Dilma Tries To Compromise: Reforms Unveiled In Brazil
By Countercurrents.org
22 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org
In an attempt to make compromise with the people, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has unveiled a series of reforms.
Though offering no details, Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities. She reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians.
Ending her near-silence about days of massive, violent protests, Rousseff said thousands of doctors would be drafted in from overseas to improve the national health service.
Standing before a Brazilian flag, she said that the government knew there were many things "we can do quicker and better" and that Brazil "fought hard to become a democratic country".
Earlier she held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the protests.
The demonstrations began over transport fare rises in Sao Paulo, but quickly grew into rallies across the country against corruption and other issues. It is thought the total turnout may have been close to two million.
In her address - pre-recorded and broadcast nationally on TV and radio - Rousseff said she was listening to the demonstrators' concerns.
She promised to meet the leaders of the peaceful protests saying she needed "their contribution, their energy and their ability".
However, it remained unclear exactly who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of demonstrators taking to the streets.
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