by Kristen B.

In December 2025, MADSA was visited by Peter B., a Brazilian socialist member of PSOL (Partido Socialismo e Liberdade/Socialism and Liberty Party). Peter has been living in New York for the past year and paid a visit to Madison, Wisconsin, as part of his effort to promote the First International Antifascism Conference, being held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from March 26-29, 2026. This conference is being organized by his party, PSOL, as well as PT (Worker’s Party; party of current president Lula da Silva) and PC do B (Communist Party of Brazil). 

Peter has been an active socialist organizer in Brazil for many years and officially joined PSOL in 2009. Before joining PSOL, Peter was active in the student movement, as well as the broader youth movement in Brazil. He also worked as the chief of staff for a Brazilian congresswoman. Comrades in MADSA sat down with Peter for an intimate talk about what it has been like for Peter living in the United States and observing the actions of DSA. We also engaged in conversation about electoral politics, the rise of the far-right, the importance of internationalism, the various ways PSOL differs from DSA, and the differences between our respective countries. 

PSOL is the second largest left party in Brazil and is positioned to the left of PT, the Workers Party. PT is the current largest left party, but is not an openly socialist party. PSOL currently has 12 congress members in Brazil out of a congress of over 500 members. 

Brazil and the United States

In the spirit of internationalism, Peter expressed that he and his comrades in Brazil are concerned about the rise of right-wing politics in the United States. They are especially concerned about the politics of Trump and the far-right. The realities of Brazil and the United States are intertwined, with far-right sentiment becoming a growing problem in both countries, as well as around the world. With these concerns in mind, socialists are frequently asking themselves: What are the best actions socialists can be taking to combat fascism in their country? For American socialists, do we feel DSA is prepared nationally to combat these issues? What about the issues in our local communities and how they are connected to international politics?

If Americans think their recent political issues are unique to their own country – everything from political assassinations to coup attempts – Brazil is more alike than most might know. Jair Bolsonaro, previously mentioned as the former right-wing president, is currently in jail for orchestrating his own version of a January 6th-style attack, which occurred on January 8th, 2023. After left-wing president Lula da Silva was inaugurated, Bolsonaro supporters attacked federal government buildings in retaliation, hoping to begin a military intervention. Bolsonaro and his supporters were unsuccessful, but unlike the United States, the Brazilian courts sentenced Bolsonaro to a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup. 

Political assassinations have been on the minds of Americans for the past year, from the attempt on Donald Trump to the United Healthcare CEO to Charlie Kirk. On the other side of the aisle, many have overlooked the assassinations of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, as well as the attempt on the lives of Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his family. 

Peter remembers a particularly difficult time in PSOL: the assassination of Marielle Franco, a Black socialist city councilor, who was a member of PSOL. Franco, who was outspoken against police brutality, was killed by two former police officers. Peter mentioned a foundation created in her name that acts as a place for members of PSOL to organize, promote political education, carry out seminars, panels, studies, research, publications, and more. 

Some other similarities between the United States and Brazil are obvious: both countries are bourgeois democracies where money in politics plays a big role in influencing elections and forcing organizers to find different spaces to put forward alternatives to the status quo. One major difference is Brazil does not have a bipartisan system and allows for many different parties to represent the people within congress. Peter believes it is good for socialists to have their own party. 

Another difference is that Brazil has public funding for elections, which had been a major demand from left parties in Brazil in past years. This demand was won, but Peter acknowledges that there are still contradictory problems with money in politics. For example, Peter notes that politicians in Brazil are quick to spend massive amounts of money on running elections and building parties, but then turn around and claim there is not enough money to fund public education and other important needs for the working class. At this point in the talk, a MADSA member mentioned that Zohran Mamdani’s winning campaign was helped along using New York City’s public elections fund matching campaign, where individual dollar donations were bolstered by a public matching fund, allowing Zohran to stay competitive in the race.

A major concern with politics in the United States is lack of voter participation. Many citizens regularly sit out elections and most people do not feel well represented by the major parties. In Brazil, voting is mandatory. Despite this obligation, around 20-30% of all voters in Brazil do not actually participate in elections. For comparison, in the 2024 general election, 36% of Americans did not vote. Mandatory voting, Peter argues, creates an environment of vigorous political debate prior to elections. It could also be potentially difficult for an individual in Brazil to apply for a public sector job if they did not have a record of participating in elections, which acts as another incentive to get people to vote and become politically aware and engaged.

The work of DSA and socialists in office

Comparisons between DSA as a political organization and PSOL as a legal party were brought up throughout the talk. Peter noted that DSA engages in candidate development and endorsement procedures, with a focus on questionnaires and candidate forums to try and ensure that DSA-endorsed candidates abide by the socialist strategy of the DSA. However, as members of DSA, we know that the process of engaging in electoral politics differs greatly from chapter to chapter, with large chapters like NYC-DSA seen as a powerhouse of electoral strategy whereas smaller chapters engage in electoral work with perhaps a more critical eye, considering the small numbers. The current endorsement processes MADSA is engaged in have been heavily debated and discussed among members, with most members seemingly eager to make the best possible decision in how to engage in campaigns and whether or not these campaigns will promote socialism at large.

In Brazilian politics and elections, Peter relays how PSOL will run dozens of candidates at the same time at the state level. He finds that it is sometimes more difficult to individually interview every possible candidate and analyze their political beliefs, but this is perhaps in reality a far more simple process considering PSOL is an established legal party with strong leadership and a clear program. While there is no way to directly prevent opportunists from running as members of PSOL, the party structure having a coherent program for addressing issues in Brazil helps to create strong candidates in general, with less of a need to individually vet every candidate.

While living in the United States during the past has been undoubtedly difficult for socialists, we experienced a glimmer of hope with the campaign and successful election of Zohran Mamdani, a cadre member of NYC-DSA who beat back incumbent mayor Eric Adams (who has a history of collaborating with Donald Trump and other conservative groups) and former governor Andrew Cuomo (who has a history of assaulting women). According to Peter, who had an up-close view of NYC-DSA’s historic campaign to elect Zohran, there was nothing quite like the Mamdani campaign. It was a very politicized, high-spirited campaign, focused on a working class affordability agenda while also connecting the issues of New Yorkers to issues to the world, such as Palestinian liberation and fighting the far-right.

The Mamdani win showed that not only can socialists effectively message about bread-and-butter issues such as affordability, they can also highlight internationalism as a positive aspect of the campaign, as well as shining a light on the problems with conservatism in the United States. The unique circumstances of Zohran battling against two unpopular politicians too eager to uplift right-wing causes (most notably Zionism) made a strong case for socialism as the true alternative to “business as usual” politics in New York City. Can this be replicated around the country?

A MADSA member brought up recent electoral political disagreements in NYC-DSA regarding New York City Councilmember Chi Osse’s attempt to potentially challenge Hakeem Jeffries, current Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, in his district. Peter, as an observer, felt that DSA’s political culture surrounding this particular moment was impressive. Around 300 members of DSA attended an in-person discussion about Osse’s potential campaign challenge and over 800 members attended online on Zoom. Peter noted positively that mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani attended in-person as a regular member of NYC-DSA and spoke against Osse’s candidacy. Afterwards, despite the mayor-elect making his preference known, Osse still received 45% support from NYC-DSA members. To Peter, this showed that despite NYC-DSA having just rallied for over a year to support Mamdani’s campaign, members were not afraid to disagree with Mamdani and argue against his point of view. This event also showed that despite his position in the executive office, Mamdani behaved as just another member of DSA, as a cadre member would be expected to act. 

DSA has had electoral victories in the past, and Zohran is not the first win we’ve had to celebrate in the last few years. Despite the growing number of DSA electeds, the eternal question remains: What does it mean to be a socialist in office? How can we use elections to advance a socialist strategy? Peter B. shared his beliefs that a representative in government should be a member of a socialist organization, and not just a paper member. This representative should ideally be going to meetings and participating in the organization. Any representative should use their office to help grassroots movements, organize new movements, and help unions organize. Further, a socialist representative should always “talk the truth to society, to the working class.” Members of MADSA have recently expressed similar feelings about socialist electeds, including strong beliefs that an elected candidate should be using their time in office to advance the labor movement, evangelize about socialism, and be a participating member of DSA. 

An example of how PSOL has used representatives in office to mobilize the working class was through their 2019 fight against a very conservative pension reform bill, put forward by former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. In reaction to this bill, the PSOL congresswoman that Peter worked for launched a campaign to register households as committees to organize against the bill. Although the bill passed, they managed to register and organize over 2,000 households nationally, getting these groups politically engaged at a grassroots level. 

The importance of internationalism

At the heart of Peter’s visit to Madison and his travels in the United States was the concept of internationalism. Peter expressed his strong belief in internationalism. To him, it is important because capitalism is an international system, and so defeating capitalism requires international organizing. The crisis of capitalism is a global problem impacting the lives of most of the world’s people, and we should think about our fight against capitalism on a global scale. International issues tend to touch on every country in some way, whether that be the climate crisis, the development and adoption of AI in the workplace, or warfare. 

Palestine is another international issue that has seemingly galvanized a large part of the world’s population, uniting everyone in their belief in Palestinian liberation and the end to forever wars. Peter brought up the Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of over 40 vessels carrying 500 people from around the world, sailing to try and deliver aid to Palestinians, as well as continue the struggle for Palestinian liberation. According to Peter, three members of PSOL were part of the flotilla, and this risky initiative was important for putting the attention back on the genocide and the falsities of the “ceasefire” negotiations.

More specific to DSA, Peter noted that a member of PSOL attended the 2025 DSA National Convention in Chicago, and after this member spoke against Trump, their visa was revoked. Engaging in internationalism is a risky endeavor, but the working people of the world owe it to each other to extend solidarity with one another in the fight against global capitalism.

The First International Antifascism Conference…

…which is being held in March 2026 in Brazil, is a broad initiative organized by the left parties in Brazil, alongside many unions and the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Ruais Sem Terra/Landless Workers Movement). MST is a historic mass movement of rural workers fighting for land reform and against injustice in rural areas. The event is anticipated to attract people from over 40 countries, with individuals ranging from elected officials, rank and file union members, social movement activists, and more. 

The conference is open to anyone who wishes to attend. Registration for the event can be found here: https://antifas2026.org/en/

MADSA was very happy to host Peter B. for a few days and talk with him personally about his political beliefs, the realities of being a socialist in Brazil, and the current socialist movement in the United States. MADSA as a chapter recognizes the importance of internationalism, fighting fascism, and being in solidarity with the workers of the world!