Brazil's president grasps for answer to protests, violence

By Brian Winter

SAO PAULO | Fri Jun 21, 2013 7:55am EDT

(Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will hold an emergency meeting of top aides on Friday to figure out how to respond to massive protests that brought 1 million people into the streets and also resulted in widespread vandalism and injuries.

Demonstrations across the country on Thursday night were the biggest yet by a movement that came from seemingly nowhere over the past week, and has rallied Brazilians angry about a range of issues from corruption and poor public transportation to billions of dollars being spent to host the soccer World Cup next year.

While the protests are not targeted at Rousseff herself - or any specific politician - the left-leaning leader is under huge pressure as marches have become increasingly violent and also contributed to a recent selloff in Brazil's financial markets.

Rousseff was set to meet with members of her Cabinet at around 9:30 a.m. (8.30 a.m. EDT) in Brasilia, a government official said.

The demonstrations have been mostly peaceful and led by the middle class. But on Friday, many Brazilians woke up to TV images from overnight of masked youths looting stores, setting fires and defacing buildings including the foreign ministry in Brasilia, which had its windows shattered.

Unlike previous demonstrations, much of the violence on Thursday was generated by the protesters themselves, rather than a heavy-handed police response.

At least 77 people were injured, newspaper Estado de S.Paulo reported. One person was killed in the interior of Sao Paulo state after someone drove their car into a group of protesters.

"I support these (protests), but I think it's out of control," said Nilson Chabat, a 31-year-old gas station attendant on his way to work on Friday in Sao Paulo. "Many of us are angry but you can't just go make a mess every day."

The sudden unrest, which started on June 13 when police cracked down on a small demonstration over rising bus fares in Sao Paulo, has shocked a country that until recently was considered a successful emerging-market power on the rise.

The demonstrations have unfolded as Brazil hosts the Confederations Cup, an international soccer tournament that serves as a test run for the much bigger World Cup. Protesters have used the tournament to amplify their outrage at public spending on lavish stadiums, casting a dark cloud over an event that was supposed to bolster Brazil's image globally.

FRUSTRATION WITH STATUS QUO

Polls show that most Brazilians remain happy with Rousseff, and with an economy that has slowed recently but has still been able to keep unemployment at record lows. Unlike recent youth protesters in the Arab world, the demonstrators are not trying to bring down the government, and Brazil's robust democracy appears able to address some of their complaints.

Yet the protests have revealed clear frustration with the status quo. Brazil has some of Latin America's highest taxes but one of the lowest rates of public investment, leaving many Brazilians frustrated with subpar schools, hospitals, infrastructure and police forces.

It's unclear what Rousseff can do in the short term, apart from making a general appeal for calm. Mayors of several cities already tried to yield to one of the protesters' main demands this week by rolling back a recent hike in bus and subway fares, but the demonstrations only grew.

Rousseff, a leftist guerrilla in the 1970s, has expressed solidarity with the protesters' aims and has appeared hesitant to order a crackdown that could just make the crowds even angrier.

But she is also at risk of having her probable re-election bid next year complicated by both the growing unrest and a possible backlash against the scenes of violence.

Some think she is already tardy in her response.

Fernando Rodrigues, a columnist for Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, wrote that Rousseff's silence on Thursday night "sums up the lack of action by politicians."

"They seem, in essence, to be only rooting for the tsunami to pass," he said.

(Reporting by Brian Winter; Editing by Todd Benson and Eric Beech)