Brazilian cities revoke fare hikes; protests continue

Brazil's two biggest cities bowed to popular demands and revoked increases in bus fares that had sparked the nation's biggest street protests in almost two decades.

Authorities in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro said they were scrapping increases for public transportation even as they struggle under strained budgets. Starting Monday, bus, subway and train tickets in Sao Paulo will cost 3 reais ($1.35), the price before a 20 centavo, or 7 percent, increase took effect earlier this month.

Protesters who paralyzed several cities for much of the past two weeks had vowed to remain on the streets until officials lowered fares. Still, in capitulating to those demands it's unclear whether authorities will be able to quell a movement that has since mushroomed into a catch-all for Brazilians' discontent with everything from 6.5 percent inflation and corruption to the quality of public education.

"We don't expect people to just quit protesting," Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said Wednesday while announcing the fare cuts. "People are protesting for more than just bus fares, and that's their right. We're just listening to what they're saying, and this is a way to show it."

The nation's attention Wednesday was on Fortaleza, in the country's northeast, where the growing movement stole the spotlight from the nation's love of soccer. There, police battled an estimated 25,000 demonstrators who gathered outside the stadium where the national team was hosting Mexico. The rally protested excessive spending on sports facilities ahead of next year's FIFA World Cup. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to repel the crowd, some of whom responded by throwing stones.

Inside the arena, fans held up signs denouncing corruption and bearing what's become the student-led movement's rallying cry: "The giant has awakened," a reference to Brazil's national anthem.

President Dilma Rousseff, who was jeered at a packed stadium June 15, has been trying to get ahead of the protests, which reached a peak June 17 when more than 200,000 people marched in 12 cities.

The movement's surprise emergence using social media comes as Brazil struggles to recover from its second-worst economic slump in 13 years.