Brazilians rally against corruption Skip to main content

Brazilians rally against corruption

Thousands of people have joined anti-corruption demonstrations in Brazil, as the country marks its Independence Day.
Wearing face paint and clown noses, protesters joined crowds watching the traditional military parade in the capital, Brasilia.
Similar protests were held in other cities across Brazil.
Four government ministers have left office over corruption allegations since President Dilma Rousseff took office in January.
Dozens of government officials have also lost their jobs or been arrested, and several other ministers have been accused of corruption, though all deny wrongdoing.
Some of the protesters chanted slogans in support of President Rousseff, who has promised a zero-tolerance approach to graft.
Others gathered outside government ministries and the Congress with buckets and mops in a symbolic gesture to wash away corruption.
'Pandemic' The demonstration in Brasilia - dubbed the March Against Corruption - had no political party affiliation.
Many of the protesters were students, who organised the demonstration using social networking websites.

“Start Quote

We all have a duty to combat corruption and the president supports this”
Brazilian Justice Minister Eduardo Cardoso
The protest was backed by Brazil's College of Lawyers, the Brazilian Press Association, and the National Bishops' Conference.
"Corruption in our country is a pandemic which threatens the credibility of institutions and the entire democratic system," said the three organisations in a joint statement.
Justice Minister Eduardo Cardoso also voiced support.
"We all have a duty to combat corruption and the president supports this," he said.
"I think it is a legitimate demonstration and an opportunity for everyone to fulfil their role as citizens."
Multiple scandals President Rousseff's chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, resigned in June after media reports questioned his rapid accumulation of wealth.
President Rousseff waves to the crowds from her car during Independence Day celebrations President Rousseff's drive against corruption has strained her governing coalition
Since then, the ministers of defence, agriculture and transport have also been forced out of office by corruption allegations - though like Mr Palocci, all deny wrongdoing.
President Rousseff has won widespread praise for her firm reaction to the successive corruption scandals.
But her determination to clean up her administration had put severe strain on her governing coalition, which is made up of more than a dozen parties.
Some Brazilian political parties have traditionally given their support to the government in return for official jobs for their members and for money - either for personal gain or for party funding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14830679
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more