Eyewitness accounts of Temer government’s violence against protests

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Protests against the Temer government’s coup are ongoing. On September 4^th 26 people were arrested, 16 of them are minors. They remain in jail.

On the day 61 senators voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, demonstrators protesting peacefully in the city of São Paulo were harshly repressed. The impeachment is considered a legislative coup by broad sections of Brazilian society.

In an account published on Facebook, a protester said, “More than 20,000 were marching down Consolation Avenue when 1500 soldiers blocked their passage. The only exit was through side corridors manned by the police. At this point the military fired tear gas into the middle of the demonstration. People tried to escape but the only way out was through the police corridors. The rush was intense as the police began to shoot at close range rubber bullets and tea gas. Even passers-by were beaten with batons on the head and back. Several people were trampled.”

Reporter Marcelo Buraco provided this first hand account:”I see a young man being hit by a car. The smoke and tear gas bombs were intense. I cannot see the license plate; it is very difficult to run and breathe. The police target alternative press cars that try to take their equipment into the protests.”

He continued;  “The protesters are setting up barricades everywhere. Right now I’m with a group of 300 people trapped in Rua Maria Antonia. Isn’t it ironic that this was the scene of a struggle between leftist students and the right wing in early October 1968, known as battle Maria Antonia, when Brazil was under military dictatorship. The neighborhood is now inhabited by the rich. Rua Maria Antonia is on fire. A girl is hit by a car but she gets up and limps away. Several people are wounded, women, the elderly, even children accompanying their parents. Through social networks we learned that on both Roosevelt Square and Republic Square the police are turning away protesters and review all everyone they consider suspicious.”

A young woman named Debora Fabri, was blinded during the demonstration after being hit by the police. In Brasília, the national capital, there were also violent repression against people protesting against the coup. People are now calling for direct elections for president because they do not recognize the Termer government as legitimate.

Photo: Protesters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, march to demand the ouster of President Temer | @MidiaNINJA