Odhora Alo: Protests planned across Brazil despite concessions

Brazilian police shoot tear gas at demonstrators during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro's sister city, Niteroi, Brazil, Wednesday evening, June 19, 2013. Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo city leaders said Wednesday that they reversed an increase in bus and subway fares that ignited anti-government protests. Many people doubted the move would quiet the demonstrations which have moved well beyond outrage over the fare hikes into communal cries against poor public services. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Brazilians hold a poster shaped as a bus that reads in Portuguese; "Zero tariffs, transport 24 hours," during a march demanding free public transit and against the money poured into stadiums for hosting the current Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup, at the Bus Station, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Another night of mass marches around Brazil and nearly a week of unrest has shocked the country's leaders ahead of a papal visit next month and next year's World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Fans hold protest signs reading "Not against the Brazilian team - against corruption" during the soccer Confederations Cup group A match between Brazil and Mexico at Castelao stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A woman looks at a shop window where the wall is covered by graffiti that reads in Portuguese "Police assassins," left behind by protesters, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Beginning as protests against bus fare hikes, the demonstrations have quickly ballooned to include broad middle-class outrage over the failure of governments to provide basic services and ensure public safety, even as the country's economy modernizes and tax rates remain some of the highest in the world. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

Riot police aim their weapons at protesters gathering near Castelao stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Protesters cut off the main access road to the stadium where Brazil will play Mexico in the Confederations Cup soccer tournament later Wednesday. Beginning as protests against bus fare hikes, the demonstrations have quickly ballooned to include broad middle-class outrage over the failure of governments to provide basic services and ensure public safety. The sign held by a woman at left reads in Portuguese "the people are not idiots, and Dilma go to hell."(AP Photo/Andre Penner)

SAO PAULO (AP) ? Protests are planned in more than 80 cities across Brazil Thursday, a week after the start of massive demonstrations that have sent hundreds of thousands of people into the streets denouncing poor public services and government corruption.

The biggest protest will likely shake Rio de Janeiro where protesters say they'll march on the iconic Maracana stadium just as a Confederations cup soccer game is getting under way in the afternoon. Protests are also planned in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo, and towns all over this continent-sized country.

Several city leaders had already given into initial protester demands to revoke an increase in bus and subway fares and are hoping that anti-government anger cools.

In Sao Paulo, protest organizers said they would turn their demonstration into a party celebrating the lower transit fares. But many believe the protests are no longer just about bus fares and have become a cry for systemic changes in a country that's otherwise seen a decade-long economic boom.

The U.S. Embassy in Brazil wasn't taking any chances: It warned its citizens to stay away from the flurry of protests nationwide.

"It's not really about the price anymore," said Camila Sena, an 18-year-old university student at a Wednesday protest in Rio de Janeiro's sister city of Niteroi. "People are so disgusted with the system, so fed up that now we're demanding change."

Sena added that seeing money poured into soccer stadiums for the current Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup only added fuel to people's anger.

"It's not that we're against the World Cup, not at all. It will bring good things for Brazil. It's just that we're against the corruption that the World Cup has become an excuse for," she said.

Mass protests are rare in this 190 million-person country, with demonstrations generally attracting small numbers of politicized participants.

Many now marching in Brazil's streets hail from the growing middle class, which government figures show has ballooned by some 40 million people over the past decade amid a commodities-driven boom.

While the complaints of protesters are wide-ranging, there have been few answers about how to turn the disgruntlement into a coherent list of demands with which to confront the government.

In announcing the reversal of the fare hike, Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad said it "will represent a big sacrifice and we will have to reduce investments in other areas." He didn't give details on where other cuts would occur.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes also said his city's fare increase would be rescinded.

Despite that, scattered street demonstrations sprang up Wednesday in some parts of Brazil, including well into the night in Niteroi, as protesters continued to call for better public services in return for high taxes and rising prices.

About 200 people also blocked the Anchieta Highway that links Sao Paulo, the country's biggest city, and the port of Santos before heading to the industrial suburb of Sao Bernardo do Campo on Sao Paulo's outskirts. Another group of protesters later obstructed the highway again.

In the northeastern city of Fortaleza, 15,000 protesters clashed with police who kept them from reaching the Castelao stadium before Brazil's game with Mexico in the Confederations Cup.

"We are against a government that spends billions in stadiums while people are suffering across the country," said Natalia Querino, a 22-year-old student participating in the protest. "We want better education, more security and a better health system."

___

Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo, Marco Sibaja in Brasilia and Tales Azzoni in Fortaleza contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-20-LT-Brazil-Protests/id-5ebc65a5d7f344b5ab9ca8dfc620f1f8

lululemon jon hamm southern university biggest loser TJ Lane lindsey vonn lindsey vonn