A popular protest against the visit of American president George W. Bush to Brazil that started peacefully at Avenida Paulista, a main thoroughfare in São Paulo, degenerated into a war with the military police when protesters started to throw stones, sticks and ice cubes against the police. They, in turn, retaliated with rubber bullets and tear and pepper gas.
It's estimated that 6,000 people gathered at Paulista avenue while the police tried to keep at least half of the road free for traffic. The protest organizers were expecting to gather about 10,000 people. The manifestation started at about 3 pm, this Thursday, March 8, and continued peacefully until around 5:20 pm.
Captain Benjamin Francisco Neto, in charge of monitoring the protesters, informed that he had reinforced the number of policemen in front of McDonald's restaurants in the area as well as the building that used to house the Citibank and the Bank of Boston.
"Off with Bush and with his policy in Brazil and Latin America" was one of the most common phrases used in the banners carried by those participating in the anti-Bush rally. Among the acts planned for the protest: the burning of a puppet representing the American president.
The commander of the metropolitan policing control, Joviano Conceição Lima, had warned earlier in the day that the authorities wouldn't allow protesters to completely interrupt the traffic at Paulista. "It doesn't make any sense to close the Paulista, which is an important corridor for hospitals," Lima said. He had also promised that the police would respect the right to protest and would treat everybody with "kindness."
Apparently, the police had only 40 men trying to control the crowd. Only after protesters started throwing stones and other objects at them they got some reinforcement. Buses stuck in the resulting traffic jam ended up being filled up with anti-Bush graffiti. At least 7 people got hurt: 3 policemen and 4 demonstrators.
