1000s stage demo in Rio before final

Thousands of protesters have staged a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before the Brazilian football team faces Spain in the Confederations Cup final.

Some 5,000 Brazilians marched toward Rio’s Maracana stadium hours before the 7 pm local time (2200 GMT) kickoff on Sunday.

However, the crowd was blocked by a police security cordon later.

Å“I am supporting the people’s distaste for everything that is happening in politics. It began with a fare increase and has evolved to be against everything, principally against our political system that needs urgent reform,” one of the demonstrators said.

Brazil has been hit by nationwide protests since June 17, when street rallies began initially over a rise in bus fares.

However, the anger has now snowballed into nationwide demonstrations, with people demanding the government to address the issues of high taxes, inflation, corruption, and poor public services.

The protesters are also objecting to spending more than USD 26 billion of public money on the two major sporting events, the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, slated to be held in Latin Americaâ„¢s largest country.

So far, dozens of people have been hurt and hundreds more arrested in the violent clashes that have rocked Brazil

The Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (ABRAJI) said that over 50 journalists have been injured, harassed or arrested during the demonstrations.

NT/HN