Vem Pra Rua/Come To The Streets - New Rallying Cry

[ihpguy]

The films creators have certainly cut and edited to their advantage.

But it is a wake-up call.

In the video, some opf the Portuguese says it is not about 20 centavos for transit.

Then it flashes the costs for the World Cup and Olympics and then flashes the salario minimo which is currently at 678R$.

A friend posted this to his facebook page and sent it to me.

Be part of the movement if you wish.

In my bit of paradise, we are totally isolated from these images and happenings. At least in Gloria and on the Praca XV yesterday, no protests were visible. I did see some photos where the protesters tossed some burning items at the base of the doors to the entry of the Palacio Tiradentes next to the Paco Imperial on the Praca XV last week. Last night nothing at that location. I think that yesterday the protesters were more organized in Sao Paulo.

[ihpguy]

Here's a second one with a fun animation included.

I have translates some of the Portuguese to hopefully make the viewing a bit easier.

The Governor of Sao Paulo calls it a small political movement.

A bit of change. 20centavos or ???

Starring whichever Brasilian is disposed to change/movement.

Today the class is in the street.

The giant is no longer sleeping.

And you? What are you waiting for?

And already the subject is the whole world has entered the field

with Neymar's t-shirt saying Dont Raise The Fare

All of you can include your own subtexts.

[wayout]

Very vivid images and certainly catches ones attention...as I am sure was the intent. I have to admit that if not for these posts I would have no idea of what is going on there.

[ihpguy]

Reuters Editorial Downplaying The Strength of The Protesters and The Movement

Analysis: Brazil's protests: Not quite a 'Tropical Spring'

Analysis & Opinion

By Brian Winter

SAO PAULO | Wed Jun 19, 2013 5:15pm EDT

(Reuters) - Brazil's blossoming protest movement is a coming-of-age for what had been one of Latin America's most politically disengaged youth populations, but does not appear to constitute a major threat to governability or established political parties.

The protests, which gathered steam last week and saw some 200,000 Brazilians demonstrate in a dozen cities on Monday, are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Their broad rallying cry, which includes opposition to corruption and recent bus fare increases, has appealed to virtually any Brazilian with a grievance - and there are plenty of problems to go around.

Yet, at least for now, the movement appears to be far more "Occupy Wall Street" than "Arab Spring" in terms of its motives, demographics and likely outcome.

That is, the protests are a noisy sign of discontent among a swath of the population that is on average richer and better educated than average Brazilians. A survey of demonstrators in Sao Paulo on Monday by polling firm Datafolha indicated they were three times more likely to have a university degree than the rest of the population.

The protests have spread quickly, and generated perhaps outsized buzz, in a country that has one of the world's highest usage rates of social media - 81 percent of respondents told Datafolha they heard about Monday's protest via Facebook.

Their novelty has also been important, as Brazil does not have the recent tradition of political protest seen in Argentina, Venezuela or even Chile. The use of teargas and rubber bullets by police inexperienced in crowd control has added to the shock value and pushed even more sympathizers into the streets.

As such, the protests have become a nationwide phenomenon and could lead President Dilma Rousseff and other politicians to make limited concessions on relatively small issues, such as bus fares, and bigger ones, such as the quality of public spending.

They may continue to grow in numbers and disrupt daily life in Brazilian cities - perhaps for months to come. The protests also add to the sensation that Brazil, after a decade in which seemingly everything went right, has become bogged down in rising inflation, crime and social unrest.

But the movement is just as notable for what it is not.

Unlike the unrest that swept the Arab world earlier this decade and Turkey more recently, the protesters are not targeted at a specific leader - or even the federal government.

Just a quarter of demonstrators told Datafolha they were protesting against politicians - behind bus fares (56 percent), corruption (40 percent) and police repression (31 percent).

Brazil is a vibrant democracy with a variety of parties, most of them left of center. The country's current leaders - many of whom cut their teeth protesting a military government in the 1970s and 1980s - appear eager to compromise with the protesters and, eventually, try to co-opt them.

Rousseff, herself a former guerrilla, made a carefully crafted statement this week praising the protesters for their "greatness." One senior official in Sao Paulo told Reuters on Wednesday: "We have to learn from this. We'd be stupid not to listen to what these people are saying."

IT'S NOT EUROPE

But the numbers have not been as large as they may seem to outsiders, considering Brazil's huge size.

To use one comparison, Monday's total nationwide turnout, the biggest so far, amounted to about 0.1 percent of Brazil's population of nearly 200 million people. Tuesday's follow-up protest in Sao Paulo rallied about 50,000 people in a metropolitan area of some 20 million.

The movement is also not a sign of massive, European- or Arab-style discontent with the economy. Unlike countries where protests or alternative social movements grew big enough to deeply shake the established order, Brazil does not have a problem with unemployment among youths or the population at large.

In fact, Brazil's problem is the opposite: Near-full employment and rising wages are driving inflation of about 6.5 percent a year, which is the root cause behind the bus fare increases that originally triggered protesters' ire.

If Brazil's recent economic boom is responsible for creating the bottlenecks that have enraged so many of the demonstrators, it will also likely limit their movement's appeal.

A nationwide poll released on Wednesday showed Rousseff's popularity, while down sharply from March, remained very high by global standards. Fifty-five percent of respondents rated her government as "good/great," while 32 percent rated it as "average." Just 13 percent said it was "bad/terrible."

Recent polls have shown similar results.

Financial stability and innovative social programs helped pull some 35 million Brazilians, or about 17 percent of the population, out of poverty during the past decade. Brazil was one of the only countries in the world that matched high economic growth with falling inequality during that period.

Perhaps for that reason, the rising lower-middle class has so far shown few signs of participating in the protests - even if its members support some of the motives, particularly the cry for better public transport.

There are several wild cards that could transform the movement into something more threatening to the status quo.

One of them is violence. Although the marches have been mostly peaceful, clashes between police and protesters have injured more than 100 people, and isolated looting broke out in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. A confrontation that resulted in deaths would likely bring many more Brazilians out onto the streets in support.

The other is the economy. Brazil's currency has slid sharply in recent weeks, and its stock market is down 20 percent this year, reflecting rising pessimism among investors. That could, in turn, result in greater unemployment - in which case, the popular unrest would likely build.

[ihpguy]

Last nights televised protests in Sao Paulo didn't look like much. While I was watching, there was televised footage from helicopters. I watched for maybe twenty minutes during "Cidade Alerta/City on Alert"- quite funny show due to the presenter's screams of dismay. They were moving down Consolacao very orderly, crossed Ave. Paulista and passed the MASP, as they trooped past the Parque Trianon, it brought back fond memories of my three year live-in Paulista lover and us necking in the park one afternoon on a bench towards the back. One I reclined on one of the benches with my head in his lap for a sonequinha/little nap, one of the guards hurried over and remonstrated with us that to lay down was definitely a park no-no. My favorite movie is Notting Hill and I had fantasies of a gay Julie Roberts/Hugh Grant moment at the end. Me with my fat belly instead of being preganant. Oh well, he left me for a wealthy tenor with big family money in the Teatro Municipal chorus. Who then kicked is cheating ass out onto the street in 5 months.

Update on protests set for today(6/20) just received from the US Consulate automatic advisory service for registered US citizens, a bit surprised at Macae, as it is the real center for the oil boom and the salaries are much better there with much better possibilities for employment:

Well, I guess no Meio Mundo today with the Candelaria protest on tap...

U.S. Consulate General Rio de Janeiro

In Rio de Janeiro, groups have announced four protests for June 20, but times and locations of protests may change quickly. The first protest reportedly begins at 11:00am at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Urca. The second protest is supposed to begin in Candelaria at 4:00 p.m. and will follow a route through the downtown area, ending at Cinelandia. The other two protests are scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. and will also be in the downtown area. There will also be a Confederations Cup game beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the Maracanã stadium. The Maracanã stadium is not on the published protest route, but is located in the vicinity of the downtown protests. Protests are also scheduled for other major cities in the region, including Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Vitória, Buzios, and Macaé. Protests may also occur in other locations and cities, organized on short notice.

U.S. Consulate Recife

Multiple groups in Recife have scheduled a protest for Thursday, June 20, at 4:00 p.m. in the Praça do Derby area. The protesters have stated via social media sites that they intend to paralyze transportation throughout Recife by blocking key bridges. The expected chokepoints are Cais José Estelita, Rua Capitão Temudo, Avenida Cruz Cabugá, Avenida Engeheiro Abdias de Carvalho, and Avenida Norte. The Consulate in Recife will close early on Thursday afternoon to allow employees to avoid the protest. We urge U.S. Citizens residing in or visiting Recife to be conscious of the widespread transit stoppage that could occur on Thursday and to avoid unnecessary travel in the city near the time of the scheduled protest. Protests are also scheduled for other major cities in Northeast Brazil, including Fortaleza, Natal, Joao Pessoa, and Maceió.

U.S. Consulate General São Paulo

A protest organized by the “Movimento Passe Livre” is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. on June 20^th in Sao Paulo city at the Praça do Ciclista, located at the intersection of Avenida Paulista and Rua da Consolação, and may spread to other sites within the city. Recent protests have resulted in some acts of physical violence, damage to property, and confrontations between demonstrators and police. Traffic has been temporarily disrupted along some of the main thoroughfares in Sao Paulo.

Protests are also scheduled for other cities in the region on June 20^th. In Sao Paulo state, the cities include Campinas, São José dos Campos, Piracicaba, Sorocaba, Guaratinguetá, São Carlos, Rio Claro, Araraquara, Botucatu, Americana, Santa Barbara D’Oeste, Sumare, and Hortolandia.

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, protests are scheduled in Porto Alegre, Pelotas, Passo Fundo, Santa Maria, São Leopoldo, Alegrete, Rio Grande, Sapiranga, Santana do Livramento, Sapucaia do Sul, Lajeado, Santa Rosa, Bagé, Ijuí, Soledade, and Tenente Portela.

In the state of Paraná, protests are scheduled in Curitiba, Londrina, Castro, Arapongas, Guaratuba, Cascavel, Maringá, and Ponta Grossa.

In Mato Grosso do Sul, a protest is scheduled in Campo Grande for June 20^th.

In the state of Santa Catarina protests are scheduled in Itajaí and on June 21^st in Florianopolis.

[ihpguy]

This is part of why there are these protests all over Brasil at the moment. An article that helps to explain the basically state-supported theft that is shown in the sweetheart deal for the Maracana concession. The group pays only 2.7millionUS for 35 years and now are trying to get a piece of the operating profits of Flamengo. Hey, it would be one thing if they actually owned the stadium and paid the billion US spent over the past 7 years on 2 rehabs. But they don't. And even Djilma was a leftist guerilla long, long ago.

Flamengo playing hard ball over Maracana talks

Featured SA PSL

20 Jun 2013 9:39:12 AM

Brazilian giant Flamengo will not be held to ransom in its negotiations over a return to the new-look Maracana and could even explore the option of hosting more games outside its home city of Rio de Janeiro, according to a senior club official.

Brazilian giant Flamengo will not be held to ransom in its negotiations over a return to the new-look Maracana and could even explore the option of hosting more games outside its home city of Rio de Janeiro, according to a senior club official.

Flamengo traditionally plays its home games at the Maracana, which reopened in April with a capacity of 78,000 after a near US$500 million redevelopment for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Flamengo is in negotiations with the Consorcio Maracana group, which consists of Odebrecht, Brazil’s biggest construction company, Anschutz Entertainment Group and billionaire Eike Batista’s sports and entertainment vehicle IMX. The consortium has been awarded a 35-year contract to run the stadium. Under an agreement with Rio’s state government, it will pay R5.5 million (US$2.7 million) annually for the concession.

Flamengo has held several rounds of talks with Consorcio Maracana without coming to an agreement. The club is reportedly seeking a revenue-sharing contract that will include income from the corporate seats, though it has so far only been offered a deal where it will be paid a fee per game, according to Flamengo’s vice-president for marketing Luis Eduardo Baptista. “If you are foreseeing a relationship which is like a marriage for 10 years plus, you expect you share the revenues of the stadiums,” Baptista told Bloomberg. “We’re not going to accept to be only paid to play in Maracana.”

The club’s first Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A game of the new season was played in Brasilia’s new $750 million Mane Garrincha stadium against Santos. “I’m pretty sure other World Cup stadiums will be expecting to host Flamengo,” added Baptista. “Flamengo has the largest set of fans in 18 out of the 27 Brazilian states, so I think the club would be very well accepted and hosted everywhere. We would better off to have a home, a stadium to call our own. But we’re not going to do anything stupid to fulfil somebody else’s business model.”

[ihpguy]

Just received news from two FACEBOOK friends that there is a nationwide general strike set for 1 July. Not sure how much more Dilma can do. She heard and she spoke. Monday afternoon she had a televised cabinet meeting concerning the demonstrations.