Representatives of Brazil’s Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) (PT), the party of Brazilian President Lula, have travelled to Haiti for meetings with local politicians in order to assist them in setting up a political party that will unite the country’s left wing.
According to Paulo Ferreira, the PT secretary for International Relations, talks have taken place on a number of occasions since May in an effort to create a movement uniting the center-left and left. “They are calling it the “Fusion Movement,” explains Ferreira.
With a total of 67 registered political parties, there is room for unification, says Ferreira.
“We were invited to go to Haiti because the PT is a political party that operates in a democratic fashion. We have statutes dating from 1985 that regulate the party’s internal negotiations, protecting the rights of minorities inside the party to have different opinions (“o direito de tendência”).”
Ferreira is quick to point out that the PT is not interfering in Haitian affairs.
“We do not export models. We respect other country’s decisions,” he said.
“What we are doing is transferring our experience. The Haitian left wing has little institutional participation, which is different from the situation of the PT in Brazil where we have senators, deputies and mayors. We are showing them that this is important.”
After visiting Haiti twice, Ferreira says he now expects that Haitian politicians will come to Brazil at the beginning of next year.
They will come as guests of the PT. Ferreira says there will probably be other visits in the future for more talks.
“The PT is participating in the creation of a left wing in Haiti that has Latin American ideals and proposals,” he concluded.
Agência Brasil
Translator: Allen Bennett