Support for Wave of Protests has Collapsed, Reveals Datafolha

02/24/2014 - 08h38

The wave of protests that swept the country starting in June has reached its lowest level of support among Brazilians, according to research from Datafolha.

According to the survey, 52% of people interviewed were in favor of protests. In late June, when protests brought about 1 million people to the streets in 25 of the country's capital cities, the percentage of approval reached 81%.

On the other hand, the number of those who declared they were against the protests increased 15% to 42% in the same time period.

Support is lower when the question is more specifically about demonstrations during the World Cup. Only 32% approve, while 63% oppose the initiative.

Demonstration Against the World Cup

The region that supported the protests the most was the South, with 60%, while the least amount of support came from the Northeast, with 46%. The Southeast registered 55% support.

There is an even greater disparity when considering the difference in education: 72% of those interviewed that have a college education support the protests, against 37% of those who only attended primary school.

CANDIDATES

With regard to political preference, those who are in favor of the demonstrations are those who intend to vote for the governor of Pernambuco, Eduardo Campos (PSB), and for Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB): 59% and 58%, respectively. Among those who prefer President Dilma Rousseff, 47% support the protests.

If Marina Silva were to be the PSB candidate instead of Campos, 64% of her potential voters are in favor of demonstrations.

The Datafolha survey was conducted on Feb. 19 and 20. A few days earlier, on Feb. 10, Santiago Andrade, a cameraman from TV network Band, died.

He was hit by a flare while covering a protest against the increase of bus fare in Rio.

THE WORLD CUP

The survey also asked about the World Cup being hosted by Brazil. Results showed that only half of the population supports the international sporting event.

This skepticism was detected by the government in a survey conducted between June and August, according to a report by Folha earlier this month.

The changing mood of Brazilians with respect to the event made Rousseff change her discourse about the Cup. The president went on to emphasize the euphemism of the "soccer country" and focused less on the idea of the "legacy."

Last Saturday, an anti-Cup protest in São Paulo brought around 1,500 people out to the streets. There was vandalism and confrontations between military police officers and protesters. In total, 262 people were arrested. All had been released by Sunday morning.

Translated by JILL LANGLOIS

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