Road blocks and marches hit Brazilian cities on Thursday as disparate groups criticized spending on the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament and sought to revive a call for better public services that swept the country last June.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, a main thoroughfare was blocked with burning tires. Protesters stormed a building in the capital Brasilia. School teachers fresh from a vote to extend a strike joined with other protesters in Rio de Janeiro, blocking traffic on several main streets before marching on city hall. Crowds dispersed with little incident, but police sped the protest's end with tear gas and sporadic searches.
Looters took advantage of a three-day police strike in the northeastern city of Recife, a World Cup venue. Supermarkets, shops and vehicles were ransacked. The army and units of a special national gendarmerie have been called in to keep order. Police voted to end their strike on Thursday night.
Groups in Sao Paulo, including the Homeless Workers Movement, marched towards the World Cup stadium that will be the site of the tournament's June 12 kickoff. The stadium has become a target of protests because of the families displaced by its construction. One banner carried by demonstrators read: "The cup without the people, all to the streets again!"
In Brasilia the Homeless Workers Movement entered the headquarters of Terracap, the state company that manages the city's 1.4-billion-real ($630 million) stadium - the country's most expensive.
Protests are planned in up to 50 cities throughout the day, as demonstrators hope to rekindle momentum that led to millions of people hitting the streets last year during the Confederations Cup, a two-week World Cup warmup.
Last year's demonstrations prompted President Dilma Rousseff, who faces a bid for re-election in October, to address the nation and acknowledge deficiencies in public services and investment in everything from education and health care to transportation and security.
In a speech on Thursday, Rousseff attacked critics of her government's Cup preparations and called on the nation to welcome Cup visitors with "the hospitality that is part of the Brazilian soul". After a near-decade of steady growth before she took office, Brazil now struggles with a sluggish economy, persistent inflation, increasing crime and lacklustre investment.
据路透社5月15日报道，当地时间15日，巴西多个城市爆发示威游行活动，市民抗议政府举办世界杯的巨额开支，呼吁提供更好的公共服务。
在巴西最大城市圣保罗，一条主干道被焚烧的轮胎堵塞。在首都巴西利亚，抗议者冲入一栋大楼。里约热内卢学校教师加入游行队伍前往市政厅抗议，导致多条主干道交通堵塞。抗议人群较分散且未发生大事故，警察通过催泪弹及分散搜索将他们驱赶。
东北部城市、世界杯举办地点之一累西腓，警察集体罢工三天，掠夺者趁火打劫，洗劫超市、商店、车辆等。军队与国家宪兵队被迫介入以保持秩序，15日晚，警方经投票决定结束罢工。
在圣保罗，包括无壳蜗牛工人运动（Homeless Workers Movement）在内的多个组织前往即将举办世界杯开幕式的体育场进行抗议，这座体育场因迫使多个家庭遭拆迁而成为抗议目标。示威者在一条横幅中写道：“没有民众的世界杯，所有人再次走上街头吧！”
巴西利亚的无壳蜗牛工人运动组织则进入Terracap总部大楼，这家国企承建的世界杯体育场耗资14亿雷亚尔（约39亿元人民币），为全国最贵。
据报道，一天之内全国有50所城市计划示威游行，示威者希望能够重燃动力，像去年为期两周的联合会杯一样，有数百万人上街游行。
去年大规模游行爆发后，即将面临再选的总统迪尔玛·罗塞夫发表全国演说，承认国家的公共服务存在缺陷，并承诺将加大对教育、医疗、交通、安保等一切事项的资金投入。
15日罗塞夫再次发表演说，抨击批评人士指摘政府准备世界杯努力不足，呼吁国民用“巴西人们固有的热情”欢迎来自世界各地的世界杯游客们。在经过近十年的平稳增长后，如今巴西正面临经济萧条、通货膨胀持续、犯罪率不断上升、投资低迷等诸多问题。
