The Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) approved today (30) as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic in the 2022 elections to professor and economist Sofia Manzano. The slate will have, as vice-president, the trade unionist Antônio Alves. For the majority elections, the party chose not to form coalitions with other parties. The homologation ceremony took place in the Tatuapé neighborhood, in São Paulo.
The PCB’s proposals cover the repeal of “counter-reforms and all neoliberal legislation contrary to the interests of workers, youth and the poor population”, which includes the Fiscal Responsibility Law and the spending ceiling and the creation of a Responsibility Law Social, which guarantees resources for public investment in the development of the country and in the social areas.
The tax reform defended by the party is “progressive”, taxing profits and dividends, large fortunes, inheritances and financial transactions, in addition to exempting those earning up to five minimum wages from the collection of income tax. The policy defended by the PCB is one of “recomposing wage losses and increasing the minimum wage, allied to an agrarian reform under popular control and a permanent fight against all forms of oppression.
During the speech, Sofia Manzano spoke about the 100-year history of the “party in the streets, denouncing the ills of a capitalism that did not work for destroying human beings and the environment”. She defended the reduction of the working day to 30 hours a week without salary reduction. She also addressed some controversial issues such as the decriminalization of drugs and abortion.
“We are the only candidate that defends the decriminalization of drugs because the war on drugs policy is actually a policy of killing and incarcerating the black and young population. And we are the only candidate that defends the legalization of abortion, because abortion in our country is only illegal and criminalized for the poor population. For rich women, it is not criminalized, because it is quietly practiced in the structures of the highest luxury of private health”. Antônio Alves reiterated his commitment to taking the PCB’s word to favelas, communities, work and study places, homes and indigenous villages. “We’re going to be where the people are,” he said.
Profile
Sofia Manzano was born on May 19, 1971 in the city of São Paulo. Graduated in economic sciences from PUC/SP, she holds a master’s degree in economic development from the Institute of Economics at Unicamp and a PhD in economic history from USP. She was approved in first place in a public contest for professor of the Economics course at the State University of Southwest Bahia (UESB), which is why she moved to Vitória da Conquista in 2013.
Develops research on the labor market and social inequality in capitalism. Militancy in the PCB began during the 1989 presidential campaign. He was also active in the trade union movement. She joined some teachers unions, being elected vice president of the University of São Paulo Teachers Association between 2015 and 2016.
