BRAZIL: Police in Rio de Janeiro agreed to temporarily suspend their strike just days before Rio's famous carnival celebrations

Record ID: 340738

  • Title: BRAZIL: Police in Rio de Janeiro agreed to temporarily suspend their strike just days before Rio's famous carnival celebrations
  • Date: 14th February 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) UNION LEADER, FERNANDO BANDEIRA, SAYING: "We have decided to listen to the union leaders from the Fire Department, Military Police, and Civil Police. We also decided that Rio's residents, its tourism, its internationally-known Carnival, as well as those heroes who were arrested, deserve our decision to go back to work starting tomorrow."
  • Embargoed: 29th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil, Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD7EI1RCKZ27TYLXHEC5GW2XQ6
  • Story Text: Police and firefighters in Rio de Janeiro ended a strike on Monday (February 13, 2012) that threatened to disrupt upcoming Carnival festivities and raised new questions about security before the 2014 World Cup.
    Fears of the violence eased in Rio de Janeiro after a police and firefighter strike there showed signs of flagging in its second day. The strike had been approved last week, on the heels of a similar strike in the northern city of Salvador, which led to an increase in homicides and widespread crime.
    However, security operations appeared to continue normally in Rio throughout the weekend despite the strike and the arrest of a handful of firefighters. Still, news of the suspension was a relief to many, concerned about Rio's famed Carnival festivities.
    "We have decided to listen to the union leaders from the Fire Department, Military Police, and Civil Police. We also decided that Rio's residents, its tourism, its world-known carnival, as well as those heroes who were arrested deserve our decision to go back to work starting tomorrow," said union leader Fernando Bandeira after the conclusion of a Monday afternoon assembly that brought together all parties involved in the strike.
    But Bandeira added that the group may take up the strike again after Carnival ends, saying that their demands had not been met.
    As many as 850,000 tourists are expected to hit the beaches and palm-tree lined promenades of Brazil's second-biggest city for the festivities, which officially run from Feb. 17 to Feb. 22.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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