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Weekly Report - 13 February 2014 (WR-14-06)

BRAZIL: Protests in Brazil: Striking the wrong target

The cost of a bus ticket in Rio de Janeiro rose 9% on 8 February to R$3 (US$1.20). Protests against the planned fare hike in the city had flared sporadically since the beginning of the year. Days before the new fare took effect, protesters demonstrated in and around Rio’s central station. Predictably enough, a small hard-core sought to provoke the police. To nobody’s surprise, the police responded with tear gas and truncheons. Santiago Andrade, a TV cameraman for Bandeirantes TV, was hit on the back of the head by shrapnel from a home-made firework. While he lay in hospital in a medically induced coma, an ugly argument raged over whether his injury represented a new low for ‘Black Bloc’ protesters or another example of the Brazilian media’s hypocritical indifference to victims of police violence. On 10 February, Andrade died. His death may have a significant impact on the policing of public protests in the run-up to the World Cup in June.

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