Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Brazil to protest the billions of dollars being spent on the World Cup, which begins next month. In São Paulo, thousands of families have occupied an area near the site of the opening match. Outside the stadium Thursday, protesters called for more spending on housing, health and education.

Simone Pedra: “It is shameful, really shameful. Not the stadium itself, but the fact that so much was spent on building the stadium, which has pushed up prices of rent in the area, and while there are no health services in the region. We don’t have a basic doctors’ surgery or a hospital. Why is that? Because they chose not to spend the money on health or education, but on these works, which have only worsened our housing problems.”

Riot police fired tear gas at demonstrators in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. As protests erupted, Brazilian security forces gathered in Rio for a special training with the FBI on controlling unrest. The training took place in partnership with the Los Angeles and Chicago Police Departments.