Riot police battled protesters in at least five cities, with some of the most intense clashes in Rio de Janeiro, where an estimated 300,000 demonstrators swarmed into the city's central area.
Television images showed police firing tear gas canisters and rubber bullets into crowds of young men, their faces wrapped in T-shirts. Other demonstrators were shown detained lying on pavements.
Revolution: A football shirt-clad protester
waves the Brazilian flag through clouds of smoke and teargas during
violent clashes between protesters and police in Rio de Janeiro last
night
Violent scenes: Policemen from the special
Choque unit carry an injured colleague during a protest in Rio de
Janeiro of what is now called the 'Tropical Spring' against corruption
and bus far price hikes
A protester lies wounded after being shot by
police with a rubber bullet along the Presidente Vargas avenue in Rio.
Right, one holds a poster reading 'Silveira, do not yet shoot. I guess
that one on the left is your son'
Unarmed: Brazilian protesters walk with raised arms as riot police look during Rio's mass protests last night
Solidarity: A taxi driver waves from a flyover to show support for several hundred thousand protesters in Rio
The country's president Dilma Rousseff called off a visit to Japan to deal with the crisis.
Official estimates suggest that there were more than a million protesters out across the country in total.
In Brasilia, police struggled to keep hundreds of protesters from invading the Foreign Ministry as protesters lit a small fire outside.
Other government buildings were attacked around the capital's central esplanade, and police resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets in attempts to scatter the crowds.
Clashes were also reported in the Amazon jungle city of Belem, in Porto Alegre in the south, in the university town Campinas, north of Sao Paulo, and in the north-eastern city of Salvador.
Carnage: More than a million people are said to
have taken to the streets of Brazil last night in the most violent set
of anti government protests to hit the country yet
Trying to keep calm: Riot police fired tear gas
and rubber bullets into crowds of protestors as trouble flared in more
than 80 towns and cities
Damage: Brazilian riot policemen remove a
vandalized traffic light in order to advance during riots following a
demonstration joined by hundreds of thousands in Rio de Janeiro last
night
Burning bright: A protester holds a flag next to a fire during a protest in front of the National Congress in Brasilia
The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup football tournament with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in attendance.
It also comes a month before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the nation, and ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, raising concerns about how Brazilian officials will provide security.
In Salvador, police shot tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse a small crowd of protesters trying to break through a police barrier blocking one of the city's streets.
Attack: Military police approach protestors trying to invade the Foreign Ministry, during an anti-government protest in Brasilia
Mass protest: Demonstrators gather during a protest to demand better public services, in Rio de Janeiro
Taking action: Brazilian riot policemen shoot
tear gas during riots following a demonstration joined by hundreds of
thousands in Rio
Trouble: A protestor tries to hit riot policemen with a stick during violent clashes last night
Countrywide civil unrest: Riot police aim their
weapons at demonstrators during an anti-government protest in Porto
Alegre, southern Brazil
Caught: Police detain a protestor during clashes between both sides following trouble in Rio
Despite the energy on the street, many protesters said they were unsure how the movement would win real political concessions.
People in the protests have held up signs asking for everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public pounds spent on stadiums in advance of the World Cup and the Olympics.
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