Matheus Crespo is a worker at a federal bank in Brazil, director of the National Secretariat of the Central Sindical e Popular Conlutas and member of the Socialist Revolutionary Movement (MRS), present in Brazil and Panama, which is part of the CRIR, a committee in conjunction with sister parties in Argentina, the United States and Mexico. He said about himself: "I am a Marxist and defend the direct struggle of the working class and the oppressed, for the right to self-determination of the people and the end of capitalist exploitation. We carry out these struggles in the places where the working class lives, works and studies, since it will not be parliamentary elections or institutional solutions that will save the people, but the organized people themselves."

A meeting of the International Trade Union Network of Solidarity and Struggle was recently held in Brazil. At this meeting, a statement was issued calling for the release of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. You also contributed to the publication of this statement. Why is it important to demand Mr. Öcalan's freedom in such a meeting? Did all unions attending the meeting demand Mr. Öcalan's freedom?

Not only did we participate, but we were the authors of the proposed resolution for the release of Öcalan, the main leader of the Kurdish struggle, whose imprisonment is the maximum expression that Turkey is a country with dictatorial features that practices systematic persecution against the Kurds and against its own citizens, attacking freedom of expression, movement and organization, keeping Turks and Kurds under violence and authoritarianism. Öcalan's freedom is essential to combat this entire situation. We explained the issue and proposed this debate at the International Meeting, which brought together activists from more than 20 countries, and we approved the resolution unanimously.

As you know, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been imprisoned in Turkey for more than 24 years. There has been no news of him for more than two years. The Turkish State is imposing a severe policy of isolation on Mr. Öcalan. How do you evaluate this policy?

We consider it a very serious violation of human rights, an illegality and a crime against Öcalan, against all the Kurdish people and against the most basic rights. From all legal, humanitarian and political points of view, the detention is illegal and unacceptable, and its conditions are even more unacceptable, violating international conventions and the Turkish Constitution itself. Isolating Öcalan is a fruitless attempt to stop his influence on the Kurdish and Turkish masses by attempting to intimidate other activists; but the effect is precisely the opposite: a justified popular hatred towards Erdogan's dictatorial regime and the strengthening of the struggle for the release of political prisoners and the right to Kurdish self-determination.

How do you see Mr. Öcalan's role in the democratization of Turkey and the resolution of the Kurdish issue?

We have enormous respect for the history and struggle of Öcalan and all those who have served over the years in the PKK (absurdly slandered by the real international terrorists at the service of the various imperialisms of the United States and the European Union) and other Kurdish groups, organizations tireless in their resistance to all the massacres they suffer and in the fight for the liberation of their people, whether in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran or abroad. This does not, however, prevent us from having some political differences, as in the case of policy in relation to Syria, Rojava and the theory of democratic confederalism. We understand that it is necessary to maintain and deepen the struggle for the construction of a sovereign, independent, democratic, socialist Kurdish State controlled by workers. However, regardless of any differences, strategic or tactical, Öcalan is the great historical Kurdish leader and any national liberation process implies the liberation of him.

As you know, the Turkish state has been waging war against the Kurdish people for many years. It is currently targeting the Syrian Kurds, who are showing great resistance to the Islamic State. How do you evaluate this war by the Turkish State against the Kurdish people?

The actions of Erdogan and the Turkish State against the free regions of Rojava are a crime against humanity, not only because they are, in fact, military actions on foreign territory, as well as an invasion and aggression against the local autonomous governments and people of this region, but also because they serve, in practice, as an auxiliary army of the fascist group Islamic State, author of atrocities against the population, and in particular against women. Erdogan acts like a war criminal and we are unconditional supporters of the Kurdish struggle in Syria and Turkey, for victory and the expansion of the experience in Rojava. Our organization (MRS) was in Kobane a few weeks after his heroic liberation, and we are in favor of sending all forces and resources to this fight.

What would you like to say about the struggle for freedom of the Kurdish people and Kurdistan?

The strength of a people with millions of men and women, thousands of fighters and combatants and so many martyrs, after decades of attempts at genocide, extermination and assimilation, and that remains strong and standing, fighting, can never be defeated. It will not be one dictator or many of them, nor imperialism that will be able to defeat the Kurdish movement. The entire capitalist world had already abandoned the Kurds, betrayed them, exploited them and tried to silence them, but never succeeded. And the Kurdish resistance has never been so strong, at the same time, in the 4 countries that belong to Kurdistan. In Iraq, Syria, Turkey and even under the fundamentalist dictatorship of Iran, the Kurds are rising and becoming stronger. This fight is an example for all of us.

As a Brazilian politician and trade unionist, why is Mr. Öcalan's freedom important to you?

Because we cannot accept any political arrest of those who fight for the people and against despotism and exploitation. Neither in Nicaragua, nor in Venezuela, nor in Cuba, nor in Brazil, nor in Italy, nor in the United States, nor in Turkey. Nowhere can those who fight for everyone be imprisoned. There is and will not be democracy in Turkey as long as Öcalan remains in prison! We are all Öcalan!

What do you think can be done internationally to help Mr. Öcalan regain his freedom?

The first action is international solidarity, the basis of proletarian internationalism. Turkey targeted one, but in reality targeted all of us. All activists in the world must fight for the release of Öcalan and all other Kurdish and Turkish political prisoners who are targeted by this dictatorial regime. Solidarity must be expressed in words and resolutions, like the one we approved at the International Trade Union Network Meeting, but also actively, sending colleagues to the region, raising funds in every possible way. It is also necessary to denounce the complicity of each of the governments of the countries we are in, which support the Erdogan regime and help pull the trigger against the Kurds, when they do business freely with the Turkish State. We advocate for immediate diplomatic pressure for Öcalan's release, because there could be a breakdown in diplomatic and trade relations if there is no progress in this regard.

Anything else you want to add?
Stay strong! The fight is tough and it can often feel like you won't succeed or have enough strength against such powerful enemies. But nothing is as powerful as the people in a struggle, and the Kurds are an example of this. As are the Palestinians and as the working class demonstrates all the time, on the five continents, every time it decides to rise up. You are not alone and you can count on MRS for absolutely everything we can. The victory of the Kurds is the victory of all the exploited peoples of the world!