Bolsonaro dismisses student protesters in Brazil as ‘idiots’
JAIR BOLSONARO, the Brazilian president, called protesters “imbeciles” and “idiots” after tens of thousands of students and teachers took to the streets in opposition to his budget cuts.
Schools and universities across the country suspended classes in the first nationwide protests against Mr Bolsonaro since he took office on January 1.
The budget cuts include a 30 per cent reduction in subsidies paid to state-owned universities.
Protests took place in scores of cities and organisers estimated up to 150,000 people joined a massive demonstration in Sao Paulo, where protesters chanted “Books Yes, Weapons No”.
Another 15,000 marched in the capital, Brasilia, and 70,000 in the Leftwing city of Salvador in the north east, according to estimates.
Police used tear gas to disperse protesters in the southern city of Porto Alegre, and a bus was set on fire at the end of the march in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr Bolsonaro was in Texas receiving an award from the Us-brazil Chamber of Commerce.
The president said the protesters were “useful idiots, imbeciles” who were being used by a “clever little minority who make up the nucleus of many federal universities in Brazil”.
Following his comments, Mariana Moura, 38, a protester in Sao Paulo, said: “I have a master’s degree and a post-doctorate in energy. If someone is an idiot in this story, it’s not me. We are here fighting for Brazil to continue producing knowledge.”
Luis Antonio Pasquetti, head of the National University of Brasilia’s teachers’ union, said: “Our message to Bolsonaro is that society will not accept these cuts of 30 per cent.”
Mr Bolsonaro’s election represented a sharp swing to the Right in the world’s fourth-largest democracy. He has been faced by a weak economy, high unemployment, and infighting within his own cabinet.
Abraham Weintraub, his education minister, blamed the cuts on the previous government and the “economic stagnation of the last 20 years”.
He said spending would shift from universities to primary schools.
“The priority is preschool, elementary school and technical school,” he added.