Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of various Brazilian capitals on Saturday (19/06/2021) to protest against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro for his handling of the epidemic that has already left more than half a million dead in the country.
More than 20 state capitals saw protests, including in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Recife and São Paulo, where the human tide, despite the cold, swept about a dozen blocks of Paulista Avenue, the framework of the economic capital of Brazil.
Many protesters carried placards with the number “500,000”, a reference to the sad sign of the half-million deaths that Brazil overtook on Saturday.
Other slogans such as “Get out with Bolsonaro,” “Get out of genocide,” “Government of hunger and unemployment,” “Vaccine now,” and “Vaccine in the arm and food on the plate,” were repeated in the proceedings in Brasilia, Rio and São Paulo.
The slow pace of COVID-19 vaccination in Brazil, where only 11.5% of the population of 212 million people have been vaccinated, has also been cause for mobilization.
We have over 2,000 deaths a day. We have lost more than 500,000 people to a disease for which there is a vaccine. I would like to be at home, but we have to take to the streets to stop this political project which is to destroy Brazil. “Bolsonaro: listen to the people,” said Tita Couto, a 21-year-old student who took part in the demonstration in São Paulo.
Serious increase in injuries in Sao Paulo
In the late afternoon, the temperature in São Paulo dropped and a drizzle began, but the crowd increased. Fans of the rival soccer clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras marched with huge “for democracy” flags.
Earlier, in Rio de Janeiro, thousands of people gathered in the city center to condemn the actions of the Bolsonaro government during the pandemic.
“his position [Bolsonaro] Regarding COVID and its denial is absurd. “He’s out of reality, out of good sense, he can’t explain himself, he’s so surreal,” said Robert Almeida, a 50-year-old photographer.
These events were called by the Brazilian People’s Front and Púvo Sime Mido (People Without Fear), made up of dozens of social and trade union organizations and with the support of political parties and leaders.
