Workers' Party (Brazil)

"Partido dos Trabalhadores" redirects here. For the Bissau-Guinean party, see Workers' Party (Guinea-Bissau).

Not to be confused with Brazilian Labour Party (current).

The Workers' Party (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) is a centre-left^[24][25] to left-wing^[26][27] political party in Brazil that is currently the country's ruling party. Some scholars classify its ideology in the 21st century as social democracy, with the party shifting from a broadly socialist ideology in the 1990s,^[5] although the party retains a marginal far-left faction to this day.^[21] Founded in 1980, PT governed at the federal level in a coalition government with several other parties from 1 January 2003 to 31 August 2016. After the 2002 parliamentary election, PT became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies and the largest in the Federal Senate for the first time.^[28] With the highest approval rating in the history of the country, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is PT's most prominent member.^[29] Dilma Rousseff, also a member of PT, was elected twice (first on 31 October 2010, and then again on 26 October 2014) but did not finish her second term due to her impeachment in 2016. The party came back to power with Lula's victory in the 2022 presidential election.

Workers' Party Partido dos Trabalhadores
Abbreviation	PT
President	Gleisi Hoffmann
Vice President	Washington Quaquá
Honorary President	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Founded	10 February 1980; 44 years ago (1980-02-10)
Registered	11 February 1982 (1982-02-11)
Headquarters	São Paulo, Brazil Brasília, Brazil
Newspaper	Focus Brasil^[1]
Think tank	Fundação Perseu Abramo^[2]
Student wing	Juventude do PT^[3]
Membership (2023)	1,607,248^[4]
Ideology	Social democracy^[5]^[6] Progressivism^[7]^[8] Populism^[9]^[10] Lulism^[11] Factions: Democratic socialism^[12]^[13] Socialism of the 21st century^[14] Catholic left^[15]^[16]^[17] Liberation theology^[18]^[19]^[20]
Political position	Centre-left Factions: Left-wing to far-left^[21]
National affiliation	Brazil of Hope
Regional affiliation	São Paulo Forum COPPPAL
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance^[22]
Colors	Red   White
TSE Identification Number	13
Governorships	4 / 27
Mayors	182 / 5,570^[23]
Federal Senate	9 / 81
Chamber of Deputies	69 / 513
Mercosur Parliament	5 / 38
State Assemblies	83 / 1,024
City Councillors	2,665 / 56,810^[23]
Party flag
Website
pt.org.br
Politics of Brazil Political parties Elections

Both born among the opposition to the 1964 coup d'état and the subsequent military dictatorship, PT and the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) were the biggest adversaries in contemporary Brazilian politics from 1994 to 2014, with their candidates finishing either first or second on the ballot in each presidential election in that period. The Worker's Party won five presidential elections since the country reinstated democracy, and came in second in every other election held in that time.

Despite its relatively large number of supporters, the party has been involved in a number of corruption scandals since Lula first came to power and saw its popular support plummet between 2015 and 2020, with presidential approval ratings falling from over 80% to 9%^[30] and successive reductions in all elected offices since 2014.^[31][32] The 2022 general election marked a turning point in that trajectory.

The party symbols are a five-pointed red star inscribed with the initials "PT" in the center; a red flag with a white star also with the initials in the center; and the Workers Party's anthem.^[33] Its Superior Electoral Court (TSE) identification number is 13. Members and sympathisers of the party are known as "Petistas".

History

 

Lula, at the time a Federal Deputy, makes a speech at the 1988 Brazilian Constituent Assembly

The Workers' Party was launched by a heterogeneous group made up of militants opposed to Brazil's military government, trade unionists, left-wing intellectuals and artists and Catholics linked to the liberation theology^[34] on 10 February 1980 at Colégio Sion in São Paulo, a private Catholic school for girls.^[35] The party emerged as a result of the approach between the labor movements in the ABC Region such as the Conferência das Classes Trabalhadoras (Conclat), later developed into the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) which carried major strikes from 1978 to 1980; and the old Brazilian left-wing, whose proponents, many of whom were journalists, intellectuals, artists and union organizers, were returning from exile with the 1979 Amnesty law, many of them having endured imprisonment and torture at the hands of the military regime^[36] in addition to years of exile.^[35] Dilma Rousseff herself was imprisoned and tortured by the dictatorship.^[37]

PT was born by historical need. PT is not an accident. The future of Brazil goes through a party with the same program as PT, under any name whatsoever, under any leader whomsoever.

— Claudio Solano, journalist

PT was launched under a democratic socialism trend.^[38] After the 1964 coup d'état, Brazil's main federation of labor unions, the General Command of Workers (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores – CGT), which gathered leaders approved by the Ministry of Labour since its formation, a practice tied to the fact that since Getúlio Vargas' dictatorship, unions had become quasi-state entities, was dissolved while unions themselves suffered intervention of the military regime.

 

Workers' Party regional branch in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais

The resurgence of an organized labour movement, evidenced by strikes in the ABC Region on the late 1970s led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, enabled the reorganization of the labour movement without the direct interference of the state. The movement originally sought to act exclusively in union politics, but the survival of a conservative unionism under the domination of the state (evidenced in the refoundation of CGT) and the influence exercised over the trade union movement by leaders of traditional left-wing parties, such as the Brazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro, PCB), forced the unionist movement of ABC, encouraged by anti-Stalinist leaders, to organize its own party in a strategy similar to that held by the Solidarność union movement in Poland.

Therefore, PT emerged rejecting the traditional leaders of official unionism and seeking to put into practice a new form of democratic socialism, trying to reject political models it regarded as decaying, such as the Soviet and Chinese ones. It represented the confluence between unionism and anti-Stalinist intelligentsia.

PT was officially recognized as a party by the Brazilian Supreme Electoral Court on 11 February 1982.^[39] The first membership card belonged to art critic and former Trotskyist activist Mário Pedrosa, followed by literary scholar Antonio Candido and historian Sérgio Buarque de Holanda.^[40] Holanda's daughter Ana de Holanda later became Minister of Culture in the Rousseff cabinet.

Electoral history

 

Presidential elections against PSDB between 1994 and 2014

Since 1988, the Workers' Party has grown in popularity on the national stage by winning the elections in many of the largest Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Goiânia as well as in some important states, such as Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and the Federal District. During the time it governed Porto Alegre , it implemented measures such as a progressive tax reform, involving the rich being taxed more highly to fund basic services for the poor, and the development of new institutions of genuine popular participation which gave, according to one study, “real decision-making power to civil society and involving a large number of civil organizations – from neighbourhood groups to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and from cultural groups to education, health and housing pressure groups – in running the city.”^[41]

This winning streak culminated with the victory of its presidential candidate Lula in 2002 who succeeded Fernando Henrique Cardoso of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira – PSDB). For its defense of economic liberalism, PSDB is the party's main electoral rival as well as the Democrats, heir of the National Renewal Alliance (Aliança Renovadora Nacional – ARENA), ruling party during the military dictatorship. Along with the Popular Socialist Party (Partido Popular Socialista – PPS), a dissidence of PCB, they have been said to form the centre-right opposition to the Lula administration.

1989 presidential elections

Main article: 1989 Brazilian presidential election

In the 1989 general elections, Lula went to the second round with Fernando Collor de Mello. Even though all centrist and left-wing candidates of the first round united around Lula's candidacy, Collor's campaign was strongly supported by the mass media (notably Rede Globo as seen on the documentary Beyond Citizen Kane) and Lula lost in the second round by a close margin of 5.7%.^[42][43]

1994 and 1998 general elections

Main articles: 1994 Brazilian general election and 1998 Brazilian general election

Leading up to the 1994 general elections, Lula was the leading presidential candidate in the majority of polls. As a result, centrist and right-wing parties openly united for Fernando Henrique Cardoso's candidacy. As Minister of Economy, Cardoso created the Real Plan, which established the new currency and subsequently ended inflation and provided economic stability. As a result, Cardoso won the election in the first round with 54% of the votes. However, it has been noted that "the elections were not a complete disaster for PT, which significantly increased its presence in the Congress and elected for the first time two state governors".^[44] Cardoso would once again beat Lula in a rematch and re-elected for a second term in 1998.

2002 general elections

Main article: 2002 Brazilian general election

After the detrition of PSDB's image and as a result of an economic crisis that burst in the final years of Cardoso's government, Lula won the 2002 presidential election in the second round with over 52 million votes, becoming the most voted president in history, surpassing Ronald Reagan.

2006 general elections

Main article: 2006 Brazilian general election

On 29 October 2006, PT won 83 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 11 seats in the Federal Senate. Lula was re-elected with more than 60% of the votes, extending his position as President of Brazil until 1 January 2011.^[45]

PT is now the second largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, the fourth largest party in the Federal Senate and has five state governorships. However, it only gained control of one among the ten richest states (Bahia).

2010 general elections

Main article: 2010 Brazilian general election

 

PT as a black cat chasing a toucan (PSDB's mascot) by Carlos Latuff

In the 2010 general elections held on 3 October, PT gained control of 17.15% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies, a record for the party since 2002. With 88 seats gained, it became the largest party in the lower chamber for the first time ever. PT also became the second largest party in the Federal Senate for the first time after electing of 11 senators, making a total of 14 senators for the 2010–2014 legislature. Its national coalition gained control of 311 seats in the lower house and 50 seats in the upper house, a broad majority in both houses which the Lula administration never had. This election also saw the decrease in the number of seats controlled by the centre-right opposition bloc as it shrank from 133 to 111 deputies. The left-wing opposition, formed by PSOL, retained control of three seats.

The party was also expected to elect its presidential candidate Dilma Rousseff in the first round. However, she was not able to receive the necessary number of valid votes (over 50%) and a second round in which she scored 56% of the votes took place on 31 October 2010. On 1 January 2011, she was inaugurated and thus became the first female head of government ever in the history of Brazil and the first de facto female head of state since the death in 1816 of Maria I, Queen of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.

In the 2010 elections, PT retained control of the governorships of Bahia, Sergipe and Acre, in addition to gaining back control of Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District. Nevertheless, it lost control of Pará. Candidates supported by the party won the race in Amapá, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pernambuco, Piauí and Rio de Janeiro, which means that PT would participate in 13 out of 27 state governorships.

2014 general elections

Main article: 2014 Brazilian general election

In the 2014 general elections held on 5 October, the party won 13.9% of the vote and 69 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, down from the 88 seats they gained in 2010. In the first round of the presidential election, Rousseff won 41.6% of the vote but not enough to secure a victory.^[46] In the run-off on 26 October, Rousseff was re-elected with a narrow victory with 51.6% of the vote against Senator Aécio Neves.

Cabinet representation

PT enjoyed strong representation in the cabinets it led for most of the time that it was in office. PT held the majority of cabinet positions in the first two coalitions, with its occupation of ministerial positions comprising 60% in the first coalition,^[47][48] 54.8% in the second coalition and 46.5% in the third coalition.^[49]

Ideology

 

Demonstration of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) — Brazil's largest national trade union center — in Brasília. Both CUT and PT share the same origin and both organizations maintain a strong connection

Although PT deliberately never identified itself with a particular brand of leftism, it nevertheless "always defined itself as socialist" and espoused many radical positions.^[23] For example, at the Brazilian Constituent Assembly of 1988 it advocated repudiation of Brazil's external debt, nationalization of the country's banks and mineral wealth and a radical land reform.^[23] In addition, as a form of protest and as a signal that the party did not fully accept the "rules of the game" PT's delegates refused to sign the draft constitution.^[23]

Over the next few years, the party moderated a bit, but it never clearly shed its radicalism and undertook no major reforms of party principles even after Lula's defeat in the 1989 presidential elections.^[23] For example, the resolution from the party's 8th National Meeting in 1993 reaffirmed PT's "revolutionary and socialist character", condemned the "conspiracy" of the elites to subvert democracy, stated that the party advocated "radical agrarian reform and suspension of the external debt" and concluded that "capitalism and private property cannot provide a future for humanity".^[23]

 

Activists of the Landless Workers' Movement, one of the main social movements linked to the Worker's Party

In 1994, Lula ran for the presidency again and during his campaign dismissed Fernando Henrique Cardoso's recently implemented Real Plan as an "electoral swindle".^[23] The resolutions from the 1994 National Meeting condemned the "control by the dominant classes over the means of production" and reaffirmed the party's "commitment to socialism".^[23] PT's Program of Government that year also committed the party to "anti-monopolist, anti-latifúndio, and anti-imperialist change [...] as part of a long-term strategy to construct an alternative to capitalism", statements that "sent shivers down the spine of the international financial community". Thus, as of 1995 "little or nothing" had changed in PT's official ideology since the early 1990s.^[23]

After Lula's 1994 loss, the party began a slow process of self-examination.^[23] The resolution adopted at its 10th National Meeting in 1995 stated that "our 1994 defeat invites a cruel reflection about our image in society, about the external impact of our internal battles, [and] about our ideological and political ambiguities".^[23] The move from self-examination did not involve a clean break with the past as in other socialist parties after the end of the Cold War.^[23] The process was gradual, full of contradictions and replete with intra-party tension.^[23] By 1997, the National Meeting resolution redefined PT's version of socialism as a "democratic revolution", emphasizing a political rather than economic vision of socialism that aimed to make the state "more transparent and socially accountable".^[23]

Lula's third presidential campaign platform in 1998 cut socialist proposals and even the mention of a transition to a socialist society, but the party's self-definition remained highly ambiguous as the resolution from the party's Meeting that year affirmed that Lula's platform "should not be confused with the socialist program of PT".^[23] Thus, while PT had begun to distance itself from its original socialist rhetoric and proposals by 1998, a clearer shift did not occur until after Lula lost again that year and after Lula and his group had more fully digested the impact of Brazil's changing political context and of Cardoso's economic reforms.^[23]

During Lula's fourth presidential run in 2002, the transition away from overt left-wing policies was fully cemented, and in a document known as the Letter to the Brazilian People, Lula committed himself and his party to the reform of taxes and pensions, and to promoting economic growth. ^[50] He also accepted some of the liberal reforms from the Cardoso government, meaning that the party program was now de facto centre-left and social democratic in its ideology. This strategy was successful, and Lula won the 2002 election in a landslide thanks to the widening of his base. However, some of the more left-wing factions of the party were critical of this turn toward the center and later left to form new left-wing parties like the Socialism and Liberty Party.

The party has a strong left-wing Catholic faction, and the Catholic left is considered the leading force behind the creation of the party, together with the Marxist left and 'new unionism'. Catholic grassroots communities known as CEBs became widespread in Brazil and became the backbone of organization development of the PT in rural peripheries and rural areas, where the party relied on its Catholic faction to provide structural network. Whereas the party was considered a 'vehicle' for social change, supportive Catholic communities were "gasoline stations". The socialism of PT appealed to the Brazilian Catholic left, who was heavily influenced by liberation theology and believed that Marxism and Political Catholicism complemented one another. One of pro-PT Catholic priests, Frei Betto, declared in 1986: "A real Christian is a communist, and a real communist a Christian."^[51]

Thanks to its large grassroots base, the Catholic left allowed PT to expand en masse and influenced the ideology of the party, as the Catholi factions provided meeting places for PT nuclei and engaged in "political consciousness-raising" amongst the rural population. Because of this, the pastoral work of the Catholic Church is considered to have been "fundamental for the PT’s achieving a truly national character". One of the co-founders of PT, Hamilton Pereira, wrote that thanks to its Catholic origins, the party "became a party that [brought] along the various expressions of Brazil". Lula also stated several times that the Catholic left played a more important role in the PT than trade unions.^[51] The Workers' Party was the only party in Brazil able to develop such close relations with the Catholic Church.^[17]

The PT is also influenced by liberation theology, considered an important factor in the creation of the party.^[20] Peter Flynn in the Third World Quarterly wrote that the party is closely linked to liberation theology, and its liberation Catholic faction was an important contribution towards the party's victory in the 2002 Brazilian general election.^[19] The liberation theology faction of the party is also regularly included in the party's cabinet appointment. Liberationist bishop Mauro Morelli served as president of the National Council for Food Security, and later became a political advisor of Lula. The PT mayor and Catholic lawyer Patrus Ananias became famous through his administration in Belo Horizonte, which became distinguished for its church-coordinated work against hunger and poverty. Liberation theologist Frei Betto also served as Lula's special adviser, and the faction also played a crucial role in the education policy of the party and the 2010 anti-corruption “clean slate” law.^[18] Major liberation theology figures such as Leonardo Boff became supporters of the party.^[52] The PT's close relationship with Brazil's progressive Catholic Church continues to influence the rherotic of the party, with its politicians referring concepts from liberation theology.^[53]

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Running mate	Coalition	First round		Second round		Result
				Votes	%	Votes	%
1989	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)	José Paulo Bisol (PSB)	PT; PSB; PCdoB	11,622,673	16.1% (#2)	31,076,364	47.0% (#2)	Lost  N
1994		Aloizio Mercadante (PT)	PT; PSB; PCdoB; PPS; PV; PSTU	17,122,127	27.0% (#2)	–	–	Lost  N
1998		Leonel Brizola (PDT)	PT; PDT; PSB; PCdoB; PCB	21,475,211	31.7% (#2)	–	–	Lost  N
2002		José Alencar (PL)	PT; PL; PCdoB; PMN; PCB	39,455,233	46.4% (#1)	52,793,364	61.3% (#1)	Elected  Y
2006		José Alencar (PRB)	PT; PRB; PCdoB	46,662,365	48.6% (#1)	58,295,042	60.8% (#1)	Elected  Y
2010	Dilma Rousseff (PT)	Michel Temer (PMDB)	PT; PMDB; PR; PSB; PDT; PCdoB; PSC; PRB; PTC; PTN	47,651,434	46.9% (#1)	55,752,529	56.1% (#1)	Elected  Y
2014			PT; PMDB; PSD; PP; PR; PDT; PRB; PROS; PCdoB	43,267,668	41.6% (#1)	54,501,118	51.6% (#1)	Elected  Y
2018	Fernando Haddad (PT)	Manuela d'Ávila (PCdoB)	PT; PCdoB; PROS	31,341,997	29.3% (#2)	47,040,380	44.8% (#2)	Lost  N
2022	Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)	Geraldo Alckmin (PSB)	PT; PCdoB; PV; PSOL; REDE; PSB; Solidariedade; Avante; Agir	57,259,405	48.4% (#1)	60,325,504	50.9% (#1)	Elected  Y
Source: Election Resources: Federal Elections in Brazil – Results Lookup

Chamber of Deputies and Senate elections

Election	Chamber of Deputies				Federal Senate				Status
	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
1982	1,458,719	3.5	8 / 479	8	1,538,786	3.6	0 / 25		Opposition
1986	3,253,999	6.9	16 / 487	8	–	–	0 / 49		Opposition
1990	4,128,052	10.2	35 / 502	19	–	–	1 / 31	1	Opposition
1994	5,959,854	13.1	49 / 513	14	13,198,319	13.8	4 / 54	3	Opposition
1998	8,786,528	13.2	58 / 513	9	11,392,662	18.4	7 / 81	3	Opposition
2002	16,094,080	18.4	91 / 513	33	32,739,665	21.3	14 / 81	7	Coalition
2006	13,989,859	15.0	83 / 513	8	16,222,159	19.2	10 / 81	4	Coalition
2010	16,289,199	16.9	88 / 513	5	39,410,141	23.1	15 / 81	5	Coalition
2014	13,554,166	14.0	68 / 513	20	15,155,818	17.0	12 / 81	3	Coalition (2014–2016)
									Opposition (2016–2018)
2018	10,126,611	10.3	56 / 513	12	24,785,670	14.5	6 / 81	6	Opposition
2022	15,354,125^[a]	13.9	69 / 513	13	12,456,553	12.2	9 / 81	3	Coalition
Sources: Georgetown University, Election Resources,

1. Votes obtained as part of Brazil of Hope coalition.

Voter base

Most of the Workers' Party votes in presidential elections since 2006 stems from the North and Northeast regions of Brazil. Nevertheless, the party has always won every presidential election in Rio de Janeiro from 1998 to 2014, the Federal District from 1989 to 2010 (with the exception in 1998 when Cardoso won there) and in Minas Gerais from 2002 to 2014 (these are two of the three largest states by number of voters and together they comprise 18.5% of voters). The party also maintains a stronghold in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, where it has won continuously since the second round of 1989 until 2002. Originally an urban party, with ties to ABC Region's unionism, PT has recently seen a major increase of its support in smaller towns.

 

PT supporters in the 2018 election. The banner in the front says "Lula is arrested unfairly".

Most of PT's rejection comes from São Paulo as it has won elections there only once in 2002 (both rounds). The historical PT rejection in São Paulo was more widespread in interior than the capital as PT won the 1988, 2000 and 2012 São Paulo mayoral election and was a major force in his homeland, the Greater São Paulo. Despite this, the party lost its support even in the region and has not won any electoral zone in the capital in 2016 municipal elections. Fernando Haddad, the candidate seeking reelection, stayed in a distant second place, with 36 percentual points below the winner João Doria. PT managed to win in only one city of the region, the small and distant municipality of Franco da Rocha. PT is also strongly rejected in other states of the Center-South, such as Rio de Janeiro, which until 2018 had voted in the Workers Party presidential candidates in all new republic elections except 1994, the party shows strong difficulties to make representatives in federal, state and municipal levels. The party never elected a mayor in the capital of the state, never elected a governor (Benedita da Silva, the sole governor of the state from the party, took over because the resignation of the titular Anthony Garotinho in 2002, which her party had broken some years early, and was massive defeated in the same year's election by the Garotinho's wife Rosângela Matheus) and is often overturned in elections by left-wing parties with much less weight in national elections. The triumphs in the state were more associated with a strong rejection of PSDB in the state (which is even more weak and rejected despite his national strength) than a support of PT's program. In 2018 presidential elections, PT lost in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo with similar percentages in both states, with a difference of only 0.02% less percent of valid votes to the party in São Paulo. Despite being a southeastern state, many regions of Minas Gerais, especially in the north region of the state, had strong economic, cultural and socially ties with the Northeast. São Francisco River, a symbol of the Northeast, has its source in a small city of Minas, Pirapora. With the exception of Rio Grande do Sul, Distrito Federal, and Espírito Santo PT never gets an elected governor in the Center-south until 2014, when Fernando Damata Pimentel was elected governor of Minas Gerais.

PT had a strong electoral stronghold in North Brazil and in the Amazonian region; The party triumphed in every state governorship in Acre from 1990 to 2018. However, the Acre section of the party is far more independent and moderate than the rest of the party and PT had only won the presidential election in the state twice in 2002 and 2006. PT also lost the governorship of Acre in 2018 to a candidate from right-wing Progressive Party. Roraima, which the impact of the controversy about the indigenous territory of Raposa Serra do Sol, which former President Lula gave strong support despite the opposition of the non-indigenous people; and Rondonia, which had a large population of evangelicals and south/southeastern migrants, also show reservations about the party. The electoral stronghold was also lost in 2018 elections; PT only triumphed in the states of Pará and Tocantins, the only states in the region which borders Brazilian Northeast and much of their culture is near from Northwest than the rest of Amazon. In Amazonas, the largest Brazilian states, PT lost in 2018 for the first time since 1998; PT lost in the capital of the state, Manaus, a free zone which concentrates more than the half of the population of the state; in the large, sparsely inhabited interior of the Amazonian state, PT win by a large margin but insufficient to guarantee the fifth triumph of the party in the state on presidential election.

PT, however, maintained and expanded his stronghold in Northeast Brazil, conquered in Lula first elections in 2002. Since 2002, the only time that a state other than these which did not vote in PT in a presidential election was Alagoas in both rounds of 2002 presidential elections. PT and its allies was able to make big gains in north and northeast regions of Brazil even in times which the party was in crisis, like in the last mayoral elections. PT's most loyal party PCdoB and former allies Brazilian Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Brasileiro − PSB) and Democratic Labour Party (Partido Democrático Trabalhista − PDT) made huge gains in region together with PT in the Lula−Rousseff era. PCdoB is now the strongest party in Maranhão state and was able to elect the mayor of Aracaju, Sergipe; PSB is now the strongest party in the states of Pernambuco and Paraíba; and PDT was able to triumph in three capitals of the northeastern. Despite losing all capitals in northwest, PT had the governorships of three northwestern states, Piauí, Bahia and Ceará. The governorship of Bahia, conquered in 2006, is symbolical. The party was a stronghold of Liberal Front Party (Partido da Frente Liberal − PFL), now Democrats (Democratas − DEM), the greatest ideological rival of PT in national level. PSDB is a strongest party and headed all presidential tickets which PFL/DEM participated since 1994, but the origin of PSDB resembling with the origins PT as a leftist opposition to the dictatorship, and the parties had strong links until PSDB broke with PT and join in a coalition with PFL, a right-wing party with strong fiscal conservative views, associated with the Brazilian military regime in 1993 and the homeland of Antônio Carlos Magalhães, the strongest leadership of PFL and a fierce foe of PT. Bahia is now the main stronghold of PT, the most reliable state for the Petismo and is considered a governance model to the party. Despite this, the state's capital Salvador is governed by ACM Neto, a leading member of DEM and grandson of Antonio Carlos Magalhães.

The party is often accused of exploiting the North–South divide in Brazil to gain votes in the northeast. The party denies the claims and accuses the opposition to do the same in the South and Southeast.

According to a poll conducted by IBOPE on 31 October 2010, during the second round voting PT's candidate Dilma Rousseff had an overwhelming majority of votes among the poorest Brazilians.^[54] Her lead was of 26% among those who earned a minimum wage or less per month.^[54] Rousseff also had the majority of votes among Catholics (58%), blacks (65%) and mixed-race Brazilians (60%).^[54] Amongst whites and Protestants, she was statistically tie to José Serra and her lead was of only 4% on both demographic groups.^[54] Even though she was the first female candidate in a major party, her votes amongst men was wider than amongst women.^[54]

Controversies

See also: List of scandals in Brazil

2003–2007 internal crisis and split

The changes in the political orientation of PT (from a left-wing socialist to a centre-left social-democratic party) after Lula was elected president were well received by many in the population, but as a historically more radical party, the PT has experienced a series of internal struggles with members who have refused to embrace the new political positions of the party. These struggles have fueled public debates, the worst of which had its climax in December 2003, when four dissident legislators were expelled from the party for voting against Social Insurance Reform.^[55] Among these members were congressman João Batista Oliveira de Araujo (known as Babá) and senator Heloísa Helena, who formed the Socialism and Liberty Party (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade − PSOL) in June 2004 and ran for president in 2006, becoming at the time the woman who had garnered the most votes in Brazilian history.

In another move, 112 members of the radical wing of the party announced they were abandoning PT in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre on 30 January 2005. They also published a manifesto entitled Manifesto of the Rupture that states that PT "is no longer an instrument of social transformation, but only an instrument of the status quo", continuing with references to the International Monetary Fund and other economic and social issues.

BANCOOP scandal

This scandal, called the BANCOOP case, included João Vaccari Neto and four other directors of the housing cooperative. The cooperative received government contracts and had multi-million real revenue. The cooperative was found to have illegally padded the service contracts by 20%, with many of the contracts going unfulfilled. The cooperative eventually folded with a deficit of over R$100 million, requiring liquidation of assets to minimize the loss by members.

2006 electoral scandal

This scandal unfolded around September 2006, just two weeks before general elections. As a result, Berzoini left the coordination of Lula's re-election after allegedly using PT's budget (which is partially state-funded through party allowances) to purchase, from a confessed fraudster, a dossier that would be used to attack political adversaries. On 25 April 2007, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal unanimously cleared Lula of any responsibility for this scandal.^[56]

Mensalão scandal

Main article: Mensalão scandal

In July 2005, members of the party suffered a sequence of corruption accusations, started by a deputy of the Brazilian Labour Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro – PTB), Roberto Jefferson.^[57] Serious evidence for slush funding and bribes-for-votes were presented, dragging PT to the most serious crisis in its history, known colloquially as the Mensalão. José Genoíno resigned as president of the party and was replaced by Tarso Genro, former mayor of Porto Alegre. A small minority of party members defected as a result of the crisis. Most of them went to PSOL.

Lava Jato scandal

Main article: Operation Car Wash

The investigation of a series of crimes, such corruption and money laundering, led to the arrest of the party's treasurer João Vaccari Neto and his sister-in-law. José Genoino, José Dirceu, Delcídio do Amaral, André Vargas and Delúbio Soares were also arrested in the process. Most recently, former President Lula was arrested in April 2018.^[58] However, in March 2021, the Supreme Federal Court overturned all the convictions.^[59] This came after leaks which suggested that Judge Sérgio Moro had conspired with the prosecution.^[60]

Organization

Since its inception the party has been led by the following:

• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (10 February 1980 – 24 January 1994)
• Rui Falcão (1994)
• José Dirceu (1995–2002)
• José Genoíno (2002–2005)
• Tarso Genro (2005) (interim)
• Ricardo Berzoini (2005–2006)
• Marco Aurélio Garcia (6 October 2006 – 2 January 2007) (interim)
• Ricardo Berzoini (2 January 2007 – 19 February 2010)
• José Eduardo Dutra (19 February 2010 – 29 April 2011)
• Rui Falcão (29 April 2011 – 3 June 2017)
• Gleisi Hoffmann (since 3 June 2017)

Factions

There are about thirty factions (tendências) within PT, ranging from Articulação, the centre-left group that Lula is a part of, to Marxists and Christian socialists.

Tendencies integrating the Building a New Brazil field

Considered the right-wing of the party, i.e. going from centre to centre-left.

• Articulation - Unity on Struggle (AUNL)
• PT Movement
• Radical Democracy (DR)

Tendencies categorized as the left-wing of the party

• The Work [pt] (O Trabalho, OT)
• Left-wing Articulation (AE)
• Socialist Democracy (DS)
• Socialist Brazil (BS)
• Democratic Left (ED)
• Popular Socialist Left (EPS)
• Socialist Resistance (RS)

Former factions

• Workers' Cause (CO) – seceded from the party in 1990 as the Workers' Cause Party (PCO)
• Socialist Convergence [pt] (CS) – seceded in 1993 as part of Unified Workers' Socialist Party (PSTU)
• Workers' Socialist Current (CST) – seceded in 2004 to form the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL)
• Socialist Left Movement (MES) – seceded in 2004 to form the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL)
• Popular Socialist Action (APS) – seceded in 2005 and joined the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL)
• Tendency for the Workers' Revolutionary Party (TPOR) – Trotskyist faction that seceded in 1990 as the Workers' Revolutionary Party (POR)
• Marxist Left (EM), the Brazilian section of the Trotskyist International Marxist Tendency. Marxist Left released a statement saying that "for the revolutionaries, there is no more room for the construction of socialist ideas within PT".^[61]

Famous members

Its members are known as petistas, from the Portuguese acronym PT.

• Henos Amorina
• Alexandre Padilha
• Aloizio Mercadante
• Ana Julia Carepa
• Antônio Palocci
• Arlindo Chinaglia
• Benedita da Silva
• Binho Marques
• Cabo Almi
• Chico Buarque
• Chico Mendes
• Dilma Rousseff
• Eduardo Suplicy
• Fernando Haddad
• Fernando Pimentel
• Guido Mantega
• Jaques Wagner
• João Paulo Cunha
• João Vaccari Neto
• José Dirceu
• Luis Favre
• Luiz Gushiken
• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
• Luizianne Lins
• Marcelo Déda
• Marco Aurélio Garcia
• Marilena Chaui
• Juliana Prestes, niece of Luís Carlos Prestes
• Olívio Dutra
• Paulo Delgado
• Paulo Freire
• Rodrigo Maroni
• Sérgio Buarque de Holanda
• Tarso Genro
• Wellington Dias

References

1. "Revista Focus Brasil" (in Brazilian Portuguese).
2. "Página inicial - com gutenberg". Fundação Perseu Abramo. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
3. "Juventude do PT". pt.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese).
4. [Electorate statistics – Affiliated voters] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Superior Electoral Court. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
5. Samuels, David (2004). "From Socialism to Social Democracy: Party Organization and the Transformation of the Workers' Party in Brazil". Comparative Political Studies. 37 (9): 999–1024. doi:10.1177/0010414004268856. ISSN 0010-4140. S2CID 10001704.
6. "Is Social Democracy Possible in Latin America?". Retrieved December 29, 2021.
7. "Guidelines for soy don't protect tropical forests in Brazil". Futurity. November 2, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023. Voters chose between the conservative Jair Bolsonaro and the liberal Lula da Silva.
8. Liisa L. North, Timothy D. Clark, ed. (2017). Dominant Elites in Latin America: From Neo-Liberalism to the 'Pink Tide'. Springer. p. 212. ISBN 9783319532554. In Brazil, as Simone Bohn makes straightforward (Chap. 3), the progressive Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) governments did not threaten the power of the national elite or landlord class; ...
9. "Proposta do PT é "populista' e "estúpida", diz Dornbusch" [PT's proposal is "populist" and "stupid", says Dornbusch]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese).
10. Cattan, Nacha; Biller, David (October 31, 2017). "These Elections Could Reshape Latin America". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
11. Singer, André (2009). "Raízes sociais e ideológicas do lulismo" [Social and ideological roots of Lulism]. Novos Estudos - CEBRAP (in Brazilian Portuguese) (85): 83–102. doi:10.1590/S0101-33002009000300004.
12. Busky, Donald F. (2000). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 9780275968861.
13. Uribe, Gustavo; Herédia, Thais (September 21, 2016). "Apesar de resistência do PT, Lula quer participação de Meirelles em eventual governo, dizem aliados" [Despite PT's resistance, Lula wants Meirelles to participate in an eventual government, say allies]. CNN Brazil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved October 28, 2022.
14. • Amaral, Oswaldo E. do. A estrela não é mais vermelha: as mudanças do programa petista nos anos 1990 (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo, Garçoni, 2003.
    • Gadotti, M.; Pereira, O. Pra que PT: Origem, Projeto e Consolidação do Partido dos Trabalhadores (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo, Cortez, 1989.
    • Keck, Margareth E. PT: a lógica da diferença: o Partido dos Trabalhadores na construção da democracia brasileira (in Brazilian Portuguese). São Paulo, Ática, 1991.
    • Singer, André. Raizes sociais e ideológicas do lulismo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Revista Novos Estudos CEBRAP, n. 85, nov. 2009.
15. van Dyck, Brandon Philip (2014). The Paradox of Adversity: New Left Party Survival and Collapse in Latin America. Harvard University. pp. 112–113.
16. Machado, Adriano Henriques (2010). Os católicos oPTaram?: os “setores católicos” e o Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) na grande São Paulo (1978-1982) (in Portuguese). São Paulo. p. 60.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
17. Smith, Amy Erica (2019). Religion and Brazilian Democracy: Mobilizing the People of God. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. doi:10.1017/9781108699655. ISBN 978-1-108-48211-0.
18. Knoll, Travis (2019). "Seeking Liberation in Brazil". NACLA Report on the Americas. 51 (3): 229–230. doi:10.1080/10714839.2019.1650483. ISSN 2471-2620.
19. Flynn, Peter (2005). "Brazil and Lula, 2005: crisis, corruption and change in political perspective". Third World Quarterly. Routledge. 26 (8): 1221–1267. doi:10.1080/01436590500400025. ISSN 1360-2241.
20. Heidi Moksnes; Mia Melin (2013). Faith in Civil Society: Religious Actors as Drivers of Change. Uppsala: Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development. p. 125. ISBN 978-91-980391-4-6. ISSN 1403-1264.
21. Julien Figeac; Nathalie Paton; Angelina Peralva; Arthur Coelho Bezerra; Guillaume Cabanac; Héloïse Prévost; Pierre Ratinaud; Tristan Salord (2021). "Brazilian left-wing activists on Facebook: the role of cultural events in political participation". Brasiliana: Journal for Brazilian Studies. 10 (1): 263. doi:10.25160/bjbs.v10i1.125719. ISSN 2245-4373.
22. "Participants of the Denpasar Seminar, 19 – 20 September 2016 - Progressive Alliance". September 22, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
23. Convocação: Dia Nacional de Mobilização Dilma Presidente 27 DE OUTUBRO July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Secretaria de cultura do PT-DF, 22 October 2010
24. Gallas, Daniel (29 March 2016). "Dilma Rousseff and Brazil face up to decisive month". BBC News. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
25. [“Dilma is much more leftist than me”, says Lula]. Jornal O Sul (in Brazilian Portuguese). January 20, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
26. The demise of Brazil’s great centrist party. The Economist. Published 1 November 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
27. Khan, Shehab (14 November 2018). Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president-elect accused of campaign funding irregularities. The Independent. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
28. "PT elege maior bancada na Câmara e a segunda do Senado" July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. [PT elects the largest group in the Chamber and the second in the Senate]. JusBrasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 October 2010.
29. Rabello, Maria Luiza. "Lula's Chosen Heir Surges in Brazil Presidential Poll"^{[dead link]}. Business Week. 1 February 2010.
30. "As cinco piores taxas de popularidade dos presidentes do Brasil". [The five worst popularity ratings of Brazilian presidents]. Veja (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 July 2017.
31. "Saiba como eram e como ficaram as bancadas na Câmara dos Deputados, partido a partido" [Find out how the benches in the Chamber of Deputies were and how they were, party by party]. G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). October 8, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
32. "PT "desaparece" das capitais, MDB lidera prefeituras e DEM é o que mais cresce; veja destaques" [PT "disappears" from the capitals, MDB leads city halls and DEM is the fastest growing; see highlights]. InfoMoney (in Brazilian Portuguese). November 30, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
33. LuizPuodzius (September 18, 2011). "Hino do PT - Workers' Party of Brazil". Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via YouTube.
34. Samuels, David. "From Socialism to Social Democracy: Party Organization and The Transformation of the Workers’ Party in Brazil". Comparative Political Studies. p. 3.
35. (in Portuguese) Agência Brasil. "Saiba mais sobre a história do PT". Terra. 24 June 2006.
36. "Para que não se esqueça, para que nunca mais aconteça". April 2, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
37. "Leader's Torture in the '70s Stirs Ghosts in Brazil". The New York Times. August 5, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
38. (in Portuguese) "Manifesto aprovado na reunião do Sion". 24 April 2006. Fundação Perseu Abramo.
39. (in Portuguese) Political parties registered under the Supreme Electoral Court November 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Tribunal Superior Eleitoral.
40. (in Portuguese) OGASSAWARA, Juliana Sayuri. "Onde estão os intelectuais brasileiros" May 26, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Fórum. São Paulo: Editora Publisher, May 2009. Page 20.
41. Introduction to Latin America Twenty-First Century Challenges by Peadar Kirby, P.151
42. "Brazil – The Presidential Election of 1989". Countrystudies.us. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
43. "author:"Boas" intitle:"Television and Neopopulism in Latin America" – Google Acadêmico". Retrieved November 1, 2010.
44. Branford, Sue; Bernardo Kucinski (1995). Brazil: Carnival of the Oppressed. London: Latin America Bureau. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-906156-99-5.
45. "Brazil re-elects President Lula", BBC, 30 October 2006.
46. . September 9, 2019. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
47. Brookings Institution^{[dead link]}
48. Horowitz, Irving Louis (July 1, 1981). Policy Studies Review Annual. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9780803913158. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google Books.
49. Hunter, Wendy (September 13, 2010). The Transformation of the Workers' Party in Brazil, 1989–2009. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139492669. Retrieved November 22, 2016 – via Google Books.
50. [1]. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
51. van Dyck, Brandon Philip (2014). The Paradox of Adversity: New Left Party Survival and Collapse in Latin America. Harvard University. pp. 111–114.
52. Machado, Adriano Henriques (2010). Os católicos oPTaram?: os “setores católicos” e o Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) na grande São Paulo (1978-1982) (in Portuguese). São Paulo. p. 89.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
53. Douglas A. Chalmers; Carlos M. Vilas; Katherine Hite; Scott B. Martin; Kerianne Piester; Monique Segarra (1997). The new politics of inequality in Latin America: rethinking participation and representation. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 431. ISBN 0-19-878183-0.
54. Entre mais pobres, Dilma teve 26 pontos de folga. O Estado de S. Paulo. 7 November 2010.
55. "Lula's purge: The Workers' Party sheds its dissenters". The Economist. October 1, 2003.
56. Duffy, Gary (April 25, 2007). "Lula cleared of electoral scandal". BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
57. . September 29, 2007. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
58. "Brazil Workers' Party treasurer arrested in Petrobras corruption investigation". The Guardian. Associated Press. April 16, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
59. "Brazil judge annuls ex-leader Lula's convictions". March 8, 2021.
60. Vincent Begins (August 21, 2019). "The Dirty Problems With Operation Car Wash: News reports have pointed to serious wrongdoing at the heart of the anti-corruption inquiry that has shaken many Latin American countries". The Atlantic.
61. "Esquerda Marxista (Marxist Left) decides to leave PT". In Defense of Marxism. May 5, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2015.

Further reading

In English

• Baiocchi, Gianpaolo, ed. (2003). Radicals in Power: The Workers' Party and Experiments in Urban Democracy in Brazil. Zed Books.
• Branford, Sue; Kucinski, Bernardo (2005). Lula and the Workers' Party in Brazil. New Press.
• Bruera, Hernán F. Gómez (2013). Lula, the Workers' Party and the Governability Dilemma in Brazil. Routledge.
• Hunter, Wendy (2010). The Transformation of the Workers' Party in Brazil, 1989–2009. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51455-2.
• Keck, Margaret E. (1995). The Workers' Party and Democratization in Brazil. Yale University Press.

In Portuguese

• Couto, A. J. Paula. O PT em pílulas.
• Dacanal, José Hildebrando. A nova classe no poder.
• Demier, Felipe. As Transformações do PT e os Rumos da Esquerda no Brasil.
• Godoy, Dagoberto Lima. Neocomunismo no Brasil.
• Harnecker, Martha (1994). O sonho era possível. São Paulo: Casa das Américas.
• Hohlfeldt, Antônio. O fascínio da estrela.
• Moura, Paulo. PT – Comunismo ou Social-Democracia?.
• Paula Couto, Adolpho João de. A face oculta da estrela.
• Pedrosa, Mário (1980). Sobre o PT. São Paulo: CHED Editorial.
• Pluggina, Percival. Crônicas contra o totalitarismo.
• Tavares, José Antônio Giusti with Fernando Schüller, Ronaldo Moreira Brum and Valério Rohden. Totalitarismo tardio – o caso do PT.
• Singer, André. O PT – Folha Explica.
• Singer, André. Os Sentidos do Lulismo.

Annotated bibliography

• Carlos Henrique Metidieri Menegozzo; Dainis Karepovs; Aline Fernanda Maciel; Patrícia Rodrigues da Silva; Rodrigo Cesar (2013). (PDF). São Paulo: Editora Fundação Perseu Abramo. 413 p.

External links

• (in Portuguese) Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (Brazilian Electoral Superior Court) November 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
• (in Portuguese) Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers' Party) official webpage

Preceded by 12 – DLP (PDT)

Numbers of Brazilian Official Political Parties 13 – WP (PT)

Succeeded by 15 – BDM (MDB)