1.
GV/SV PAN Demonstrators assembled in street, preparing to march with banners and placards. (2 SHOTS)
0.35

2.
GV Cartoon placard of Uncle Sam, symbolising U.S. financial exploitation of Brazil.
0.38

3.
SV Police standing by near their vehicles.
0.43

4.
SCU/SV Protesters showing newspaper headlines to camera (headline says: Independence or Death). (2 SHOTS)
0.51

5.
SCU PULL BACK TO SV Protesters chanting and waving fists, marching (2 SHOTS)
1.50




Initials CW/JRS





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Employees from the Bank of Brazil marched through the streets of Rio de Janeiro on June 23 to protest the government's plans for another bout of economic medicine. Police stood by as protesters, carrying placards and banners chanted anti-U.S. slogans. The country's foreign debt of about 90 billion U.S. dollars is the largest in the developing world. The Brazilian government, unable to meet repayment targets set by the International monetary Fund (IMF) and several international banks, has called for a further 3.5 billion dollar loan. Representatives of the IMF currently in Rio de Janeiro, have been discussing with government leaders ways of rescuing the debt-ridden nation. Opposition politicians in Brazil's newly-elected Congress have objected to what they see as foreign interference in domestic affairs. With annual inflation running at 120 per cent, many of Brazil's poor fear further cuts in wages, and public services.