Workers' Cause Party

Workers' Cause Party (Portuguese: Partido da Causa Operária, PCO) is a political party in Brazil. Its origins can be traced back to 1978. On that year, several Trotskyist activists who were not satisfied with the socialist international united under the name Tendência Trotskista do Brasil (Brazilian Trotskyist Tendency, TTB). However, it was only established in 1995.

Workers' Cause Party Partido da Causa Operária
President	Rui Costa Pimenta
Founded	1995
Membership	2,936[1]
Ideology	Communism Trotskyism
Political position	Far-left
Colours	Red
Website
www.pco.org.br
Politics of Brazil Political parties Elections

History

In 1980, this organization united itself with the newly formed Worker's Party (PT), becoming very involved in that decade's municipal and state elections, with several mayors and state representatives elected.

In 1990 and 1991, however, several TTB members were expelled from the PT due to their non-commitment to the Party's statutes. After that, the PCO was officially organized and founded in 1995.[2]

In 2006, the candidacy of Rui Costa Pimenta to presidency was abrogated by the Superior Electoral Court.

In 2018, PCO supported the bid of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Fernando Haddad (PT) and Manuela D'Ávilla (PCdoB) informally and critically, refusing the invitation to compose the coalition (PT, PCdoB and PROS) officially.[3]

In 2020, PCO members organize in support of the deposition of Jair Bolsonaro, even with the social isolation.[4]

Currently, the PCO maintains the same Trotskyist policies of its foundation.

Youth wing

The youth wing of the party is the Revolutionary Youth Alliance (AJR), which publishes the magazine Revista Juventude Revolucionária.

Ideology

PCO is favorable to the socialism, due to the capitalist exploration against the workers, and to a land reform without indemnity.[5]

In order to protect workers against the bourgeoisie, PCO defends the possession of fireguns by civilians.[6]

The party interpret the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (PT) as a coup'd etát in order to bring Michel Temer (MDB) to the presidency.[7]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, PCO was contrary to the social isolation as it was made by the government of Jair Bolsonaro, because it is, according to Rui Costa Pimenta, "a blind policy, that only works to the bourgeoisie and the middle class".[8]

Electoral results

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Running mate	Colligation	First round		Second round		Result
				Votes	%	Votes	%
1998	None	None	None	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO)	Pedro Paulo de Abreu (PCO)	None	38,619	0,04% (#6)	-	-	Lost N
2006	Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO)	Pedro Paulo Pinheiro (PCO)	None	0	0% (#8)	-	-	Lost N
2010	Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO)	Edson Dorta Silva (PCO)	None	12,206	0.01% (#9)	-	-	Lost N
2014	Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO)	Ricardo Machado (PCO)	None	12,324	0.01% (#11)	-	-	Lost N
2018	None*	None	None	-	-	-	-	-
Source: Election Resources: Federal Elections in Brazil – Results Lookup*

Newspapers and magazines

• Jornal da Causa Operária (JCO) - Physical newspaper
• Diário da Causa Operária (DCO) - Current virtual newspaper[9]
• Causa Operária TV - Official YouTube channel[9]
• Rádio Causa Operária - Official radio station[10]
• Revista Juventude Revolucionária - Revolutionary Youth Alliance magazine[11]

References

Media related to Partido da Causa Operária at Wikimedia Commons

1. "Eleitores filiados".
2. (in Portuguese) Historical note about the PCO
3. Filho, Paulo (2018-08-17). "A posição do PCO sobre a candidatura Lula". Diário Causa Operária (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
4. Morais, Esmael (2020-05-20). "PCO realiza ato pelo 'Fora Bolsonaro' em Brasília nesta quarta". Blog do Esmael (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
5. "Questões". PCO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
6. "Filie-se ao PCO, o partido que defende o armamento do povo". Acervo do Diário Causa Operária (in Portuguese). 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
7. "Veja como participar do ato 11 de outubro em Brasília". PCO (in Portuguese). 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
8. Dorea, Manuela (2020-04-14). "PCO tem posição igual à de Bolsonaro sobre isolamento". Blog da Cidadania (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
9. Pimenta, João Jorge (2019-10-29). "DCO – Uma visão revolucionária sobre o Brasil e o mundo". Diário Causa Operária (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
10. "Home". Rádio Causa Operária (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-05-26.
11. "Uma revista para a juventude". Acervo do Diário Causa Operária (in Portuguese). 2016-02-23. Retrieved 2020-05-26.