On Monday 25 June a picket in support of the workers of the CIPLA factory in Brazil took place in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Moscow. 15 people, including supporters of the IMT, the Revolutionary Workers Party, the socialist Movement Vpered took part in the picket.As has been reported on Marxist.com, the CIPLA factory has been invaded by the police using force following a decision of the Ministry of Social Security and a federal judge. A letter addressed to the minister of Social Security, Luis Marinho the, federal judge, Dr Oziel Francisco de Sousa, minister of the federal police, Tarso Genro, as well as to President Lula, who was elected by the workers to defend their interest has been circulated on the internet and forwarded to these individuals to put pressure on them to back down. The placards held on the picket read "CIPLA in the hands of the workers!" "Shame on Lula!" "Respect trade union rights" and "workers, together we are a force."
As the embassy is located on a quiet street the effect of the picket in Moscow was modest but we hope that the news that the CIPLA workers have support in Russia too will inspire the CIPLA workers to carry on their struggle with even greater confidence in our class.