In Brazil many believe the World Cup has seen the rich line their
pockets, while the poor make do with crumbling public services. Next
year's tournament, it seems, has stoked up tensions that have long lain
dormant.
FULL STORY
People walk in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, on Tuesday, June 18. Brazilians took to the streets across the
country to protest a 9 cent rise in bus fares. Brazil is building
massive stadiums and revamping infrastructure ahead of the soccer World
Cup, which it hosts next year.
Tiny price hike triggers huge protests
People walk in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, on Tuesday, June 18. Brazilians took to the streets across the
country to protest a 9 cent rise in bus fares. Brazil is building
massive stadiums and revamping infrastructure ahead of the soccer World
Cup, which it hosts next year.
Tiny price hike triggers huge protests
June 18, 2013 -- Updated 1948 GMT (0348 HKT)
People walk in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, on Tuesday, June 18. Brazilians took to the streets across the
country to protest a 9 cent rise in bus fares. Brazil is building
massive stadiums and revamping infrastructure ahead of the soccer World
Cup, which it hosts next year.
HIDE CAPTION
Protests in Brazil
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Protesters and police have battled each other in some Brazilian cities
- The protests, sparked by a rise in bus fares, point to deeper discontent
- Some protesters say they are unhappy at the cost of next year's World Cup
- FIFA president Sepp Blatter booed by crowd at opening ceremony for Confederations Cup
Editor's note: James Montague is the author of When Friday Comes: Football, War and Revolution in the Middle East (deCoubertin Books). He is in Brazil for the Confederations Cup. Follow him @JamesPiotr
Belo Horizonte, Brazil (CNN) -- At 11 pm, the tired and the injured gathered in Belo Horizonte for one last expression of discontent.
More than a thousand sat
in Praca Sete de Setembro, a square in the center of the city, chanting
against the government and the police. But they weren't the crowd's only
enemy. A sign hung from a nearby balcony. It read: "Anti Copa." On the
pavement the words "A FIFA é Foda" had been painted: "F*** You, FIFA,"
in Portuguese. The roads had been blocked off by the military police,
who watched the protesters from afar. A bank of police horses chewed on
piles of hay left for them on the road.
Daniel Sanabria, a
technician in his 20s, stood nearby cradling his arm, an ice pack on top
of a bloody bandage. He peeled it off to reveal an ugly red welt on his
left hand. "A bullet," he explained.
Tiny price hike triggers huge protests
The day was supposed to
have been something of a coronation for Belo Horizonte, a relatively
quiet and small city -- if a population of 2.5 million people could ever
be called small -- surrounded by mountains, an hour's flight north of
Rio de Janeiro.
Its famous Mineirao
football stadium had just hosted its first match of the 2013
Confederations Cup, a 6-1 victory for African champions Nigeria against
the tiny Pacific islanders of Tahiti. It was a dry run for next year's
World Cup finals which return to Brazil for the first time since 1950, a
chance to prove that the country was ready to host the most world's
most popular sports tournament.
Instead, military and
civilian helicopters flew overhead, roads were blocked and military
police stationed throughout the city as a series of protests sparked by
anger about the cost of living, poor quality education and high
transport costs took place at the same time as the match.
The initial spark for the
protests was a rise in bus fares in Sao Paulo. The anger was such that,
even in a country often caricatured for its deification of soccer, the
World Cup, its surrogate cousin the Confederations Cup and the game's
global governing body FIFA, have all become symbolic of corruption and
waste.
Protesters believe the
tournament has seen the rich line their pockets, while the poor make do
with crumbling public services. The World Cup, it seems, has sparked
something that has lain dormant for a long time.
And this year we rise. We have woken up. We are on the streets like in Turkey and Greece. They have made us wake up about this.
Tainara Freitas
Tainara Freitas
"Tonight this is about
all of Brazil, we are moving against corruption. We have been suffering
for too many years," said Tainara Freitas, a teacher who had remained
with the protest until the end.
"And this year we rise.
We have woken up. We are on the streets like in Turkey and Greece. They
have made us wake up about this. The World Cup in Brazil is about too
much money. There are too many poor people suffering. The World Cup
isn't good for Brazil. It will bring tourists and money but this is not
good for poor people."
Earlier in the day
15,000 protesters had marched towards the Mineirao as hundreds of
thousands of Brazilians took to the streets across the country in the
first coordinated mass protests of this size since the end of Brazil's
military dictatorship in the mid 1980s.
Police responded with
tear gas, firing rubber bullets into the crowd, and beat protesters who
burned barricades in return. I watched Tahiti's brave performance on the
pitch as the protesters gathered outside, speaking to Brazilian sports
writer Igor Resende at half time about the match and the reasons for the
anger. A few hours later he was in hospital after apparently being shot
in the back with a rubber bullet.
"The police came with a
brutal force," recalled Resende. "I didn't see the protesters do
anything. The police threw a bomb and it exploded in the middle of the
protest. Then police began to shoot."
Resende said he was hit in the back by a rubber bullet as he ran away.
"In that moment I just
ran. I thought that if I looked back the police would probably shoot me
again. I don't think the police are well prepared. They are badly paid.
They have a bad life. They act like this because they are scared."
But Resende said he has doubt that the police response was related to the Confederations Cup.
"I spoke to one of the
highest ranked police guys in state yesterday. He told me 3,500
policeman were on the streets because of the game. They are acting to
avoid conflict near the stadiums. The police and FIFA don't want the
protesters near the stadiums."
For FIFA, who have been
critical of Brazil's preparations for the World Cup, the protests are an
unwelcome complication for a tournament already long behind schedule.
"People are using the platform of football and the international media
presence to make certain demonstrations," said FIFA president Sepp
Blatter who, alongside the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, was booed
by the crowd at the opening ceremony on Saturday.
Speaking in an interview
in Rio on Monday, he said: "You will see today is the third day of the
competition this will calm down. It will be a wonderful competition."
But the protests have
not calmed down. The day after Blatter's interview, the biggest
demonstrations yet took place. Sanabria and Freitas agreed that the
Confederations Cup, which continues for another 12 days, is an
opportunity to make their voices heard.
I asked them both what messaged they wanted to send FIFA and the football world.
"Please, please, make
more pressure on our government, on the Brazilian government to look out
for us," said Freitas before she made her way back into the protest,
Sanabria still clutching his injured hand.
"They are looking out for people outside the country, they aren't looking for us, for the poor people."
The protestors now have the world's attention.
Angry Brazilians vowed to hit city streets again Tuesday, a day after the largest protests in the country in at least 20 years. FULL STORY
|
VIDEO
|
PROTESTERS: WORLD CUP BENEFITS OUTSIDERS
|
PROTESTERS: WORLD CUP BENEFITS OUTSIDERS
June 18, 2013 -- Updated 1901 GMT (0301 HKT)
People walk in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, on Tuesday, June 18. Brazilians took to the streets across the
country to protest a 9 cent rise in bus fares. Brazil is building
massive stadiums and revamping infrastructure ahead of the soccer World
Cup, which it hosts next year.
HIDE CAPTION
Protests in Brazil
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "My government is trying and committed to social transformation," she says
- NEW: More protests are expected Tuesday night
- Demonstrators say the government makes the poor pay while throwing out money
- Brazil is spending heavily on the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games
Are you witnessing the protests in Brazil? Share your images and videos with CNN iReport.
Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN) -- Brazilians angry about
high taxes, corruption, lavish spending on the upcoming World Cup soccer
tournament and other complaints vowed to hit city streets again
Tuesday, a day after the largest protests in the country in at least 20
years.
President Dilma Rousseff said Tuesday their message was being heard.
"The direct message from
the streets is for more citizenship, better schools, better hospitals,
better health, for direct participation," she said in a nationally
televised address. "My government is trying and committed to social
transformation."
The protests blocked
seven lanes of the main ring road around Sao Paulo on Monday night in
what was a largely peaceful, even festive demonstration.
Other protest groups
marched down major business avenues in the city, while in Rio de
Janeiro, crowds clogged entire city blocks, waving Brazilian flags and
chanting against corruption and for democracy.
Tiny price hike triggers huge protests
"Brazilians want to put a
stop to the various problems that exist in the country," said CNN
iReporter Phillip Luiz Viana, who participated in the protests in Sao
Paulo. "We see no reason to have such bad infrastructure when there is
so much wealth that is so highly taxed."
Police stayed largely on the sidelines after being accused of using heavy-handed tactics in earlier demonstrations.
But they did push back
when protesters attempted to storm government buildings in Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo and attempted to rush the National Congress
building in Brasilia, the nation's capital. Police held them at bay, the
official Agencia Brasil news service reported.
In Rio de Janeiro, protesters looted and vandalized several shops and burned cars, the news agency said.
Police also used tear
gas to break up a protest trying to form near a stadium in Belo
Horizonte, one of six Brazilian cities hosting a dry run for Brazil's
hosting of the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament.
The agency reported that
an 18-year-old who was not part of the demonstrations fell from an
overpass when the crowd of protesters passed by. He was taken to a
hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, the agency said.
While praising the
largely peaceful protests, Rousseff said that what she characterized as
"isolated and minor acts of violence" should be confronted "with vigor."
More protests are expected Tuesday in Sao Paulo.
They are being organized
largely by university students and a group called the Free Fare
Movement, which wants public transportation to be free of charge.
The protests follow a
week of smaller demonstrations that began in response to plans to
increase fares for Brazil's public transportation system, from 3 to 3.20
reais ($1.38 to $1.47), but have broadened into wider protests over
economic and social issues plaguing the country.
Protesters say they are
angry about, among other things, government decisions to spend money on
the World Cup and other projects instead of improving health care,
education and other social programs.
Brazil is building
stadiums and revamping its infrastructure ahead of the World Cup and the
2016 Olympic Games, events that will put the world's focus on the Latin
American nation of 201 million people.
"They destroyed schools
to build parking lots for stadiums; hospitals are overcrowded; people
are hungry on the streets," Rio de Janeiro protester Fernando Jones
said.
The protests have
attracted international attention, and the office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Brazilian authorities Tuesday
to show restraint in handling protesters.
Last week, at least 100
people were injured and 120 arrested after violent clashes between
police and protesters in Sao Paulo. Police used rubber bullets and tear
gas against protesters and journalists, bringing complaints of brutality
and targeting of media covering the events.
On Monday, Rousseff issued a statement saying that "peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and part of democracy."
"It is right for the youth to protest," she said.
Former President Lula da
Silva also came out in support for the protests on his Facebook page,
urging officials to work out a solution for affordable transit rates.
Shasta Darlington reported from Sao Paulo;
Michael Pearson wrote from Atlanta; CNN's Marilia Brocchetto and Ben
Brumfield also contributed to this report.
TOP LATIN AMERICAN STORIES
- Venezuelan lawmakers: Ban baby bottles
- Spain triumphs over Uruguay in Confederations Cup
- 5.8 magnitude quake strikes southwestern Mexico
- Brazil beats Japan in Confederations Cup opener
- Argentine ex-president gets 7 years
- Trains collide near Buenos Aires; 3 reported dead
- Cat runs for mayor in Mexico
- Jellyfish derails Australian's Cuba-Florida swim
- Argentina cracks down on massive slavery ring
- COPY http://edition.cnn.com/
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário