Anti-World Cup Protesters protesting
Striking workers from the Ministry of Culture, in conjunction with protesters from the health and education sectors, overshadowed a conference at the Copacabana
According to reports, It began with a handful of people armed with a banner and a megaphone outside the fort’s main
entrance and ended with hundreds forming a chanting, swaying, defiant
mass which commandeered one of Rio
de Janeiro’s busiest roads and denied access to one of the world’s most iconic
beaches.
The Minister of culture in her speech in a conference in Copacabana Fort on Monday spoke comprehensively on the current development, Mrs Marta Suplicy said what she could not know as she spoke was that less than 200 yards away, members of her own government department were doing precisely
that.
“The World Cup is an opportunity to project an image beyond samba music,” she told assembled journalists and Fifa dignitaries.
Employees of Brazil’s Ministry of Culture have been on strike since May 12 leaving all 30 of the country’s federal museums, including the National History Museum, National Museum of Fine Arts and the National Library, closed ever since – but this, in conjunction with protesters from the health and education sectors, was their most effective public statement yet.
“The Brazilian government is betraying the people,”
she insists. “We don’t make money so this is the only way we can show our value.”
“We are not paid enough because the government does not consider culture a priority and there is no incentive for us to improve. If I went away and did a PhD I would be better at my job but it makes no difference to my wages. We lose good people to other departments because of it.” said one of the protesters (Lia Jordao ).
“We are not against football, but this is bigger,” she continues. “The World Cup is a lot of money but we don’t have the basics.”
It is not about football but, as Brazil prepares to host a competition which has ended up costing the country €8.5 billion, it also undeniably is.
As it stands the mundial is just two days ahead, where the host nation Brazil will open the competition versus Croatia in Sao Paulo.
© Sport Cracker Media
Sportcracker 