Brazilian cities revoke fare hikes

Federal troops deployed

To help maintain order, Rousseff dispatched federal troops to five cities hosting games during the Confederations Cup, an international soccer tournament that began earlier this month. The competition is a warm-up for the 2014 World Cup, a much bigger tournament that Brazil will also host.

The deployment, part of the contingency plan for the Confederations Cup, is similar to the previous use of federal troops when crime, violence or other unrest disrupted annual Carnival celebrations and other big events.

In Fortaleza, where Brazil beat Mexico on Wednesday in a Confederations Cup game, protesters crossed police lines and were pushed back by security forces with teargas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. Inside the stadium, Brazilian fans showed support for the demonstrations, singing well past the end of the national anthem and waving banners in solidarity.

Contrasting the country's high taxes with its ramshackle schools, hospitals and other shabby government services, demonstrators have criticized the 28 billion reais ($12.9 billion) of public money being spent on the World Cup, to be played in 12 Brazilian cities.

The demonstrations surrounding Wednesday's game began well before kickoff. Protesters marched toward the stadium and carried banners asking residents to "hit the street" and demanding "health, education, not corruption."

In Sao Paulo, the site of the most frequent marches until now, protests further complicated the daily commute for many of the residents of Brazil's financial and industrial hub. Demonstrations have so disrupted the already gridlocked city that many companies have allowed employees to leave early in recent days or allowed them to work from home.

Wednesday's marches followed overnight demonstrations in the city that led to looting and vandalism. Police arrested more than 63 people after protesters torched a police facility, tried to storm City Hall and broke windows and ransacked stores.

Fare cuts may not be enough

So far, neither Rousseff's bid to embrace the protests nor previous transport fare reductions in other cities have done much to stop the unrest, in part because of the diffuse nature of the protesters and the wide array of demands.

"It's difficult to get ahead of the movement because there isn't a clear image of who they are or what exactly they will do," said David Fleischer, a political scientist at the University of Brasilia. "It's hard to have a discourse with someone you don't know."

Although many Brazilians support the issues raised by the protesters, some are concerned about the vandalism and scattered violence that have accompanied some of the demonstrations.

In central Sao Paulo early on Wednesday, broken glass and other debris were scattered atop colonial cobblestones, and graffiti was scrawled on the front of the city hall. "The people have awoken," read one of the messages, echoing one of many chants that protesters have been yelling as they march.

"People are going to pay for this out of their pockets," said Manuel Carlos, a 42-year-old logistics manager. "I am in favor of the movement, but the stuff we are seeing here is absurd.