SAO PAULO (AP) — More than 250,000 anti-government demonstrators again
took to streets in several Brazilian cities Saturday and engaged
police in some isolated, intense conflicts. Anger over political
corruption emerged as the unifying issue for the demonstrators, who
vowed to stay in the streets until concrete steps are taken to reform
the political system.
Across Brazil, protesters gathered to denounce legislation, known as
PEC 37, that would limit the power of federal prosecutors to
investigate crimes — which many fear would hinder attempts to jail
corrupt politicians.
Federal prosecutors were behind the investigation into the biggest
corruption case in Brazil's history, the so-called "mensalao"
cash-for-votes scheme that came to light in 2005 and involved top
aides of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva buying off members
of congress to vote for their legislation.
Last year, the supreme court condemned two dozen people in connection
to the case, which was hailed as a watershed moment in Brazil's fight
against corruption. However, those condemned have yet to be jailed
because of appeals, a delay that has enraged Brazilians.
The protests continued despite a prime-time speech the night before
from President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was
tortured during Brazil's military dictatorship. She tried to appease
demonstrators by reiterating that peaceful protests were a welcome,
democratic action and emphasizing that she would not condone
corruption in her government.
"Dilma is underestimating the resolve of the people on the corruption
issue," said Mayara Fernandes, a medical student who took part in a
march Saturday in Sao Paulo. "She talked and talked and said nothing.
Nobody can take the corruption of this country anymore."
The wave of protests began as opposition to transportation fare hikes,
then became a laundry list of causes including anger at high taxes,
poor services and high World Cup spending, before coalescing around
the issue of rampant government corruption. They have become the
largest public demonstrations Latin America's biggest nation has seen
in two decades.
Across Brazil, police estimated that about 60,000 demonstrators
gathered in a central square in the city of Belo Horizonte, 30,000
shut down a main business avenue in Sao Paulo, and another 30,000
gathered in the city in southern Brazil where a nightclub fire killed
over 240 mostly university students, deaths many argued could have
been avoided with better government oversight of fire laws. Tens of
thousands more protested in more than 100 Brazilian cities, bringing
the nationwide total to 250,000, according to a police count published
on the website of the Globo TV network, Brazil's largest.
In Belo Horizonte, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse
protesters who tried to pass through a barrier and hurled rocks at a
car dealership. Salvador also saw protests turn violent.
During her pre-recorded TV speech, Rousseff promised that she would
always battle corruption and that she would meet with peaceful
protesters, governors and the mayors of big cities to create a
national plan to improve urban transportation and use oil royalties
for investments in education.
Many Brazilians, shocked by a week of protests and violence, hoped
that Rousseff's words after several days of silence from the leader
would soothe tensions and help avoid more violence, but not all were
convinced by her promises of action.
Victoria Villela, a 21-year-old university student in the Sao Paulo
protest, said she was "frustrated and exhausted by the endless
corruption of our government."
"It was good Dilma spoke, but this movement has moved too far, there
was not much she could really say. All my friends were talking on
Facebook about how she said nothing that satisfied them. I think the
protests are going to continue for a long time and the crowds will
still be huge."
Around her, fathers held young boys aloft on their shoulders, older
women gathered in clusters with their faces bearing yellow and green
stripes, the colors of Brazil's flag.
In the northeastern city of Salvador, where Brazil's national football
team played Italy and won 4-2 in a Confederations Cup match, some
5,000 protesters gathered about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the
stadium, shouting demands for better schools and transportation and
denouncing heavy spending on next year's World Cup.
They blocked a main road and clashed with riot police who moved in to
clear the street. Protesters said police used rubber bullets and even
tossed tear gas canisters from a helicopter hovering overhead. The
protesters scattered and fled to a nearby shopping mall, where they
tried to take shelter in an underground parking garage.
"We sat down and the police came and asked us to free up one lane for
traffic. As we were organizing our group to do just that, the police
lost their patience and began to shoot at us and throw (tear gas)
canisters," said Rodrigo Dorado.
That was exactly the type of conflict Rousseff said needed to end, not
just so Brazilians could begin a peaceful national discussion about
corruption but because much of the violence is taking place in cities
hosting foreign tourists attending the Confederations Cup.
Brazil's news media, which had blasted Rousseff in recent days for her
lack of response to the protests, seemed largely unimpressed with her
careful speech, but noted the difficult situation facing a government
trying to understand a mass movement with no central leaders and a
flood of demands.
With "no objective information about the nature of the organization of
the protests," wrote Igor Gielow in a column for Brazil's biggest
newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, "Dilma resorted to an innocuous speech
to cool down spirits."
At its height, some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to
the streets nationwide on Thursday night with grievances ranging from
public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for
international sports events.
Outside the stadium in Belo Horizonte where Mexico and Japan met in a
Confederations Cup game, Dadiana Gamaleliel, a 32-year-old
physiotherapist, held up a banner that read: "Not against the games,
in favor of the nation."
"I am protesting on behalf of the whole nation because this must be a
nation where people have a voice ... we don't have a voice anymore,"
she said.
She said Rousseff's speech wouldn't "change anything."
"She spoke in a general way and didn't say what she would do," she
said. "We will continue this until we are heard."
___
Associated press writers Tales Azzoni and Ricardo Zuniga in Salvador,
Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Rob Harris in Belo Horizonte contributed
to this report
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