Date: Sat, 9 Oct 1999 02:18:22 -0400
Their 1,000-mile walk nearly over, an eclectic band of 1,100 protesters reached the capital Wednesday to express their displeasure with the government, austerity policies and the International Monetary Fund.
Peasants, unionists and Indians camped on the outskirts of Brasilia and prepared for the final leg Thursday, when they plan to protest at the Brazilian Central Bank. Some 7,000 supporters came by bus to join the demonstration.
The "People's March for Brazil" left Rio de Janeiro on July 26, heading northwest for nearly 1,000 miles to the capital.
Among the groups backing the march are the Landless Rural Workers Movement, various labor unions, leftist political parties and Brazil's Roman Catholic Church.
The protesters chose the IMF as the target of their discontent with economic policy that has brought recession and unemployment. The IMF recently led a $41.5 billion bailout loan for Brazil, and the government in turn pledged to sharply reduce its budget deficit.
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who took office in 1995, says Brazil was a victim of the financial crises in Asia and Russia. But his government failed to push through promised fiscal reforms, and officials were stunned when global markets went into a tailspin.
Since January, Brazil's real has lost one-third of its value. To prevent a
return of high inflation, the government raised interest rates and pushed
the country into recession. Today, more than 1 million people are jobless in
Sao Paulo, South America's biggest city and industrial center.
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This page last October 11, 1999
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