Workers' Cause Party
Workers' Cause Party is a political party in Brazil. Its origins can be traced back to 1978, when several Trotskyist activists who were not satisfied with the socialist international united under the name Tendência Trotskista do Brasil. However, the registered party was only established in 1995. Its electoral number is 29.
History
In 1980, this organization united itself with the newly formed Workers' Party, becoming very involved in that decade's municipal and state elections, with several mayors and state representatives elected.In 1990 and 1991, however, several TTB members were expelled from the PT due to their non-commitment to the Party's statutes. After that, the PCO was officially organized and founded in 1995.
In 2006, the candidacy of Rui Costa Pimenta to presidency was abrogated by the Superior Electoral Court.
In 2018, PCO supported the bid of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Fernando Haddad and Manuela D'Ávilla informally and critically, refusing the invitation to compose the coalition officially.
In 2020, PCO suffered a cyber attack resulting in the loss of more than 4,000 articles on its website.
In August 2021, PCO expressed support to the Taliban about their "victory over American imperialism", considering it "a victory for all oppressed people". The party has also praised Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, describing him as "an example of selflessness, conviction, disposition" in the struggle for "the freedom of his people". the PCO however follows the traditional Trotskyist position of being against individual terrorism as its method of political struggle. The PCO also argues that the Taliban ideology and practices are "an expression of the profound social backwardness of that people", it sees the need to support any movement of national liberation against US-lead imperialism.
In 2022, the PCO supported the candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 Brazilian general election, it however choose not to participate in the formal coalition or in any of the campaign committees because of divergences and repeated criticism of the program of the coalition.
Youth wing
The youth wing of the party is the Revolutionary Youth Alliance, which publishes the magazine ''Revista Juventude Revolucionária.''Ideology
The PCO supports implementation of socialism, following the Trotskyist branch, which they regard as the true form of Marxism. According to them, the Marxist movement was corrupted by Stalinism and later by social movements such as bourgeois feminism and the LGBT movement, which they term as "identitarian". The party rejects woke culture, arguing that it is "not progressive at all" and constitutes "an attempt to transform chaos into an instrument of political struggle".The party opposes gun control policies, saying that "The bourgeoisie is armed. It has the army, the police and all other organs of repression, public or private. The people have nothing. It is defenseless in the face of the war machine of his enemies who control the State". However, the PCO also considers the police as an oppressive force and favors the formation of a "popular police".
While opposing the PT due to that party's controversial alliances in the political and business sectors, the PCO interprets the PT's government as a necessary step in the current Brazilian political context, in order to strengthen workers' organizations. The party also sees the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff of 2016 as a coup d'état and were also against Lula's prison sentence in 2018, protesting for his liberty afterwards.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCO supported vaccination efforts while opposing mandatory vaccination.
The PCO is a staunch supporter of unrestricted free speech, asserting that the people should always be entitled to express their views and opinions, no matter how controversial, offensive or misleading they might be, and that any attempt of censorship will eventually result in the bourgeoisie controlling the public opinion. The party is unique in the Brazilian left in its opposition to anti-fake news legislation and the criminalizing of homophobia. The party also denounced criminalization transphobic speech as attack on freedom of religion, stating: "A citizen can no longer profess their religion if they believe that "transsexuals" and homosexuals are, in their view, an anomaly and contrary to God's law. The overwhelming majority of religions—if not all—share this understanding."
The party defends a progressive function of religion, stating: "Marxists, who aren't religious, never said we should force people to abandon their religion. That's absurd! Why would someone do that? They believe in God, they've had their little church since childhood, they were born there... If you're active in the labor movement, you'll never go to workers and raise issues with their religion." It also defended Islam, stating: "Islam is not a repressive religion. Generally speaking, it is even more progressive than Christianity. Christianity is the religion of imperialist countries. Islam is the religion of countries oppressed by imperialism."
The PCO supports Palestine in the Gaza war, Venezuela in the Essequibo dispute and Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War.