Violent Riots Break Out In Brazil As First General Strike In 21 Years Paralyzes Nation
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Apr 29, 2017
Less than a year after former president Dilma Rouseff was impeached and ousted for corruption, Brazil’s economy continues to deteriorate at an alarming pace, and on Friday Brazilian police tear-gassed demonstrators and rioters burned buses in the violent conclusion of a general strike – the first in 21 years – that shut down transport, schools and banks in protest against the government’s austerity reforms.
As Reuters reports, what started off as a peaceful protest by several thousand people in central Rio in the afternoon turned violent, with small groups smashing bank windows, erecting barricades and setting fires, including torching at least eight buses.
The police responded with barrages of rubber bullets and tear gas, which covered Rio in a suffocating fog that reached all the way to the top floors of local office buildings.
Similar disturbances were observed in Sao Paulo, the country’s economic powerhouse, where a crowd attempted to march to the private residence of President Michel Temer and clashed with police, who also fired rubber bullets and stun grenades. Protesters hurled rocks, set fires, smashed street lamps and threw concrete blocks into the center of the avenue.
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