Brazil leader breaks silence about protests

Brazil leader breaks silence about protests

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Demonstrators once again took to the streets

in Brazil on Saturday, continuing a wave of protests that have shaken

the nation and pushed the government to promise a crackdown on

corruption and greater spending on social services.

Thousands gathered in the central square of Belo Horizonte and

hundreds rallied in several other cities, largely to protest

legislation that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate

crimes in a country where many are fed up with the high rate of

robberies and killings.

President Dilma Rousseff broke days of silence on Friday with a

broadcast address in which she vowed to battle corruption while

improving government services, acknowledging the anger that has led to

more than a week of vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin

America's largest country.

She said she planned to soon meet with leaders of the protest

movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained

unclear who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of

demonstrators taking to the streets with a range of grievances,

including woeful public services despite a high tax burden.

Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for

public transportation in cities. Officials in many cities have already

backed down from the hike in bus and subway fares that set off the

protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress

to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she

made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack

physicians.

"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to

wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to complaints of deep

corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point

of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be

heard first."

The leader is a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's

1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and

tortured by the junta, and she pointedly referred to earlier

sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.

"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be

heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died

for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it

can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some

troublemakers."

Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo

neighborhood, said he found the speech convincing.

"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla

and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly,"

Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably

keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."

But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said

Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.

"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also

cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full

revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."

Some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets

nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public

services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's

World poor public services

The protests continued Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in

western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading a

$250 million arts center that remains empty after several years of

construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they

were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and

firing at officers.

Other protests broke out in in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo,

where traffic was paralyzed but no violence was reported, and in

Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for

more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.

With Pope Francis scheduled to visit Brazil next month, the National

Conference of Brazilian Bishops issued a statement expressing

"solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain

peaceful."

"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening

of a new consciousness," the Catholic leaders said in the statement.

"The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so

much inequality."

Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in

2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. A career

technocrat and economist, she was helped into the presidency by her

mentor, the tremendously popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da

Silva.

Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University

of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that officials need to

take stronger action.

"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and

wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should

come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still

making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like

to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform.

Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we

have."

Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general

strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the

Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing

about such an action, though they do support the protests.

A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union

presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the

city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no

ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered

corrupt here.

The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup

soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in

attendance.

Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's

protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next

year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed

a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the

National Transport Confederation.

"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favor of the protests is

not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action,

real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of

delivering."

___

Barchfield reported from Rio de Janeiro and Brooks from Sao Paulo.

Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Jack Chang in

Mexico City contributed to this report.

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