Protests İn Fortaleza Turns Violent

Thousands of Brazilians continued a three-week-long campaign of protests in cities across Brazil on Thursday, with some demonstrations ending in clashes with riot police in Fortaleza, in the northeast region of Brazil. The city was hosting a crucial semi-final match of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Around 5,000 people had initially taken to the streets in a peaceful march in Fortaleza, including students and a state military association, but later on violence broke out as a small number of participants clashed with police, who used rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

At least eight people were injured and more than 70 people were arrested, according to local officials. A truck belonging to a local TV channel covering the protests was destroyed after being set on fire.

Protesters in the city accused police of excessive force; the police have countered the allegations, saying they only tackled those caught vandalizing property.

Police in Rio de Janeiro say around 5,000 people also took part in a demonstration in the city's Candelária area, with protesters calling for political reform, more investment in education and better public transport at the heart of the protest. Others voiced opposition to the city's hosting of the World Cup and called for sacking of city's governor, Sérgio Cabral.

In São Paulo, the Free Fare Movement (MPL) – whose demands for free public transport originally sparked mass protests in the city, in turn giving rise to the nationwide wave of demonstrations – gave a lecture outside São Paulo's City Hall to justify and rationalize their proposals. The event ended without protest.

The city's Municipal Chamber also approved, by a vote of 40 to 11, an official inquiry into the financial practices of companies running the city's bus services. Mayor Fernando Haddad had originally been against the inquiry, but three days of negotiations with MPL representatives led to city alderman Paulo Fiorilo entering a request for the investigation.

- Political protests in the capital

A small protest was also held in Rio early on Thursday in response to the deaths of at least nine people during a police operation in the Complexo da Maré favela (shanty town) on Tuesday.

"The bullets they fire at the protesters in the South and Centre zones [of Rio] are made of rubber. Here in the favela, they're not," Patricia Vianna, a representative of the Redes da Maré non-governmental organization, was "ed by Brazilian media as saying.

Around 2,000 people joined a protest on Thursday morning in the Brazilian capital, Brasília, on the city's central Ministries Esplanade to call for political action on the National Education Plan; after meeting with student representatives who took part in the peaceful protest, the President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, confirmed the proposal would go to a vote next week.

Brazil's Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported that the protests have had a negative effect on business in shopping centres, hotels, restaurants and bars in São Paulo, with businesses in areas affected by protests see takings reduced by up to 70 percent.

Hotels have seen booking drops by around thirty percent, with cancellations affecting around 70 percent of corporate events, which make up the bulk of central hotels' earnings. - Washington DC