

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and the management-oriented
social democrats,

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identified with the years of PT government.

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Thus, the president's most
radical base is inflamed

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to act out, on the streets

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what he and his team

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cannot yet do themselves:

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physical attacks

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and direct assassinations
of the opposition.

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Although we know that his policies

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are responsible for the deaths
of thousands of people,

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whether in the pandemic, in environmental
disasters, or at the hands of the police,

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Bolsonaro's speech is still
treated as a "metaphor"

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or as a "joke"

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by his most powerful supporters in
the media or in public office.

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When he says that the
"dictatorship didn't kill enough,"

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or that it was "not a dictatorship,"

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or even when he says he will
"kill the left by firing squad,"

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Bolsonaro avoids any responsibility

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by claiming that he is
not speaking literally,

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or that he is being misinterpreted.

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But just as Trump encouraged
the supremacists

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who shot and killed anti-racist
demonstrators in 2020

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and who invaded Congress in January 2021
to try and keep his government in power,

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Bolsonaro's behavior paves
the way for his supporters

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to feel encouraged
to act in the real world.

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Bolsonaro's policies of
liberalizing weapons

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and exempting them from taxes

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are designed to facilitate
access to arms

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for wealthy or reactionary
middle-class people,

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a profile typical of his
fanatical supporters.

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Bolsonaro seeks to form a
radicalized and armed base

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to defend his interests in the streets.

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In the U.S.,

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where legal possession of weapons
like handguns or rifles is a reality,

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Trump was able to incite his supporters
to the point that one of them

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killed two people and wounded a third
with an AR-15 in August 2020,

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during an anti-racist protest in Kenosha,
as the police looked on.

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With easier access to guns,

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it's not hard to imagine bolsonarist
demonstrators opening fire,

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or engaging in other forms of violence

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against minorities and social
movements in the streets.

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And if there is any doubt
about the actions of the police,

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recent efforts by the federal government

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to take control of the Military and
Civil Police away from state governments

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and transfer it to Brasília

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reveal its interest in
centralizing police command,

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as it has done with the Army.

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It is worth remembering that the coup

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organized by the extreme
right in Bolivia in 2019

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was executed by the police,

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without the army trying to stop it.

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In addition,

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Bolsonaro grants favors

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and has practically become a regular keynote
speaker at graduations in Police Academies.

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The police are one of Bolsonaro's
most solid political bases,

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and the president constantly submits
bills that strengthen that support.

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Such as the bill that
expands police immunity,

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exonerating cops for any illegal
act committed in duty,

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that is: allowing them to kill even more!

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The right-wing gun-rights discourse

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is based on the old idea
that the "good citizen"

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should have the right
to defend his property.

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In a capitalist and patriarchal society,
this means:

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white men, owners of real estate or lands

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having the freedom to use violence
against marginalized and desperate people.

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The state has a monopoly
on legal violence,

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but grants "legitimacy" to
the rich so that they

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can kill poor people when
they feel threatened.

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It will never tolerate poor,
women and non-white people

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defending themselves in the same way
against agents of the state or capital.

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These groups are denied self-defense.

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In other words,

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only those people who already have
state protection can defend themselves.

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Those who are already targeted
must remain defenseless

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or suffer harsh punishment
if they try to fight back.

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When part of the left condemns
"violent" protests,

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blockades, vandalism,

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disobedience, and the counterattack
on police violence,

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they complement Bolsonaro's discourse.

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Even unwillingly,

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they are saying that these bodies have
no right to defend themselves.

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That they cannot fight back,

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and must direct their hatred and their
dissatisfaction through "legitimate" channels,

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within institutions that were created by
the elite to control and silence them.

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It's understandable that
leaders of left parties

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and movements reproduce
this discourse,

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because they need the
legitimacy of state power

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in order to run for their offices
and control their institutions.

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If candidates like Guilherme Boulos,

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who ordered members of
the homeless movement

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to attack Black Blocs in
demonstrations in São Paulo,

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encourages disobedience
and confrontation with the police,

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how can they expect the same police

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to obey their orders when
they come to power?

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Or worse, how will they convince
people not to disobey or attack the police

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when they are following their orders?

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We see the end of representational politics,

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worn out and inefficient.

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With the loss of confidence
in its processes,

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its failure to contribute
to general welfare,

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violence and authoritarianism

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become the only means to sustain the state.

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Therefore,

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no person or group who plans to control
these governments and police forces

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will save us from fascism,

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because they will never act
against the same institutions

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that have always paved the way for
and sustained fascist regimes.

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In this context of radicalization,
with its promise of violence,

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it is useless to expect that police,
laws or armies

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will prevent the growth of fascism
inside and outside institutions.

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Recent history shows us

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that every measure taken under the guise
of repressing extremists and fascists

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ends up being used against
social movements and minorities.

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Fascists and other kinds
of nationalists and populists

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like Bolsonaro, Trump,
Modi, Putin, and Erdogan

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shift the balance of the
political game to the right.

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That is why to only
conceive of a polarization

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between right and left in
the polls is not enough,

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because it neglects movements
that act for real,

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anti-capitalist and
anti-authoritarian liberation.

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Politicians, neoliberals
and conservative groups

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have already realized that the
genocidal administration of Bolsonaro,

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or the failed coup attempt orchestrated
by Trump with support from neo-Nazis,

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are dangerous extremes.

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We can see this in
the clash between the

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governor of São Paulo and
the federal government.

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Neoliberals like João Dória,

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who offers rations to students and orders
the military police to shoot to kill,

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will pose as moderate
opposition to Bolsonarismo.

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The risk that fascists present to us

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is to make anti-fascism a mere
rescue of yesterday's politics,

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or worse, to keep them as they are today.

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For fear of making the
situation even worse,

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the left becomes paralyzed

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or even reactionary

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when it comes up against
more radical movements.

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It is not uncommon for members
of the Brazilian Worker's Party (PT)

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to appear in the media or on the Internet,
blaming the 2013 uprisings

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for the conservative
and fascist escalation

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that led to Dilma's impeachment
and the election of Bolsonaro.

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By doing so,

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they try to ensure that any
political action beyond their control

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is suppressed,
and suggest that in the PT era,

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the Brazilian people
lived a full revolution,

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with equality and an end to oppression -

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when in fact the banks
made record profits,

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agrarian reform was completely paralyzed,

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movements were stifled,

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and the prison population
increased dramatically.

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Recent mobilizations in Chile,
Argentina, and the United States

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achieved victories and important advances

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because they did not wait to
react to police and state violence.

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They decided to break with the institutions

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and the bureaucratic control of the left,

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so resigned to their offices
and class conciliation.

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In 2020, amidst the pandemic,

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mass movements in the territories
occupied by the Brazilian state

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proved that the largest unions, formal
organized movements and opposition parties

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are always the last to take
any initiative in the real world.

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One of the largest and most
important workers' strikes

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was organized by delivery workers

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breaking with the precarious
isolation enforced by delivery apps.

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The most combative demonstrations

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that physically barred
bolsonarist rallies and marches

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were pulled off by anti-fascist football
supporters and movements all over the country.

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It is essential to block the meetings
and marches of the far-right

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so that fascists do not
have space to advertise

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and recruit new members for their ranks.

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Organizing solidarity,

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reacting to fascist advances,

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taking to the streets

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and imposing consequences
on the rich and on the State

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to press for structural changes

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is the only guarantee that we will
not have our demands cushioned

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or co-opted by self-imposed leaderships.

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Only radical popular action

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can defend communities
from fascist attacks

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and prevent their movements
from occupying the streets

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with their empty ideas,
so full of resentment.

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The struggle is radical.

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It is life or death.

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And it is here.