An increasingly vocal movement against fare rises on public transport has swept Brazil in the past two weeks, resulting in street demonstrations in several cities and angry confrontations between protestors and police.
In Sao Paulo, the night of June 13 was marked by the fourth demonstration in the space of a week, drawing a crowd of almost 10,000 people. Nearly 130 people were arrested and 105 people were injured, according to march organisers, the Movimento Passe Livre (MPL).
Likewise, in Rio de Janeiro, more than 2000 people took to the streets. Both demonstrations ended in violent clashes with the police, who used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators, some of whom responded with rocks and fireworks.
Smaller demonstrations also took place in the capital Brasilia and Porto Alegre, in the south.
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Demonstrations of such strength have not been seen on the streets of Brazilian cities since the movement to impeach then-president Fernando Collor in 1992. Today's protests involve a new generation, for the most part too young to have participated in the earlier movement.
Many are university students. They are politically conscious, well organised and extremely frustrated with Brail's political landscape.
Spark
The fare rise of R$0.20 (about $0.10) might seem trivial to city dwellers in the US or Europe. But it is the spark that has ignited longstanding public anger about the poor quality of public services, political corruption and even the preparations for next year’s World Cup, which are badly behind schedule and way over budget.
The protests have also highlighted the gulf that exists between most Brazilians and their elected representatives. While police and demonstrators clashed in São Paulo, mayor Fernando Haddad and state govenor Geraldo Alckmin were in Paris, promoting the city’s bid to host the 2020 Expo World Fair.
The protests will have been highly embarrassing for both men, not only given Sao Paulo’s Expo bid but especially considering the need to promote Brazil as a safe tourist destination ahead of the World Cup and the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Alckmin has reacted angrily to the protests, dismissing those involved as "troublemakers" and "vandals". He suggested the demonstrations were nothing more than the actions of "a few small but very violent political groups".
However, the number of protesters involved suggests that Alckmin has badly misread both the situation on the ground and the broader public mood. Opinion polls suggest 55% of the public in Sao Paulo support the protesters, despite initially negative coverage in much of the national media.
Early reports tended to emphasise acts of criminal damage committed by a minority of the demonstrators. Now, however, most of the national media is starting to strike a more balanced tone. THis is not least because reporters from both of Sao Paulo’s two main newspapers, O Estado de S. Paulo and Folha de S. Paulo, were attacked by police during the demonstrations on June 13, despite having identified themselves as press.
Seven journalists from Folha were injured, with one reporter pictured bleeding from the eye after being hit by a rubber bullet.
Repression
Policing has been heavy-handed enough to provoke criticism from Amnesty International. It condemned "the alarming discourse from the authorities, which has encouraged greater repression and the detention of journalists and demonstrators".
Indeed, the events on June 13 forced Haddad to admit that the police may have used "excessive force". "On Tuesday the enduring image was one of violence on the part of the demonstrators,’ he said, "unfortunately today [June 13] there is no doubt that it is one of violence on the part of the police."
Haddad’s tone has been more conciliatory than that of Alckmin, but he has also reiterated that would be no lowering of the fares. "I do not intend to revise the transport fares because an enormous effort was made over the course of the year to ensure that the rise was well below the rate of inflation," he said.
More demonstrations have been scheduled for coming days, and protesters have insisted that they will continue until fares are reduced to their previous rate or lower.
Haddad has invited representatives of the MPL for talks, in which he said he would outline a series of measures aimed at improving public transport in the city, and explain in detail how the new fares have been calculated. He said he owuld also show how state subsidies for public transport have developed over the years.
However, given that neither side appears willing to compromise on the main issue, more disruption is almost certain in Sao Paulo and in other cities across Brazil in the coming weeks.
[Reprinted from Latin America Bureau
