1.5 Million Protesters Take to the Streets of Brazil

Nearly 1.5 million citizens of Brazil took to the streets in various cities to demonstrate their opposition to President Dilma Rousseff, who is facing multiple crises both economically and regarding corruption. Many of the protesters who marched on March 14 have called for Rousseff to resign from power. This Brazilian politician was re-elected to the presidency last fall with just over 51% of the votes, winning by a narrow margin against her opponent. Reports indicate that major cities in Brazil, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília, were among the centers of the protests on Sunday. According to Agence France-Presse, protesters gathered in 83 cities across Brazil. News agencies and observers are comparing the recent protests to those in 2013, which occurred during the FIFA World Cup despite an economic crisis and lasted for weeks in various cities. A Twitter account of one opposition group described the protests as 'the largest demonstrations since the beginning of democracy in the country.' The reasons for the recent protests include the exposure and investigation of dozens of corruption cases related to the state oil company Petrobras, many of which are linked to the ruling party in power. Corruption and money laundering have reportedly involved nearly $4 billion over the past decade. Some of the cases date back to when Rousseff herself was the head of Petrobras. Meanwhile, Dilma Rousseff has called for austerity economic policies to address the economic crisis. On the other hand, a group of government supporters and Rousseff's backers have also taken to the streets, accusing the opposition of attempting a coup.