Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Brazil to deploy National Security troops against protesters

The Brazilian government will deploy National Public Security Force in five cities hosting the FIFA football tournament in an effort to contain the ongoing protests across the country.

The announcement by the Brazilian Justice Ministry comes after a day of violent clashes between protesters and riot police.

The ministry decided to deploy the joint federal police force on Wednesday in response to violent rioting across the country. The troops will reportedly be tasked with mediating the conflict, rather than punishing protesters.

The National Public Security Force is usually deployed in Brazil to address serious security crises, such as prison riots or major gang violence.

The protests were sparked earlier this month by a hike in public transport fees and escalated into a massive anti-government movement, with hundreds of thousands of people marching to express anger at the state’s policies.

The cost of hosting the World Cup in Brazil is one of the key issues of the protest – demonstrators say the money would have been better spent on alleviating public problems, rather than on a major sporting event.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff tried to defuse tensions on Tuesday, saying that her government is looking to the people and is willing to act on the demonstrators’ grievances. "The size of yesterday's demonstrations shows the energy of our democracy, the strength of the voice of the streets and the civility of our population,” the president said in a televised address.

She went on to condemn the incidents of violence, and called on the demonstrators to protest peacefully.

Original Article
Source: rt.com
Author: --

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