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The Brazilian Communist Party (), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, founded on 25 March 1922. Arguably the oldest active political party in Brazil, it played an important role in the country's 20th-century history despite the relatively small number of members. A factional dispute led to the formation of PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil) in the 1960s, though both communist parties were united in opposition to the Brazilian military government that ruled from 1964 to 1985. But with the fall of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and the collapse of
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
circa 1990, the party lost power and international support. An internal coup in 1992 divided the party and formed a new party, called Popular Socialist Party, using the former identification number of the PCB, 23. That party has since moved towards the centre and now goes by the name Cidadania. The youth organization of the PCB is the Communist Youth Union and is a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.


History


Foundation

The Brazilian Communist Party (in Portuguese, ''Partido Comunista Brasileiro''), abbreviated as the PCB, was founded on 25 March 1922 in the
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
of
Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...
,
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. On that day, nine representatives of
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
groups from the cities of
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, Santos, Cruzeiro,
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
,
Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...
,
Niterói Niterói () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, southeast region of Brazil. It lies across Guanabara Bay, facing the city of Rio de ...
,
Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (; ), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2022 census the current population is 54 ...
and
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
met and approved the party's statutes and the twenty-one conditions for entering the
Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...
, though the PCB was not recognized by the Comintern in its first years due to its eclectic ideological roots. The meeting ended with all seventy-three members of the party singing L'Internationale.


Early years

The PCB's first years were marked by an effort to encourage socialist thinking in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. There had been moderate socialist parties, newspapers and congresses, but much unlike the strong social-democratic parties that existed in many European countries. The radical anti-
capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...
thinking had been dominated by anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists, who also dominated the
labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
, such as in the case of the 1917 anarchist actions in São Paulo. Inspired by the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
, a group of former anarchist militants who were disappointed in the lack of unity and force of the movement, turned communist and started the PCB. At the same time, some other figures from Brazil's early labour and socialist movements became inspired by forms of military and
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...
, like the tenentes, that eventually led to the Vargas-revolution of 1930. During the first years, the party was declared illegal by the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. On 1 May 1925, during the party's Second Congress, its weekly
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
''A Classe Operária'' (''The Working Class'') was announced, with five thousand copies being sold on the factories. This number grew to nine thousand copies by the ninth edition, but the
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
shut the newspaper down shortly after the twelfth edition was published. The paper reappeared in 1928, after the Third Congress was held. By 1930, after being recognized by the Communist International and with its Socialist Youth division formed, the PCB had nearly eleven hundred members. This marks the beginning of a long period of submission to, initially the
Third International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internation ...
, and, after its dissolution, to the political leadership of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
. This
decade A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement ...
also marked two cycles on the party's history: one of increasing influence, until 1935, and one of decline, until 1942. Both cycles are comprehensible when seen in the context of the Vargas era.


Reorganization and growth

In 1943, during the so-called ''Mantiqueira Conference'', the party secretly met in the small
city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
of Engenheiro Passos, Rio de Janeiro, and in an open letter to Vargas decided to support a
declaration of war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national gov ...
on the
Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...
. At the same time,
Luís Carlos Prestes Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a Brazilian revolutionary and politician who served as the Secretary (title), general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a senator for the Federal Distric ...
was elected to the party's
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...
. In 1945, after Vargas's
dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...
ended, the PCB became legal once again. By 1947, it had nearly two hundred thousand members. In the 1947 legislative election, it received 480,000 votes or about 9% of total votes cast. However, this period of official tolerance did not last long, as President Dutra denounced the PCB as "internationalist, and therefore not committed to Brazil's own interests" in 1948, an action supported by the American government. In the 1950s, as the party was driven underground, it began supporting major workers' strikes around Brazil. However, this did not prevent the beginning of internal clashes between different factions within the PCB. This became more evident after the Soviet Communist Party's 20th Congress, when
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
denounced
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's policies. The factionalization of the party accelerated after a new Manifesto was passed in 1958, proposing new ways of achieving communist goals. This Manifesto linked the establishment of
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
to the broadening of democracy. Some of its top leaders, dissatisfied with the new Soviet line, quit the PCB and formed a new party,
Communist Party of Brazil The Communist Party of Brazil (, PCdoB) is a List of political parties in Brazil, political party in Brazil. The PCdoB officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory. It has national reach and deep penetration in the trade union and Student ...
(''Partido Comunista do Brasil'' – PCdoB) in 1962. In the mid-1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the number of organized communists in Brazil to around 31,000.


Military rule years

With this new orientation, the PCB grew in size and exercised a much greater role in the Brazilian left. However, the alliance forged with the other parties did not survive the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. PCB did play an important role against the dictatorship, by organizing the workers movement and participating in efforts to unite the opposition in its demands for democratic reforms. At that point in time the communists were a fraction of the democratic opposition front, the
Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement (, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, with the most numbers of senators, ...
(MDB). It refused, for example, to engage in armed struggle, differently from other left wing organizations that decided to follow that path. The clandestine operations and the political disputes regarding the strategies to resist the military regime led to many important leaders leaving the party, while many others died in the hands of the military regime. To the end of the dictatorship, while the Communist Party in Brazil was involved in several internal clashes, the Worker's Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) was founded. Its creation was the project of a series of left wing groups independent from the PCB (
Trotskyists Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as a ...
, communist dissidents, ex-
guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
, sectors of the Catholic Left, independent unionists and intellectuals). It was structured as an alternative to Communist-led unionism in Brazil. Forswearing the Popular Front strategy adopted by the PCB, the PT chose instead to take a more radical stance against the military regime and gained a strong presence in between high skilled workers and middle-class intellectuals. The growth of the PT accelerated the fragmentation process inside the PCB leading ultimately to a big split.


Crisis and formation of the PPS

After the 1979 amnesty, the PCB's leaders began to restructure the party. The 1982 Congress confirmed its democratic agenda, declaring the PCB "a party of the masses, linking socialist goals to true democracy, which will be constructed based on the values of
freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
". Once again, internal clashes developed in the party, as it was passing through a process of renewal while its influence in society declined. The fall of the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
was also a strong blow to the party, turning the renewal process into one where
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
began to be abandoned by party leaders. This crisis reached its high point in January 1992. A group led by the then-President Roberto Freire called its 10th Congress despite a Congressional resolution which had been passed a year earlier that the party would not call a congress for that year and that determined that the party would be kept. Nevertheless, Freire managed to organize it and allow people who were not members of the party to vote. That congress voted to dissolve the PCB and refound it as the
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...
Socialist People's Party (''Partido Popular Socialista'' – PPS), in a way similar to what had transpired in Italy. However a small group, led by Ivan Pinheiro, questioning the legality of the 10th Congress, decided to keep the party Marxist–Leninist.


Refoundation and reorganization

After the dissolution of the PCB, decided by the 10th Congress, the Central Committee minority that was opposed to this action organized an "Extraordinary Reorganization Conference", where it decided to rebuild the party with the maintaining of its identity and by reviewing the path that it had followed in the precedent years. The party then started a battle in order to gain the rights to use the name Brazilian Communist Party and the acronym PCB (which was contested by the members of the PPS) and to legalize the party. In 1996, the PCB would be officially registered. The party has realized four congresses since then: the 10th (1993), 11th (1996), 12th (2000), and the 13th (2006). It remains small, in spite of some recent growth during the government of
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
and the crisis of PT (it should be noticed that the main result of this process was the
Socialism and Liberty Party The Socialism and Liberty Party (, ; PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Paula Coradi and the federal deputies Ivan Valente, Talíria Petrone, Sâmi ...
). Although competing in elections and participating in wider electoral fronts, its electoral results were insignificant. In 2006, the PCB agreed on a nationwide alliance with two other left-wing parties, PSOL and PSTU. Putting aside some significant ideological differences, the three parties built a common agenda to try to break the polarity between presidential candidates
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...
( PT) and
Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian physician and politician currently serving as 26th vice president of Brazil. He previously was the List of governors of São Paulo, Governor of São Paulo (state), Sà ...
( PSDB). The coalition also extended to gubernatorial and parliament elections to take place at the same time all over the country. The PCB elected a state deputy (Jorge Souza, in the state of
Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...
) and has about 20 local representatives. The party's union branch currently builds the central Intersindical and is growing greatly in the union movement. The student movement is responsibility of the Young Communist Union, which is also growing in size. The last party's Congress, the 13th, in 2005, voted to abolish the post of "president" and use only the traditional position of "General Secretary".


Electoral results


Presidential elections


Parliamentary elections

The 1947 elections had just a complementary character at the federal level (since the deputies elected in 1945 had mandates until 1950) and elected the State Chambers according to the new Constitution. The PCB elected 46 state deputies and become a major party in the Federal District (at this time, the city of Rio de Janeiro). The party didn't launch any candidates to the Senate, choosing to support other parties' candidates, following the party tactics of a "democratic front".


Congresses

* I Congress – Niterói-RJ, March 1922 * II Congress – May 1925 * III Congress – December 1928/January 1929 * IV Congress – November 1954 * V Congress – August/September 1960 * VI Congress – December 1967 * VII Congress – São Paulo-SP, December 1982 – the Congress was invaded by the police and only concluded, without a new meeting of the delegates, in 1984 * VIII Congress (Extraordinary) – Brasília-DF, June 1987 * IX Congress – Rio de Janeiro-RJ, May/June 1991 * X Congress – Rio de Janeiro-RJ, 1993 * XI Congress – Rio de Janeiro-RJ, 1996 * XII Congress – April 2000 * XIII Congress – Belo Horizonte-MG, March 2005 * XIV Congress – Rio de Janeiro-RJ, October 2009 * XV Congress: São Paulo, April 2014 * XVI Congress: São Paulo, November 2021


Leaders


General Secretaries

* Abílio de Nequete — 1922 * Astrojildo Pereira — 1924–1930 * Heitor Ferreira Lima — 1931 * Fernando de Lacerda — 1931–1932 * José Vilar — 1932 * Duvitiliano Ramos — 1932 * Domingos Brás — 1932 *
Luís Carlos Prestes Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a Brazilian revolutionary and politician who served as the Secretary (title), general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a senator for the Federal Distric ...
— 1943–1980 * Giocondo Dias — 1980–1985 * Ivan Pinheiro — 2005–2016 * Edmilson Costa — 2016–present


Presidents

* Giocondo Dias — 1985–1987 * Salomão Malina — 1987–1991 * Roberto Freire — 1991–1992 *
Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 â€“ 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...
— 1992–1996 * Zuleide Faria de Mello — 1996–2008


Newspapers and magazines

* ''Voz da Unidade'' – the main organ of the party in the 80's, weekly * ''Novos Rumos'' – theoretical magazine 1950s–1960s, open to the contribution of personalities and currents outside of the party * ''O Poder popular'' – current newspaper


See also

*
Brazilian communist uprising of 1935 The 1935 Brazilian communist uprising (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Intentona Comunista'') was a military revolt in Brazil led by Luís Carlos Prestes and leftist low-rank military against Getúlio Vargas's government on behalf of the Nati ...
*
List of political parties in Brazil Brazil has a multi-party system since 1979, when the Brazilian military dictatorship, country's military dictatorship disbanded an enforced two-party system and allowed the creation of multiple parties. Above the broad range of political partie ...
* List of communist parties * Politics of Brazil * Elisa Kauffmann Abramovich


References


External links


Instituto Astrojildo Pereira
(in Portuguese)


Sources


PCdoB timeline


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060903062915/http://www.ifcs.ufrj.br/~amorj/ Arquivo da Memória Operária do Rio de Janeiro {{Authority control 1922 establishments in Brazil Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-revisionist organizations Comintern sections Communist parties in Brazil Far-left political parties Far-left politics in Brazil Formerly banned communist parties International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties Political parties established in 1922 Political parties in Brazil São Paulo Forum