In Florianopolis, the movement lead a ten day revolt where tens of thousands of people blocked all major streets of the city preventing the rise in the bus fares. After the revolt, the Passe Livre movement managed to pass a law giving free transportation to students (the mayor
has not yet implemented it).
People who were at the last World Social Forum in Porto Alegre probably met the people from the Passe-Livre Movement, a horizontal youth movement. Then, in Caracol Intergalaktica, took place a one-day national assembly, when were set some basic resolutions concerning the initial construction of a national co-ordinated Passe-Livre Movement. In short, these resolutions are about autonomy, horizontality, independence from political parties and struggling for a non-commodified public transport, controlled by people.
In next july 24, 25 and 26 will take place in Campinas the II Encontro Nacional do Movimento Passe-Livre (Second National Passe-Livre Movement Conference).
We, the Passe-Livre Movement of Florianopolis, need do raise R$3.000,00 (about US$1,200, or 1.066 euros, or £$ 721) in order to rent a bus to go to the Conference in Campinas. Needless to say it will be a crucial Conference to the further developments of the Passe-Livre Movement in Brazil. We usually raise money to supply the necessities of the movement basically by two means: by sellig t-shirts and asking the local workers trade-unions for financial support. But we just finished a one-month victorious struggle against the increase of transport fares in Florianopolis. June 2005 was a month with thousands taking direct action in the streets, facing state repression, political persecution, violation of human and civil rights, criminal charges, bombs, rubber bullets etc. As had happened one year before, the everyday work done by Passe-Livre Movement along the years made it appears as a leading element in these popular uprisings in Florianópolis. But the struggle of the last month had a lot of costs, financially speaking: from leaflets to bails.
We have only two weeks to raise US$1,200.00, so we are asking your support.
For those who don’t know (and I believe they are most of the readers of this piece), Florianopolis is a southern brazilian city, the capital of Santa Catarina state, six hour north from Porto Alegre and eleven hours south from Sao Paolo and Campinas.
In recent years the transport fares are emerging as a important social theme in many brazilian cities, with protests and uprisings taking place against the increase of fares e for free passing of students. The events and victories in Florianopolis has made the Passe-Livre Movement of Florianopolis being a major inspiration for other places in Brazil, and aside from this, Passe-Livre of Florianopolis has played a major role in the construction of a nationally co-ordinated movement, in autonomist and no-hierarchic hallmarks, around a social theme ever more explosive in Brazil.
So we ask your help to raise the money, in order to attend the II Passe-Livre Movement National Conference in Campinas,

Donations to:

Bank: Banco do Brasil
Account: 36484-X
Agency: 0016-7

For: Flora Lorena Branco Muller*

Contact:  jelka@tutopia.com.br


*The account is on name of Flora Muller. For those who want to check it up, Flora Muller was one of the three people arrested in the first day of last june protests, took as one of the “leaders” by police. See:  http://www.indymedia.org/pt/2005/06/116387.shtml and  http://www.mst.org.br/informativos/minforma/ultimas804.htm



Links in portuguese about the protests against the fares in Florianópolis and about Passe-Livre Movement:

Movimento conquista a suspensão do aumento das tarifas
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/320819.shtml

[Floripa] Editoriais sobre as Revoltas da Catraca, passe livre e paralisações
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/320820.shtml

Vídeo Amanhã vai ser Maior (cenas da primeira semana de manifestações contra o aumento das tarifas de ônibus em 2005, 3 partes)
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/319238.shtml
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/319242.shtml
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/319244.shtml

Video sobre as manifestações de 2004 contra o aumento das tarifas, aprovação do Passe-Livre manifestações pela efetivação da lei do passe-livre em 2005.
 http://www.exatosegundo.com.br/passelivre2005.wmv

A Guerra da Tarifa
 http://www.midiaindependente.org/pt/blue/2005/06/319244.shtml

Vídeo sobre o 18º dia de manifestações pela redução da tarifa de ônibus em Florianópolis (SC).
 http://brasil.indymedia.org/media/2005/06/321464.mov