Brazil’s National Federation of Oil Workers (FNP) and its various unions are demanding that the government of Brazilian president Lula guarantee the safety of Brazilian activists aboard the flotilla bound for Palestine. The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest international humanitarian aid mission in history, is attempting to break the illegal blockade imposed by the Israeli government. In a statement, the union declared:
Palestine is a country recognized by Brazil, and access for Brazilian and other civilians must be guaranteed by the Brazilian government. It is unacceptable that an invading force prevents civilians on a humanitarian mission from reaching Gaza to deliver aid to millions of people exposed to famine due to Israeli policy.
In the days leading up to this news, oil worker and director of the Rio de Janeiro Oil Workers’ Union, Leandro Lanfredi, was in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies demanding diplomatic and trade measures that Brazil can adopt regarding Palestine. Lenfredi is also an editor of Esquerda Diário, the Brazilian sister site of Left Voice.
Lanfredi stressed the need to give full support to the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian mission carried out by hundreds of people from more than 40 countries. He demanded that the Lula government safeguard the Brazilian delegation, which has a strong presence. The delegation includes Bruno Gilga, the delegation’s official spokesperson and a correspondent for the La Izquierda Diario International Network which includes Left Voice and Esquerda Diário.
Cruzando o mediterrâneo ao lado de outras embarcações rumo à Gaza, levando também o apoio dos estivadores italianos que decidiram que vão parar a Europa se encostam na Global Sumud Flotilha. Essa é a força da nossa classe, a classe trabalhadora que tudo move e produz. pic.twitter.com/5uy2uSV4Pt
— Bruno Gilga 🇵🇸 (@BrunoGilga) September 3, 2025
Lanfredi, who is also a leader of Left Voice’s sister organization, the Brazilian Revolutionary Workers’ Movement (MRT), had denounced in previous weeks that Petrobras continues contribute to the genocide by selling fuel to Israel. He demanded an immediate end to the trade:
From our position on the board of directors of the Rio de Janeiro Oil Workers Union (Sindipetro RJ), we have been instrumental in the passage of resolutions within the union and the National Federation of Oil Workers (FNP) demanding an end to sales to Israel. Together with the Single Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), the two oil federations have already sent an open letter demanding an energy embargo on the Israeli state.
As the Global Sumud Flotilla heads to Gaza from Barcelona, solidarity demonstrations have been organized in several Mediterranean ports to accompany the ships’ departure. Following the dockworkers in Genoa, Brazilian refiners are demanding the defense of the flotilla to Gaza. This is another example of internationalist solidarity that demonstrates that the international working class can play a vital role in ending genocide and the complicity of all governments allied with Israel.
The call for a strike by the Genoa dockworkers, and now that of the Brazilian refineries, point the way toward worker solidarity. As Trump’s genocidal plans for Gaza materialize, the complicity of European states continues, and Israel has decided to completely occupy the Gaza Strip, mobilization in solidarity with the Palestinian people has never been more urgent.
In this situation, the labor movement could provide decisive support to the struggle against genocide and to the workers of the region, who could put an end to Israel’s atrocities in Gaza by mobilizing against their own regimes complicit in genocide.
Originally published in Spanish on September 3, 2025 in La Izquierda Diario.
