Brazil:
authorities deploy 8,000 police as Rio de Janeiro braces for protests
Authorities
in Rio de Janeiro ramped up police manpower more than tenfold as
Brazil braced itself for another night of protest.
20 June, 2013
But
the atmosphere was festive, with music and chanting from the mostly
young middle-class crowd. The wide variety of banners showed how this
movement has been a magnet for frustrations that have simmered under
the surface for many years: "Stop corruption. Change Brazil",
"Come to the street. It's the only place we don't pay taxes",
"Government failure to understand education will lead to
revolution", "We want to change everything wrong in our
country", "Stop police violence" – Seemingly the
only common theme was a desire for change.
"There
are no politicians who speak for us," said Jamaime Schmitt, an
engineer. "This is not just about bus fares any more. We pay
high taxes and we are a rich country, but we can't see this in our
schools, hospitals and roads."
With
a far heavier police presence than at a previous demonstration on
Monday and more protesters expected, some participants acknowledged
they felt nervous. "I'm a little worried someone might let off a
home-made bomb," said Gabriel Matos, a teacher at a private
school. "But I want to be here. This demonstration proves we
have power." After vastly underestimating the scale of the march
on Monday that was largely peaceful but ended with fire and vandalism
outside the legislative assembly, police say they have increased
on-duty personnel and placed a battalion of riot police on standby.
The
military police spokesman for Rio state, Frederico Caldas, estimates
that 8,000 police will be involved in a dual operation to handle the
demonstration in the centre of the city and security for the Spanish
and Tahiti football teams to and from the Maracanã stadium where
they are playing in the Confederations Cup. Police cordoned off the
stadium blocking access to protesters during the game. Only
ticket-holders were allowed to enter.
The
number includes 1,200 riot police who will remain in barracks unless
the demonstration turns violent. They will be armed with teargas and
rubber bullets, but the authorities say they will only be used in
extreme cases.
"We
hope it will not be necessary to call on this battalion,"
another spokesman told the Guardian. "Rubber bullets are a last
resort."
The
increase of personnel comes after the police admitted they misjudged
the scale of Monday's march, when only 150 officers were on duty to
handle a crowd of more than 100,000.
Thursday's
demonstration will be the biggest test of a high-tech police command
centre, inaugurated last month, that includes a giant screen with
images from hundreds of cameras around the city. For the march on
Thursday night, helicopters with high-resolution imaging will also
monitor the crowd, but the police denied rumours that drones would be
used.
"There
will be no drones in this operation. That is a false rumour. We don't
even have a law that allows drones," said the spokesman.
Among
the preventative measures, police were said to have begun monitoring
social media networks to anticipate plans for gatherings. The
Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, meanwhile, mapped what it
said were protests in around 90 cities across the country.
Protest
organisers are hoping that Thursday's march will be the biggest yet
in a nationwide wave of unrest unmatched in more than two decades. On
Monday, a quarter of a million people took to the streets in at least
12 cities. Since then, tens of thousands have also marched for the
past two nights in São Paulo and there has been a 10-hour
demonstration in Belo Horizonte.
There
have also been peaceful demonstrations in other cities as well
violent clashes in Fortaleza between police – using teargas and
rubber bullets – and protesters trying to enter the perimeter
around a stadium where Brazil played Mexico in the Confederations
Cup.
The
spark for smaller demonstrations last week was a rise in public
transport fares. After those protests were brutally handled by
police, the unrest has since escalated and spread to include a long
list of grievances, including corruption, poor public services and
the high cost of stadiums being built for the Confederations Cup and
next year's World Cup.
Initially
caught off guard, the authorities have switched from repression to
conciliation. President Dilma Rousseff has praised the protesters and
on Wednesday, the mayors of São Paulo and Rio announced a U-turn on
the fare increase.
But
this has yet to mollify an amorphous movement that has been gaining
in momentum and overshadowed the Confederations Cup.
The
country's most famous footballer, Pelé, called on protesters to
focus on football rather than street demonstrations.
"Let's
forget all this commotion happening in Brazil, all these protests,
and let's remember how the Brazilian squad is our country and our
blood," Pelé said in a brief broadcast via the O Globo TV
network also posted online. However, many online commentators have
derided his appeal along with a similar call on Thursday from FIFA
president Sepp Blatter.
Brazil
has entered a second week of mass protests, with hundreds of
thousands turning out in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte,
Brasilia and elsewhere. Unrest left at least 100 injured and resulted
in over 250 arrests on Monday.
22:45
GMT: Police fired large rounds of tear gas against protesters in the
city of Campinas in Sao Paulo state in a confrontation adjacent to
government buildings.
A
Globo TV correspondent reported a tense situation as demonstrators
faced off against riot gear-clad officers.
22:03
GMT: Police in Rio de Janeiro have already resorted to tear gas early
Thursday evening to disperse a crowd making its way to city hall.
Plumes of smoke could be seen on video broadcast by local TV.
Authorities
in Brazil's cultural capital expect as many as a million protesters
to converge on the city, despite recent announcements by state
governments to scrap plans to increase public transportation costs.
Protesters intended to march on Maracana Stadium just as a
Confederations cup football game was to kick off.
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