Pitched battles as Brazil protests spread

Date
    June 20, 2013


Sao Paulo: Brazilian police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators in the north-eastern city of Fortaleza hours before a soccer match against Mexico as week-long protests over inflation and public policy spread.      

Police also fired tear gas and used mace to disperse a crowd that had broken through a barrier around the stadium where the Brazilian national team was due to play. Some of the protesters, who gathered to express their discontent over public spending on stadiums, responded by throwing stones. The national guard has been called on to reinforce security for soccer matches at Confederations Cup games (qualifiers between national teams for the World Cup) in three host cities, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

What began as a protest over rising bus fares in several cities has turned into the biggest street demonstration in two decades, with marchers voicing discontent over 6.5 per cent inflation, corruption and government spending. An opinion poll published today showed President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating dropped eight percentage points from March to June.


Anti-government protesters confront riot police outside a soccer stadium hosting a match between Brazil and Mexico in Fortaleza, in north-eastern Brazil. 

"It's everything from ending corruption to investing in schools," Lucas Santi, a 20-year-old law student at Universidade de Sao Paulo, said on the sidelines of a 50,000-strong march on city hall in Sao Paulo. Around him, protesters waving green and yellow Brazilian flags chanted "It's not just about 20 cents," referring to the increase in bus fares that sparked the unrest.


Joseph Blatter, head of the world soccer governing body FIFA, is leaving Brazil for Turkey and will only return on June 26 for the semi-finals, FIFA said today in a statement. Brazil, which had expected Blatter to remain in the country for the entire Confederations Cup, was surprised by the announcement, Paulo Rossi, a spokesman for the Sports Ministry, said by phone.

More than 200,000 people demonstrated in 12 cities on Monday, and protesters today occupied and burnt tyres on the Anchieta highway in Sao Bernardo, a working-class suburb of Sao Paulo. In capital city Brasilia, protesters demanding improved public transport blocked a motorway, causing traffic to back up for miles.

In Fortaleza one demonstrator held up a sign reading "Excuse the inconvenience, we're improving the country."

Since the start of protests, several state capitals, including Cuiaba and Porto Alegre, have taken steps to reduce bus fares. Sao Paulo mayor Fernando Haddad, of President Rousseff's Workers' Party, told Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper that if the Senate approves a bill cutting taxes for public transport companies, the city's bus fare would fall 7 per cent.

"People are realising nothing will get done if you wait for politicians to act," said Sebastiana Alcantara, a 60-year- old laboratory technician who was among demonstrators. Every day she takes a bus and train in her three- hour commute to work from the outskirts of Sao Paulo.      

The group Movimento Passe Livre, which has helped organise protests, said its supporters won't leave the streets until the fare increase in Sao Paulo is revoked.

President Rousseff's approval rating fell eight percentage points from March to June to 55 per cent, according to an IBOPE poll published today. The survey interviewed 2002 people in 142 cities June 6-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

"I'm like the rest who are unsatisfied with Brazilian politics," said Danilo Curvelo, 32, a web content editor who lives in the upscale Higienopolis neighbourhood of Sao Paulo. "There's no connection between what we want and what the government does."      

President Rousseff, who as a student was imprisoned and tortured by the military government, was jeered at a packed Brasilia soccer stadium on June 15. This week, she was pledging to listen to demonstrators.

"The voices of the street want more citizenship, health, transportation, opportunities," President Rousseff, 65, said in Brasilia. "My government hears those voices."

Her administration, which is used to dealing with organised protests that have identifiable leaders with whom it can negotiate, was surprised and confounded by the spontaneity and diversity of the demonstrations, said Gilberto Carvalho, Ms Rousseff's secretary-general.

"It would be pretentious to say we understand what's going on," Mr Carvalho said during a congressional hearing two days ago. "If we are not sensitive, we'll be caught on the wrong side of history."



Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/pitched-battles-as-brazil-protests-spread-20130620-2ok3z.html#ixzz2X1kh6Zck

Innocent bystander wrote on Jun 23^rd, 2013 at 8:48pm:

... wrote on Jun 24^th, 2013 at 6:55pm:

No, but obviously his dad was!!