{{More than 100,000 people were in the streets Monday for largely peaceful protests in at least eight big cities. }}
They were in large part motivated by widespread images of Sao Paulo police last week beating demonstrators and firing rubber bullets into groups during a march that drew 5,000.
There was some violence, with police and protesters clashing in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre and Belo Horizonte.
The newspaper O Globo, citing Rio state security officials, said at least 20 officers and 10 protesters were injured there.
Monday’s protests come after the opening matches of soccer’s Confederations Cup over the weekend, just one month before a papal visit, a year before the World Cup and three years ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The unrest is raising some security concerns, especially after the earlier protests produced injury-causing clashes with police.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s economic hub, at least 65,000 protesters gathered Monday at a small, treeless plaza then broke into three directions in a Carnival atmosphere, with drummers beating out samba rhythms as people chanted anti-corruption jingles.
They also railed against the matter that sparked the first protests last week — a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares.
Thousands of protesters in the capital, Brasilia, peacefully marched on Congress. Dozens scrambled up a ramp to a low-lying roof, clasping hands and raising their arms, the light from below sending their elongated shadows onto the structure’s large, hallmark upward-turned bowl designed by famed architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Some congressional windows were broken, but police did not use force to contain the damage.
“This is a communal cry saying: ‘We’re not satisfied,’” Maria Claudia Cardoso said on a Sao Paulo avenue, taking turns waving a sign reading “#revolution” with her 16-year-old son, Fernando, as protesters streamed by.
{agencies}
Leave a Reply