By Kristen Nozell, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A group of young, self-declared anarchists occupied an area of Leblon Monday morning, close to the residence of Rio governor Sergio Cabral. The group descended on Avenida Delfim Moreira, close to Rua Aristedes Espinola around 5:30 AM, intending to create an ‘Occupy Leblon’ movement, borrowing from the terminology of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
One young demonstrator disclosed to Agência Brasil that the group intended to stay in that spot until the end of the year.
The group’s Facebook page, which was only created on Monday, declares themselves as “against the current political system, which does not represent the people,” but does not specify any specific objectives.
However, in a comment reported to Agência Brasil, one occupant declared that the same grievances that sparked the June demonstrations brought the group to the streets of Leblon.
In the early morning yesterday, only about ten people were present, peacefully sitting and not anticipating any clashes with police, with approximately forty demonstrators total expected to join. However, seven occupiers were arrested in the afternoon and taken in for questioning regarding possession of narcotics, according to government reports.
The demonstration remained very calm compared to other recent protests that have occurred primarily in Centro and ended in destruction of property along with violent clashes between protestors, especially Black Bloc members, and police forces.
It remains to be seen whether the movement will gain momentum, however, it is not the first and not likely to be the last protest against Sergio Cabral to be held near his residence.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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