RIO DE JANEIRO: More than a million people turned out for demonstrations natio­n­wide on Sunday against Brazil’s leftist President Dilma Rousseff, a target of rising discontent amid a faltering economy and a massive corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras.

A million of the protesters came out in the economic capital Sao Paulo, a stronghold of the opposition to Rousseff, according to local police estimates on Twitter.

Protesters also demonstrated in 74 other cities and towns across the country, with tens of thousands showing up in the capital of Brasilia and thousands more protesting in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador de Bahia.

Dressed in the yellow and green of Brazil’s flag, many protesters demanded the impeachment of Rousseff who has just begun her second term after reelection at the end of 2014.

In Rio de Janeiro, people waved Brazilian flags along the coastal Copacabana avenue behind a truck blaring slogans against Rousseff.

“Out Dilma, out PT”, people chanted. The large mobilisation was reminiscent of the demonstrations Brazil saw in mid-2013 as people protested transport fare increases and the huge cost of staging the World Cup and Olympics. A few protesters even cal­l­ed for military intervention to end the Workers Party’s (PT) 12 years in power.

Rita Souza, a 50-year-old television producer, carried a banner reading:

“Military intervention now.” “I’m not asking for a coup, but a constitutional intervention to call new fair elections,” Souza said.

“They can all go to Cuba!”

Construction contractor Alessandro Braga, 37, attended the rally in Brasilia with his wife and son.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2015

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