Nearly a million protest Brazil's president, economy, corruption

Demonstrators hold placards against Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff during a protest against Rousseff in front of the Brazilian congress in Brasilia March 15, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

'PEOPLE FEEL BETRAYED'

Sunday's gatherings were mostly calm, with little of the violence that tarnished a wave of massive demonstrations in 2013, when Brazilians protested billions of dollars of spending, even as the economy faltered, to host the 2014 World Cup.

But if less vehement, the rallies Sunday possibly matched those of two years ago in scale. Estimates for the size of the crowds differed, but most calculations suggested roughly a million protesters nationwide.

In Sao Paulo alone, state police in late afternoon said that a million had turned out to march along skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista, the heart of Brazil's financial capital and biggest city. A private pollster later said it was only 210,000.

Earlier, more than 10,000 residents of Rio de Janeiro poured onto the Copacabana waterfront. Most dressed in the blue, green and yellow of Brazil's flag. Crowds sang the national anthem and shouted "Dilma, out!"

"People feel betrayed, said Diogo Ortiz, a 32-year-old advertising worker, who called the Petrobras scandal "a national and international disgrace."

Many protesters hail from the country's wealthier classes, who traditionally have opposed the ruling Workers' Party.

Underscoring class divisions, marchers said Rousseff and the ruling party have instigated the polarization by pitting their traditional supporters, the recipients of popular social welfare programs, against the rest of Brazil.