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Caribbean-Latin America | |||
Brazil gangsters hit buses, banks | |||
2006-05-15 | |||
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Gangsters stepped up their war against authorities in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, torching buses and shooting at banks, security officials said on Monday.
The federal government has offered to send in troops but so far the state government has declined. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has yet to comment publicly on the situation but was due to meet ministers on Monday to discuss it. "We are not going to give into organized crime," state governor Claudio Limbo told reporters. "I have faith in the Sao Paulo police." Over Sunday and early Monday, gangsters set fire to at least 43 buses in the city, the world's third largest with 20 million people. Several transport companies ceased operations on Monday morning, leaving commuters stranded. At least 10 bank branches, including the major Banco do Brasil and Brads, were hit by gunfire, officials said. Streets in the city were noticeably quiet on Sunday as gangsters struck in rich and poor areas alike.
Police say the violence was launched by the notorious First Command of the Capital, or PC in Portuguese, one of the most powerful of Brazil's organized crime operations, after authorities transferred several hundred prisoners to a new penitentiary 620 km (410 miles) from the capital. The gangs have a organized structure in the prisons and jailed leaders often control outside operations. Sao Paulo has long been plagued by violent crime. It is also the command and control center for drug trafficking in Latin America's largest country, which is a transit point for cocaine destined for Africa and Europe as well as Brazil's domestic market. | |||
Posted by:Steve |
#2 This upsurge suggest Hugo to me. Warning Brazil not to bother Bolivia over Bolivia taking its oil and gas assets. |
Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-15 12:19 |
#1 When I was in Campinas (about an hour outside of Sao Paulo), a co-worker of mine was carjacked at gunpoint and my girlfriend never stopped for red lights after dark. That was almost 10 years ago. |
Posted by: eLarson 2006-05-15 11:07 |