Protesters Swarm Brasilia

Starting June 17 more than 1 million demonstrators took the streets of Brazilian cities to protest the country's spending of money on facilities and related infrastructure for next year's World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in lieu of spending on public transport, health, and education, among other reasons. One of the venues for the demonstrations was Brasilia, the capital city designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the 1950s. The usually empty, grand spaces between the buildings (and the surfaces of the buildings themselves) were filled by a peaceful gathering of protesters.

A few days after the beginning of the countrywide protests, President Dilma Rousseff unveiled a series of reforms, including a plan to benefit public transit, more money for education, and more doctors. It remains to be seen if the proposed reforms are sufficient to quell the deep-seated ire toward the country's corruption and inequality in its spending.