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Massive Protests Against Brazil's President Seek Her Ouster

A family carries posters with "Dilma out and Impeachment Now," written in Portuguese, during a protest Sunday in the capital, Brasilia.
Eraldo Peres
/
AP
A family carries posters with "Dilma out and Impeachment Now," written in Portuguese, during a protest Sunday in the capital, Brasilia.

The protests against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are growing, with some estimates saying 1 million people have turned up across the country calling for her ouster.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, who is reporting on the protests from Rio de Janeiro for our Newscast unit, says placards on Copacabana beach are calling for Rousseff's impeachment.

Protesters are chanting that they want not only Rousseff, but also her Workers Party, or PT, out of office. The party came to power 13 years ago; Rousseff was re-elected four months ago in a close election.

"She lies," Joao Luz, a teacher, told Lulu. "She belongs to a party that lies to people."

Lulu adds: "The economy here is in deep trouble — the real is the fastest-depreciating currency in the world. But it is a corruption scandal involving the state oil company Petrobras which has implicated her party which has gotten people out onto the streets. Analysts say if these protests gain traction, her government could be in real trouble."

In a story last week on NPR's All Things Considered, Lulu explored the Rousseff's declining political fortunes. The Brazilian president's popularity is at 23 percent. Lulu added: "It remains to be seen, though, how much traction the movement will get. Pro-government marches took place in cities across Brazil on Friday, garnering a few hundred to a few thousand supporters in each location.

"The anti-government demonstrations will have to mobilize many more than that, if they want to unseat a democratically elected leader."

Here are some of the images from protests today in Rio and elsewhere.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

People gather in Copacabana beach during a protest against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday.
Felipe Dana / AP
/
AP
People gather in Copacabana beach during a protest against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sunday.
Demonstrators march to demand Rousseff's impeachment in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday.
Nelson Antoine / AP
/
AP
Demonstrators march to demand Rousseff's impeachment in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Sunday.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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