Pre-candidate for the presidency of the Republic for the PSTU, Hertz Dias, 55, argues that the population has few options outside the right and that his candidacy expands the choice between government projects. “We are diverging from the left, but not from the working class,” he says.
For him, the bourgeoisie and the so-called broad front were unable to solve the population’s problems. He even criticizes the PT governments, stating that the party had participated in a process of “reprimarization of the government”.
“The PT, and the broad front, govern with the center, with agribusiness, with the bankers, with the bourgeoisie. This government is going down in history as the most decadent sector of the Brazilian bourgeoisie. Lula today is much more to the right than in the past”, he says.
Therefore, he proposes a transitional government to establish a workers’ democracy, in which workers could control all the wealth they produce.
History teacher in the public education network, rapper from the group Gíria Vermelha and activist in the black movement, Dias was. His trajectory combines cultural activity and political activism, with a strong appeal to class struggles. He defends unity between workers, the black population, women, people, native peoples, quilombolas and riverside dwellers.
Born in São José de Ribamar, metropolitan region of São Luís (MA), Dias was a break dancer in the early 1980s. In 1988 he wrote his first rap, “Menor Abandonado”.
After abandoning his studies as a teenager, he discovered “Voz Ativa”, by Racionais MCs, at the age of 23. Malcolm X spoke, and the boy wanted to know more about the activist. “Years later I realized that I had left school because it was an extremely racist environment. But, after that song, I decided to go back to studying, I took secondary school, finished high school at 26 and entered college at 27.”
He graduated in history from the Federal University of Maranhão, where he also studied a master’s degree in education. “I wanted to understand the history of Brazil and the world. Over the years, there was an effort to transform black people into floating beings, without history”, he says.
During this period, he met the Unified Socialist Workers Party and also began to work in politics. The pre-candidate is part of the PSTU Secretariat for Black Men and Women, which aims to develop policies and discuss racial programs and theories within a Marxist perspective.
For Dias, only the union between all workers can break with the imperialist project in other countries, including Brazil. “Us [PSTU] we are an anti-imperialist organization. You don’t need Trump,” he says.
For him, the right works to hand over the country to the Americans, while governments in the country contributed to its recolonization.
The professor states that Brazil assumes a submissive role in this new international configuration. “We are going through a process of deindustrialization and recolonization. Our country has become a major producer of commodities. We have 87% of the Brazilian population living in the city [segundo o Censo de 2022]while the most dynamic sector of Brazil’s GDP is agriculture, agribusiness for export”, he argues.
The candidate also argues that there is a lack of democracy in . “It is not the celebration of democracy, it is the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. Bourgeois democracy is the dictatorship of capital”, he argues. “We have been a legal party since 1994, but we are not even mentioned in the polls.” According to him, broadcasters have mentioned other pre-candidates by name, but do not mention him.
“They have already chosen their candidates, which are the candidates of the bourgeoisie. We are betting on the organization of the working class”, he added. In addition to participating in events, Dias has invested in using social media to become known.
