Open veins of Brazil: Tension, perplexity and the (re)emergence of popular protests

Brazil has posed one of the most puzzling dilemmas for politicians and academics alike: how is it possible that in a country where growth has been sustained for the last decade, where inflation levels have been kept under control, where purchasing power of the average wage has grown in real terms, where unemployment remains at a minimum and where 50 million Brazilians were lifted out of poverty to join the ranks of the ‘new middle class’, a massive popular protest has taken to the streets in twelve cities for the last months? Where does this protest come from? Why has neither the government nor the opposition recognised the latent discontent? How can such discontent occur in a country that has consistently expressed high levels of support to and satisfaction with the government of Dilma Rousseff? Brazil is in tension and it is puzzling.