by Andre Coelho | Apr 29, 2019 | News
Jurgen De Wispelaere and Eduardo Suplicy, at the Catholic University of São Paulo.
The Brazilian Basic Income Network (Rede Brasileira da Renda Básica) was finally formalized on the 26th of April, 2019. The organization had been formed in 2010, when the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN) 13th Congress was organized in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time, BIEN members where received by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Interest in basic income has been rising in Brazil, as well as around the world, and so a decision was made to formalize the Brazilian Basic Income Network, the Brazilian affiliate of BIEN. This was done at a meeting last Friday, where its new statutes and objectives were examined and its members elected. Also, study groups were also formed, in order to find ways to institute the Citizens Basic Income (in Brazil) as expressed in the Law 10.835/2004, approved by the National Congress and sanctioned by President Lula on January 8th, 2004.
The event was held at São Paulo’s City Council, in its Auditorium Sérgio Vieira de Melo, from 2 to 6:30 pm. Related to the event, two other speaking events were held in the city. On Thursday, April 25th, at the Catholic University of São Paulo, Jurgen De Wispelaere spoke about “Experiences of Basic Income in different places in the World” and on Friday 26th, at BookShop Tapera Taperá, Lena Lavinas presented a talk entitled “Citizen Basic Income: A Social Policy for the XXI?”, an initiative of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
by Andre Coelho | Oct 6, 2016 | News
(Eduardo Suplicy. Credit to: Folha de São Paulo)
On October 2, the headline of the newspaper read: “With 301 thousand votes, Suplicy is the most voted councilman in São Paulo.” This news is significant for two reasons. First, because São Paulo is a city of 12 million inhabitants – more populous than the whole country of Portugal – and, second, because Eduardo Suplicy is one of the most accomplished defenders of basic income in Brazil.
Suplicy was elected to this important political position with 301,446 votes, or 5,6% of all valid votes. He will be a part of a nine-member team of São Paulo councilmen representing the party Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). However, the party Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB) elected more officials, and it will be represented in the city council by a team of eleven. On the political spectrum, the PSDB may be considered left-right centre, while the PT is a conventional left-wing party.
This historical election – Eduardo Suplicy was indeed the most voted councilman in the history of elections in São Paulo – was partly due to Eduardo’s tireless work as an activist and speaker for basic income. In his own words: “(…) after arguing the main advantages of the basic income as an important instrument of economic policy to build a just and civilized society in more than 100 hundred lectures in all kinds of auditoriums and public rallies, I was elected a city councilman of the city of São Paulo (…)”.
We might expect that more decisive steps towards basic income will come from the São Paulo district, now that its city government hosts one of the most resilient basic income defenders alive: Eduardo Suplicy.
More information at:
Bruno Soraggi e Rafael Balago, “Com 301 mil votos, Suplicy é vereador mais votado em São Paulo [With 301 thousand votes, Suplicy is the most voted councilman in São Paulo]”, Folha de São Paulo, October 2nd 2016
