BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Demonstrators once again took to the streets
in Brazil on Saturday, continuing a wave of protests that have shaken
the nation and pushed the government to promise a crackdown on
corruption and greater spending on social services.
Thousands gathered in the central square of Belo Horizonte and
hundreds rallied in several other cities, largely to protest
legislation that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate
crimes in a country where many are fed up with the high rate of
robberies and killings.
President Dilma Rousseff broke days of silence on Friday with a
broadcast address in which she vowed to battle corruption while
improving government services, acknowledging the anger that has led to
more than a week of vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin
America's largest country.
She said she planned to soon meet with leaders of the protest
movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained
unclear who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of
demonstrators taking to the streets with a range of grievances,
including woeful public services despite a high tax burden.
Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for
public transportation in cities. Officials in many cities have already
backed down from the hike in bus and subway fares that set off the
protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress
to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she
made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack
physicians.
"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to
wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to complaints of deep
corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point
of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be
heard first."
The leader is a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's
1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and
tortured by the junta, and she pointedly referred to earlier
sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.
"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be
heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died
for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it
can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some
troublemakers."
Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo
neighborhood, said he found the speech convincing.
"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla
and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly,"
Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably
keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."
But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said
Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.
"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also
cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full
revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."
Some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets
nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public
services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's
World poor public services
The protests continued Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in
western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading a
$250 million arts center that remains empty after several years of
construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they
were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and
firing at officers.
Other protests broke out in in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo,
where traffic was paralyzed but no violence was reported, and in
Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for
more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.
With Pope Francis scheduled to visit Brazil next month, the National
Conference of Brazilian Bishops issued a statement expressing
"solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain
peaceful."
"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening
of a new consciousness," the Catholic leaders said in the statement.
"The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so
much inequality."
Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in
2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. A career
technocrat and economist, she was helped into the presidency by her
mentor, the tremendously popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva.
Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University
of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that officials need to
take stronger action.
"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and
wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should
come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still
making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like
to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform.
Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we
have."
Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general
strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the
Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing
about such an action, though they do support the protests.
A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union
presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the
city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no
ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered
corrupt here.
The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup
soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in
attendance.
Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's
protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next
year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed
a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the
National Transport Confederation.
"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favor of the protests is
not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action,
real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of
delivering."
___
Barchfield reported from Rio de Janeiro and Brooks from Sao Paulo.
Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Jack Chang in
Mexico City contributed to this report.
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