01:33Brazil: Seriously? Youth trash city for 10 cents?
Brazil: Seriously? Youth trash city for 10 cents?
Protesters, journalists and police were injured in the streets of Sao Paulo, Thursday, as protests against the rising of transport fares intensified. Police responded to the crowds' failure to disperse with rubber bullets and tear gas, reportedly causing several injuries and making hundreds of arrests amidst chaotic scenes of running battles.
Journalists covering the protest were also caught up in the police action, with the cameraman who provided these pictures hospitalised with an injury inflicted by a baton round. Seven reporters from Folha de Sao Paulo, the country's largest newspaper, were reported injured in the fighting. Reporters from several publications including Carta Capital magazine and Terra were arrested by police and later released. Reporters without borders have made a formal complaint the Brazilian government.
Demonstrators in Brazil's largest city are angry over rises in the price of public transport on bus and underground lines, with the price of a single ticket rising by approximately seven percent from 3 reals ($1.40, €1) to 3.2 ($1.50, €1.10). Activists claim this threatens the livelihood of some of the country's poorest people, while authorities say the rise is well below inflation. The minimum wage is set at 622 reals (€220, $290) per month.
Activists say that high inflation and relatively heavy taxation are depressing living standards, while the government spends billions on major public works projects, including new and refurbished football stadiums for the 2014 World Cup. Substantial delays and cost overruns make the total price of the building programme likely to heavily exceed the government's estimate of seven billion reals ($3.3bn, €2.5bn).
Brazil's Minister of Justice, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, has said that the demonstrations are legitimate, but that resorting to violence and vandalism is unacceptable.
Solidarity marches against the fare increases involving thousands have taken place in Rio de Janeiro and other cities across the country, which is slated to host the World Cup football tournament in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
01:33Brazil: Seriously? Youth trash city for 10 cents?
Protesters, journalists and police were injured in the streets of Sao Paulo, Thursday, as protests against the rising of transport fares intensified. Police responded to the crowds' failure to disperse with rubber bullets and tear gas, reportedly causing several injuries and making hundreds of arrests amidst chaotic scenes of running battles.
Journalists covering the protest were also caught up in the police action, with the cameraman who provided these pictures hospitalised with an injury inflicted by a baton round. Seven reporters from Folha de Sao Paulo, the country's largest newspaper, were reported injured in the fighting. Reporters from several publications including Carta Capital magazine and Terra were arrested by police and later released. Reporters without borders have made a formal complaint the Brazilian government.
Demonstrators in Brazil's largest city are angry over rises in the price of public transport on bus and underground lines, with the price of a single ticket rising by approximately seven percent from 3 reals ($1.40, €1) to 3.2 ($1.50, €1.10). Activists claim this threatens the livelihood of some of the country's poorest people, while authorities say the rise is well below inflation. The minimum wage is set at 622 reals (€220, $290) per month.
Activists say that high inflation and relatively heavy taxation are depressing living standards, while the government spends billions on major public works projects, including new and refurbished football stadiums for the 2014 World Cup. Substantial delays and cost overruns make the total price of the building programme likely to heavily exceed the government's estimate of seven billion reals ($3.3bn, €2.5bn).
Brazil's Minister of Justice, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, has said that the demonstrations are legitimate, but that resorting to violence and vandalism is unacceptable.
Solidarity marches against the fare increases involving thousands have taken place in Rio de Janeiro and other cities across the country, which is slated to host the World Cup football tournament in 2014 and the 2016 Summer Olympics.