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PROTESTERS AND POLICE Protesters and police have clashed in Sao Paulo as demonstrations against the World Cup and rallies calling for improved public services erupted in several Brazilian cities.
Officers in Brazil’s largest city fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who set piles of trash alight to barricade a central avenue. Demonstrators blasted the billions spent to host next month’s soccer tournament and said they wanted to draw attention to what they called a lack of investment to improve poor public services.
It’s estimated a thousand mostly young protesters gathered on a main business avenue in the city of 11 million, loudly beating drums and cans and raising banners with messages such as “less money for the Cup and more for housing.” Protesters staged a soccer game with dirty tactics, and one man put on a costume of a giant skeleton dressed as a Brazil player.
The demonstration turned violent when some people smashed the windows of a Hyundai car dealership and the offices of a bank. Police arrested seven people carrying Molotov cocktails
While widespread, the rallies were far smaller than the protests that engulfed the nation last year and had largely ended by Thursday night.
Thursday’s demonstrations blocked two key roads into Sao Paulo during the morning commute. Outside the new stadium that will host the opening match of the Cup, about 1,500 activists fighting for more housing waved Brazilian flags as black smoke rose from the flames burning tires.
“Our goal is symbolic. We don’t want to destroy or damage the stadium,” said Guilherme Boulos, head of the Homeless Workers Movement, whose activists gathered at Itaquerao Stadium on the eastern outskirts of Sao Paulo. “What we want are more rights for workers to have access to housing and to show the effects the Cup has brought to the poor.”
The group claims many people have been forced out of their homes because of rising rents in the neighborhood around the new stadium.
Police blocked the main entrance next to a construction zone where cranes and other machines were lined up to carry materials still needed to finish the soccer arena.
As night fell, rallies were held in Rio de Janeiro, causing chaos for traffic in the center of the city.
In the capital Brasilia, protesters carried banners reading “FIFA Go Home,” while in another Cup host city Belo Horizonte, about 2,000 people took to the streets to complain of the soccer tournament.
In northeastern Brazil, looters ransacked stores in the World Cup host city of Recife, where a police strike led to lawlessness. Police there entered the third day of a strike for a 50 percent pay hike. Authorities said they’d already decided to cancel two professional league soccer matches slated for this weekend in the city.
“They are obviously using the proximity of the World Cup to pressure us to give into their demands,” government press officer Manoel Guimaraes for the state of Pernambuco, home to Recife.
By late Thursday, it appeared the police strike was ending and officers were expected to return to the streets in the coming hours.
Recife will host five World Cup matches, starting on June 14.
The demonstrations Thursday were being watched as a test of the government’s ability to maintain security during the World Cup.
Many Brazilians are angry at the billions spent to host the World Cup. Protesters have said the government should focus spending instead on improving Brazil’s woeful health, education, security and infrastructure systems.
Brazilian leaders had hoped the World Cup and then the 2016 Olympics in Rio would put a favorable spotlight on the country, showing advances over the past decade in improving its economy and pulling tens of millions out of poverty.
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like the olympics the rich get richer and the poor kicked and moved out :’(
It’s sick how that happens. Same with Qatar. Their World Cup won’t take place until 2022 but there’s been allegations of slavery, bribery and corruption already.
We all know what an elitist shower of corrupt money grubbers FIFA are.
Most of Brazil’s purpose built stadiums are safety hazards. Here’s a country who clearly can’t afford a world cup but is doing it for the prestige anyway – like South Africa…wonder how much the FIFA officials were paid for this one…
US robots, Israeli drones to help make 2014 World Cup in Brazil ‘one of safest sporting events ever’….
A cleaver way to test the latest equipment for the Western Police state society.
http://rt.com/news/brazil2014-us-military-robots-501/
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“camera glasses that can capture 400 facial images per second to store them in a central database of up to 13 million faces”
SHEEEEEAT. That’s quite alarming. And yet, believable.
They only weigh 27 kilos, easy enough to take one of them out of action.
Its the way but hopfully we can change the way people think money is better 2 line there pockets.but as the great Joe strummer said without people ur nothing !
Such a shame a wonderful event like the world cup has to be over shadowed by deaths to workers and protests. The protesters do have a right to protest though as there’s still loads of slums in Brazil and they’re spending state money on the world cup.
Good training for the police. The English supporters will be arriving in about 3 weeks
I wonder will any of the commentators on this forum cancel their subscriptions to sports channels and refuse to follow the world cup in solidarity with the poor Brazilian protesters?
Always amazed by how many economists tell us about the rising power of the BRICS. Brazil is plagued by gross inequality and injustice, millions languishing in poverty with third world infrastructure and services. Russia is kept afloat by high oil and gas prices. India has 500 million people with no access to basic sanitation. 80% of the ground water in China is polluted and millions of its citizens die prematurely every year due to air pollution. South Africa is just another African country mired by kleptomaniac presidents and thieving officials. Take away the ‘commodities’ that Russia, Brazil, South Africa and India rely on and you’re left with third world states no better or worse than their third world neighbours.
Why would you allow a developing country, steeped in corruption and poverty, to host the two largest international events in the world within two years of each other?
You mean Ireland’s attempts to host Euro 2020 and the 2023 Rugby World Cup?
I’m sure the government rakes money in, definitely profiting from their expenditure.
It’s what they’re doing with the profits, that isn’t right. Making lavish new structures and ignoring the sprawling slums of Sao Paulo.
How bad would Brazil be without football altogether though?
This isn’t about football. It’s about the actions of FIFA and the Brazilian government. Brazil doesn’t need to host anything to prove it’s tradition with football, walk down any street to see it. It’s always been to working class producing the players and the ruling class profiting from it.
According to a relative who works with the poor in San Paolo, this is the way it’s always been. Its a hugely unjust situation and one the president is working to tackle since her election. Unfortunately, the press is under the control of those who want the progressive president out, hence all the bad press from Brazil. Of course the World Cup is another issue but it’s a handy one for the trouble-makers, stirring things up.
*San Paulo
Actually it’s sao paulo.
Is it the 12th of July already?
Brazil’s security forces are trying to clear Rio de Janeiro’s gang infested favelas before June,I believe there’s over 1000..good luck with that lads..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/07/brazil-rio-missing_n_4059580.html
They’re “disappearing” people, apparently.
Let’s hope this won’t be the norm when the World Cup starts
Yes. God forbid the poor should upset the wealthy and their little diversions.
Sweet Jesus.
I’m living in São Paulo, all I can say is that I’m scared for the World Cup. Firstly, the infrastructure that was promised to be finished for the World Cup isn’t finished! I’m not sure how people are going to get to the Itaquerão Stadium, there is one subway line which is packed to capacity most normal days to get there, don’t even talk about busses there is no direct busses there from the city centre, there will be a security area all around the stadium so you can’t even go by car unless you pay FIFA money for this permission. So that leaves you to walk about 2.5km I believe! it’s going to be a mess. The reason why people are protesting is because they want the government to take into consideration their own situation. In Brasil most people have the view ‘the government’ should do everything for them. Build them houses, give them money for having children. We call this ‘bolsa familia’ it is the equivalent of children’s allowance in Ireland but they poor rely on this. The people around Itaquera have been forced out of their houses as the ‘greedy’ landlords have put up their rent because of the World Cup some increases have been estimated at 100%. The majority of houses in Itaquera are nothing special not too far off favela standard. The government are not offering anything and the groups are using these protests to get something like a government funded house program. The corruption is evident in everything, but it’s ok at least we have soccer it will solve all the problems!
Hopefully it can still be a Brazilliant world cup
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