12/1/2023 0 Comments Brazil trucker strike![]() The rhetoric used to justify this change is based on so-called “tariff realism”, condemning the previous policy of containing petroleum derivatives’ price increases to reduce inflation risk. Parente and the dismantlement of Petrobras Consequently, Petrobras began to raise its refineries internal prices in accordance with external changes. It adopted automatic parity with the international petroleum market’s price fluctuations. Building on the damage to Petrobras’ image caused by the Lava Jato investigation scandals, the government decided to throw a monkey wrench into the company’s pricing policies. Parente has adopted a demagogic narrative that avoids the so-called “political use” of Petrobras. There is no justification to support this type of initiative, which damages Brazil’s international influence, compromises our national security and significantly reduces our economic resources from the extraction which were originally earmarked for a Sovereign Fund to be used by future generations. Insanity! After all, these are potentially huge reserves. Attending the pleas of the big foreign petroleum companies, the government ended Petrobras’ exclusive rights to organize oil and natural gas extraction from the deep water reserves. In clear English, the most adequate term to describe this crime against the national economy is “privatization”.įurthermore, Parente was given an impressive amount of autonomy to generate the fatal changes to the extraction process of the extremely valuable pre-salt offshore reserves. In truth, this is a pompous and misleading term to describe the objective procedure of selling the state conglomerate’s assets to the private sector. With this in mind, the new director immediately began to implement a path of “divestment” in the company. The bigger goal was to start a privatization process for this state giant that plays a major strategic role in the Brazilian economy and society. In nominating the PSDB Party politician Pedro Parente as president of the largest Brazilian business conglomerate, Temer did much more than simply generously thank the Party for supporting his takeover of the presidency and its decisive role in the “coupeachment”. In concrete terms the cause is the energy strategy, especially the government’s Petrobras policies. The objective basis for the movement resides, obviously, in the Temer government’s low popularity rate and its disastrous management of the political economy. This week Brazil witnessed another chapter in the organized highway cargo transport sector protests. The regular mobilizations occur almost annually and do not normally spare the occupants of the Pink House, whether Cristina Kirchner or Macri, to speak only of the most recent.Ĭhile, Argentina, Brazil: truckers in action In our neighbor, Argentina, this professional category is also well organized and has had successive victories due to its capacity to pressure governments. In mixing interests of cargo companies with autonomous truck owners, that strike deepened the generalized scenario of scarcity in the country and deepened the political crisis that culminated with the assassination of the president and the military takeover. Studies by historians have confirmed the deep ties existent at the time among leaders of the famous owner-led lock out in October 1972, the forces organized by the CIA and representatives of the bourgeois and business opposition to the Popular Unity government. ![]() Perhaps the most dramatic of all was the role this sector played in Chile on the eve of the coup that took down the Salvador Allende government. In general, truck drivers’ strikes tend to be a characteristic example of this confusing scenario. Disguised as protests against sectoral policies, these movements often end up fooling public opinion and provoking wider political crises. The history of certain social categories’ political and demand-based movements shows conservative or backwards tendencies. In the following article the economist Paulo Kliass argues that the roots of the current crisis are in the the Temer government’s prioritization of foreign investors over national sovereignty. Note: Petrobras is commonly referred to in the media as a state oil company, but it was partially privatized during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration and currently has mixed ownership with majority state control. ![]() About the coup, Petrobras’ price policies meet investors wishes but don’t serve the needs of the nation. Truck drivers tend to be conservative, but their demands are fair.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |