Op-Ed from Folha de Sao Paulo...
Nobody Knows What is Happening
www1.folha.uol.com.br
The declaration of the President does not match the tension, the size of the episodes, the striking images that the country watched at the same time, early evening, on TV and the Internet: according to Datafolha 65,000 people occupied São Paulo, Congress was surrounded, the center of Rio de Janeiro was totally taken over by protesters.. Protests popped up here and there in the state capitals.
*****
It all seemed so wonderful in the Brazil oasis, and suddenly we are reliving the demonstrations of Tahrir Square in Cairo, so suddenly, without warning, without a crescendo. We were all caught by surprise. From paradise, we have slipped at least into limbo. What is happening in Brazil?
For now, the only answer is that there is a dissatisfaction and diffuse irritation and even then not properly perceived. But the only certainty is that the strength and incredible ability to mobilize social networks that are revolutionizing the Arab world are being repeated here. There, to overthrow authoritarian regimes. And here, where the authoritarian regime was already long gone? |
