Inside the 2013 Brazilian Spring — The June that Brazil Wouldn’t Forget
This is a translation of an article of mine for the Spanish publication Pueblos, written in October 2013.
It was June 17th, 2013. I left my home to go to the protest that was about to happen in the West Zone of the city of São Paulo. I was really afraid. The rally promised to attract large crowds and I knew that the Military Police could act with extreme violence. This is never a good combination. Despite that, it was a matter of honour to participate, for me and the thousands of people going to the streets in Brazil.
Among the diversity of protesters from all backgrounds, the goal was the same: we were protesting for our right to protest.
It started early in the month. Students were holding demonstration after demonstration against the rise of bus fares in the city, something that happens every year. To be fair, there was a fair share of depredation going on and at some point, a bus was even set on fire.
The mayor was ignoring it as per usual and the police were repressing it, as per usual. Nothing seemed really new — until the bomb of popular indignation exploded on June 13th.
On that day, around 5,000 people gathered downtown to protest. After one or two hours of what people recall as a peaceful demonstration, the majority wanted to follow along Paulista Avenue, one of the major arteries of the city, but this was not the route approved by the police. At that point, the organizers and the police got together to negotiate.
And then the Riot Police came. All 500 of them.
Later it was found out that they were given orders to clear the avenue at all costs. The total police presence in the area was 900 officers. Without a warning, negotiation or any dose of caution, they started shooting rubber bullets and tear gas. Which is not exactly new, but this time there was a difference — there were smartphones everywhere.
In one of the images that became famous in Brazil and abroad, a group of protesters was kneeling on the street with their arms raised and shouting “No violence, no violence!” What they got in response was more tear gas and rubber bullets.
Despite the repression, or because of it, some protesters insisted on getting to Paulista Avenue. They dispersed in small groups by secondary streets that were paralyzed by the traffic jams created by the protest. They were sure that the police wouldn’t risk using tear gas and affecting the random citizens stuck in their cars on the street. Big mistake.
The police followed opening their way with gas, pepper spray and bullets. People fled their cars and were running everywhere.
Reporters, and especially the professional photographers covering the protest were not spared either. At least 15 of them were injured and more than one journalist was shot in the face with a rubber bullet that day, including the photographer Sergio Silva, who lost an eye in the incident.
But because there were smartphones and cameras everywhere, news and images of the chaos were all over social media, and the movement made good use of them. From our homes, we watched in horror the chaos unfold in real-time. By the end of the day, Facebook was flooded with posts burning with indignation.
Regardless of the issue of the bus fare, one opinion was unanimous — it was unacceptable that people who went to the streets to voice their opinion were attacked like that by a police that was supposed to protect citizens. The slogan “It’s not just about 20 cents” started circulating even among people who didn’t care about public transportation, or who didn’t even live in São Paulo.
In the next day and during the weekend demonstrations started to emerge in the main capitals of the country, but they were only a rehearsal for the bigger act — the one of June 17th, to which I was going on that day.
It’s estimated that 65,000 people gathered for that protest in that area of São Paulo alone.
I knew it would be big, but I had no idea of the dimension things would take. I went alone and arranged to meet a friend by the exit of the subway station. It was very naïve of me. There were so many people that I couldn’t even see the ground on which I was walking.
It was hard even to tell if I was on the street or the sidewalk. I tried texting, but the communication lines were collapsing with the amount of phones trying to text and transmit images live.
All I could do was join the march and pray for the police to keep their tear gas to themselves. I knew that a single moment of panic would send the crowd in all directions and the likelihood of people being stumped to death was very real. Luckily common sense prevailed and the authorities made sure to keep the police as far as possible, and the event went on peacefully.
Protests like that kept emerging day after day and the city was completely paralyzed for days. On the 19th the Mayor, Fernando Haddad, and the Governor, Geraldo Alckmin, showed up on TV saying they were lowering the bus fare. They were both pale, I’ve never seen politicians so afraid like that.
On the same day, Brazil’s soccer team was playing a match in the FIFA Confederations Cup. I was working from home, keeping one eye on the game, another on the news. Minutes after the mayor’s announcement, Brazil scored a goal against Mexico. The streets, as per usual, were filled with the sounds of firecrackers and shouts of joy. Unable to contain myself, I went to the window and shouted: “Haddad is lowering the bus fare!”
June 2013 changed Brazil to the core, and up until this day, we’re still somehow living the reverberations of that month. Not all the events that were set in motion after that were good though, but that’s a story for another day.
