Conciliation "on the top" is now under way in Brazil in order to keep “status quo” and to save President Michel Temer in power and corrupt politicians. In the meantime, Brazil is on the brink of economic and political collapse. The critical political, economic and social situation in which Brazil is at the moment may abort conciliation "on the top" because social upheaval may occur with the worsening of the crisis.

1. 1
THE CONCILIATION IN THE HIGH SPHERES OF POWER TO KEEP THE
"STATUS QUO" AND SAVE PRESIDENT MICHEL TEMER AND THE
CORRUPT POLITICIANS IN BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
Conciliation in the high spheres of power can take on two characteristics, according to
Gramsci: 1) passive revolution; And, 2) counter-reform. Unlike a popular "Jacobin"
revolution, such as the French revolutions of 1789, the Russian Revolution of 1917, the
Chinese Revolution of 1949, and the Cuban Revolution of 1959 carried out from
“below” with effective popular participation - and which therefore breaks radically with
the old political and social order, a passive revolution always implies the presence of
two moments: that of "restoration" (it is always a conservative reaction to the possibility
of an effective and radical transformation coming from below) and of "renewal" (in
which some of the popular demands are met "at the top", through "concessions" of the
dominant layers) [COUTINHO, Carlos Nelson. Revolução passiva ou contra-reforma?
(Passive revolution or counter-reform?). Available on website
<http://www.acessa.com/gramsci/?page=visualizar&id=790>].
In Brazil, the coup d'état of 1964 was a passive revolution based on "restoration"
because it was carried out as a conservative reaction to the possibility of an effective
and radical transformation coming from "below" during the João Goulart government.
The 1930 Revolution, for example, was a passive revolution based on the "renewal" in
which some of the popular demands were met "on top", as is the case of the social laws
introduced by the Getúlio Vargas government that represented "concessions" to the
social strata subalterns.
As for the “counter-reform”, Gramsci characterizes it as a pure and simple "restoration",
unlike what he does in the case of the passive revolution, when he speaks of a
"revolution-restoration". In spite of this, however, he admits that even in this case a
"combination of the old and the new" takes place. The essential difference between a
passive revolution and a counter-reform lies in the fact that, while in the former there
are "restorations" aimed at barring the demands coming from "below", in the second it
is preponderant not the moment of the new, but precisely that of the old.
The Welfare State, for example, introduced into Western Europe after World War II
was a passive revolution with the introduction of social democracy that had the moment
of “restoration” by barring the chances of success of socialist revolution and the
“renewal” by adopting the interventionist economic policies suggested by Keynes and
by accommodating many of the demands of the working classes. On the other hand, the
“counter-reform” has as an example the neoliberalism that was introduced in the world
economy, including in Brazil, from the decade of 1990 to stop the decline of the
capitalist system.
In the neoliberal era in which we live, there is there is no space for the advancement of
social rights. On the contrary, there is the elimination of such rights and the
deconstruction and denial of the reforms already conquered by the subaltern classes.
The so-called "reforms" of social security, labor protection laws, privatization of public
enterprises, etc. - "reforms" that are currently present on the political agenda of both
central and peripheral capitalist countries are aimed at the pure and simple “restoration”
of the conditions of a "savage" capitalism, in which the laws of the market must be
vigorously enforced.

2. 2
After the passive revolution based on the "restoration" carried out by the military
regime from 1964 to 1985, the economic policy adopted by the Fernando Henrique
Cardoso, Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments represented a mixture of passive
revolution based on "renewal" and “counter-reform”. With the passive revolution based
on "renewal" some popular demands were met "on the high spheres of power", such as,
for example, income transfer programs as Bolsa Escola and Bolsa Familia. The
“counter-reform” was characterized by the introduction of neoliberalism, which resulted
in the elimination of some social rights, the deconstruction and denial of reforms
already won by the subaltern classes, the privatization of public enterprises, and so on.
Brazil, more than any other Latin American country, can be characterized as the place
par excellence of passive revolution and counter-reform. The Independence of Brazil
differed from the experience of the other Latin American countries because it did not
present the characteristics of a typical revolutionary-national liberation process because
it was aborted in the Brazilian case by the episode of the transmigration of the
Portuguese royal family to Brazil, when the colony welcomes the structure and the
cadres of the Portuguese metropolitan state.
Revolutionary nativism, under the influence of the ideals of liberalism and of the great
revolutions of the late eighteenth century, gave way to the logic of the preserve-
changing that prevails today, being the initiative of D. Pedro I, crown prince of the
Portuguese Royal Household, and not of the Brazilian people the political act that
culminated with the Independence. The Independence of Brazil was, therefore, a
"revolution without revolution" because there were no changes in the economic base
and in the political and legal superstructures of the nation. The State that is born of the
Independence maintains the execrable “latifundio” (large rural properties) and
intensifies the not less execrable slavery making of this the support of the “restoration”
that realizes as to the economic structures inherited from the Colony.
Brazil was the last country in the world to end slavery in the nineteenth century,
agrarian reform is still to be achieved because the ill-fated agrarian structure based on
large rural properties continues to exist in Brazil, modernized nowadays with
agribusiness, and the industrialization process was introduced late in Brazil, 200 years
after the Industrial Revolution in England. This reflects the economic backwardness of
Brazil over the more developed countries. The economic crises faced by Brazil
throughout its history were not able to generate political crises that took the Brazilian
people to the social revolution and put in check the economic system and the holders of
the power aiming the promotion of its economic and social development.
Despite the many popular uprisings throughout Brazil's history, a real political,
economic and social revolution capable of profound structural changes and promoting
development for the benefit of the Brazilian population has never really taken place in
Brazil. All the revolutionary attempts made in Brazil were aborted with hard repression
by the holders of power. It is well known that, in the world, the countries that have
advanced politically are those whose peoples have been protagonists, through social
revolutions, of the changes carried out in the economic and social spheres.
Throughout the history of Brazil, it is flagrant the incapacity of the Brazilian people to
take a leading role in the structural changes necessary for the economic and social
progress of the country. In general, in times of political and economic crisis, there have
always been agreements between the ruling classes and the holders of the political
power that made it possible to maintain the status quo, as in 1985, after the end of the

3. 3
military regime, with the indirect election of Tancredo Neves to the Presidency of the
Republic. When there were no "agreements to the top" throughout history, Brazil was a
victim of coups d'état, as occurred in 1889 with the Proclamation of the Republic, in
1930 with the end of the "Old Republic" and in 1964 with the establishment of the
military dictatorship.
Conciliation "on the top" is now under way in Brazil in order to keep “status quo” and
to save President Michel Temer in power and corrupt politicians. In the meantime,
Brazil is on the brink of economic and political collapse. From the ongoing collusion at
the moment may result a mixture of passive revolution based on "restoration" because it
is a conservative reaction to the possibility of an effective and radical transformation of
Brazil that corresponds to the will of the vast majority of the Brazilian population and
counter- reform because it aims at maintaining the neoliberal model in Brazil. The
critical political, economic and social situation in which Brazil is at the moment may
abort conciliation "on the top" because social upheaval may occur with the worsening of
the crisis.
*Fernando Alcoforado , member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011),
Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012),
Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2015) and As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo
(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), among others.