Brazil’s President has broken her silence after more than a week of massive, violent protests rocked the country.

We need to oxygenate our political system... and make it more transparent

Dilma Rousseff said during a prime-time TV broadcast that peaceful demonstrations were part of a strong democracy but that violence could not be tolerated.

Ms Rousseff, standing before a Brazilian flag, said the government knew there were many things “we can do quicker and better” and that Brazil “fought hard to become a democratic country”, but added she could not accept the violence carried out by a minority of protesters.

The leader, a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil’s 1964-85 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and tortured by the junta, pointedly referred to sacrifices her generation made to free the nation from dictatorship. “We need to oxygenate our political system and make it more transparent,” she said.

Trying to decipher the President’s reaction to the unrest had become a national guessing game, especially after a million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets the night before across the country to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of euros spent preparing for next year’s World Cup football tournament and the 2016 Olympics.

The protests continued on Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading an enormous $250 million (€190m) arts centre that remains empty.

Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they were pelted with rocks, adding that some in the crowd were armed and firing at officers.

Local radio was also reporting that protesters were heading to the apartment of Rio state governor Sergio Cabral in the upmarket neighbourhood of Ipanema.

Other protests broke out in the country’s biggest city, Sao Paulo, where traffic was paralysed but no violence reported, and in Fortaleza in the country’s north east. Demonstrators were calling for more mobilisations in 10 cities last night.

The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops came out in favour of the protests, saying that it maintains “solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain peaceful”.