Brazil's biggest protests in two decades intensified on Thursday despite government concessions meant to quell the demonstrations, as over 300,000 people took to the streets of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and tens of thousands more flooded an estimated one hundred cities.
Brazilian Industry and Foreign Trade minister Fernando Pimentel met this week in Buenos Aires with President Cristina Fernandez and members of her cabinet to address several bilateral trade issues that growingly concern President Dilma Rousseff because of Argentina’s increasingly market protection policies.
One of Mercosur ‘main obstacles’ is political and has its origin in Argentina, a country that is ‘extremely protectionist’, said the president of Brazil’s National Agriculture Confederation, CAN, Senator Katia Abreu currently in Brussels promoting the idea of a bilateral Brazil/EU free trade agreement.
As the threat of massive protests in Brazil’s major cities continues, President Dilma Rousseff early Tuesday tried to defuse the situation by acknowledging the need for better public services, more responsive governance and at the same time praising Brazilians commitment to a strong democracy.
United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay has asked Brazilian authorities to react with moderation to the social protests that have spread through out the country and at the same time has called on demonstrators to avoid using violence to get their message heard.
Demonstrators clashed with police in central Rio do Janeiro on Monday evening as more than 200,000 people turned out to the streets of major Brazilian cities to protest the billions of dollars spent on the Confederations Cup, higher public transport costs, corruption and poor services.
President Dilma Rousseff ratified Latinamerica and Mercosur as Brazil’s foreign policy priorities, but at the same time emphasizing the ‘excellent relations’ with the United States and the European Union.
The British Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) signed a Letter of Understanding to implement a new Cooperation Program to extend the long-term collaboration between the parties.
President Barack Obama has named Lilian Ayalde a career diplomat with a long experience in international cooperation and former ambassador to Paraguay as the next ambassador to Brazil it was announced by the White House.
Police deployed tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse around 3,000 protestors from outside Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium ahead of the Confederations Cup match between Italy and Mexico on Sunday.