More than 2,000 people braved pelting rain in Sao Paulo on Saturday to stage a protest against what they described as persecution of Afro-Brazilian religious groups.
The “March of Axe” (life force in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble) in the city’s Ibirapuera Park was also joined by some gay groups and NGOs fighting against racism and bigotry.
The marchers representing major Afro-Brazilian faiths such as Candomble and Umbanda from around the country demanded “freedom of expression and of religion,” as well as an end to injustice, intolerance and racism.
Candomble, introduced in Brazil in the 16th century by west African slaves, also incorporates Roman Catholic elements.
Umbanda, founded a little more than a century ago, blends African religious beliefs, the spirituality of Brazil’s indigenous people and spiritism, a doctrine based on the teachings of 19th century French spiritualist Allan Kardec.
Jorge Scritori, one of the march organizers, said the protesters were denouncing intolerance and violence directed at followers of Afro-Brazilian religions.
“We want inclusion and acceptance ... It is the duty of all to show religious tolerance,” he added.
Followers of Candomble and Umbanda have held annual marches against religious intolerance since 2008, after several places of Afro-Brazilian worship were sacked and their leaders attacked.
Some of them accuse Christian evangelicals, including Candomble defectors, of outright hostility toward Afro-Brazilian faiths.
Candomble and Umbanda followers also complain about what they view as racist misconceptions that associate their beliefs with witchcraft.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
RSS