A-Infos (en) Brazil, OSL: Against US imperialism, our response is internationalism and class struggle! (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In a powerful imperialist attack, the Donald Trump administration 
announced a 50% tariff on a large portion of Brazilian products exported 
to the United States, aiming not only to expand the hegemony of US 
companies but also to exert political pressure on the Brazilian 
government. The 50% tariff hike was subsequently "adjusted," exempting 
approximately 700 Brazilian products. This action, however, far from 
being a mere technical adjustment or an isolated episode of a trade 
dispute, is part of the broader project of global domination by the US 
ruling classes, a concrete expression of contemporary imperialism. From 
an anarchist perspective, we denounce this US aggression while 
understanding that the interests of the Brazilian ruling classes lie in 
taking advantage of this moment to deepen the exploitation of the 
working class within the country.

Nothing new on the front: tactics change, but the strategy remains.

The taxation in question should be understood as part of a long history 
of economic and political impositions that seek to maintain US hegemony 
in the international system. This hegemony was consolidated after the 
end of the Cold War, especially following the Wolfowitz Doctrine, a 
project of US global supremacy, with no room for equal negotiations with 
other powers or for the self-determination of peoples. It operates in a 
multifaceted manner, through: a) the supremacy of the Wall Street 
financial market; b) the imposition of the dollar as a global currency; 
c) the international dissemination of neoliberal ideology; and d) 
imperialist intervention in peripheral territories and economies. The 
taxation of Brazilian products is just another tool in this imperialist 
economic offensive, which, depending on the particular characteristics 
of the government in power or immediate needs, maintains its strategic 
orientation.

The measure should also be understood in the context of systematic 
political blackmail by US imperialism. While imposing trade sanctions, 
the US government-through its diplomatic, intelligence, and business 
networks-seeks to directly interfere in the Brazilian political 
situation, attempting to pressure authorities and Supreme Court justices 
regarding the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro. This 
demonstrates that, beyond economic, the imperialist offensive also has a 
legal-political dimension, serving the interests of sectors of the local 
and foreign ruling classes who see Bolsonaro as a strategic asset for 
reorganizing the far right in Latin America. To this end, they leverage 
the subservience of political agents of the Bolsonaro family and their 
allies in the United States and Brazil.

The interests of "big tech" and technological, economic, and ideological 
control

Within this context, we are witnessing the growing activity of the US 
big tech lobby (such as Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple), 
which not only profit from data extraction and the precariousness of 
labor relations on a global scale but also have political influence in 
Brazil. They influence legislation, shape public discourse, and impose 
agendas that run counter to digital sovereignty, the bourgeois 
democratic rule of law, and the self-determination of peoples. The 
interference of these technology corporations, with direct support from 
the US state apparatus, represents yet another dimension of contemporary 
imperialist domination, which combines technological, military, 
political, economic, and cultural-ideological control.

Indeed, what lies behind Trump's measure is not only the protection of 
US domestic industry, but the direct defense of the economic and 
political interests of business groups like Meta and Google, Visa and 
Mastercard, which lobby against any attempt at digital, financial, or 
commercial autonomy for countries like Brazil.

Furthermore, everything indicates that the 50% tax on Brazilian products 
is also a geopolitical and corporate retaliation aimed, among other 
things, at sabotaging the Brazil-China agreement for the construction of 
a railway connecting Brazil's Central-West region to the port of 
Chancay, Peru, managed by the Chinese state-owned company Cosco. This 
project would reduce the time taken for Brazilian exports to Asia by 
approximately ten days, reducing dependence on the Atlantic route under 
US hegemony and thus weakening US dominance over global logistics and 
trade chains.

The measure also serves as a response to the Brazilian government's 
recent stance, which-at least in its rhetoric-has championed 
multilateralism and questioned the dollar's exclusive role as the 
international reference currency. Even though, at present, these 
statements are unaccompanied by concrete measures and the Brazilian 
government remains submissive to local and international ruling classes, 
the mere gesture of suggesting a world less dependent on the United 
States has generated harsh reactions from US imperialism and its 
corporate representatives.

And where are the people?

The Brazilian government adopts a cosmetic discourse of 
"non-submission," attempting to construct the image of an autonomous and 
assertive foreign policy that appeals to various sectors of the 
progressive left. However, in practice, it continues to operate within 
the limits imposed by the national ruling classes and tacit agreements 
with imperialist centers, without any dialogue or participation from 
organized sectors of the working class and oppressed classes. This 
policy is top-down, based on economic calculations and the interests of 
large corporate groups, rather than on popular self-determination or the 
protagonism of the exploited majorities. It's no surprise that Haddad 
has already signaled that he will include the North American exploration 
of rare minerals in Brazil as a bargaining chip in the negotiations, to 
safeguard the interests of the national bourgeoisie. Among the sectors 
harmed by the tariffs are large conglomerates led by Brazilian 
billionaires, largely responsible for the country's profound social 
abyss. A significant portion of these companies are publicly traded, 
with international shareholders.

We reaffirm that our fight against imperialism should not be confused 
with any nationalist defense or a defense of Brazilian "sovereign 
capitalism." Even though the current opposition of interests between 
foreign and national capital and the state's willingness to protect 
local entrepreneurs are the order of the day, what will ultimately be 
served at the dinner table will be the body and soul of the working 
class. The Brazilian bourgeoisie, complicit in and beneficiary of this 
domination, will never represent a real alternative to external 
domination. Any defense of national sovereignty that involves alliances 
with the bourgeoisie or lacks anti-capitalism as a strategic element 
contributes to sowing illusions among the oppressed classes and 
diverting them from the class struggle. The wealth that remains in the 
country continues to be appropriated by this same elite that keeps the 
people in poverty, informality, and under the yoke of the State and 
neoliberal policies.

We therefore reject any interpretation that treats imperialism merely as 
an "external oppressor" without exposing the active role of the local 
ruling classes in this process and their subordinate association with 
imperialist interests. What is at stake is not only the economic 
sovereignty of a nation-state, but the concrete conditions of 
exploitation and expropriation experienced by the oppressed classes in 
Brazil and around the world. Our critique stems from the class struggle, 
not from bourgeois nationalism.

We advocate:

Denouncing US imperialism and dismantling its instruments of global 
domination, such as arbitrary protectionist tariffs, military bases, 
NATO, the IMF, and other international institutions subordinated to its 
control.
Directly confronting the effects of US imperialist domination in Brazil, 
such as submission to the interests of transnational corporations, the 
financialization of the economy, the Big Tech lobby, the systematic 
plundering of our natural resources, and the overexploitation of the 
workforce.
Building an anti-imperialism with a socialist and libertarian base, 
which distrusts alliances with competing capitalist blocs (such as 
China, Russia, or BRICS) and proposes an internationalist strategy of 
solidarity and struggle among the working classes and oppressed peoples 
worldwide. Criticism of the connivance of the current government 
responsible for managing the Brazilian state, which, under moderate 
rhetoric of "national independence," continues to serve the interests of 
big capital, without listening to, consulting, or engaging with the 
popular sectors and their organized movements.
Understanding that the struggle against imperialism must go hand in hand 
with the struggle against statist capitalism and all forms of domination.
Active and revolutionary solidarity with the oppressed classes in the 
United States itself, who also suffer under the yoke of their 
imperialist ruling classes. These workers are not our enemies, but 
potential allies in the construction of a new social order based on 
self-managed popular power, solidarity, and the abolition of class, 
national, and private property boundaries.
Finally, we reiterate that our struggle is not limited to criticizing 
yet another attack by the US empire, but to building a socialist, 
internationalist, and libertarian alternative to the system that 
sustains it. Our response to the imperialist frenzy of Trump and his ilk 
will not be to demand the closure of trade borders or the strengthening 
of the bourgeois nation-state, but to organize the oppressed classes in 
every corner of the world toward the demolition of imperialism and 
capitalism in all their forms.

For internationalism, for libertarian socialism, against imperialism and 
statist capitalism!

Libertarian Socialist Organization
August 2025

https://socialismolibertario.net/2025/08/05/contra-o-imperialismo-dos-eua-nossa-resposta-e-internacionalismo-e-luta-de-classes/
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