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BRAZILIAN protesters took to the streets to defend public education and the Amazon as they marked the country’s Independence Day on Saturday.
Protests across the country were organised under the slogan “the Scream of the Excluded,” opposing huge cuts to education and defending the Amazon rainforest and indigenous peoples.
National Student Union (UNE) spokeswoman Julia Aguiar said the message to Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro was clear: “Education will be back. Social security will be back. Jobs will be back. Democracy will be back.”
Noting that cuts announced last week mean “the 2020 budget will have half the money of the current one” she said: “Education-related budget cuts end our dreams. In Brazil we have to leave our homes and travel to other cities in order to study. In this context public scholarships are essential to ensure attendance.”
She said: “Over the last few months we have witnessed mobilisation in defence of education and against a government which attacks the rights of the people as a whole.”
Portuguese writer Valter Hugo Mae supported the protesters and said: “Strength Brazil, courage! The bad will end. When minorities come together, they become a majority.”
