TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 200,000 people went into the streets in many cities in Brazil on Monday. It was the country's biggest demonstration in the last twenty years. Crowds voiced their dissatisfaction of deteriorating public services, violence by police officers, and corruption in the government.
The protests, which were initiated through a social network discussion, first broke in Sao Paulo. It quickly spread to Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Brasilia. Demonstrators went up to the roof of Brazilian Congress and invaded the building. Traffic was immobilized in nearly half a dozen cities.
Yesterday's demonstrations were the latest in the last two weeks. The sluggish Brazilian economy, high inflation, and rising crime rates became the main triggers.
Some of the protesters in Rio threw stones to police cars, burned parked cars, and damaged parts of the parliament building. Their counterparts in Porto Alegre also destroyed several properties.
They waved Brazilian flags, danced and chanted slogans such as "The people have awakened" and "Pardon the inconvenience, Brazil is changing."
The country is hosting the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup as the hosts of next year's FIFA World Cup. The government hopes that the two events, along with 2016 Olympics, will confirm Brazil's status as a rapidly emerging global power. Brazil is also preparing to welcome more than two million visitors on July when Pope Francis makes his first foreign trip to the country.
REUTERS | TRIP B