In Rio de Janeiro protests against pension reform ended in a riot
Law enforcement officers used against protesters tear gas and rubber bullets.
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 16. /Offset. TASS Darya Yuryeva/. The protests against the pension reform, organized on Wednesday in downtown Rio de Janeiro ended in clashes with demonstrators by members of the municipal guard.
Law enforcement officers used against protesters tear gas and rubber bullets.
The riots injured at least one person. As reported by the Globo channel, we are talking about 50-year-old Monica Lima, one of the participants of the action. She was taken to hospital with a leg injury.
According to the organizers, the total number of demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro amounted to 20 thousand people
Trade unions and public organizations in Brazil organized Wednesday’s nationwide protests and strikes to achieve from the authorities of the rejection of the pension reform and changes to labour legislation. Some of the tracks in major cities was blocked by protesters. These actions have led to the fact that in many localities have formed many kilometers of traffic jams. In são Paulo, the total length of roads with gridlocked traffic during rush hour reached 201 kilometers.
In Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a one-day strike announced by the bus drivers and subway employees, so public transport during the day had not functioned in full.
Transport workers also did not come to work in such cities as Recife, Curitiba and Belo Horizonte. In Rio de Janeiro to protest joined by dozens of teachers in secondary schools, from which there classes were canceled.
In the Brazilian capital, several hundred demonstrators occupied the building of the Ministry of Finance
August 31 Brazilian senators by majority vote supported the initiative of impeachment Dilma Rousseff, was temporarily removed from office by the President of the Republic. After a few hours Michel Temer, who held the post of Vice-President of Brazil in the previous administration, officially took office as head of state. The new leader of the South American country said his priority was the fight against unemployment and the elimination of the budget deficit.
One of the initiatives of Temer as President was the pension reform, the draft of which is now being discussed in Parliament. Among the items of the document — the increase in the retirement age and reducing benefits for some categories of citizens.