Brazil protests continue despite concession

     
As protests broke out again in several cities across Brazil on Saturday the largest, Sao Paulo, prepared for another day of protest, which days ago left shops vandalized and walls daubed with graffiti.        

Thousands gathered in Belo Horizonte and hundreds rallied in several other cities, largely to protest legislation that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate crimes in a country where many are fed up with the high rate of robberies and killings.       

What started as demonstrations against increases in bus and subway fares in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro has grown more intense as Brazilians have taken other, more general grievances to the streets.       

The demonstrations have led to a violent police crackdown. Vendors in Sao Paulo are concerned about how their businesses will fare if the protests become violent.           

This as President Dilma Rousseff broke days of silence on Friday with a broadcast address in which she vowed to battle corruption while improving government services. She also acknowledged the anger that has led to more than a week of vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin America's largest country.            


AP