Photo Gallery A Middle Class in Revolt
Protesters burn flags of the Workers' Party in Sao Paulo on June 20. After a week of mass protests, Brazilians won the world's attention and a pull-back on the subway and bus fare hikes that had first ignited their rage.
People march toward Mineirao stadium during a protest in Belo Horizonte on June 22. Brazil has always been a permissive society. Those who are rich are rarely held accountable for their crimes. Politicians invoke their parliamentary immunity and there are plenty of kleptocrats in the country's town halls, governor's palaces and the National Congress, the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. It is partially this mentality that has driven people into the streets.
A member of law enforcement troops aims his weapon as they clash with protesters during a demonstration outside Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte. The government has apparently failed to grasp the protest movement entirely. It has reacted as usual: First, it tried to violently suppress the protests, then it tried to co-opt the protesters. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff praised the demonstrators, and the mayors of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro rescinded the bus fare hike.
The protests are rocking the country at a critical moment. The Brazilian economy is starting to falter. Last year, it only grew by 0.9 percent, making Brazil the laggard among the emerging economies known as the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Some are now asking if the economic boom experienced under for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be followed by the blues.
Here, law enforcement troops clash with protesters during a demonstration outside Mineirao stadium during the Conferations Cup soccer match between Japan and Mexico.
Recent rises in prices have evoked painful memories of inflation in the past. The construction of the capital Brasília and megaprojects launched by the military dictatorship saddled subsequent democratic governments with a huge mountain of debt. By the mid-1980s, prices had exploded. The Brazilian central bank has introduced five new currencies since then. It wasn't until 1994 that then-Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso managed to stabilize the economy with a combination of austerity measures and currency reform.
After Luiz Inancio Lula da Silva's election as Brazilian president in 2002, many investors thought the leader would be bad for business and they pulled out of the country. Instead he created an economic wonder, pulling some 20 million people out of poverty and into the middle class. During his second term, he opened up the government coffers for social and infrastructure spending.
This paved the way for the election of his successor, President Dilma Rousseff. Many had hoped that she would return to a orthodox financial policy. Instead, she lowered interest rates and intervened in monetary policy. She has expanded state capitalism in the country and founded a number of new state-owned companies. Meanwhile, important structural reforms have become mired in government bureaucracy.
Not much happens without the government in Brazil and, not surprisingly, corruption continues to flourish. The renovation and new construction of sports facilities for the World Cup and the Olympic Games was negotiated with only a handful of large contracting companies, and the projects are billions over budget. This wheeling and dealing between the government and companies is yet another reason why the middle class is up in arms.
Here, a man holds up a protest banner reading "Job, Dignity and Justice" during a protest against corruption and price hikes near Mineirao.
A protestor faces riot police during a demonstration in Salvador on June 22.
Despite President Rousseff's assurances that she will improve public services and fight corruption, protesters continued to take to the streets over the weekend.
Here, a woman holds up a sign reading, "One Brazil for all," in Sao Paulo.
