About the victory: "Statement of the Free Fare Movement"

June 20, 2013

by Free Fare Movement  São Paulo

The city will not forget the experience of these last weeks. We learned that only the struggle of those from below can defeat interests enforced from the top down. The government's intransigence had to give in because of blocked streets, barricades, and civil unrest.
 
Neither the Free Fare Movement or any other organization are the ones who repealed the fare hike. The people is the only responsible for it.

The people builds and makes the city functions every day. However, the people has no right to enjoy this city, because transportation is expensive. Revoking the price rises on public transport is an important step towards the recovery and the transformation of this city by the people from below.
 
The struggle of the Free Free Movement, which neither begins nor ends today, continues towards a public transport without any charge, where decisions are taken by the users and not by politicians and businessmen. If before they used to say that it was impossible to cancel the increase in transport fares, the people's revolt proved that it is not. Now they say that the free fare is impossible, our struggle will prove them wrong.

For a life without turnstiles!

Free Fare Movement São Paulo

Source: http://tarifazero.org/2013/06/20/sao-paulo-nota-do-movimento-passe-livre/

Make it free

Brazil government rolls back transit hike - Americas - Al Jazeera English: ""A lot of the movement participants say [on social media] that its a good start, but not quite enough. They want free public transport, especially in Sao Paulo," he said. "

'via Blog this'

[Protests in São Paulo] The Clear Goals of the Struggle

1. The movement came about centered around the struggle to reduce the public transportation fares, supplemented by the fight for free fare andthe right to the city. Those are the causes the Free Fare Movement stands for, as they have been developing for a decade, with demonstrations that vary in size along those years.2. The brutal repression of the Military Police in São Paulo, on the June 13th demonstration, leaving hundreds wounded and arrested - or cowardly battered, - caused national and international commotion, taking demonstrations to a never before seen dimension when it comes to the issue of urban mobility.3. The mainstream media in Brazil, known to be a monopoly that was never properly regulated by the Federal Government to become truly democratic, as well as having its interests entwined with those of the conservative right - bought out and obedient to them - has tried to turn the goals of the movement into their own political agenda in a vile manipulative process.4. This is nothing new. It’s worth noting that, back in 1984, during one of the most important demonstrations during the Diretas Já Campaign at Sé Square, the daily news at Globo announced people were gathered there to celebrate São Paulo’s anniversary.5.Other goals that have been added to the movement are legitimate and help in politicizing the debate, widening the perspective for a positive end to this great wave of protests.6. However, there’s been an ideological cluttering, one orchestrated by the right wing parties and incited by mainstream media editorials with the intention of attributing their own agenda to the movement - an attempt to gain votes in 2014, or even creating circumstances that could lead to a coup.7. Here we have a shared responsibility: Inside the movement, we must keep fighting to neutralize the right wing conservative stupidity, defining a series of clear goals for the struggle and shouting chants related to them, as well as writing and spreading information about them. In different spheres of the government, the goals of the movement must be heard immediately, as short, medium and long term plans that include democratizing mechanisms for access to the city are created, such as FREE FARE.Haddad, honor the Worker’s Party and its history! Repeal the fare hikes today and begin negotiations with the Free Fare Movement in public transportation.We are living in a historical moment and our political function is to act in helping to build the necessary conditions for a concrete victory instead of a regression.
Written by Marcelo PomarTranslated by Jéssica Preuss

[Protests in São Paulo] GIF - Tear Gas Bomb Soccer

Meanwhile in São Paulo... A Brazilian protester against the bus fare increase kicks a tear gas bomb just a like a soccer ball. Simple like that.

Photos of the Protests Against the Bus Fare Increase in São Paulo (June 6th, 11th and 13th, 2013)

 

                                               Photographer: Alexandre R. Pereira

                                                Photographer: Alexandre R. Pereira

                                               Photographer: Alexandre R. Pereira

"If the bus fare does not decrease, São Paulo will stop"

[Protests in São Paulo] Why We are in the Streets

June 15th, 2013

The model of public transportation based on allowing its exploitation by private companies and the charging of fares is a broken model. It will continue to be in crisis for as long as urban mobility continues to follow the logic of commodities, as opposed to the idea of urban mobility as a fundamental right for everyone.

This logic, namely profit, leads companies to raise the fares repeatedly with support from the government. This raise eventually leads more public transportation passengers to stop using it, and with less passengers, the companies feel the need to raise the fares again.

That is an act of violence against a large part of the population, who, as shown in the article published by UOL yesterday, has to choose between eating, or paying for public transportation fares. An estimated 37 million Brazilians have been excluded from the public transportation system because they cannot afford it. This number, not an updated figure, does not come out of nowhere: from 20 cent to 20 cent raise, transportation has become, according to IBGE (Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics), the third largest expense for the Brazilian family, taking the right to mobility from the population.

In this sense, a population which requires transportation to go to work, but must pay that bill almost by itself, with no contribution from the sectors that truly benefit from their use of public transportation. That is why we believe in a free fare, which means nothing more than to indirectly fund this system, dividing the bill by everyone, as everyone benefits from it.

[Protests in São Paulo] What the News Won't Show

 About the Protests of 06/11/2013

"The News won’t say that it was hours of peaceful demonstration, from Paulista Avenue to Dom Pedro Park Bus Terminal.

The News won’t say that the march followed the route established by the police until being trapped in front of the Bus Terminal.

The News won’t say that after trapping 20 thousand people in front of the Bus Terminal, the incompetent São Paulo State Police Force threw gas bombs in the middle of the crowd, making people flee and threatening many people’s lives.

The News won’t show that the people came back singing, united, with popular support from the buildings windows, clapping and everything to Sé Square.