Bahia Police Strike Escalates: Strikers Take Assembly, Army Surrounds Them

Bahia Assembly The number of weekly murders in the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, Salvador, since the beginning of a strike by the Military Police, on February 1, has doubled, rising from 41 to 83. During the same period, robberies rose from 78 to 150.

State authorities have called the strike illegal and refused to grant an amnesty to the strikers. At least 12 arrest warrants against leaders of the strike movement have been issued, but there are reports of only one arrest.

The striking policemen are demanding a career plan, a gratification and salary increase (the government is offering a 6.5% pay increase), besides a general amnesty for participants in the movement. After camping out in front of the state Legislative Assembly, over the weekend they invaded the building.

The state Secretary of Security says the number of police on strike is only around 30% of the 30,000 the state has. But, the secretary adds that due to certain characteristics it is believed that striking policemen are participating in the crimewave that has hit the city.

Striking policemen, wearing masks, disrupted traffic in the center of the city causing panic among residents.

The federal government has responded by sending in the Army. Over the weekend the number of army troops in Salvador reached 3,500.

An army lieutenant colonel told reporters that the biggest problem, caused by the uncertainty, was a wave of rumors sweeping the urban center.

He explained that his men, along with Military Police and Civil Police not on strike, were on the streets to ensure the population that authority was being maintained and that their security was being taken care of.

Beside the soldiers, there are four combat vehicles, Urutus, that are circulating in the city helping to maintains order.

The latest news from Salvador is that some 600 soldiers have surrounded the Legislative Assembly to serve arrest warrants on the leaders of the strike movement.

The action of evacuation of the Legislative Assembly was marked by confrontation this Monday. Family of the military police who are on strike wanting to join the campers quarreled with Army soldier more than once.

The confrontation happens as the striking group tries to break through the siege by the Army, National Force and Federal Police but is prevented by a human chain formed by men from the Army’s Battalion of Shock. Rubber bullets were fired and pepper gas thrown. One protester was wounded in the foot.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

The Guarani/Tupinikim Indians from Brazil are on a dispute with Aracruz Celulose

Brazil’s Justice Minister Accused of Illegality on Indian Land

One hundred and twenty days after the legal deadline, Brazil's Minister of Justice, Márcio ...

After 11% Growth Last Year Brazil’s Car Industry Sees Another 10% Boost in 2010

New car sales in Brazil could rise 10% this year as Latin America’s largest ...

The World Cup Games Won’t Stop the Street Protests in Brazil

Brazil went through a roller coaster in June of 2013. Thousands of people overflowed ...

Brazilian bishop Luiz Flávio Cappio

Lula’s and Pope’s Emissaries Try to End Brazilian Bishop’s Hunger Strike

The head of the Brazilian Secretariat of Institutional Relations, Minister Jaques Wagner, is on ...

World Crisis Lowers Brazil’s Per-Capita GDP to US$ 9, 263

For the first time in 17 years the Brazilian economy contracted in 2009, falling ...

Brazil on the Verge of Becoming a World-Class Semiconductor Hub

Brazilian authorities announced ambitious plans to establish a semiconductor industry in the Brazilian state ...

At G20, Brazil, Russia and China Pressed to Stop Bribing Abroad

Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, said that solutions to European and global economic ...

For Brazilian Landless Enemy Is Not Large Landholder Anymore But Agribusiness

The largest social movement on the continent, and one of the most important in ...

On Its Deathbed Brazil’s Varig Sees Its Routes Being Partitioned

A Brazilian bankruptcy judge approved on Monday an offer by an employee-led group to ...

Lula and Presidential Candidate Rousseff Fined for Early Electioneering

Brazil’s minister of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), Felix Fischer, accepted the accusation of ...