Communism in Brazil
Communism in Brazil has existed 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.
Currently, there are seven officially registered political parties in Brazil that claim to be communist or communist-adjacent: Brazilian Communist Party, Communist Party of Brazil, Workers' Cause Party, Socialism and Liberty Party, United Socialist Workers' Party, Workers' Party and Popular Unity. Additionally, several communist parties in Brazil have their own youth wings: for example, PCB's Young Communist Union ; PCdoB's Socialist Youth Union ; and PSTU's Rebellion–Socialist Revolution Youth
There are also multiple communist parties that have not yet officially registered with Brazil's Superior Electoral Court. Notably, the Revolutionary Communist Party, with its youth wing, Rebellion Youth Union.
History
Late 19th and early 20th century
Worker organizations in Brazil are known to have existed since the 19th century. The first known strike by salaried employees happened in 1858, though slave revolts related to working conditions had been happening prior – slavery was only abolished in Brazil in 1888. Though information is lacking due to the societal treatment of slaves at the time, it is known that many such revolts ended with police repression.On 8 January 1858, a total of 80 typographers from 3 daily publications refused to work simultaneously. The workers published a bulletin, titled Jornal dos Typographos, stating their demands for better pay in light of increasing food prices. They further explained that the strike was a last resort after being denied a raise on multiple occasions, as they had not seen an increase in pay since 1855. The result of the typographers' strike is not known; it lasted until at least 12 March 1858, the date of the last issue of Jornal dos Typographos before it was sold.
In 1890, the first self-declared socialist political party of Brazil was established in Rio Grande do Sul, namely the Partido Operário do Rio Grande do Sul. It called for, among other things, women's rights and the end of inheritance rights.
The early 1900s were rife with strikes, usually in the interest of better pay and shorter work days. For example, the 8-hour workday was among the proposals of the First Brazilian Workers' Congress held in April 1906. Inspired by that proposal, in October, workers participating in the 21-day strike in Porto Alegre achieved a partial success, reducing their workday from 11 to 9 hours. However, strikes were more commonly met with police repression and, even when successfully leading to new agreements, company owners could simply decide not to honor them or revert any of the changes after some time.
Facing the abolition of slavery in Brazil a few years prior, in 1888, coffee farmers saw immigration as a source of cheap labor to meet production demands. However, immigrants brought with them ideals of anarchism and socialism, which were undesirable to landowners. In 1907, federal deputy authored Decree N.1,641, which became known as the Pinnow's Law or the first "Foreigner Expulsion Law", allowing for the immigrants' expulsion from the country for vagrancy or simply "compromising public tranquility". This and other laws authored by Gordo became yet another tool for capitalists to suppress strikes and workers' movements.
Ideologically, not every revolutionary worker self-identified as a communist or a socialist; many were deemed anarchists, who rejected the idea of political parties, and instead preferred direct action or organization through unions. Political theory and literature were not always accessible in Brazil, either because they were not translated into Portuguese, or because the Portuguese text was not accommodating to workers with little to no formal education. As such, many at the time were simply anti-capitalists, supporting a revolution without fully considering what would come after any revolutionary action.
World War I and the Russian Revolution
In July 1914, World War I began. While Brazil did not see direct conflict, the effects of the war were quickly felt by its citizens. Brazil's economy was, and had been for decades, reliant on exporting coffee; by 1914, Brazil controlled around 80% of the world's coffee exports. With the advent of the war, demand for coffee fell drastically. Additionally, Britain's blockade, aimed at preventing aid to the Central Powers by neutral countries such as Brazil, successfully hindered trade with a big part of Europe, worsening Brazil's coffee exports.In contrast, in certain industries such as textiles, profits skyrocketed: with the war, products that would previously be imported now had to be produced in Brazil, and were even exported in some cases. But workers did not see those profits; on the contrary, higher demand meant longer workdays of up to 16 hours, without increase in pay. Moreover, with growing demand for food in belligerent countries, Brazil began heavily exporting crops and meat which, in turn, caused shortages and a massive price increase locally. Between 1914 and 1919, prices almost tripled, growing by 185%.
In this context, with worse working conditions, a higher cost of living and diminishing purchasing power, workers were at a historical low point. This culminated in the general strike of 1917, starting in the Mooca district of São Paulo, in early June, and spreading throughout Brazil in the following days. At its peak, it saw almost 44 thousand workers striking simultaneously. Demonstrations occurred almost daily, protesting low wages, child labor, high rent and food prices, among other issues. They were organized by workers themselves, with support from union, anarchist and socialist leaderships. Additionally, women played a significant role in organizing the strikes: beyond being workers themselves, they were also usually in charge of home finances – and thus saw firsthand the ever-growing prices of goods.
Brazilian workers, including anarchists, looked to the recent Russian Revolution with enthusiasm. In the Alagoas newspaper A Semana Social, in March 1917, writes: "if the evil temper of the bourgeoisie doesn't prevent it", then Brazil would also see "the branching of the generous tree that just emerged in Russia – the tree of liberty". In November 1918, this inspiration was put to action, in a failed anarchist insurrection.
It is also in this context that anti-communism sentiment was born, developed from a fear by the elites of revolutionary action by the proletariat; in Brazil, newspapers at the time denounced Vladimir Lenin as an outlaw or a crook. Astrojildo Pereira, one of the bigger enthusiasts of the Russian Revolution in Brazil, would write to newspapers under pseudonyms to combat the hostile framing of the event.
First communist parties
On 2 March 1919, the Communist International was founded, and 21 conditions were given for admission to it. Among them, that "any party seeking affiliation must call itself the Communist Party of the country in question".A few days later, news broke of the foundation of Brazil's first self-declared Communist Party on 9 March 1919, open to "anarchists, socialists and all of those who accepted social communism". Founded by anarchist José Oiticica and delegates from Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Alagoas, the party had major libertarian influences; anarchists at the time may not have fully realized their ideological differences from the Bolsheviks, and the Russian Revolution itself may have been seen as an anarchist movement. This first party was short-lived, marking the start of the split between communists and anarchists.
Many strikes had continued to be planned, executed, and severely repressed since 1917, led by anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists. By 1921, workers were wholly defeated, and anarchism, which had been against political parties and was seen to lack discipline, received the blame. Additionally, due to WWI, the recent push for industrialization had made Brazil a worker-dense country, so conditions were fertile for the growth of communism in Brazil.
In 1918, Abílio de Nequete, Francisco Merino and Otávio Hengist had founded the União Maximalista de Porto Alegre, renamed Grupo Comunista de Porto Alegre in 1921. In the aftermath of the general strikes, the country saw the formation of multiple self-proclaimed communist groups; in 1919, the Grupo Comunista Brasileiro Zumbi, and Núcleo Comunista de Pelotas; in 1921, the Grupo Clarté, inspired by the French group of the same name organized by Henri Barbusse, Raymond Lefebvre, Paul Vaillant-Couturier and others; and in the same year, the Grupo Comunista do Rio de Janeiro.
Grupo Clarté was founded by Everardo Dias, Afonso Schmidt, Lima Barreto, Pontes de Miranda,,,, Agripino Nazareth, Antônio Figueiredo, Leônidas Resende, and his brother, Paulo de Lacerda. Though some called themselves socialists, the group tended towards moderate reformism, in the context of a weakened, post-repression Left. Pimenta described his own politics as the "pragmatic method – to wrest from situation and events whatever they can provide on behalf of the working class". The group was largely sympathetic to the Russian Revolution, frequently reprinting documents on events in the Soviet Union, though not organizing any meaningful action towards any revolutionary goal in Brazil.
The Grupo Comunista do Rio de Janeiro was founded by Astrojildo Pereira and 11 others. Immediately after formation, the group started contacting other workers' groups throughout the country to share the 21 conditions and recommend their implementation. In response, several other communist groups started to form, in Recife, Juiz de Fora, Santos and Cruzeiro. In January 1922, the group launched the Movimento Comunista magazine to spread the agenda of the Communist International.
Between 25 and 27 March 1922, the various communist groups made the decision to start the Partido Comunista do Brasil, the first "truly" communist party of Brazil. Soon after its inception, the party would adopt the abbreviation PCB. The party, created through the meeting of 9 delegates representing 73 affiliates throughout the country, was hurried in light of the soon-approaching 4th World Congress of the Communist International, for which Brazil had been lacking representation. Due to the lack of political party-specific legislation at the time, the party was registered as a civil society.
Knowledge of Marxism, at the time, was still in its infancy in Brazil. As such, PCB was still "lacking" in Marxist theory in its inception.
Parallel to the PCB's foundation, on 1 March 1922, Brazil held a presidential election. It was won by Artur Bernardes of the Mineiro Republican Party, who was up against Nilo Peçanha. Bernardes' candidacy was part of the milk coffee politics of the time, a scheme which ensured only candidates from the two wealthiest states, Minas Gerais and São Paulo, would occupy the presidency. The opposition contested the election results and, over the following months, a military conspiracy emerged across the country to remove the still-in-office Epitácio Pessoa and prevent Bernardes' inauguration. This culminated in the Copacabana Fort revolt, which began on 4 July 1922.
In response to the revolt, on 5 July 1922, Epitácio Pessoa declared a state of emergency, which would end up lasting for years and multiple presidencies. Among other repercussions, the PCB's operation would soon be declared illegal, a mere three months after its foundation.