PCB Candidate Edmilson Silva Costa Proposes Nationalization and Senate Abolition

Edmilson Silva Costa, a 76 year old economist and poet running for President for the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB), is campaigning on a platform to nationalize the financial system and abolish the Senate. His program includes revoking neoliberal reforms and opposing the influence of NATO, the OAS, and the Summit of the Americas. Costa, who is running with retired UFRJ professor Cleusa Santos as his vice presidential candidate, views the election as a tool for political dispute regardless of the final result, noting that the party received 0.04 percent of valid votes in 2022.

Costa has refused an alliance with the Workers Party (PT) for the sixth consecutive election. He argues that the PT implements social compensation policies such as Bolsa Família and ProUni without fundamentally altering the national economy. While he praises the Lula government for its stance against pressures from Donald Trump, he criticizes the administration for maintaining the fiscal framework and failing to revise labor and pension reforms. He describes the far right and Bolsonarismo in Brazil as a fifth column of an imperial system led by Trump.

The PCB platform advocates for solidarity with Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. Costa attributes civil rights issues in Cuba to the American embargo and defends Venezuela against what he calls American attempts to seize its natural resources. To implement his goal of replacing the Senate with a unicameral parliament and instituting revocable mandates, Costa suggests relying on popular mobilization, citing the 1992 impeachment of Fernando Collor as a precedent.

Costa is the Secretary General of the PCB and a doctor of economics who taught for 25 years. He currently leads the research area of the Caio Prado Júnior Institute. He declared assets totaling 454,485.68 Brazilian reais to the Electoral Court. Outside of politics, he is a published poet and songwriter who maintains a daily routine of walking 8 kilometers and practicing pilates.