

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.


Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
As Brazilians opposed to outrageous sums of public money spent on preparations for the upcoming World Cup protest with marches and strikes, the nation's government and its police forces are boasting that they have planned for all contingencies ahead of the games, including plans to clamp down on dissent and disruption by establishing "security zones" and deploying armies of riot police in uniforms described as something out of a sci-fi movie.
In San Paulo on Wednesday, an estimated ten thousand people marched on the Arena Corinthians Stadium, where the international soccer tournament will begin next week, as they called for better treatment for the city's homeless people as well as increased funding for public transportation, health services, and low-income housing.

Watch:
World Cup 2014 protest: 12,000 demonstrators take to the streets of Sao PauloThousands of protestors march on São Paulo's Arena Corinthians to demonstrate against the spending of public money on World ...
In addition, as of Thursday, the union of metro workers in San Paulo announced it was going on strike to protest low wages. A famously congested city to begin with, a worker's strike during the World Cup--as international tourists pour in--would wreak havoc.
And last week in the capital city of Brasilia, indigenous protesters clashed with riot police on horseback as they voiced their anger at the dissonance between money spent on the games and the lack of resources available to the nation's consistently neglected and disregarded populations.
"Who is the Cup for? Not us!" the demonstrators shouted. "I don't want the Cup, I want money for health and education."
A year ago, when Brazil hosted the regional Confederations Cup tournament, more than a million people took to the streets for similar reasons in a series of marches and protests that brought the normal workings of several cities to a halt.
In anticipation of continued protest and public discontent , Brazil's President Dilma Roussef vowed on Tuesday to make "security" a top priority. According to Agence France-Presse, the nation's "military police units have been kitted out with hi-tech uniforms making their members look like something out of Robocop," a science fiction movie about a part-human, part-machine police officer. AFP addes
Around 157,000 troops and police will be deployed across the 12 host venues for the Cup, running from June 12-July 13.
Some 20,000 private security agents will also be on hand in the stadiums -- some 1,800 per venue in an $860 million operation.
In addition, 120 police officers from 40 countries will collaborate with the Brazilian authorities as they jointly collate and assess intelligence.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
As Brazilians opposed to outrageous sums of public money spent on preparations for the upcoming World Cup protest with marches and strikes, the nation's government and its police forces are boasting that they have planned for all contingencies ahead of the games, including plans to clamp down on dissent and disruption by establishing "security zones" and deploying armies of riot police in uniforms described as something out of a sci-fi movie.
In San Paulo on Wednesday, an estimated ten thousand people marched on the Arena Corinthians Stadium, where the international soccer tournament will begin next week, as they called for better treatment for the city's homeless people as well as increased funding for public transportation, health services, and low-income housing.

Watch:
World Cup 2014 protest: 12,000 demonstrators take to the streets of Sao PauloThousands of protestors march on São Paulo's Arena Corinthians to demonstrate against the spending of public money on World ...
In addition, as of Thursday, the union of metro workers in San Paulo announced it was going on strike to protest low wages. A famously congested city to begin with, a worker's strike during the World Cup--as international tourists pour in--would wreak havoc.
And last week in the capital city of Brasilia, indigenous protesters clashed with riot police on horseback as they voiced their anger at the dissonance between money spent on the games and the lack of resources available to the nation's consistently neglected and disregarded populations.
"Who is the Cup for? Not us!" the demonstrators shouted. "I don't want the Cup, I want money for health and education."
A year ago, when Brazil hosted the regional Confederations Cup tournament, more than a million people took to the streets for similar reasons in a series of marches and protests that brought the normal workings of several cities to a halt.
In anticipation of continued protest and public discontent , Brazil's President Dilma Roussef vowed on Tuesday to make "security" a top priority. According to Agence France-Presse, the nation's "military police units have been kitted out with hi-tech uniforms making their members look like something out of Robocop," a science fiction movie about a part-human, part-machine police officer. AFP addes
Around 157,000 troops and police will be deployed across the 12 host venues for the Cup, running from June 12-July 13.
Some 20,000 private security agents will also be on hand in the stadiums -- some 1,800 per venue in an $860 million operation.
In addition, 120 police officers from 40 countries will collaborate with the Brazilian authorities as they jointly collate and assess intelligence.
As Brazilians opposed to outrageous sums of public money spent on preparations for the upcoming World Cup protest with marches and strikes, the nation's government and its police forces are boasting that they have planned for all contingencies ahead of the games, including plans to clamp down on dissent and disruption by establishing "security zones" and deploying armies of riot police in uniforms described as something out of a sci-fi movie.
In San Paulo on Wednesday, an estimated ten thousand people marched on the Arena Corinthians Stadium, where the international soccer tournament will begin next week, as they called for better treatment for the city's homeless people as well as increased funding for public transportation, health services, and low-income housing.

Watch:
World Cup 2014 protest: 12,000 demonstrators take to the streets of Sao PauloThousands of protestors march on São Paulo's Arena Corinthians to demonstrate against the spending of public money on World ...
In addition, as of Thursday, the union of metro workers in San Paulo announced it was going on strike to protest low wages. A famously congested city to begin with, a worker's strike during the World Cup--as international tourists pour in--would wreak havoc.
And last week in the capital city of Brasilia, indigenous protesters clashed with riot police on horseback as they voiced their anger at the dissonance between money spent on the games and the lack of resources available to the nation's consistently neglected and disregarded populations.
"Who is the Cup for? Not us!" the demonstrators shouted. "I don't want the Cup, I want money for health and education."
A year ago, when Brazil hosted the regional Confederations Cup tournament, more than a million people took to the streets for similar reasons in a series of marches and protests that brought the normal workings of several cities to a halt.
In anticipation of continued protest and public discontent , Brazil's President Dilma Roussef vowed on Tuesday to make "security" a top priority. According to Agence France-Presse, the nation's "military police units have been kitted out with hi-tech uniforms making their members look like something out of Robocop," a science fiction movie about a part-human, part-machine police officer. AFP addes
Around 157,000 troops and police will be deployed across the 12 host venues for the Cup, running from June 12-July 13.
Some 20,000 private security agents will also be on hand in the stadiums -- some 1,800 per venue in an $860 million operation.
In addition, 120 police officers from 40 countries will collaborate with the Brazilian authorities as they jointly collate and assess intelligence.