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Workers' Cause Party

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Political party in Brazil
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Workers' Cause Party
Partido da Causa Operária
PresidentRui Costa Pimenta
Founded7 December 1995; 30 years ago (1995-12-07)
Registered30 September 1997; 28 years ago (1997-09-30)
Split fromWorkers' Party
NewspaperWorkers' Cause News
Youth wingRevolutionary Youth Alliance
Women's wingRosa Luxemburg Women's Collective
Cultural wingGroups for a Revolutionary and Independent Art
Black wingJoão Candido Black Collective
Membership4,883[1]
Ideology
Political positionLeft-wing[5] to far-left[6]
Colours Dark Red
Yellow
Party flag
Website
www.pco.org.br Edit this at Wikidata
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Workers' Cause Party (WCP, Portuguese: Partido da Causa Operária, PCO) is a political party in Brazil. Its origins can be traced back to 1978, when several Trotskyist activists who were not satisfied with the socialist international united under the name Tendência Trotskista do Brasil (Brazilian Trotskyist Tendency, TTB). However, the registered party was only established in 1995. Its electoral number is 29.

History

In 1980, this organization united itself with the newly formed Workers' 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.[7]

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

In 2018, PCO supported the bid of Luiz 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.[8]

In 2020, PCO suffered a cyber attack resulting in the loss of more than 4,000 articles on its website.[9]

In August 2021, PCO expressed support to the Taliban about their "victory over American imperialism", considering it "a victory for all oppressed people".[10] The party has also praised Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, describing him as "an example of selflessness, conviction, disposition" in the struggle for "the freedom of his people".[11] the PCO however follows the traditional Trotskyist position of being against individual terrorism as its method of political struggle.[12] The PCO also argues that the Taliban ideology and practices are "an expression of the profound social backwardness of that people", it sees the need to support any movement of national liberation against US-lead imperialism.[13]

In 2022, the PCO supported the candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 Brazilian general election, it however choose not to participate in the formal coalition or in any of the campaign committees because of divergences and repeated criticism of the program of the coalition.[14]

Youth wing

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

Ideology

The PCO supports implementation of socialism, following the Trotskyist branch,[2] which they regard as the true form of Marxism. According to them, the Marxist movement was corrupted by Stalinism and later by social movements such as bourgeois feminism[15] and the LGBT movement, which they term as "identitarian". The party rejects woke culture, arguing that it is "not progressive at all" and constitutes "an attempt to transform chaos into an instrument of political struggle".[16] Because of this, the party is considered left conservative.[4]

The party opposes gun control policies, saying that "The bourgeoisie is armed. It has the army, the police and all other organs of repression, public or private. The people have nothing. It is defenseless in the face of the war machine of his enemies who control the State".[17] However, the PCO also considers the police as an oppressive force and favors the formation of a "popular police".

While opposing the PT due to that party's controversial alliances in the political and business sectors, the PCO interprets the PT's government as a necessary step in the current Brazilian political context, in order to strengthen workers' organizations. The party also sees the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff of 2016 as a coup d'état[18] and were also against Lula's prison sentence in 2018, protesting for his liberty afterwards.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCO supported vaccination efforts while opposing mandatory vaccination.[19]

The PCO is a staunch supporter of unrestricted free speech, asserting that the people should always be entitled to express their views and opinions, no matter how controversial, offensive or misleading they might be, and that any attempt of censorship will eventually result in the bourgeoisie controlling the public opinion. The party is unique in the Brazilian left in its opposition to anti-fake news legislation and the criminalizing of homophobia. The party also denounced criminalization transphobic speech as attack on freedom of religion, stating: "A citizen can no longer profess their religion if they believe that "transsexuals" and homosexuals are, in their view, an anomaly and contrary to God's law. The overwhelming majority of religions—if not all—share this understanding."[20]

The party defends a progressive function of religion, stating: "Marxists, who aren't religious, never said we should force people to abandon their religion. That's absurd! Why would someone do that? They believe in God, they've had their little church since childhood, they were born there... If you're active in the labor movement, you'll never go to workers and raise issues with their religion."[21] It also defended Islam, stating: "Islam is not a repressive religion. Generally speaking, it is even more progressive than Christianity. Christianity is the religion of imperialist countries. Islam is the religion of countries oppressed by imperialism."[16]

Despite being considered a far-left party, it has also been described as having an agenda close to Bolsonarism.[22]

The PCO supports Palestine in the Gaza war, Venezuela in the Essequibo dispute and Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

<tbody> </tbody>
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 0,05% (#6) – – Lost Red XN
2006 Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO) Pedro Paulo Pinheiro (PCO) None 0 0% (#8) – – Lost Red XN
2010 Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO) Edson Dorta Silva (PCO) None 12,206 0.01% (#9) – – Lost Red XN
2014 Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO) Ricardo Machado (PCO) None 12,324 0.01% (#11) – – Lost Red XN
2018 None* None None – – – – –
2022 None* None None – – – – –
Source: Election Resources: Federal Elections in Brazil – Results Lookup*

Legislative elections

<tbody> </tbody>
Election Chamber of Deputies Federal Senate Role in government
Votes % Seats +/– Votes % Seats +/–
1998 8,067 0.01%
0 / 513
New 274 0.00%
0 / 81
New Extra-parliamentary
2002 29,351 0.03%
0 / 513
Steady 0 194,112 0.13%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2006 29,083 0.03%
0 / 513
Steady 0 27,476 0.03%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2010 6,660 0.01%
0 / 513
Steady 0 21,263 0.01%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2014 12,969 0.01%
0 / 513
Steady 0 8,561 0.01%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2018 2,785 0.00%
0 / 513
Steady 0 38,691 0.02%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary
2022 8,660 0.01%
0 / 513
Steady 0 26,614 0.03%
0 / 81
Steady 0 Extra-parliamentary

Newspapers and magazines

  • Jornal da Causa Operária (JCO) – Physical newspaper
  • Diário da Causa Operária (DCO) – Current virtual newspaper[23]
  • Causa Operária TV – Official YouTube channel[23]
  • Rádio Causa Operária – Official radio station[24]
  • Revista Juventude Revolucionária – Revolutionary Youth Alliance magazine[25]

Controversies and criticism

The PCO is accused by various media outlets, rival leftist parties (such as PT and PSOL) and former members of being a cult and having cult-like behavior, due to the fact that party members seriously defend the ideas of their party, its founder Rui Costa Pimenta and his family (their ideas are considered by detractors as reactionary and very close to a personality cult, in this case a personality cult around the Costa Pimenta family, the founding family of the PCO).[26][27][28][29]

Accusations of disrespect for human rights

Because they support the Taliban,[30][31] the PCO and its supporters are accused by some progressive movements (mainly women's rights movements and LGBT movements) of disrespecting human rights, as they claim that PCO defends a hostile regime to women and other minorities (such as LGBTQ people and non-Muslims) and who make light of the fatal victims who had their rights disrespected by the Taliban.[32][33][34][35]

Attacks on other left-wing activists

Despite being a leftist party, the PCO is notorious for its attacks against feminists, indigenous rights activists, landless movement, students and members of other left-wing parties, who accuse the PCO of truculence and of having a position similar to fascism.[36][37][38][39][40]

Accusations of authoritarianism and nepotism

One of the reasons why the PCO is considered a cult (according to former members of the party) is due to the fact that the founder and leader of the party, Rui Costa Pimenta controls the PCO in an authoritarian way, with an iron fist (so that only his ideas and his wishes are respected), in addition to punishing detractors who are against his ideas (mostly with physical abuse) and handing over important (high-ranking) positions within the party to three of his children, Natália Pimenta, João Jorge Caproni Costa Pimenta and Carlos Henrique Caproni Pimenta. As a result, former members of the party accuse Costa Pimenta of practicing nepotism, since his three children got positions in the party not on their own merits, but because they were his sons (the youngest of his three children, Carlos Henrique Caproni Pimenta, was appointed to an important position within the party when he was still a teenager).[41][42][43]

References

Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Partido da Causa Operária at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ^ "Estatísticas do eleitorado – eleitores filiados". Archived from the original on 11 July 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Programa e Estatuto do PCO" [Program and Statutes of the PCO] (PDF). Workers' Cause Party (in Brazilian Portuguese). 30 January 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ Couto, Cláudio Gonçalves (2010). "Hacia el centro el PT y el gobierno de Lula en Brasil". Temas y debates: revista universitaria de ciencias sociales (in Spanish). 14 (20). Dialnet: 137. ISSN 1666-0714.
  4. ^ a b Venturelli, Gustavo (2025). "Are there populist parties in Brazil? An analysis of election manifestos (2010-2022)". Party Politics. 31 (4). Sage Publishing: 744. doi:10.1177/13540688241269775See Figure 1. Percentage of populism in Brazilian party manifestos and ideological Placement (2010-2022).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. ^ Carlomagno, Márcio; Braga, Sérgio; Angeli, Alzira Ester (2022). "Do — and why do — people interact with politicians on social media? Evidences from Brazilian state level elections". Revista Sociedade e Cultura. 25. doi:10.5216/sec.v25.70812. (vii) Ideology (party): Despite that some international political science approaches consider party ideology a 'démodé' variable, Brazilian political scientists still vastly use it. Considering the objectives of our study, we classified the parties according to the literature concepts (ZUCCO JR., 2009), under which codes range from left (1) to right (5). Left: PSOL, PSTU, PCO, PCB. Center-left: PT, PCdoB, PDT. Center: PMDB, PSDB, PSB, PPS, PV. Center-right: PSD, PP, PR, PRB, PROS, PSC, PTB, PHS, SD. Right: DEM, PMN, PRP, PRTB, PSDC, PSL, PTdoB, PTC, PTN.
  6. ^ Bolognesi, Bruno; Ribeiro, Ednaldo; Codato, Adriano (2023). "A New Ideological Classification of Brazilian Political Parties". DADOS – Revista de Ciências Sociais. 66 (2). SciELO: 15. doi:10.1590/dados.2023.66.2.303x. We may classify the extreme left parties (PSTU, PCO, and PCB), as anti-system.
  7. ^ (in Portuguese) Historical note about the PCO Archived 2004-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Filho, Paulo (17 August 2018). "A posição do PCO sobre a candidatura Lula" [The PCO's position on Lula's candidacy]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Statement from the Worker's Cause Party about the hacker attack". Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 20 May 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Twitter of the PCO".
  11. ^ "Viva Osama contra Obama, viva Bin Laden contra Biden!" [Long live Osama against Obama, long live Bin Laden against Biden!]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 22 August 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Trótski: por que os marxistas se opõem ao terrorismo individual" [Trotsky: Why Marxists oppose individual terrorism]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 14 January 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Três pessoas e uma arma: uma homenagem ao cemitério de impérios" [Three people and a weapon: a tribute to the graveyard of empires]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 19 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  14. ^ Comprova, Projeto (29 September 2022). "Proposta de "esconder" Alckmin é do PCO, não tem relação com o PT" [The proposal to "hide" Alckmin comes from the Workers' Cause Party, it has no relation to the Workers' Party]. Universo Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Rosa Luxemburg and the women's question – "Marxism in her Bloodstream"". 15 January 2009.
  16. ^ a b PCO – Partido da Causa Operária [@PCO29] (25 May 2024). "As calúnias contra o Islã são uma campanha do imperialismo" [The slander against Islam is a campaign of imperialism] (Tweet) (in Brazilian Portuguese) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  17. ^ "Por que o PCO defende o armamento?" [Why does the PCO defend the right to bear arms?]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 26 May 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Veja como participar do ato 11 de outubro em Brasília" [See how to participate in the October 11th event in Brasília]. PCO (in Brazilian Portuguese). 26 September 2017. Archived from the original on 25 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Vacina sim, coação não" [Yes to vaccination, no to coercion] (in Brazilian Portuguese). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  20. ^ "O fim da liberdade religiosa?" [The end of religious freedom?] (in Portuguese). 6 July 2025.
  21. ^ PCO – Partido da Causa Operária [@PCO29] (25 May 2023). "Os marxistas, que não são religiosos, nunca falaram que tinha que forçar o pessoal a largar a religião. Isso é absurdo!" [Marxists, who are not religious, never said that people should be forced to abandon religion. That's absurd!] (Tweet) (in Portuguese) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ Caetano, Guilherme (7 October 2021). "Considerado de extrema esquerda, PCO tem agenda próxima do bolsonarismo" [Considered far-left, the PCO has an agenda close to Bolsonarism]. O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 May 2026.
  23. ^ a b Pimenta, João Jorge (29 October 2019). "DCO – Uma visão revolucionária sobre o Brasil e o mundo" [DCO – A revolutionary vision of Brazil and the world]. Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Home". Rádio Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Uma revista para a juventude". Acervo do Diário Causa Operária (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  26. ^ Azevedo, Reinaldo (25 November 2011). "Seita de extrema esquerda diz que é preciso "impedir por todos os meios" que se cumpram a lei e a vontade dos estudantes na USP" [A far-left sect says it is necessary to "prevent by all means" the fulfillment of the law and the will of the students at the University of São Paulo]. Veja (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  27. ^ Fernandes Ladeira, Francisco (24 January 2023). "Os estranhos posicionamentos do PCO – Por Francisco Fernandes Ladeira" [The strange stances of the PCO – By Francisco Fernandes Ladeira]. Revista Forum (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  28. ^ Azevedo, Reinaldo (6 July 2021). "Protestos legítimos, a seita PCO, os não esquerdistas e agentes infiltrados" [Legitimate protests, the PCO sect, non-leftists, and infiltrated agents]. Universo Online (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  29. ^ "Site do Partido da Causa Operária é hackeado" [The Workers' Cause Party website has been hacked]. Jornal do Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). 3 July 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  30. ^ Fuzeira, Victor (16 August 2021). "PCO sobre ascensão do Talibã ao poder no Afeganistão: "Enorme vitória"" [PCO on the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan: "Huge victory"]. Metrópoles (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  31. ^ Dall'Agnol, Laísa (16 August 2021). "Partido da Causa Operária comemora vitória do Talibã no Afeganistão" [Workers' Cause Party celebrates Taliban victory in Afghanistan]. Veja (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  32. ^ Capler, Rodolfo (16 August 2021). "O Talibã, as mulheres e o PCO…" [The Taliban, women, and the PCO…]. A Tribuna Piracicabana (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  33. ^ Vieira, Maria Clara (17 August 2021). "Quanto o PCO recebe do fundo partidário para apoiar os terroristas do Talibã?" [How much does the PCO receive from the party fund to support Taliban terrorists?]. Gazeta do Povo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  34. ^ "Partido de esquerda revolta até esquerda com apoio ao Taleban" [Left-wing party revolts even the left by supporting the Taliban]. Blog da Cidadania (in Brazilian Portuguese). 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  35. ^ Cury, Ana Carolina (17 August 2021). "Por que parte da imprensa erra feio ao chamar talibãs de militantes" [Why some media outlets are so wrong when they call the Taliban militants]. R7 Notícias (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  36. ^ "PCO volta a acusar Sônia Guajajara de ser uma "agente infiltrada" no governo Lula" [PCO again accuses Sônia Guajajara of being an "infiltrated agent" in Lula's government]. Brasil Sem Medo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 March 2023. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  37. ^ "Pessoas com camisas do PCO atacam ativistas do MSTC e Carmen Silva" [People wearing PCO shirts attack MSTC activists and Carmen Silva]. Jornalistas Livres (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  38. ^ "Violência do PCO deve ser repudiada" [The violence of the PCO must be condemned]. O Cafézinho (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 July 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  39. ^ "BASTA DAS AGRESSÕES MACHISTAS DO PCO NO MOVIMENTO ESTUDANTIL!" [ENOUGH OF THE PCO'S SEXIST AGGRESSIONS AGAINST THE STUDENT MOVEMENT!]. Juntos (in Brazilian Portuguese). 12 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  40. ^ "Setorial de Mulheres do PSOL repudia agressões machistas do PCO no movimento estudantil!" [The PSOL Women's Sector condemns the sexist attacks by the PCO against the student movement!]. Socialism and Liberty Party (in Brazilian Portuguese). 12 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  41. ^ "PCO: reflexões críticas de egressos do Partido" [PCO: Critical reflections from former members of the Party]. Mário Pedrosa (in Brazilian Portuguese). 15 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  42. ^ "Ex-membros do PCO relatam abusos, perseguição e assédio: "Ambiente altamente policialesco"" [Former PCO members report abuse, persecution, and harassment: "Highly police-like environment"]. Revista Fórum (in Brazilian Portuguese). 28 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  43. ^ de Araujo, Pedro Zambarda (12 January 2022). "Processos na Justiça mostram calotes do PCO em funcionários enquanto líder viajava pela Europa com família" [Court cases reveal that the PCO defaulted on payments to employees while its leader was traveling in Europe with his family]. Diário do Centro do Mundo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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Preceded by Numbers of Brazilian Official Political Parties
29 – WCP (PCO) 		Succeeded by
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