What's happening in Brazil?

[tapirmusic]

So I heard last week that there were hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets of Brazil. All I could find out was that they were protesting against a raise in the price of bus fares? Then as soon as I heard the story I couldn't find more information.

Anybody can spell it out who is protesting what and how it's going?

THanks/

[Kowalski]

I think it's just the latest development in this....The county's having bigger promblems then the bus fare prices being raised.

[Blink4567]

Is brazil witholding info and suppressing the internet overthere also?

[Walter White]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/23/latest-brazil-protest-draws-streets

This is an article from Sunday.

It started out as a protest against fare rises, then became a panoply of gripes including high taxes, poor services and the cost of the 2014 World Cup being staged there. It's now become about goverment corruption, the protestors fear that new legislation would protect corrupt politicians from prosecution.

For all I know it's probably now turned into a protest about Santos FC selling Neymar to Barcelona; they certainly like to coalesce their protest movements.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Walter White

[spartan max2]

Yeah i heard about the protest to but not what about

[tapirmusic]

For all I know it's probably now turned into a protest about Santos FC selling Neymar to Barcelona; they certainly like to coalesce their protest movements.

For all I know that's probably an incredibly witty remark, but remember this is a sub-forum with mostly Americans posting in it, so please refrain from making esoteric soccer jokes. Soccer sucks...

[EllJay]

They are also protesting against the widespread corruption that permeate the whole society on all levels.

You either have to pay, or know, someone on the inside to get anything done around there.

But I guess they protest against many other things as well, Economic inequality, bad housing and poor healthcare etc.

[tapirmusic]

So it sounds like the youth are... gasp... revolting against Big Government?

perhaps that's why it's not being mentioned in the media..

[Walter White]

For all I know that's probably an incredibly witty remark, but remember this is a sub-forum with mostly Americans posting in it, so please refrain from making esoteric soccer jokes. Soccer sucks...

Touché!

Although I'd remind you that this is the United States and the Americas forum, and considering that soccer is very popular in the Americas, my witty remarks (your words, no backsies!!!) shall be unrefrained.

I also ask that "unrefrained" be considered a real word for the rest of the thread.

[questionmark]

Of Brazil we only saw what we wanted to see, and that was that a minority was doing extraordinarily well. Most of Brazil's people live slightly better than those in Bangladesh, the social discontent had to pop up sooner or later.

[Black Red Devil]

About 16% of Brazilians live under the poverty line despite the country's growing economy and the fact they can afford to put on the ritz for the Football World Cup in 2014.

That is what's happening in Brazil.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Black Red Devil

[Mr.United_Nations]

Also anyone noticed the majority of protesters are white? You would think people living in the slums would protest more than the middle class?

[Babe Ruth]

About 16% of Brazilians live under the poverty line despite the country's growing economy and the fact they can afford to put on the ritz for the Football World Cup in 2014.

That is what's happening in Brazil.

Maybe the .5% versus the 99.5% ?

[questionmark]

Maybe the .5% versus the 99.5% ?

Not really, the .5% were always against the rest, just have a good look at a Brazilian favela. If you want to lead your country in any direction you either take at least 80% with you or you go nowhere...fast.

[Clarakore]

Listened in on a journalistic piece over the radio that discussed this with somewhat depth and one analysis claimed that the rise of the middle class in Brazil, however fantastic that is, has stalled and that this is one of the many reasons for the protests.

There are no leaders, no main issue, and that is it more of a social movement. They interviewed one of the members of Pase Libre (the Free Fare Movement), which formed in 2006, and was the first group to begin the protest the bus fare hikes before others joined them. She stated their own group had no leaders either and will refuse to promote one from within their ranks.

Not having a leader or a focus does limit their effectiveness.

The last I have heard on air was that the president of Brazil was going to offer a referendum and allow the citizens to decide.

While rather trivial and not very related to the core of this thread, a noteworthy aspect for me was the use of the Brazilian press using drones to cover the crowds. For an instance the protestors thought it was a UFO, uploaded the video to YouTube, but then the footage from the drone covering the crowds below was later posted quelling the UFO speculation.

Drones in domestic applications all over our hemisphere are coming!!! Only a matter of time before our own members of this forum have their own sightings.

Edited June 25, 2013 by The world needs you

[Walter White]

There are no leaders, no main issue, and that is it more of a social movement. They interviewed one of the members of Pase Libre (the Free Fare Movement), which formed in 2006, and was the first group to begin the protest the bus fare hikes before others joined them. She stated their own group had no leaders either and will refuse to promote one from within their ranks.

Not having a leader or a focus does limit their effectiveness.

I can sympathize with her view, it makes it harder for opposition voices to discredit them through having no focal point to attack, leads them to having to make generalities about the group which people who have a grounding in common sense won't fly with.

On the other hand as you say, Pase Libre also have no focal point, no one to rally the troops to a particular end.

[SHaYap]

Its just the disgruntled few taking advantage of the situation by holding World Cup Organising Committee to ransom ... as soon as they are given free tickets or promised free televised matches the majority of them will quieten down ... then the Neymar supporters will be left to continue the protests on their own ... till the Summer Olympics

`

[Clarakore]

Forgot to add this but I had a question based on a suspicion.

The suspicion is that it seems doubtful to me that the protestors in Brazil are from the favelas now but instead are part of the growing middle class which has stalled.

Sort of like give a man a fish and feed him for a day, give a man a fish everyday and then stop giving it to him and he will be very angry, or maybe it is like teach a man to fish then privatize the pond????

In either case are most of the protestors in Brazil from the middle class? So this movement would then be not about poverty but about middle class concerns instead?