“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
There is this country called Brazil, you may have heard of it, the world’s fifth largest country by both population and area, sixth largest economically, home of the Amazon, Rio, Carnival, a country of beautiful people, diverse cultures and outstanding vistas.
Maybe you are aware that Brazil is hosting the 2013 FIFA Conderations Cup, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
What you probably have not heard is that Brazil is near the boiling point and on the cusp of change.
Buried in last Friday’s news were small articles, if there were any at all from the major outlets here in the US, about protests and riots occuring before the start of the Confederations Cup this weekend.
The few I read were almost heartbreaking in their dismissal of what is really happening in Brazil.
In their own words, here is an incredible video summarizing the situation, in English, with other subtitles available:
The citizens of Brazil are seizing this moment to make a stand. There are many things that have catalyzed this, the recent rise in bus fare, the excesses of the politicians outlined in the video above, as well as countless other slights that, until now, the average citizen has felt powerless to change.
The leaders of the protest have been adamant from the start that the demonstrations remain peaceful, but last week when they took the stage situations like this happened because of poorly trained “shock troops” (their term, not mine) and, from what has been reported by the police themselves, orders to use excessive force. The young woman in the hospital bed is a reporter who was not protesting but was covering the event.
(English subtitles provided):
As I read through and watch all of this information being pushed out to the world by a population that desperately wants the rest of the human race to acknowledge and support it, I am reminded of the Green Revolution and how modern technology has made this a safer and a more dangerous process.
Machiavelli, still relevant even today.
More coverage to come as there is a lot of ground to cover…
This just occurred a few hours ago at a demonstration in Belo Horizonte. Yes, those are Police Helicopters and they were also tear gassing the press….
Nice one Kevin!! Thank you for your support!
Obrigado Gabriel! I am doing what I can from here.
I wonder why this subject isn’t deemed “newsworthy?” I just went through recent issues of the Seattle Times and only found articles that were posted today! Any time a country hosts a major event, it provides an opportunity for people to take the stage against government corruption and to call attention to problems the rest of the world doesn’t know of or care about.
Thanks for writing this informative article.
Thanks for commenting Terri!
I am appalled at the lack of coverage Terri. It is sad to think the US has become this insulated.
Next year is the World Cup, this will not go away any time soon.
Kev, I think the tendency is to focus on the things that are happening in our immediate spaces. People in the U.S. (myself included) are woefully uninformed about basic things like “who is the president of xx country.” So a story about unrest in Brazil would seem to be something off most people’s radar :-(
I agree Terri, but we are in a global century and we may not be equipped to handle it, We may learn how, but it is an entirely new mindset