2013 protests in Brazil

The 2013 Brazilian protests were public demonstrations in several Brazilian cities, initiated mainly by the Movimento Passe Livre (Free Fare Movement), a local entity that advocates for free public transportation.

The demonstrations were initially organized to protest against increases in bus, train, and metro ticket prices in some Brazilian cities, but grew to include other issues such as the high corruption in the government and police brutality used against some demonstrators. By mid-June, the movement had grown to become Brazil's largest since the 1992 protests against former President Fernando Collor de Mello.

As with the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey, social media has played an important role in the organization of public outcries and in keeping protesters in touch with one another.

Name

Urban riots in Brazil have been traditionally been referred to as the 'Revolt of [Something]'. An example of this was Rio de Janeiro's Revolta da Vacina in the early 20th century. These particular protests have been referred to as the Revolta da Salada ([ʁɛˈvɔwtɐ da saˈladɐ]), Revolta do Vinagre ([ʁɛˈvɔwtɐ du viˈnagɾi]) or Movimento V de Vinagre ([moviˈmẽtu ˈve dʒi viˈnagɾi]) after more than 60 protesters were arrested in June 2013 for carrying vinegar as a home remedy against the tear gas and pepper spray used by police.

Piero Locatelli, a journalist for the CartaCapital magazine, was arrested and taken to the Civil Police after being found with a bottle of vinegar. The sarcastic tone dubbing the protests Marcha do Vinagre i.e. "the vinegar march", was a reference to the popularity of an earlier grassroots march for legalizing marijuana named Marcha da Maconha (the Brazilian version of the Global Marijuana March).