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Many of the protesters are young, often university students, or are new members of the middle class or lower middle class.
“Those 40 million who have entered the middle class have seen the promised land and they have liked it very much,’’ said Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. “The agenda of the protesters is a middle-class agenda.’’
While Brazil’s economic progress has been real, Brazilians are increasingly struck by the persistence of the problems of underdevelopment, said Sotero from Sao Paulo, where he is visiting.
“All this boasting about Brazil and it being the world’s sixth largest economy and people say, ‘OK, why am I wasting four hours of my life commuting on these terrible buses and then they want to raise the fare?’ ’’
Although Brazil has been lauded for its Bolsa Familia program, which offers cash payments to families who keep their children in school, the schools are often sub-par. In the World Economic Forum’s most recent Global Competitiveness Index, Brazil ranked 108 out of 144 countries for quality of education.
“Now society is saying we have been paying attention. We’re not just these happy soccer lovers,” Sotero said.
The protests come at a time when Rousseff’s popularity is declining. A poll conducted by Datafolha in early June showed an eight-point decline in her approval rating from 65 percent to 57 percent. It was the largest monthly decline in her popularity since she took office in January 2011 although in the early months of her presidency her approval rating was as low as 47 percent.
Some analysts say if the economy continues to decline, Rousseff could be vulnerable in the October 2014 presidential race.
“Brazilians are waiting for the political class to come up with a response that will satisfy their concerns or for new leaders to emerge,’’ Kotschwar said. “The government is in a tough position.’’
The Confederations Cup, which began June 15, was supposed to serve as a tuneup for the World Cup to show FIFA, the international soccer federation, and the world that Brazil was ready for a star turn. Instead, the world is getting images of police shooting rubber bullets, looted stores and bleeding young people.
The lesson may be “it’s really important to keep an eye on what’s happening at home while you try to improve your international image,’’ Kotschwar said.
For Sotero, what’s happening in Brazil goes far beyond image. “This has altered the political landscape here,’’ he said. “My hope is that Brazil will benefit from it.”
Barnes contributed to this story from Rio de Janeiro. Whitefield reported from Miami.
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