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VIEWS AND VOICES
Socialists support Heloisa Helena

August 25, 2006 | Page 8

IN 2003, the Brazilian Workers Party, the PT, ousted three national deputies and one senator--João Batista de Araújo, Lindberg Fária, Luciana Genro and Heloisa Helena--for their opposition to the economic policies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Today, Helena is the presidential candidate of the Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL). Below is a petition in support of Helena, signed by socialists and activists from around the world.

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MANY OF us signed, two years ago, a protest against the exclusion of Heloisa Helena from the PT, the Brazilian Workers Party. Today, Heloisa has become the presidential candidate of the new Party of Socialism and Liberty (PSOL), founded by several bureaucratically excluded or dissident members of the PT.

While Lula's government followed a typical social-liberal course, disappointing millions of people who voted for him in the hope of a radical social and political change, and people all over the world who expected from Brazil a new impulse for anti-imperialist struggle, Heloisa Helena and her comrades remained faithful to the original anti-imperialist and socialist program of the PT.

She is today the only candidate in the Brazilian elections who raises the historical banners of the Brazilian labor movement, of the peasants, the poor and the oppressed: a radical agrarian reform; suspension of the payment of the foreign debt; rejection of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA); a substantial reduction of working hours without loss of pay; a moratorium on the use of genetically modified organisms (such as Monsanto's Terminator seeds); and support for ALBA, the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba).

The elections in Brazil are of concern for socialists everywhere in the world. In solidarity with the poor and the exploited Brazilian masses, we support the socialist candidate in the next Brazilian presidential elections, Heloisa Helena.

To sign on to the petition, please e-mail your name (with your position or capacity) or the name of your organization, to: [email protected].

Signatories so far (in a personal capacity, unless otherwise indicated):
Gilbert Achcar, university professor and author
Michael Albert, editor, ZNet
Anthony Arnove, International Socialist Organization, U.S.
Ecehan Balta, Freedom and Solidarity Party/ODP, Turkey
Chris Bambery, editor, Socialist Worker, Britain
José Barreto, coordinator, Carabobo Region of the National Union of Workers (UNT), Venezuela
Emilio Bastidas, coordinator, Aragua Region of the UNT, Venezuela
Daniel Bensaïd, Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire (LCR), France
Olivier Besancenot, presidential candidate, LCR, France
Alister Black, International Committee, Scottish Socialist Party
José Boda, executive member, Fedepetrol, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela
Alejandro Bodart, national leadership, Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (MST), Argentina
Patrick Bond, political economist, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Peter Boyle, national secretary, Democratic Socialist Perspective, Australia
Sue Branford, writer on Latin America
Robert Brenner, economist, U.S.
Andrew Burgin, press secretary, Stop the War Coalition, England and Wales
Alex Callinicos, Socialist Workers Party, Britain
David Camfield, associate professor, Labour Studies, University of Manitoba, Canada
Salvatore Cannavo, national deputy, Party of Communist Refoundation, Italy
Kunal Chattopadhyay, Inquilabi Comunist Sangathan, India
Orlando Chirino, national coordinator of the UNT, Venezuela
Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston
Choo Chon Kai, Parti Socialis, Malaysia
Joan Collins, Dublin city councilor, Campaign for an Independent Left, Ireland
Denise Comane, Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt, Belgium
Brenda Coughlin, Department of Sociology, Columbia University, New York
Frances Curran, MSP, Scottish Socialist Party
Mike Davis, University of San Diego, California
Roland Denis, on behalf of Proyecto Nuestra America/M-13 de Abril, Venezuela
Espacio Alternativo, Spanish state
Samuel Farber, professor of political science, Brooklyn College, New York City
Colin Fox, MSP, convenor, Scottish Socialist Party
Nick Fredman, national councilor, National Tertiary Education Union, Australia
Ana Gabarrá, member of the National Council of the Catalan United Left, Spanish state
Richard Gallardo, national coordinator of the UNT, Venezuela
Marcos García, national coordinator of the Public Employees Union (FENTRASEP), Venezuela
Franck Gaudichaud, doctor of political science, France, and member of Rebelion.org
Lindsey German, convenor, Stop the War Coalition, England and Wales
Gustavo Giménez, Movimiento Sin Trabajo (Unemployed Movement), Teresa Vive, Argentina
Mike Gonzalez, professor of Latin American studies, Glasgow University
Tony Gregory, Independent TD, Dublin Central, Ireland
George Grollios, university professor, Thessaloniki, Greece
Joe Harrington, former mayor of Limerick City, Ireland
Rudy Hartono, National Student League for Democracy, Indonesia
Richard Hatcher, Director of Research, Faculty of Education, University of Central England, Birmingham
Ismael Hernández, coordinator, Carabobo Region of the UNT, Venezuela
Dave Hill, professor of educational policy, University of Northampton, England
Gill Hubbard, Scottish Socialist Party
Linus Jayatilake, president, United Federation of Labour, Sri Lanka
Choo Chon Kai, Parti Socialis, Malaysia
Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathna, president, Left Front, Sri Lanka
Claudio Katz, economist, Argentina
Alain Krivine, LCR, France
Dharmasiri Lankapeli, general secretary, Media Employees Federation, Sri Lanka
Michael Lavalette, Preston city councilor for Respect, England
Paul Laverty, screenwriter
John Lister, London Health Emergency
Ken Loach, filmmaker
Francisco Louçá, member of parliament, Left Bloc, Portugal
Michael Lowy, Brazilian author
Eduardo Lucita, Economistas de Izquierda, Argentina
Alan Maass, editor, Socialist Worker, U.S.
Finian McGrath, Independent TD, Dublin North-Central, Ireland
Patricia McKenna, former Member of the European Parliament, Irish Green Party
Luigi Malabarba, senator, Party of Communist Refoundation, Italy
Ismail Manouzi, publishing director, Al Mounadhil-a, Morocco
José Melendez, Finance Secretary, Steelworkers' Union (SUTISS), Venezuela
John Moloney, Public and Civil Service Union NEC member, Britain
Pedro Montes, economist, member of the Federal Presidency of Izquierda Unida/United Left, Spanish state
Daisy Mules, Derry Trades Union Council and Sinn Fein member, Ireland
Jaime Pastor, member of the Federal Political Council of Izquierda Unida/United Left, Spanish state
John Percy, Democratic Socialist Perspective, Australia
Stalin Pérez Borges, National Coordinator of the UNT, Venezuela
James Petras, Professor Emeritus, adviser, MST in Brazil
Michael Pruetz, WASG (Berlin leadership), Germany
Lluis Rabell, member of the National Council of the Catalan United Left, Spanish state
Mick Rafferty, Dublin City Councillor (Independent), Ireland
John Rees, national secretary, Respect Party, England and Wales
Andy Reid, Public and Civil Service Union NEC member, Britain
Revolta Global, Catalunya
Vilma Ripoll, city deputy, Buenos Aires, and leader of MST, Argentina
Teresa Rodriguez, member of the Federal Presidency of Izquierda Unida/United Left, Spanish state
Alfredo Saad Filho, university professor, London
Edgard Sánchez, on behalf of the Revolutionary Workers' Party (PRT), Mexico
Dita Indah Sari, chairperson; and Zely Ariane, Department of International Relations, People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD), Indonesia
Ahmed Shawki, editor, International Socialist Review, U.S.
Virginia de la Siega, member of the LCR national committee, France
I.K. Shukla, writer, Los Angeles
Oscar Sogliano, Bolivia
Alan Thornett, Respect National Executive, Britain
Diosdado Toledano Gonzalez, member of the Presidency of Izquierda Unida/United Left and member of the Permanent Council of the Catalan United Left, Spanish state
Eric Toussaint, president, Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt, Belgium
Greg Tucker, National Train Crew secretary, Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, Britain
Marcos Tulio Díaz, general secretary, Construction Union (UBT), Venezuela
Franco Turigliatto, senator, Party of Communist Refoundation, Italy
Achin Vanaik, professor of international relations, Department of Political Science, Delhi University, India
Jesús Vargas, coordinator, Carabobo Region of the UNT, Venezuela
Vilma Vivas, coordinator, Tachira Region of the UNT, Venezuela
Yang Weichung, Workers Democracy Association, Taiwan
Hector Wesley, Public and Civil Service Union NEC member, Britain
Niel Wijethilake, general secretary, Corporation Co-op & Mercantile Union, Sri Lanka
Howard Zinn, historian, U.S.
Slavoj Zizek, Slovenian philosopher

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