• Friday, November 04, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Inspired by the movement for real democracy and people's power that has spread to hundreds of cities around the world, young Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro have created their own version of 'Occupy Wall Street', dubbed 'Occupy Rio'.

Following in the footsteps of Spain's 'Indignados' (outraged people), about 200 young people are carrying out a peaceful protest in one of the main squares in Rio's city centre, where thousands of people pass by every day.

Around 125 tents have been pitched in the Cinelândia square, where the city council, the municipal theatre and the national library are situated. The square has become the focal point of demonstrations criticising consumerism, social inequality and the financial system.

Dozens of placards, reading 'You are free', 'Come out of your living-room-prison, your life is worth much more than a soap opera episode,' or 'Transform arms into art', express the sense of peaceful protest and freedom that has inundated the plaza since Saturday Oct. 22.

The global wave of demonstrations against the handling of the financial crisis has swept from Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga in Spain to New York , Oakland and Seattle, and on to other capitals and large cities across the globe .

Joining the global tide of protest, 'Occupy Rio' is characterised by its diversity and direct democracy through decision-making by assembly.

According to 18-year-old Eduardo de Oliveira Moraes, who is involved in organising the movement's work groups, plurality is the hallmark of the encampment.

Adopting a horizontal style of organising without hierarchies, people meet in the square for dialogue and discussion, seeking consensus, critiques or protests on widely divergent issues, including politics, economics, culture and the environment.

'We're also protesting against corruption and all kinds of wavering in the government,' de Oliveira Moraes told IPS. He was one of the first to show up in Cinelândia square at five a.m. on Saturday Oct. 22, ready to start the demonstration.

'Everyone has their own reasons for being here. We have meetings and work group activities every day. We started off thinking we would stay for a week, but now we have no fixed date in mind to leave the square. We are here because this is where we want to be; this square is publicly owned and therefore belongs to us,' he said.

The 'Occupy Rio' movement is debating global issues like the financial crisis. But it is also discussing local political issues, while building bridges with local movements in the 'favelas' or shanty towns, which are organising against forced evictions caused by the preparations and public works for the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, to be hosted by this city.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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