Mass protests have taken place across Brazil as tens of thousands took to the streets denouncing the “coup” that resulted in Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment. The largest rally in Sao Paulo turned violent with police intervening to disperse the crowd.
Brazil has once again been rocked by a fresh series of large-scale protests. The largest demonstrations took place in cities like San Paulo and Rio-de-Janeiro, according to the Globo TV Channel. Smaller demonstrations were held in Curitiba and other Brazilian cities. Rallies were also staged in the capital Brasilia.
Demanding that President Michael Temer resign, some 50,000 people took part in the demonstrations in San Paulo, while several thousand participated in Rio de Janeiro, according to organizers’ estimates.
The official numbers have not been yet released.
The demonstrators also called for new elections, shouting: “Out with Temer!”
Footage showed huge crowds of people marching through the cities with some carrying placards reading ‘No to coup d’etat’. Initially thought peaceful, a number of demonstrations turned violent at some point.
The group turned violent at a subway station and began damaging turnstiles and throwing rocks at anti-riot police at the end of the demonstration, the public safety department said.
Police said they had to fire tear gas to prevent vandalism at the end of a peaceful march, sparking all-out panic and scuffles. Stun grenades and water cannon were also used by police.
When asked about the protests that were taking place in Brazil, the effective president Michael Temer downplayed the scale of the events.
“There are 40, 50, 100 people, nothing more than that,” he claimed during the G20 summit in China. “They are small groups, not popular movements of any size… In a population of 204 million Brazilians, they are not representative.”
Sunday’s protests were the largest string of demonstrations to take place in Brazil since Temer was sworn in to replace Rousseff.