Brazil's Carnival revelers channel anger against president
Mauricio Savarese, Associated Press
Updated 10:25 am, Sunday, February 26, 2017
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
A reveler wears a crown that reads in Portuguese: "Out Temer" during a carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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A reveler wears a crown that reads in Portuguese: "Out Temer" during a carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President
... more
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
A youth sells foam cans to revelers during the "Get out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
A youth sells foam cans to revelers during the "Get out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
A band of merrymakers costumed to depict the elderly march with a message that reads in Portuguese: "The city will Temer. Nobody will retire", criticizing the pension reform proposed by Brazil's President Michel Temer, at the "Galo da Madrugada" or the Morning Rooster carnival parade, in downtown Recife, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. The "Galo da Madrugada" took to the streets for the first time in 1975 with the aim of rescuing the traditional carnival of Recife. It is now considered one of the largest carnival parades.
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A band of merrymakers costumed to depict the elderly march with a message that reads in Portuguese: "The city will Temer. Nobody will retire", criticizing the pension reform proposed by Brazil's President
... more
Photo: Eraldo Peres, AP
A reveler with his body covered by the Portuguese message: "get out Temer" dances during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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A reveler with his body covered by the Portuguese message: "get out Temer" dances during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets
... more
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
A reveler holds a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Indians want demarcation" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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A reveler holds a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Indians want demarcation" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to
... more
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
Revelers take part in the "Out Temer" carnival street party, carrying an effigy of Brazil's impeached President Dilma Rousseff, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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Revelers take part in the "Out Temer" carnival street party, carrying an effigy of Brazil's impeached President Dilma Rousseff, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets
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Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
Revelers pretend to beat a sign that reads "Temer, coup leader" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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Revelers pretend to beat a sign that reads "Temer, coup leader" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's
... more
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
A reveler pretends to hit a man representing the United States who holds a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Brazilian is fooling, selling everything cheap. Oil" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. Merrymakers took to the streets to protest Brazil's President Michel Temer.
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A reveler pretends to hit a man representing the United States who holds a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Brazilian is fooling, selling everything cheap. Oil" during the "Out Temer" carnival street party in
... more
Photo: Silvia Izquierdo, AP
Brazil's Carnival revelers channel anger against president
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The exuberant, sassy celebration of Carnival is giving Brazil's battered leftists a stage to vent their frustrations — even while having a good time — after a year that saw their movement pushed out of power and the economic achievements of a decade undercut by a persistent crisis.
Thousands have turned out at Carnival street parties and other events across Brazil since Friday sporting shirts, earrings, banners and masks demanding the resignation of conservative President Michel Temer, who in August replaced his impeached center-left predecessor Dilma Rousseff.
Some wear straightforward T-shirts emblazoned "Out with Temer!" Others are more playful. The mocking chants of "Bye bye, darling" that greeted Rousseff's ouster now find a retort with shirts begging, "Come back, darling!" One man wearing a Temer mask at a street party decked himself in Christmas ornaments, making fun of a politician who once described his role as "decorative."
"This is our revenge against the man who stole our government from us," said retired teacher Silvia Barros, 72.
A member of Rousseff's Worker's Party, she prepared anti-Temer banners at Rio's Sao Salvador Square, a traditional gathering point for left-leaning voters, that she hoped would be displayed from the stands in the Sambadrome parade ground where Carnival samba schools compete this week. "Coup mongers, fascists! Thou shall not pass!" read one banner.
"People need to know he is there just to annul our rights and our democracy," she said.
Twenty-five-year-old economist Rodrigo Socrates said Carnival is a "leftist relief after the worst year ever."
"We were on the defensive for a long time. Rousseff wasn't a good president and it was embarrassing to go against her," he said. "Now we can say what we want. The right-wingers are quiet now."
Brazil's left had been ascendant since the 2003 inauguration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who oversaw an economic boom mixed with leftist social policies that raised the living standards of millions.
But the boom went bust under his chosen successor, Rousseff. Amid falling living standards, rising unemployment and soaring personal debt, the political mood has further soured with revelations of a sea of corruption centered on the state oil company that has tarred politicians left, right and center.
That's fed a powerful anti-politician mood across the country. While Rousseff was deeply unpopular when she was ousted by congress for budget law violations, Temer is at least equally disliked in the streets, even if he has support among lawmakers.
Temer was spending Carnival at a naval base in the northeastern state of Bahia, not far from some of the larger protests against him.
At a Saturday night concert in the state capital of Salvador, thousands chanted demands for the president's resignation as Grammy-award winning singer Caetano Veloso pointed to the crowd.
"This is so beautiful," he said.