By Benjamin Parkin, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Several hundred teachers from the public school network in Rio de Janeiro protested on Wednesday afternoon in the center of the city, clashing with police. One teacher was arrested and four others were injured – as the teacher’s strike continues since May 12th.
At 1PM, protesters converged outside the Prefeitura (City Hall) in Cidade Nova, blocking off Avenida Presidente Vargas for twenty minutes. Inside, members of SEPE (the Education Professionals’ Union) met with the Municipal Education Secretary, Helena Bomeny.
Marta Moraes, a coordinator of SEPE, complained to Jornal do Brasil of the meeting that “there was no counter-proposal, neither the Governor nor the Mayor, the chief executives, were present. They also didn’t hand over spreadsheets with costs or the budget, as we had asked.”
The protest then moved on to the State Secretariat of Education in Santo Cristo, Zona Norte (North Zone). At 4PM, they returned in direction of Central Station, before finishing at 5PM.
The teachers have been on strike since May 12th. In a meeting on Thursday May 22nd, SEPE decided to continue the strike, alleging that the Municipal and State Governments did not meet the demands agreed following another strike last year, which went on for seventy days.
On Monday, the striking teachers and others protested the arrival of seleção, the Brazilian national team, to their training base in Granja Comary, 90 km outside of Rio.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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