Temer Interview Met with Pot-Banging Protests in at Least Five Capitals

05/16/2016 - 11h08

An interview with Brazil's new interim president Michel Temer on TV Globo's Fantástico program on Sunday (15) night was met with pot-banging protests in at least five state capitals.

It was Temer's first television interview since he became president on May 12, following the opening of impeachment proceedings against Dilma Rousseff in the Senate.

Pot-Banging Protests Against Temer

In São Paulo, pot banging was heard in the neighborhoods of Pinheiros, Higienópolis, Santa Cecília, Bela Vista, Consolação, Saúde, Vila Mariana, Vila Madalena and Pompeia. There were also shouts of "golpista" (coup-monger), boos, whistles and car horns.

In Rio, there was pot banging in Santa Teresa, Ipanema, Flamengo, Botafogo, Copacabana and Laranjeiras. As well as pot banging and whistling, people shouted "Fora Temer" (Temer out) and "Temer golpista".

In the Praça São Salvador, a nightspot in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, there were protests in local bars whilst the interview was being broadcast on TV.

Residents of Porto Alegre shouted "golpista" and "fora Temer", banged cooking pots and honked car horns. This occurred in the city center, as well as in the neighborhoods of Cidade Baixa, Menino Deus, Petrópolis, Bom Fim and Rio Branco. Residents also switched their lights on and off whilst Temer spoke.

Likewise, there were pot-banging protests in Brasília and Belo Horizonte. The protests started around 10:10pm and lasted for nearly half an hour.

This form of protest became popular during Dilma Rousseff's televised speeches. The first on record took place on Women's Day (March 8) last year, when pot-banging was heard in at least 12 state capitals during Rousseff's speech.

Rousseff has been in Porto Alegre since Friday (13) night, to stay with her daughter Paula Araújo and her two grandsons Gabriel and Guilherme. On Saturday (14), flowers were left in the reception of her apartment building and a feminist group paid tribute to the suspended president.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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