Anti-government protesters took to the streets of virtually every Brazilian state on Sunday to protest against corruption, a slowing economy and to call for the removal of President Dilma Rousseff and her government.
According to latest updates from police sources, at least 682,000 people took part across the country. Organizers put the figure at 1.5 million, according to the G1 news portal, World Bulletin reported.
Protests were reported in no fewer than 193 cities in at least 24 states and the Federal District.
At the country’s biggest demonstration, on Sao Paulo’s central Avenida Paulista boulevard, police estimated that 275,000 people had come to protest against the government. The Datafolha polling institute put the figure at 92,000.
Protesters came swathed in Brazilian flags, dressed – and in some cases face-painted – in patriotic greens and yellows. Many had banners with slogans calling for Rousseff and her Workers’ Party (PT) to be removed from power.
Corruption and Brazil’s flagging economy were themes which echoed throughout the event in Sao Paulo, with many naming Rousseff, her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and various members of her ruling government as responsible.
Some protesters again called for impeachment proceedings against Rousseff, citing mounting evidence against political figures close to her in connection with a mass corruption scandal at state-run oil giant Petrobras.
A small number of protesters urged a “constitutional military intervention” to seize power from the ruling government.
