Teen libertarian is parlaying YouTube videos into role as face of Brazil's anti-left protests

In this March 15, 2015 photo, demonstrators take part in a protest march demanding the impeachment of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, over an alleged scheme of corruption that siphoned money from the state-owned oil company Petrobras, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The March 15 demonstration was the largest Sao Paulo had seen in more than three decades, since 1984 protests demanding democratic elections after a long dictatorship. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)(The Associated Press)

In this March 18, 2015 photo, anti-government protest leader Kim Kataguiri poses for a picture in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The grandson of Japanese immigrants, Kataguiri is a social media star whose quirky videos skewer Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling partys social welfare policies. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)(The Associated Press)

In this March 15, 2015 photo, demonstrators take part in a protest march demanding the impeachment of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff, over an alleged scheme of corruption that siphoned money from the state-owned oil company Petrobras, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The March 15 demonstration was led by Kim Kataguiri, a 19-year-old college dropout, and other young Brazilian activists inspired by libertarianism and conservative free-market ideals. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)(The Associated Press)

SAO PAULO Microphone in hand and standing atop the sound truck, the raspy-voiced protest leader jabbed his finger into the air shouting for the ouster of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, igniting wild cheers from the crowd below him.

"What Lula and Dilma have done shouldn't just result in their being banned from politics. It should result in them being in jail!" Kim Kataguiri yelled, denouncing Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The March 15 demonstration was the largest Sao Paulo had seen in more than three decades, since 1984 protests demanding democratic elections after a long dictatorship.

But more surprising than the crowd of over 200,000, according to the Datafolha polling and statistics agency, was the fact it was being led by Kataguiri, a skinny, 19-year-old college dropout, and other young Brazilian activists inspired by libertarianism and conservative free-market ideals.

The grandson of Japanese immigrants, Kataguiri is a social media star whose quirky videos skewer Rousseff and the ruling party's social welfare policies. His ascent as a protest figure has been rapid. Two years ago, when protests erupted across Brazil over corruption and poor public services, Kataguiri was a high schooler who avoided the unrest.

Today, he is the public face of the Free Brazil Movement, a growing force that is more focused than the 2013 unrest that expressed a wide range of middle-class anger. Brazil's new wave of protests are seen as a right-leaning movement clearly channeled against Rousseff and her Workers' Party.

A widening kickback scandal at Petrobras, the state oil company, is one of several complaints undermining the administration. Kataguiri and others are striking a chord with Brazilians fed up with soaring inflation, a high and growing tax burden, and those who blame government intervention for hobbling Brazil's economy, which grew just 0.1 percent last year and is expected to shrink in 2015.

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Teen libertarian is parlaying YouTube videos into role as face of Brazil's anti-left protests