Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Finally Speaks on Protests, Will Approach Congress with New Legislation

After weeks of mass demonstrations peppered by violent clashes between police and protestors, political spectators in Brazil said that President Dilma Rousseff has finally responded to the anti-government wellspring that burst into the South American country's population.

Since the riots began, President Rousseff has mostly remained silent, with no statement to give on the millions of people who have flooded the streets, calling for their government to pay attention to the peoples' needs.

Now, observers in Brazil have told ABC that the president is answering the command, attempting to better understand the surge of protest that has fired up most Brazilians.

"Now is the time for the people to sit and bargain with our leaders," Cristian Gulias, an 84-year-old man who supports the protests wholeheartedly, told ABC. "We're fighting for the fulfillment of a million broken promises politicians have given us. We've demanded that our voices be heard."

The President is slated to appear in front of congress on Tuesday, to give her recommendations on what pieces should go in the national plebiscite concerning political change.

This has stoked the end of the massive protests-some demonstrations still linger, albeit in smaller groups and a more dispersed manner.

Since the closing of the near-million people marches, President Rousseff has seen her approval ratings plummet. Still, some say that Rousseff has begun approaching redemption by showing Gulias and citizens like him that she wants their desires and needs to be acknowledged in a system of government that most Brazilians say has left them in the dark.

"She took her time, but since first responding, Dilma is giving answers and putting forward proposals that address protesters' concerns," sociologist and professor at the University of Sao Paulo Helena Singer told ABC. "Her strong backing of political reform was bold. She's made proposals on health care and education that were on the demonstrators' agenda. The worst thing she did was to delay, but she's responding to protesters now."

Those proposals reportedly include giving Brazilian citizens an opportunity to cast their vote on the kind of political reform they'd like to see put in office, along with a suggested $23 billion set aside for urban transportation-one of the key aspects of the "Salad Revolution."

A larger issue that could give Rousseff run for her money is one that has received widespread skepticism: Brazil's economic policy, which some claim awards the state too large of a role. Members of the international market are not interested in paying up for short term investments, which leads to a nation crippled by slim pickings.

But President Rousseff's movement has still assuaged Brazilian fears and anger, for the time being.

"I don't think there is any consensus among the people of what all of this yet means," 22-year-old university student Marcia Shimabukoro told ABC. "Before, we all felt alone and unable to provoke change. Now, we've shown we can become a powerful mass that must be heard."