Brasilia: Protest turned violent in central Rio disturbing whole Brazil, against President Temer, resulting in Police firing tear gas and rubber bullets, the first general strike in 2 decades.
A peaceful protest by several thousand people turned violent when small groups started smashing bank windows, erecting barricades and setting fires, including torching at least eight buses. Police responded with barrages of rubber bullets and tear gas.
Similar incident was seen in Sau Paulo. A crowd clashed with Police trying to march towards The President Michael Temer’s residence, resulting in Police opening fire with rubber bullets and stun grenades.
As they retreated, the protesters hurled rocks, set fires, smashed street lamps and threw concrete blocks into the center of the avenue.
In a statement, Temer criticized the “unfortunate and serious incidents” during the protests and the curtailing of “freedom of movement for citizens.”
Although a spokesman for the National Civil Aviation Agency told AFP that operations at the airports are functioning normally, there were multiple reports of delayed and canceled flights.
Friday’s strikes were one of the biggest protests to hit the Temer administration since he took over from impeached president Dilma Rousseff last August.
Brazil experienced its last general strike 2 decades ago in 1996, when people protested against privatizations and labour reforms under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, as reported in Fox News