Good morning! Protests against the Jair Bolsonaro administration erupt. President’s son could be a ringleader. A tax reform without the government’s input? Brazilian economy inching closer to recession.
Anti-government protests spread around Brazil
In the first major
wave of protests against the Jair Bolsonaro government, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in at least 170 cities across Brazil yesterday against education budget cuts implemented by the sitting administration. The Ministry of Education decided to freeze BRL 5.7bn of the department’s budget, including a 30% cut in discretionary funding for federal universities. A further BRL 1.7bn in cuts were announced this week. Salaries and other obligatory expenses will not be affected.
When asked by journalists earlier that day, President Jair Bolsonaro declared the protests were carried out by “useful idiots.” Mr. Bolsonaro is currently in Dallas, Texas, on an official visit. “Most [the protests are made out of] militants, their heads are empty. If you asked them what 7 times 8 is, they wouldn’t know. If you asked them the formula for water, they wouldn’t know. They are useful idiots, imbeciles being used by a cunning minority which makes up the nucleus of most federal universities...