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LatinNews Daily Report - 06 February 2012
In Brief - Brazil
Brazil | Elite army troops sent to Bahía. As of 5 February there were 3,500 army officers along with 650 federal police on the streets of Salvador, the capital of the northeastern state of Bahía, with reports of at least 89 homicides in the city since some 10,000 state police (a third of the force) went out on strike on 31 January (in demand of a 50% pay rise and improved conditions). Commander General Enzo Martins Peri yesterday stated that at the request of the federal government, 40 officers from the army’s elite force had also been dispatched to the city tasked with removing armed police officers from the local assembly, where they have barricaded themselves in and are calling for an amnesty. Bahia’s state governor Jaques Wagner of the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores has called the strike illegal and has accused groups linked to the state police of fomenting the violence in the city, which is due to host thousands of carnival revelers mid-month. The local tourist office is reporting cancellations, amid international press attention.
