With a university degree and a flat in a smart neighbourhood of Sao Paulo, Ernesto Filho, a 33-year-old choreographer and dancer, is not your average Brazilian. He is, however, typical of the 1m people who took to the streets 12 months ago, in the greatest social unrest Brazil has seen in two decades. The protests began on June 6th last year, with a small rally against a rise in Sao Paulo bus fares of 20 centavos (at the time, nine American cents). Over two weeks they morphed into a nationwide outpouring of dismay at shoddy public services, corruption, the cost of living, ineffectual government and much else. Since then politicians and pundits have been analysing the events, which unfolded as Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament for the football World Cup that begins on June 12th-and trying to work out whether they should brace for a replay.
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