Friday 30 March 2012

Brazil: Protests against coup celebration

Protesters in Brazil have drawn attention to a military commemoration of the country's 1964 coup.
Former officers have gathered every year to mark the occasion, but now they're facing a growing tide of opposition and had to push through about 200 people screaming "murderer" and holding up photos of those killed during the regime.
Brazil protests counter military coup celebration (AP)

Although I am pleased by the protests, watching this video from the BBC in particular, I was saddened by the gulf between the two sides of opinion:

Protests in Brazil on anniversary of 1964 military coup (BBC)

O Globo has an excellent selection of photos of both the anniversary event and the responding protest and police repression of it, which may be seen here.

See also:
Comemoração de militares termina em pancadaria no Centro do Rio (O Globo)
Ausschreitungen nach Diktatur-Gedenkveranstaltung (Blickpunkt Latinamerika)
In the News… (Transitional Justice in Brazil)

4 comments:

rebecca Atencio said...

Thanks for linking the video. The Military Club of retired officers certainly meant to provoke, given that Dilma last year explicitly forbade the active armed forces from commemorating the coup. It is good to see the robust reaction against it, including the participation of the younger generations. It seems the tide of public opinion may be turning in Brazil, no?

Lillie Langtry said...

I've never studied Brazil in depth, mostly because of my lack of Portuguese (something I'm currently attempting to remedy), but it has certainly been attracting my attention recently because of all the developments. Actually I was amazed to discover how little the dictatorship has been investigated there, so it's about time.

Joey Cook said...

Hi memoryinlatinamerica! Brazil is a western capitalist nation today due to the militar action in the 1960's.
Brazil would be the giant red communist in the South of America if militar forces didn't took the control in 1964. The preserved the capitalist regime and increased the national GDP.

Lillie Langtry said...

This entire blog exists as a rejection of that viewpoint, so I'm not sure what you want me to say really. You're welcome to become a regular reader if you're interested in the attempts to deal with the legacy of the mass human rights abuses which took place across Latin America in previous decades.