President Dilma Rousseff held an emergency meeting about the protests with the nation's justice minister but didn't make any comment afterward, continuing her largely silent response to the unrest.
Her aides said they didn't know if she would address the nation in an attempt to calm protesters, but she was expected to meet in the afternoon with top bishops from the Catholic Church about the protests' possible effects on a papal visit still scheduled next month in Rio and Sao Paulo state.
There were also growing calls on social media and in mass emails for a general strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing about such an action.
A yesterday night protest in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union presence, with members wearing matching shirts and a marching drum corps leading them down a main avenue. But the majority of protesters across Brazil have called for a movement with no political parties or unions, widely considering them tinged with corruption.
The lack of much organization or concrete demands behind the protests has made a unified government response nearly impossible. Several cities have cancelled the transit fare hikes that had originally sparked the demonstrations a week ago, but the outrage has only grown more intense.
The one group behind the reversal of the transit fare hike, the Free Fare Movement, today said it would not call any more protests. However, it wasn't clear what impact that might have on a movement that has moved far beyond its original complaint.