Hundreds of Brazilian protesters ransack 5 Sao Paulo banks

SAO PAULO: Some 300 Brazilian protesters ransacked 5 banks, burned trash bins and blocked traffic in Sao Paulo late Friday (Saturday, July 27 in Manila) in solidarity with demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro.

In Rio, around 200 people angry at the state governor got within a few meters from a Copacabana beach stage where visiting Pope Francis was wrapping up a massive ceremony with hundreds of thousands of young Catholics.

The protests in the two mega-cities were small in comparison to massive demonstrations that were held across Brazil last month to denounce corruption, lagging public services and the cost of the 2014 World Cup.

Television images showed masked protesters in Sao Paulo ramming metal bars through bank windows. (AFP)