A-Infos (en) Brazil, Capixaba, FACA: The Smoke Screen of NGOs: Welfare as an Arm of Capital and the State (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Comrades, the reality our activism faces in Espírito Santo is absurd: 
non-governmental organizations are proliferating throughout our 
territories, and far from being spaces of liberation, they act as agents 
of domestication. They are, for the most part, camouflaged extensions of 
political parties and churches, structures that do not seek the radical 
transformation of society, but rather the perpetuation of a system of 
domination. It is necessary to denounce this vigorously: NGOs, 
especially those linked to political parties, are an organic part of 
capitalism and will not save us from its clutches. On the contrary, they 
are cogs that lubricate the machine of oppression.

Let us observe the NGOs linked to political parties. Their existence is 
cyclical and electoral. They emerge as "social" arms of parties that 
aspire to control the State, offering crumbs of welfare in exchange for 
future loyalty at the ballot box. Their actions do not strengthen the 
autonomy of the people, but create a relationship of clientelist 
dependence. They need the State, whether through public notices, 
parliamentary funds, or agreements-resources that are used to expand the 
party's base of influence. They are, therefore, instruments to access 
state power and, consequently, manage the mechanisms of capital. They 
fight for a slice of the pie, never for the destruction of the oven that 
cooks misery.

Similarly, NGOs linked to churches operate a deeper colonization, mixing 
charity with proselytism. They use hunger and vulnerability to impose a 
religious morality and expand their flock. Their help is conditional, a 
package for indoctrination, which aims to pacify the oppressed with the 
promise of heavenly reward, anesthetizing the necessary earthly revolt. 
These organizations also depend on Capital, whether through donations 
from large corporations seeking to cleanse their image, or through 
public resources obtained through their enormous political influence. 
They are the "social" arm of theological capitalism, which converts 
material need into spiritual control.

The situation is clear: these NGOs do not exist outside the system. They 
are functional to it. Capitalism, in its neoliberal phase, outsources to 
them the role of cushioning the most brutal impacts of exploitation, a 
palliative that prevents social explosion. The State, in turn, finances 
and regulates them, co-opting potential centers of resistance and 
transforming demands for rights into manageable projects. They are a 
safety valve, a way of managing poverty without altering the structures 
that produce it. While distributing basic food baskets, they remain 
silent about the private ownership of the means of production.

We, of the Anarchist Federation of Espírito Santo, reject this 
smokescreen. Our struggle is not for more NGOs, but for autonomous, 
direct, and grassroots popular organization. We believe in direct 
action, in disinterested mutual aid, in building realities that confront 
power from below, without mediators, without bosses, and without 
priests. We build self-managed community dining areas, collective 
gardens, territorial defense groups, and study circles without any ties 
to grants or electoral interests. Our solidarity is class-based, not 
charity or investment.

Therefore, let us unmask these entities that, dressed in the mantle of 
kindness, strengthen the chains that imprison us. Let us not place our 
hope in institutional saviors. Our liberation will not come from above, 
nor from projects approved in a politician's office or in the curia of a 
church. It will come from our own capacity to organize ourselves 
horizontally, fighting the State, Capital, and all its faces, including 
the most "benevolent" ones. True social transformation is born from 
autonomy, mutual support, and the uncompromising struggle against all 
forms of domination. Outside of the organized people, there is no salvation!

Capixaba Anarchist Federation - FACA

https://federacaoc.noblogs.org/post/2025/12/12/a-cortina-de-fumaca-das-ongs-o-assistencialismo-como-braco-do-capital-e-do-estado/
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