Felipe Gonçalves interviewed by BBC Turkey on the growing protests in Brazil. English translation: *Have you ever participated in such a protest in your life? I am not exactly an activist, but yes, I participated in a few protests in my life. Last year I participated in some protest for the public education, which were simultaneous with a strike of the teachers of several Federal Universities in Brazil. I am myself a High School teacher, and last month we were on strike for better work conditions, and I participated in some protests too. But any of these were like what it is happening now. *Why did you take part the protests? Is it only about the transport fares? This is a tricky question. Of course it’s not only about the fares. The public transport services in Rio de Janeiro, where I live, are very problematic. The buses and metro are always crowded, the drivers work in very bad conditions. And there’s no plan to change this situation, because public transport in Rio is ruled by a ‘mafia’ very influent in the government. Besides, in Rio, the big events such as World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic games in 2016 are leading us to an unbearable situation. Enormous amounts of public money have been used irresponsably by the authorities, with the excuse of these events. For example, R$1.2 billion (more than 500 million dollars) were spent in the Maracanã reform for the World Cup. Then, it’s administration was passed to a private company for a symbolic payment. R$5 million a year, for 35 years of administration! Real Estate speculation have risen the cost of living in Rio in a way that the average worker can’t afford. People are moving to distant neighbourhoods running from the high rents. At the same time, the government is removing enormous contingents of poor people from several places in Rio, with the excuse of the city arrangements for the big events. We are directly and indirectly being removed from several regions of the city. So it’s not Just about the fares, is about the Right to the City, about Urban Mobility, about the lack of a popular voice in these city transformations. This is why I have taken part in the protests. But we have also to be careful with the appropriation of this movement. The protests are result of internet mobilizations, and so they are very decentralized and spontaneous. So the demands are not very defined, as it is not defined the position of the protesters in the political spectrum. We are seeing, in Brazil, an attempt of the right-wing groups and specially the media, which is very conservative, to coopt the movement, to dictate the demands and to define the meanings of these protests, according to their interests. And in the protest itself we see people with no previous political participation, with no political culture, sustaining a discourse with very nacionalist and antipartidarian overtones. Extreme left-wing political parties, with a history in the construction of these popular movements, have been directly attacked in these protests by these “new” protesters. So the risk of the protests lose it’s direction is very strong. This is why I said it is a tricky question. We have to be careful with the demands we allow in these protests, and try to be as exact as possible in our demands, so that we can avoid being maneuvered by the right-wings and the conservative press. *Do you think that the protests have to stop or carry on? I think the protests have to carry on, and they probably will. But we have to be careful, we have to discuss what we going to demand from now on. The fares have been lowed, but we can’t lose of sight the meaning of these demand – the Right to the City. There’s a risk of these protests lose it’s meaning in generic and empty demands. *What is the difference of today’s protests from former protests? In the former protests, the leaderships, the organizations and the demands behind them were obvious and very defined. We could identify the policital actors involved in those protests. These protests we are participating now are very decentralized. There isn’t a person or group who can respond to these protests. And also, the former protests didn’t have the huge popular support these protests have now. This is great, but on the other hand very dangerous also, as it can be appropriated by interests that weren’t present at the beginning. *Have you heard about the protests in Turkey? What do you think about them? Sure I heard! There’s no doubt that the protests in Turkey played a part in the protests in Brazil, serving as an example and inspiration. The protests in Turkey are even remembered in some slogans the protesters sing here in Brazil during the protests. We can’t say that the protests are equal, Turkey and Brazil have specificities that can’t be ignored, but I think we have much things alike also. The spontaneity, the role of the internet, the punctual and specific demand that becomes a metaphor of a more wide dissatisfaction, the popular support. I think we are witnessing a resurrection of the direct democracy, of the people participation in the decisions that affect their lives. The protesters in Turkey surely have our support.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 05:51:37 +0000
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