A guest post from Rodrigo Silva de Souza, originally from
Salvador de Bahia and currently studying for a PhD in London
The recent demonstrations in Brazil began completely
unexpectedly and took local and global commentators entirely by surprise. Why should
a country that is experiencing its best greatest economic success for a
generation, that has addressed its historic problem with hyperinflation and
become the sixth largest economy in the world, and which is almost
simultaneously hosting the World Cup and the Olympics Games, be faced with such
a degree of popular unrest? Considering that football is a national passion, why
should the people revolt against their government with demonstrations of popular
dissatisfaction inside and outside its frontiers?
The answer lies in the paradoxical model of
growth and progress that Brazil has adopted. In spite of being the sixth
largest economy in the world, Brazil is also the third most unequal country, with
a Gini coefficient of 0.56 (UNDP, 2010); graphic thanks to The Economist.
So, although local newspapers want to link current events to the minor issue of
an increase of just R$ 0.20 (6 pence) in the standard bus fare, the explanation
for the huge scale of the demonstrations clearly lies elsewhere.
Those 20 cents were merely the last straw. People are
suffering from corruption; urban violence matched by a failure to enforce the
law; the largest rate of tax amongst undeveloped countries without a
commensurate standard of public services such as education, health and public
transport. Brazil’s popular fear a return of inflation and resent the high
salaries of politicians (averaging R$ 17,000.00) compared to the wage of a
minimum-wage worker (R$ 600.00) or a teacher (R$ 800.00). The doubling in the
cost of the new stadia being built for the World Cup has exacerbated dissatisfaction.
In a country renowned for its peaceful and welcoming
people, the national mood is ‘they do not represent us’. Since the period of
the dictatorship Brazil’s media has been biased and corrupt, and it now
shamefully tries to manipulate the population, conveying the protests in Turkey
as ‘revolutionary acts’, while protests in Brazil were reported as ‘vandalism’.
Meanwhile, the police tried to quell the demonstrations with excessive violence
used against nonviolent protesters who carried flowers through the streets of
Sao Paulo’s with banners proclaiming ‘no violence’. They were met with tear gas
and rubber bullets.
The movement was dispersed momentarily, but what the
rulers did not realize was that images and videos, never conveyed by the
official media, would be shared on Facebook, and people would not allow the
football to distract them from their political purpose. The movement took to the
streets of Brazil and has been supported all over the world. The Brazilian
people have seen through the illusion of democracy they have been living through
and shouted ‘ENOUGH! We are tired of being spectators watching the farce of
life in Brazil!’
As a Brazilian I have to say that I have never felt so
proud of the Brazilian people. I do not know exactly how far these
manifestations will take us, and they cause me anxiety, but I think this is an
important first step towards a better future. ‘No more impunity! No more
corruption! Change Brazil! We want a better future for our children!’ These
claims have invaded the web and the streets of Brazil.
On Wednesday I joined several friends and linked up with
Brazilians across the world to support the protests and proclaiming that ‘although
distant, we are not apart’ and that there are no borders to democracy.
Unfortunately, many things needs to change. The fear is that politicians will
silence the resistance in Brazil in a subtle and therefore more threatening
way: attending to one or two of the movement’s shallow demands requirements, such
as the bus fare reduction, and the movement disperses.
These political demonstrations have been observed with
suspicion by a part of the population who no longer believes in change and in their
power. Moreover, the official media continues to convey images of graffiti and
vandalism of some protesters (who are, according to the leaders of the movement,
government and police infiltrators). Thus, comments like ‘Why are we doing this
now?’, ‘But we always hear news about corruption and thievery’ or ‘Brazil has
never grown so much’ illustrate the
identity of a people who have learned to be content with small rewards and no
longer recognize their strength.
The important thing is that the people are dissatisfied
and have perceived that nothing has changed even after a huge demonstration of
public opposition, even when they have reached Congress. A prominent example is
Renan Calheiros (a corrupt politician who has become President of the Congress):
he is still in post in spite of a Facebook petition signed by many thousands. We
have been battered again and again for too long. For me personally the overpriced
World Cup was the last straw, for the residents of Sao Paulo it was the 20 cent
fair rise and police violence.
This current Brazilian democracy is nothing more than an
illusion of people power. Even after the demonstrations, absurd laws continued
to be approved in Congress to satisfy the lobbyists working for large
companies. FIFA has already overpowered the democratic government of Brazil in
arrangements for the World Cup: the streets near stadiums are recognized as
FIFA territory within Brazil. Moreover, every politician and minister now receives
the benefit of a ‘Cup Assistance’ to watch the World Cup games, which costs the
equivalent of a working person’s montly wage for each day for each politician who
attends the World Cup and is paid for from taxes.
In spite of all this, I have hope in the future and the
possibility of change. Democracy is not made only on polling day or during the election
period. It will be good for Brazilians to become more politicized, because for so
long we have been led to believe that politics is dirty word and we should keep
ourselves far from it, and this is just one more discourse to maintain the
domination of the rich and powerful. I have hope if the people stay on the
streets and show their strength; if they demand that the media broadcast these
demonstration or, better still, if they take control of social media to
proclaim: ‘Yes, we can change!’ That is the reason I was here demonstrating on
the streets of London yesterday.
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