“We are on the street to defend our country, our people, our lives, our culture, our education, our economy. We can no longer die of Covid.”

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 6-20-2021

Rio de Janeiro – Brazilians organizing for the biggest protests in years. Photo: Imediata/Twitter

As Brazil’s Covid-19 death toll surpassed 500,000 on Saturday, at least hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of more than 400 cities across the nation and around the world to blame President Jair Bolsonaro for the grim pandemic milestone and demand his ouster.

Chanting and holding signs with slogans including “Bolsonaro Out,” “500,000 Deaths, It’s His Fault,” and “Vaccines Now,” protesters called for the resignation or impeachment of the far-right president. Demonstrators also implored the government to ramp up vaccination efforts. Continue reading →