Massive march against adjustment in education | Thousand …

Thousands of students, workers and social movements came back to invade the streets of Brazil during another day of protest against the cuts in education advocated by President Jair Bolsonaro, although among the affirmations, they also added the rejection of the pension system reform, the land claims of indigenous women. The marches have been repeated in more than 150 municipalities in Brazil and are the most mbadive after those convened last May by blocking funds paid to federal universities.

The largest concentrations took place in Rio de Janeiro and San Pablo, but in Brasilia, the capital of the country, student groups and university professors also benefited from the support of rural and indigenous women's groups. On Twitter, users expressed support for the demo by sharing the hashtags # TsunamiDaEducação and # Tsunami13Agosto.

The National Union of Students (UNE) called on young people to mobilize against budget cuts, the defense of university autonomy and the rejection of the "Future-se" project, proposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Education, to privatize public universities and a major step towards the commercialization of education.

This is the third mobilization mobilized by the students against the educational policy of the Bolsonaro government. Decided, in his words, to undertake a crusade against what he regards as "cultural Marxism" in the field of education. The executive had also previously announced significant cuts in university funding.

The UNE expressed in a statement its position on the project, explaining that the organization had never been consulted on it. "The Future program was developed without prior discussion with the sectors that make up the university: students, professors, technicians, administrators, rectors and rectors. We only talk about discussions with specialists and entrepreneurs. This shows to what interests they serve the implementation of this project, they are certainly not those of education and the Brazilian people, "they said.

The student organization was received last Thursday by the Minister of Education, Abraham Weintraub, in Brasilia, but did not get satisfactory answers according to its members. "The minister did not know how to respond to the challenges faced by universities or the problems of the Future-se program," said Julia Aguiar, director of UNE. "The minister did not know how to respond to our concerns about university autonomy, the number of laws that would change with the project, and did not know how to explain what studies the proposal was based on. the minister had no objective answers, "he added.

Cutbacks at universities and institutes already reach more than 6,000 million reais (about $ 1.5 billion). Various educational institutions have already publicly declared the risk of not carrying out their activities due to lack of investment.

"Campaign of lies"

Workers' organizations and social movements also took part in the protest day to repudiate the pension reform promoted by Bolsonaro in Congress. Aboriginal women, for their part, have expressed their rejection of official policies regarding Aboriginal peoples and their lands.

Under the slogan "Territory: our body, our spirit", some 3,000 indigenous people from different parts of the country denounced in Brasilia the "genocidal policy" of the Bolsonaro government, which opposes the new land demarcations and the 39; intention to open reserves for activities such as mining.

In addition to the rejection of educational and territorial policies, the participants also made their criticisms of the reform of the pension and retirement system, a key government project in the economic field, which was approved in both cases by the Chamber of Deputies. The bill, which aims to change the minimum age of admission to retirement, must now be approved by the Brazilian Senate, where it will also be subject to a double vote and will have to obtain a three-fifths majority. .

The powerful Central Unique Workers (CUT) of Brazil denounced the fact that Bolsonaro had promoted his initiative of a "campaign of lies" aimed at obtaining the necessary support. Through this campaign, "full of false news, liars and cunning advertising methods, the Bolsonaro government has told the people that the reform of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) will correct the distortions and will fight against privileges, "he said. Rosely Rocha in an article published on the CUT website.

With the pension reform, the Brazilian government intends to reduce spending by using a pension system that it considers "broken", ending the deficit of the public sector and freeing up resources for them. investments in key sectors. However, very few seem to trust these promises.