First mass anti-government protests raise uncertainties for Bolsonaro

In the first major public protests against the Jair Bolsonaro government, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in at least 170 cities across Brazil yesterday to protest education budget cuts implemented by the sitting administration. Organizers estimated that 150,000 people took part in demonstrations in São Paulo, which closed at least six blocks of the city’s iconic Paulista Avenue and marched on the state’s legislative assembly. In Rio de Janeiro, the protest gathered around the Candelária church in the city center, completely closing Presidente Vargas Avenue.

The Ministry of Education decided to freeze BRL 5.7 million of the department’s budget, including a 30-percent cut in discretionary funding for federal universities. A further BRL 1.7 billion in cuts were announced this week. Salaries and other obligatory expenses will not be affected.

The protests were largely peaceful, with isolated reports of police repression in the cities of Brasilia and Porto Alegre. In Rio de Janeiro, a bus was torched and police used tear gas to disperse protesters later in the evening.

When asked by journalists earlier that day, President Jair Bolsonaro declared the protesters were “useful idiots” and “imbeciles.” Mr. Bolsonaro is currently in Dallas, Texas, on an...