Authorities fear a crime wave and cancelled parades after military and civil police and firefighters vote to go on strike
It's billed as the greatest street party on earth ? a raucous four-day celebration of Brazilian partying prowess that draws millions of revellers on to the streets of this spectacular beachside city.
But preparations for this year's Rio carnival have been overshadowed by a decision by the city police to go on strike, prompting fears of a crimewave and cancelled carnival parades.
Members of Rio's military and civil police forces ? as well as firefighters ? voted to strike at a crowded protest on Thursday night in central Rio, despite a deal to raise pay by 39% over the next two years.
"This is not good. Rio de Janeiro does not deserve this. The population does not deserve this," Rio's state security secretary, Jos� Mariano Beltrame, told reporters.
Frederico Caldas, a spokesman for Rio's military police, said policing would not be immediately affected but expressed concern about security with 800,000 tourists expected to arrive in the city for carnival, which starts on 17 February.
"My worry is carnival," he said. "Since the city is full we need security reinforcements."
Authorities denied policing levels had been reduced on Friday but local newspapers painted a different picture. Rio tabloid O Dia reported that its reporters had not seen police patrols on three of the main motorways overnight.
While police in Rio face one of the toughest jobs in the country ? tackling heavily armed gangs in the city's many sprawling slums ? they are among the worst-paid, with salaries starting at $964 (�612) a month.
Fernando Bandeira, the president of Sinpol, the civil police union in Rio, said his members were demanding better salaries and working conditions and would not return to work until after the carnival if those demands were not met.
"[Investigating crime] is an extremely dangerous activity," he said, adding that investigators were frequently killed or wounded in the line of duty and yet did not have private health insurance. "This is why we need better salaries, better equipment and better training.
"The military and civil police forces are terribly paid. Rio de Janeiro raises the second-highest level of taxes out of all of Brazil's states but we have the worst salaries."
Caldas said more than 7,000 troops were still at work in Rio state despite the strike. "We need to tell people to stay calm because the police are on the streets. The security situation is under total control," he said.
He said troops involved in the strike would be punished. "Those who refuse to work will be arrested ? There is a pact between the police and the population and this pact cannot be broken," he said.
"I feel like we're standing here asking for what's our right," Joao Morais da Silva, a retired police officer who lost an eye after being shot while working, told the Associated Press.
The police strike in Rio follows a 10-day walkout by officers in the north-eastern city of Salvador, the capital of Bahia state, which is home to another of Brazil's most famous carnivals. More than 3,000 federal security forces were deployed there last week after police walked oout in protest against poor pay and working conditions. Crisis talks between carnival organisers and government officials were held.
Salvador has a rich musical tradition and attracts tens of thousands of tourists to its annual carnival, but the city is gaining a reputation for urban violence. According to one recent study by Brazil's Sangari Institute, murder rates rose by 370% in Salvador between 2000 and 2010, with the annual number of homicides rising from 315 to 1,484.
During the recent strike, newspapers reported a sudden spike in murders with at least 142 people killed while protesting police officers barricaded themselves inside the state parliament.
In Rio de Janeiro, authorities moved to assure locals and tourists there would be no repeat of that violence. "I have no doubt we will guarantee safety during carnival," the Rio state governor, S�rgio Cabral, said in a statement.
Not all local people were convinced. "What will happen? Carnival is close," 39-year-old assistant Rejane Gomes de Oliveira told the O Dia newspaper. "Will it end up being like in Bahia here?"
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/10/rio-carnival-threat-police-strike
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